Truid Ulfstand and Lady Inger settle the inheritance dispute
DN 2/1131 · 22 Septbr. 1539 · Oslo
What the letter says
The knight Truid Ulfstand of Giske and Ingerd (Inger) Ottesdatter of Austrått conclude in Oslo on 22 September 1539 a settlement concerning inheritance, land, movable goods and money. The estate in Shetland is to be divided according to who holds deeds of purchase and division, and concerning farms in Vesterålen, Lofoten, Røst and Kvæfjord messengers are to look into the matter. Truid at once receives a farm in Romsdal, and he claims properties in Bergen, among them Dreggen. Inger is to return the letters belonging to Truid's wife Gørvel in Bergen by Olsok the following year.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
We, Truid Ulfstand of Giske, knight, and Ingerd Ottesdatter of Austrått, widow of Lord Niels Henriksen, knight, make known to all by this our open letter that we are today amicably and well reconciled concerning all the quarrels and disputes over inheritance, landed property, movable goods, money and everything else that have been between us up to this day, in the manner that follows here. First it is agreed concerning the estate in Shetland that messengers from us both shall travel there with copies of both our deeds of division and deeds of purchase. Then each of us shall enjoy and keep what his letter shows, and no one shall hinder the other in it. Concerning the estate in Helgeland: First concerning the five farms in Vesterålen. There we shall both search out our proofs, and whichever of us has the best proof shall enjoy and keep the farms. Concerning the farms in Lofoten and Røst, which are seven farms that I, Truid, lay claim to: messengers from us both shall ride there and look into the matter, and afterwards mutual friends shall decide by letter and seal which of us has the right to them. Concerning the farm that lies in Kvæfjord (Quidefiord) near Hundstad and has recently been built up: I, Truid, say that it formerly lay under Hundstad with half a pound's rent [land rent of half a pound] in a farm called Garde. Messengers shall examine whether it has belonged to Garde or not, and whether I, Ingerd, have any right to it or not. The farm in Romsdal for which I, Truid, have a letter, and which Lord Alv Knutsson bought, I, Truid, shall take over at once.
Original text (excerpt)
Wij effther Trudtt Wlstandtt tiill Giske ridder oc Jngiertt Ottesdatther tiill Østerotthe her Niels Hendricksens ridders efftherleffuerske giøre alle witterligtt mett thette wortt obne breff att wij ere nu her i dag wenlig oc well forligte om alle the tretther och deler om arff jordegotzs løsse penninge oc altt andett som oss emellom haffuer werett tiill thenne dag wdj saa maade som her effther følgher. Først er thet saa thalede om thet gotzs paa Hetland att tidtt skall begges wores budt fare me
Background
Truid Ulfstand was a Danish nobleman married to Gjørvel Fadersdatter, daughter's daughter of Alv Knutsson and heir to the Giske estate. Inger Ottesdatter had for several years had charge of Giske and the estate, and the dispute concerned who owned what of the great mass of property. The settlement came three years after the Reformation, when Norway had been placed under the Danish Crown and Danish noblemen gained greater power in the country. The list of property shows how widely the Giske estate extended: from Shetland to Lofoten and Røst, where the stockfish was produced, and to town properties in Bergen, where the fish was sold. Land rent is the annual rent a tenant farmer paid to the landowner, here reckoned in pounds. The sealing witnesses were among the most powerful men of the realm, which shows how important the matter was.
People: Ingerd Ottesdatter (fru Inger), Gjørvel Fadersdatter (Sparre), Alv Knutsson