Countess Katarina buys land in Orkney from the Giske heirs
DN 2/168 · 24 March 1329 · Kirkjuvaag
What the letter says
Katarina, Countess of Orkney and Caithness, writes from Kirkwall on 24 March 1329 to the drottsete Erling Vidkunsson. She has bought from his steward Sigurd Jodgeirsson the lands that Erling, Sir Håkon and Lady Kristin owned on Rognvaldsøy. For land worth 45 pounds that the earl had been awarded for a debt, she will pay 5 pounds and 20 English pennies in Bergen this summer, but only if Erling sends an open letter in which he warrants the land on behalf of Håkon and Lady Kristin's heirs.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
To the venerable lord and her dear friend Sir Erling Vidkunsson, drottsete of the King of Norway, Katarina, Countess of Orkney and Caithness, sends God's greeting and her own. I announce to you that I have bought from Sir Sigurd Jodgeirsson, your steward, the lands that you, Sir Håkon and Lady Kristin owned on Rognvaldsøy (Ronaldsay). As regards land to a value of 45 pounds, which Sir Håkon and Lady Kristin owned in the lands that were awarded to my lord the earl for the debt Sir Høskuld owed Earl Jon, and which my lord gave me, Sir Sigurd and I have made this agreement: If you send to my steward in Bergen an open letter saying that you warrant (guarantee) all these lands for me on behalf of Sir Håkon and the heirs of Lady Kristin, I will for the sake of your friendship give you 5 pounds and 20 English [uncertain interpretation], and have this sum paid this summer in Bergen to you or to whichever steward of yours holds the letter, in English pennies or good old, full value øre, provided you will keep the agreement. If you do not like it, the land case shall stand untouched and go according to the law, and then I will not pay any money for it. And know that I would not have entered into any settlement about this if I did not do it out of goodwill towards you. This letter was made in Kirkwall on the eve of Lady Day in Lent (25 March), that is, 24 March, in the tenth year of the reign of my worthy lord Magnus, King of Norw
Original text (excerpt)
Ereleghom herra ok sinum kærom vin herra Erlingi Vikunnar syni Noregs konungs drotzeta sendr Katerin kuncteis j Orknœyium ok j Katanesi q. g. ok sina, ek gerer ydr kunnikt at ek hefir kœyft af herra Siugurdi Jodgeirs syni ydrum vmbodz manne þær jarder sem þer ok herra Hakon ok fru Kristin attot j Roghnals œy, en vm xlv punda virdi sem þau herra Hakon ok fru Kristin atto j þeim iordum sem minum herra iarllenom voro dœmdar firir þa skuld sem herra Hoskollr atte Jone jarlle ok min herra gaf mer; ho
Background
Orkney lay under the Norwegian king, and Norwegian magnates still owned land there. The editor refers to Lady Kristin as Kristin i Giske, and the letter shows that the Giske family owned land in Orkney together with Erling Vidkunsson. Who Kristin and Håkon were in the family is uncertain. The name Rognvaldsøy probably refers to Ronaldsay. To warrant (hjemle) means to guarantee that the seller has the right to sell, so that the buyer is safe from other claims. Payment was to be made in Bergen in English pennies or old Norwegian øre, which shows how Bergen was a hub for trade and monetary settlements between Norway, the islands in the west and England. Erling was at this time drottsete, that is, head of the regency government for the young King Magnus Eriksson.
People: Erling Vidkunsson, Kristin