Margrete Eilivsdatter makes Sigurd Jonsson her heir
DN 1/683 · 14 August 1422 · Bergen
What the letter says
On 14 August 1422 in Bergen, Margrete Eilivsdatter makes known how she and Sigurd Jonsson are related: his maternal grandmother Ingeborg Erlingsdatter and her mother Gyrid Erlingsdatter were full sisters. She also mentions that the knight Ivar Nikolasson was her first cousin. Before Bishop Aslak of Bergen, Abbot Sølve Eiriksson of Halsnøy and two town councillors of Bergen, she declares that Sigurd Jonsson is her only living heir.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
To all who see or hear this letter, I, Margrete Eilivsdatter, make known how closely Sigurd Jonsson and I are related. His maternal grandmother, Lady Ingeborg Erlingsdatter, and my mother, Gyrid Erlingsdatter, were full sisters with the same father and the same mother, both born in wedlock. Sir Ivar Nikolasson, knight, and I were first cousins, with mothers who were sisters, but fathers who were not brothers. Therefore I make known to honest men, first to my worthy lord and spiritual father, Sir Aslak, by the grace of God Bishop of Bergen, to Sir Sølve Eiriksson, Abbot of Halsnøy, and to Arvid Ingjaldsson and Aslak Ulvsson, town councillors in Bergen, that I know before God that I have no other heir now living on earth than the said Sigurd Jonsson. For further certainty and truth of this I set my seal together with the seals of the said good men under this letter, which was made in Bergen on the eve of Our Lady's Day when Mary was taken up into heaven (15 August), that is 14 August, in the year of our Lord 1422.
Original text (excerpt)
Ollum monnum þeim sem þetta bref se eder høyra kungør jak Margreta Elifs dotter at mith swo nær saman hoyrom j frændsemiw jak oc Sigwrder Jonsson þet hans modermoder frw Ingiburg Erlingx dotter oc min moder Gyridh Erlingx dotter waro sambornæ systre til fadher oc moder badha skilgetner. En herra Jvar Niclisson riddare oc jak varom sydzskinebarn þog sammødh en eigi samfædh oc þy lysir jak þet fore ærligom monnom som først er min wyrdeliger herre oc andeliger fader herra Aslak med gudz nadh biskup
Background
The letter is a declaration of inheritance, and it is one of the most important letters for understanding how the Giske inheritance passed on from the Bjarkøy family. Ingeborg and Gyrid were daughters of the drottsete (steward of the realm) Erling Vidkunsson, and Ingeborg had received Giske in 1354 and married Sigurd Havtoresson of Sudreim. Sigurd Jonsson was Ingeborg's daughter's son. The declaration came in the middle of the inheritance dispute after Håkon Sigurdsson's death, when Sigurd Jonsson had to prove his right to the estate against the widow Sigrid Erlendsdatter and her new husband. By confirming the kinship before bishop, abbot and town councillors, Margrete made sure that her own inheritance also went to Sigurd, and this probably strengthened his position as the rightful heir of Erling Vidkunsson's line.
People: Sigurd Jonsson, Ingebjørg Erlingsdatter, Gyrid Erlingsdatter