Alv Knutsson buys the deserted farm Aske in Borgund
DN 1/983 · 30 March 1495 · Borgund
What the letter says
Three members of the lawcourt in Sunnmøre, Kåre Torkelsson, Bård Jonsson and Torstein Jonsson, testify that on 30 March 1495 in Borgund Larens Kokk sold the deserted land Aske south of Stotte in St Peter's parish to Alv Knutsson. The sale was as property for ever, and Larens confirmed that he had received full payment. A later endorsement says that Aske belongs to Giske.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
We, the men named below, Kåre Torkelsson, Bård Jonsson and Torstein Jonsson, sworn members of the lawcourt in Sunnmøre, acknowledge this: We were in Borgund, which lies in the northern part of Sunnmøre, on the Monday after Mid-Lent Sunday (30 March) in the year of our Lord 1495, and saw and heard that the discerning man Larens Kokk sold to the well-born man Sir Alv Knutsson a deserted piece of land called Aske, which lies south of Stotte in St Peter's church parish, with all shares and benefits that lie and have lain with it from old to new, outside and inside the fence, from himself and his heirs to Sir Alv Knutsson and his heirs as their property for ever, free and without claim from any man. Larens Kokk also acknowledged that he had received the smallest and the greatest penny of what came into their bargain, so he was well satisfied. For further proof of this we hang our seals under this letter, which was made on the day and in the year named above. Endorsement: (later hand on the back) Deed of purchase for Aske, which belongs to Giske.
Original text (excerpt)
Thet kenniss wii efftherskreffnæ men Kaaræ Torkelson Baardh Ionson oc Thorstin Ioonson swornæ lawrettis men i Swnmør ad wii warom i Borghwnd som ligger i nørdræ lwtten i for. Swnmøør, manedaghen nesth effther mydhfastæ swnnedagh anno domini m cd xc quinto saghwm oc hørdom uppa ad beskeligh man Larenss Kock saldhe welboren man her Alff Knwtthson ein ødhe ioordh som sa hether Askæ oc ligger for swnnen Stottæ i sanctæ Pædherss kyrkæ soghn med all lwthwm oc lwnnendom som dher til ligger oc leyet haw
Background
Alv Knutsson of Tre Rosor owned the Giske estate in the last part of the 15th century, and this purchase shows that he added new land near the estate in Sunnmøre. Members of the lawcourt were farmers who had been sworn in to sit in the court and bear witness to important transactions. Deserted land or a deserted farm was a farm that had lain abandoned, often since the plagues of the 14th century, and such farms were cheap to buy. The endorsement on the back shows that the letter was kept as evidence in the Giske archive. Borgund was the old trading town (kaupang) and church site of Sunnmøre, near present-day Ålesund.
People: Alv Knutsson