Sigurd Havtoresson buys land in Kirkebyen on Haram
DN 1/379 · 13 April 1363 · Giske
What the letter says
Three men bear witness that on Giske on 13 April 1363 Jon Eysteinsson sold four and a half månedsmatsbol in Kirkebyen on Haram to Sir Sigurd Havtoresson. The agreement was concluded with a handshake, and Jon confirmed that he had received full payment. The land passed into permanent ownership with everything belonging to it.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
To all men who see or hear this letter, Holte Gunnarsson, Alv Jonsson and Ånstein Ulvsson send God's greeting and their own. We make known to you that we were present on Giske on the last Thursday of the winter half-year in the eighth year of our worthy lord Håkon, by the grace of God king of Norway, that is 13 April 1363. Then they took each other by the hand, the honourable lord Sir Sigurd Havtoresson on the one side and Jon Eysteinsson on the other. With this handshake Jon admitted that he had sold Sir Sigurd four and a half månedsmatsleie, that is månedsmatsbol (land rent for one month's food), in Kirkebyen on Haram (Haramre), free and with lawful title against every man, at free disposal and in permanent ownership, with all luter og lunner [everything that belongs to it] that lies with it and has lain with it of old and new, outside the fence and inside. Jon also admitted that he had received from Sir Sigurd the first penny and the last and all in between, as was agreed in their bargain. In truth we set our seals to this letter, which was made on the day and year said before. Endorsement: On the back, in a much later hand: Letter on Haram.
Original text (excerpt)
Ollum monnum þeim sem þetta bref sea edr hœyra senda Holte Gunnersson Alfuer Jonsson ok Anstein Wlfsson Q. G. ok sina meer gerom ydr kunnikt at mer varom j hia j Gidzska a þorsdaghen sidesta j vetre aa viii are rikis warss wyrdulegs herra Hakoner med gudes naad Noregs konongs. þa er þeir heldo hondom saman. heiderleghr herra. herra Sigurdr Hafthoresson af einni holfu. en af annæræ Jon Œysteinsson. kendizst Jon med þii handerbande. at han hafde sælt aðrnefdom herra Sigurdi. halfæ fimtu manadamata
Background
Sigurd Havtoresson of Sudreim was married to Ingeborg Erlingsdatter, who had received Giske from her father Erling Vidkunsson in 1354. The letter shows that nine years later Sigurd was managing Giske and buying land nearby, in the time of King Håkon VI and only fourteen years after the Black Death. After the plague much land lay deserted and prices fell, so these were good times for those who had money to buy. A månedsmatsbol was a unit of land rent: land that yielded a land rent equal to one month's food. The letter is a letter of testimony about a purchase, made so that the buyer could prove his ownership.
People: Sigurd Havtoresson