Bjarne Erlingsson makes peace with Robert the Bruce
DN 2/114 · 29 Oktbr. 1312 · Inverness
What the letter says
In Inverness on 29 October 1312 Bjarne Erlingsson of Bjarkøy and the canon Ivar Olavsson, as envoys of King Håkon V, met King Robert of Scotland. Robert agreed to pay 600 mark sterling in St Magnus Church in Orkney for a Scottish raid on Orkney, in which the king's sysselmann was taken prisoner and had to buy his freedom with the king's tax revenues. The damage in Shetland was to be investigated later. In return the Norwegians promised to hand back goods worth 600 pounds that had been taken from merchants from St Andrews in Norway, and to make amends for wrongs done to the squire Patrick de Monte Alto in Orkney.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
For remembrance: In the year of the Lord 1312, on the Sunday before All Saints' Day (1 November), a meeting was held in Inverness in Scotland. On the one side stood the high born prince Lord Håkon the Fifth, by the grace of God King of Norway, represented by his lendmann Sir Bjarne Erlingsson of Bjarkøy and Ivar Olavsson, canon of the churches in Bergen and in Orkney, who were his authorised and special envoys. On the other side stood Robert, by the same grace King of the Scots, who appeared in person. They came together to negotiate amicably about certain injustices and disputes that had arisen between the kings, their kingdoms and the inhabitants of the kingdoms, so that they could be settled, removed, put right and compensated on both sides. At this meeting the envoys, on behalf of the King of Norway and those of his men whom it concerned, amicably demanded redress and compensation for the injustices, damage and wrongs that certain wrongdoers from Scotland had inflicted on the king's men and their property in the king's own lands, namely Orkney and Shetland. This concerned both the raid on Orkney and the fact that the wrongdoers had taken prisoner the noble Sir Berner Peff [uncertain interpretation], knight and the king's sysselmann in these lands. Besides having his own possessions taken and carried off, he had to buy his life from the wrongdoers with the dues to the king that he had collected and had with him there. The King of Scotland declared that he was entirely un
Original text (excerpt)
Memorandum quod anno domini millesimo ccc duodecimo die dominica proxima ante festum omnium sanctorum apud Jnuernys in Scocia serenissimus princeps dominus Haquinus quintus dei gracia rex Norwegie per dominum Bernerum de Berkereye baronem suum, et Juarum filium Oulaui ecclesiarum Bergensis et Orcadensis canonicum procuratores suos et nuncios speciales ex parte sua et Robertus eadem gracia Scottorum rex personaliter ex altera conuenerunt ad tractandum concorditer super quibusdam iniuriis et disco
Background
Bjarne Erlingsson of Giske and Bjarkøy was one of the most powerful men in the realm and had long experience as an envoy to Scotland and England. This was one of his last great missions, for he died the following year, in 1313. Robert the Bruce had taken power in Scotland and was in the middle of the war against England, and both kings had reason to keep the peace along the North Sea. The letter is a treaty made as a chirograph, a double document cut in two along a jagged line, so that each king received his part and its authenticity could be tested by fitting the parts together. Orkney and Shetland lay under the Norwegian king, and a sysselmann was the king's officer who collected taxes and dues there. The case shows how closely trade and violence were bound together: merchants from St Andrews were imprisoned in Norway and had their goods confiscated, while Scottish wrongdoers plundered the islands. The agreement was later confirmed several times and is regarded as one of the cornerstones of relations between Norway and Scotland in the late Middle Ages.
People: Bjarne Erlingsson