Knut Alvsson loses the case over Åmot and Løken church
DN 13/153 · 18? Decbr. 1489 · Oslo
Knut Alvsson was the son of Alv Knutsson and Magnhild Oddsdatter and later became commander at Akershus. Here he loses a case over the farm Åmot, which had been given to Løken church, and the letter does not say why he went to court.
What the letter says
Lawman Erik Eriksson of Oslo makes known that Lord Knut Alvsson, knight, came before him and the councilmen in the town hall in December 1489. Knut accused Gudleik in Oten, Halvor Torstensson and the others who had sealed a letter stating that the farm Åmot had been given to Løken church of having sealed it wrongfully. He brought a witness who said he had never sworn about the gift. The lawman examined many letters about the gift and ruled that the letters should stand in full force. The witness who had sworn and then denied his oath was to face a judgement of six men, but the accused dropped their case against him for God's sake and at the request of honest men.
The letter in modern English
About Åmot. To all men who see or hear this letter, Erik Eriksson, lawman in Oslo, sends God's greeting and his own. I make known that there came before me and the councilmen in the town hall on the [3rd? uncertain reading] Sunday before St Thomas's Day in the year of the Lord 1489 [probably 18 December], on the one side the well-born man Lord Knut Alvsson, knight. He accused these men: Gudleik in Oten, Halvor Torstensson and as many as had sealed the letter which Lord Jon Rolfsson, priest at Løken, held about Åmot, which had been given to Løken church. The said Lord Knut said that the said men had sealed wrongfully, and at the same time brought forward a witness who had sworn about the said gift, and the witness said he had never sworn anything about it. They submitted to our judgement on all sides. We then thoroughly examined the case and had many letters read that had been made about the said gift. When the letters had been thoroughly examined, it was our full judgement that the letters which the said men had sealed were fully valid and shall remain in full force, so that the said men who had sealed shall remain unharmed in both honour and reputation. And the witness who had sworn and then denied his oath shall face a judgement of six men. That right they at once gave up, for God's sake and at the request of honest men, the charge they had against him on their own behalf.
Original text
Om Aamodt. Alle mend dem som dette breff se eller høre sende Erick Ericksön laugmand j Oslo quede gud och sinne kunigtt gera[n]de att kom for mig och raadmendene oppaa raadstuffuen [3?] sögne nest for Tommesmese Anno dommenj millesimo quadringent(e)simo octogesimo nono, aff æine halffue velboren mand her Knudt Alffsön rider, tallede till disze effterskreffne mender, Godeligen j [Otelse Oten, Haluor Torstensön och till saa mange som det breff haffuer beseiglitt som her Joger Rolffsön prest paa
Background
Knut Alvsson was the son of Alv Knutsson and Magnhild Oddsdatter and later became commander at Akershus. Løken is the church site in Høland, and the priest Jon Rolfsson held the letter showing that Åmot had been given to the church. The letter does not say why Knut went to court, but it suggests he believed the farm should belong to him or the family. The lawman decided the case by examining written evidence, which shows how much sealed letters counted in court at this time. A judgement of six men means that six men were to judge the matter of the witness's false oath. The letter survives only in a 17th-century copy.
People: Knut Alvsson