Division of the pledge sum for Gripsholm between Sigurd Jonsson and Lady Helena
DN 2/774 · 10 July 1447 · Kjöbenhavn
What the letter says
In Copenhagen on 10 July 1447, eight knights acting as arbitrators settle a dispute between Sigurd Jonsson, on behalf of his wife Philippa, and her stepmother or mother Lady Helena, widow of Count Hans. The dispute concerned the 24,000 Swedish marks for which the fief of Gripsholm in Södermanland was pledged. Sigurd and Philippa receive 9,489 marks, and Helena and her children keep the rest.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
We, Erik Nilsson, Bo Stensson, Ærengisl Nilsson, Johan Karlsson, Birger Trolle, Peder Eriksson, Kolbjørn Gest and Mattis Jepsson, knights, acknowledge and make known with this our open letter: In the year 1447 after the birth of Our Lord, on King Knut's Day (10 July), the well-born man Sir Sigurd Jonsson, knight of Norway, came before us in Copenhagen with deliberation, consent and full intent, on behalf of his wife Lady Philippa, daughter of Count Hans, and the honest woman Lady Helena, widow of the venerable Count Hans, God have mercy on his soul, on her own and her children's behalf. They left the matter to us, gave us full power and made us in every way lawfully empowered under Swedish law to settle impartially the dispute that has stood between them concerning the sum of money for which Gripsholm and the fief there stand pledged, that is 24,000 marks in Swedish money. We, the said arbitrators, have according to our best judgement and conscience separated the two opposing parties amicably in this way and with this outcome: Sir Sigurd Jonsson and his wife shall on the one side receive and have for their use 9,489 marks of the sum of money, and with that he shall be well content. Lady Helena shall on her own and her children's behalf on the other side keep and use the remaining 14,510 marks for herself and her children, without encumbrances of any kind, and with that she and her children shall be content in this division. Should it later be proven that any of Gripsholm l
Original text (excerpt)
Wij efftirnempde Erich Nielsson Boo Stensson Ærengiisl Nielsson Jowan Karlsson Birghe Trolle Pether Erikson, Colbyorn Gæst oc Matthis Jæpson riddara bekennomps oc gørom witerligt meth thetta wart nerwarande opna breff at effter wars herra byrdh mcdxl septimo aret, oppa sancti Knwtz konungs dagh, wti Køpmannahaffn meth beradh samthykio, oc fullom forthankka komo fore oss welboren man her Siurdh Jonsson ridder af Norghe, oppa sin husfrw wægna ffrw Philippa som ær grefwe Hanses dottor, oc ærligh qu
Background
Sigurd Jonsson, daughter's son of Sigurd Havtoresson and owner of Giske, was married to Philippa, daughter of Count Hans of Eberstein. Count Hans had held Gripsholm as a pledge, that is to say he had lent the Crown money and received the fief and its revenues until the loan was repaid. After his death the inheritance from the pledge sum had to be divided. An arbitration award is a decision where the parties themselves choose the judges and promise to accept what they arrive at. The letter shows that Sigurd Jonsson belonged to a Nordic aristocracy that owned and inherited across Norway, Sweden and Denmark in the union period, and that large sums of money passed through kinship and marriage. The letter does not say whether Helena was Philippa's mother or stepmother.
People: Sigurd Jonsson, Philippa av Eberstein