Ture Jönsson complains that Vincens Lunge holds Giske
DN 18/341 · 6 Septbr. 1525 · Lindholm
What the letter says
Ture Jönsson writes from Lindholm on 6 September 1525 to the Danish steward of the realm Mogens Gøye. After the lords' meeting in Malmø, Ture demanded the return of Giske and the inherited estate north of the mountains, and his messenger collected the land rent from Shetland and Orkney, but Vincens Lunge seized it in Bergen and holds the estate by force. Vincens has also taken the estate left by Ture's kinswoman Lady Ingegerd Erlendsdatter, even though Archbishop Olav in Trondheim has written that Ture is the nearest heir. Ture asks Mogens Gøye to help him obtain a royal letter so that the archbishop can claim the estate on his behalf.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
Friendly and loving greeting now and always beforehand with Our Lord. Dear Lord Mogens Gøye, especially good friend. You shall know that immediately after the lords' meeting recently held in Malmø, I sent messenger and letter to Lady Inger [Ottesdatter] and Doctor Vincens [Lunge] because I wished to receive my estate again, Giske etc., with more of my inherited estates in the Northern Lands. My messenger also collected the land rent of Shetland, Orkney etc. and had it brought to Bergen. When Doctor Vincens heard of it, he had it seized there in the town. I sent him the high-born prince King Frederick's letter that he should abide by the agreement concluded in Malmø, as the letter shows, and I believed that I should now be allowed to keep my estate and my rightful inheritance. It helped me nothing. He holds both the estate and the revenues by force and violence, so that I have not received a penny, and he has written to me, as far as I understand, that he will press me to sell it to him whether I will or not. To that, however, I have paid no heed. Further: on St Laurence's Day (10 August) just past, I was in Stockholm on important business of the realm. Then I received letter and message from the worthy father Lord Archbishop Olav in Trondheim that I was the rightful and nearest heir of the honourable, good woman, my kinswoman Lady Ingegerd [Erlandsdatter], who recently died, God have mercy on her soul. She had appointed the worthy father in Trondheim and the bishop in Bergen
Original text (excerpt)
Venligh oc kerlig helssen nw oc altiid før sent met vor herre Kiere her Mons Gydhe besinnerlig gode ven mwej vidhe at strax thet herre møtte førslitiid var j Malmø hadde iak mit bwd oc scriffuelsse tiil frv Ingegerdt oc docthor Vintencius oc ville anamme mit godz igen Giske etcetera met flere mine arfue godz i Nordlanden ok bar mit budt vp landgillet aff Hietland Orknøø etc. oc lot thet komme tiil Berwen, nær docthor Vintencius thet spurde lot han besette thet ther j byn oc sende iak honum høgbo
Background
Ture Jönsson of Tre Rosor was a powerful Swedish councillor of the realm who claimed Giske as a kinsman of Alv Knutsson and Knut Alvsson. Vincens Lunge, a Danish nobleman married to a daughter of Lady Inger Ottesdatter of Austrått, held the estate in practice. The lords' meeting in Malmø in 1524 was a negotiation between King Frederick I of Denmark and Norway and Gustav Vasa of Sweden, and Ture believed the agreement there should give him the estate back. Land rent is the annual rent the tenant farmers paid to the landowner, and the letter shows that the Giske estate had land as far away as Shetland and Orkney, which Norway had pledged to Scotland in 1468 and 1469. Archbishop Olav Engelbrektsson appears here as Ture's supporter and executor of the will, which points ahead to the conflicts between the archbishop and Vincens Lunge in the years that followed. Who Lady Ingegerd Erlendsdatter was is not clear from the letter beyond that she was Ture's kinswoman and had considerable property.
People: Ingerd Ottesdatter (fru Inger)