Philippa of Eberstein gives Dreggen in Bergen to Alv Knutsson
DN 1/900 · 9 Oktbr. 1472 · Bergen
What the letter says
Philippa, daughter of Count Hans of Eberstein, gives the farm Dreggen with its houses and plot to the knight Alv Knutsson in Bergen on 9 October 1472. The farm is to be his and his heirs' property for ever. Jon Smør, Mattis Palnesson and Jakob Jensson set their seals together with hers.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
I, Philippa, Count Hans' daughter, make known to all that I have granted and given to the well-born man Sir Alv Knutsson, knight, my farm Dreggen with houses and plot and everything that belongs to the farm and has belonged to it from old and new. The farm passes from me and my heirs to Sir Alv Knutsson and his heirs as their property for ever, and I grant Sir Alv the farm free and unchallenged by any man. For greater truth and security I ask for the seals of the well-born man Sir Jon Smør and of Mattis Palnesson and Jakob Jensson together with mine on this letter. From Bergen, on the day of the blessed abbot Dionysius (9 October) in the year of our Lord 1472. Endorsement: On the back, in a later hand: Lady Philippa, Count Hans' daughter's letter that she has handed over Dreggen in Bergen to Sir Alv Knutsson.
Original text (excerpt)
Jegh Philippe grewe Hansses dotter gør viterliget alle ath iegh hawer wnt oc giweth welbyrdogh man her Alff Knwtson riddere min gard Dreggen med hws oc tompt oc alt thet til garden ligger oc liget hawer fra forne oc nye fra migh oc mine erffwinge oc wnder fornemdh her Alff Knwtson oc hans erffinge til ewerdelig eige, oc vnner iegh forscreffne her Alff forscreffne gardh frelsen oc akerelausen fore hwerium manne til mere sanningh oc forwaringh beder iegh we(l)byrdogss mans her Ion Smørss incigle,
Background
Philippa of Eberstein was the widow of the drottsete (steward of the realm) Sigurd Jonsson, who had won Giske in 1425 and died in 1453. Alv Knutsson was the grandson of Sigurd Jonsson's sister Katarina through his mother and became heir to the Giske estate. Dreggen lay in Bergen near Bryggen, where the merchants of the Hansa had their office and the stockfish was traded. A town property in Bergen gave its owners a foothold in the town where the trade took place. The letter is a deed of gift, and the gift may have been part of a settlement over the inheritance after Sigurd Jonsson, but the letter does not say so. Dreggen is one of the properties Truid Ulfstand claimed in 1539.
People: Philippa av Eberstein, Alv Knutsson