Munkeliv asks the drottsete for help in a grain shortage
DN 16/119 · [21 Septbr. 1440.] · [Munkeliv.]
Sigurd Jonsson, the owner of Giske, had been drottsete for a year. Munkeliv abbey asks him for help during a grain shortage in Bergen, probably because he had power and property in eastern Norway, where the grain was grown.
What the letter says
The abbess, the general confessor and the convents of Munkeliv abbey in Bergen write, probably on 21 September 1440, to the drottsete Sir Sigurd Jonsson. They tell him that this year no ships came to Bergen as they used to, and that the abbey has no revenues in grain to live on. They have therefore sent their messenger Laurens to the diocese of Oslo to buy or beg grain, and they ask Sigurd to help him. In return they promise to include him in their prayers every day.
The letter in modern English
Ave Maria. Because God almighty has called you and placed you in this by his holy grace, and given you power and might, so that the poor and needy may expect and hope for strong help and support from you, we flee to your lordship and worship and make known the great need and poverty that is coming upon us. For this year no sailing [no ships] came to Bergen as it used to before, and we have no revenue in grain belonging to the abbey with which we can keep ourselves alive. Great need drives us to buy and beg and to seek far away for our sustenance, that which we are to live on. On this errand we have sent our messenger, the bearer of this letter, Laurens etc., to the diocese of Oslo, and we humbly ask your lordship to be helpful to him, so that he may further our errand there, either by begging or by buying something for our living. We hope for all good from your lordship in this, and we will gladly deserve it in every good way. And you shall know for certain that we will and shall keep you and your welfare in our hours of prayer, which we hold daily. May God almighty and the Virgin Mary and St Birgitta keep and strengthen you in all good, now and for ever. Written at Munkeliv etc. [Address, in Latin:] To the noble, mighty and renowned man Sir Sigurd Jonsson, the illustrious drottsete of the realm of Norway, let this letter be presented with all humility and reverence.
Original text
Ave Maria. Saker thes ath gudh alzwalluger haffwer idher kallad oc tilskipat aff sinne hælgha nadh oc gifwid makt oc wælle aff hulko fatighe oc widerthorfftoghe magha sik wænta oc hopas størk hiælp oc bestandilse. Hwarføre wi fly til idhan herradom och ærlicheth konnokt gørande stora nød oc fatigdoom som oss vppa genger .j. thy at ey kom sigling til Bærgwen .j. aar som want war formeer, oc wi enga ræntho haffwom .j.
Background
Munkeliv was an old abbey in Bergen which from the 1420s had been taken over by the Bridgettines, the order of St Birgitta of Vadstena, with both nuns and brothers under an abbess. Bergen lived off the stockfish from the north, but the town and western Norway depended on grain brought by sea, not least by the German merchants. When the ships failed to come, there was want. The letter shows how the abbey turned to Sigurd Jonsson, who had been drottsete (steward of the realm) for a year and who had power and estates in eastern Norway, where the grain was grown. The letter survives only as a copy in a manuscript from Vadstena, and the date has been set by the editors.
People: Sigurd Jonsson