Papal dispensation for the marriage of Gyrid and Eiliv
DN 1/308 · 8 Septbr. 1347 · Avignon
Gyrid was the daughter of Erling Vidkunsson of Giske and Bjarkøy, and here she receives the pope's dispensation to marry Eiliv Eilivsson. Their daughter later made Sigurd Jonsson her sole heir.
What the letter says
Pope Clement VI grants at Avignon on 8 September 1347 the noble man Eiliv Eilivsson and Gyrid, daughter of the noble man Erling Vidkunsson, leave to marry, even though they are related in the fourth degree. Eiliv could find no wife of his own rank in Norway whom he could marry without papal dispensation. King Magnus of Sweden had himself pleaded for the matter. The children of the marriage are to be counted as legitimate.
The letter in modern English
Clement, bishop and so on, to his beloved son, the noble man Eiliv Eilivsson, and his beloved daughter in Christ, the noble lady Gyrid, daughter of his beloved son, the noble man Erling Vidkunsson, of the dioceses of Oslo and Bergen, greeting and so on. The prudent providence of the Apostolic See sometimes tempers the rigour of justice with mildness, and grants out of kindly grace what the authority of the law denies, when, having weighed the nature of persons, places and times, it sees in God that it is beneficial. The petition recently put before us on your behalf stated that, after talks between mutual friends and for certain reasons set out to us, you wish to be joined to one another in marriage. But because you are related in the fourth degree of kinship, you cannot lawfully contract such a marriage without having obtained apostolic dispensation. Therefore we were humbly asked on your behalf that, since you, son Eiliv, find in the realm of Norway no wife befitting your birth and equal to you in lineage whom you can marry without dispensation from the Apostolic See, we would mercifully provide for you out of apostolic kindness with a suitable dispensation.
Original text
Clemens episcopus etc. Dilecto filio nobili viro Elauo Elaui et dilecte in Christo filie nobili mulieri Guridi nate dilecti filii nobilis viri Erlingi Wikundi Osloensis et Bergensis diocesis. Salutem etc. Sedis apostolice providentia circumspecta nonnunquam rigorem iustitie mansuetudine reparans, quod iuris auctoritas denegat de gratia benignitatis indulget, prout personarum locorum et temporum qualitate pensata id in deo conspicit salubriter expedire.
Background
Church law forbade marriage between relatives in the fourth degree, that is between third cousins and closer kin. Among the few magnate families in Norway nearly all were related to one another, so such dispensations were common. Eiliv Eilivsson was of the Naustdal family, and the marriage joined two magnate families. That King Magnus personally asked the pope for the dispensation shows that Erling Vidkunsson still stood close to the king. Their daughter, Margareta Eilivsdatter, declared Sigurd Jonsson her sole heir in 1422, and so part of the estate passed on within the family.
People: Gyrid Erlingsdatter, Erling Vidkunsson