Hartvig Krummedike gives up his letters of pledge
DN 2/822 · 21 January 1458 · Skara
What the letter says
In Skara on 21 January 1458, the knight Hartvig Krummedike declares that King Christian I and the council have reconciled him with the people of Norway. Excepted is the claim Alv Knutsson has against him. Krummedike therefore gives up all letters of pledge and letters of enfeoffment he has received from the king, apart from pledged property his wife has inherited in Denmark, and he remits all the debt the king owes him.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
All men who see this letter or hear it read, I, Hartvig Krummedike, knight, greet eternally in our Lord. I make known with this my open letter the following. My gracious lord King Christian has now together with his honest council from Denmark and Sweden mediated, separated and settled all the quarrel and discord that has been between me and the good men who live and dwell in Norway, lay and learned, whoever they may be. Excepted is the claim Sir Alv Knutsson says he has against me, as the open letters given about it show. My gracious lord has also now turned a blind eye to and graciously forgiven all the case and right His Grace had against me in disputes and cases. Therefore I have renounced, quitclaimed and released, and with this my open letter renounce, quitclaim and release, and declare dead and void, all the letters I have from my gracious lord King Christian, whether they are letters of pledge or other letters of enfeoffment, however they may read, whether they apply for life or for a number of years, short or long time, and whether they apply on my wife's behalf or mine. Excepted, however, are all the pledged properties which my dear wife has received in inheritance after the death of her father and mother, wherever in Denmark they lie. I bind myself and my heirs not to have any claim or right of any kind under the said letters. Further, I give my gracious lord quit, free and released for me and my heirs from all the debt, in gold, silver or
Original text (excerpt)
Alle men thetta breff see eller høre læses helser jæk Hartwigh Krwmedike riddere ewindeligh meth wor herre. Kungør jæk meth thetta mit opne breff, at eptir thy myn nadige herre konung Cristiern nw meth hans ærligha radh aff Danmarck oc Swerike haffuer mød sigh ther om, atskilt oc afflaght haffuer all then trætta oc twedraght, som mellom the gothe mæn som i Norghe byggia oc boo, legh oc lærdh, ehwo the helzt æra, oc mik her til haffuar waret, vnden taghen then skylling her Alff Knwtssøn sigher si
Background
Hartvig Krummedike was a Holstein nobleman in Danish service who had been commander at Akershus and had much power in Norway. Many Norwegians were dissatisfied with him, and the letter is a settlement in which the king buys peace in Norway by having Krummedike let go of fiefs and pledges. A fief was an area where a man governed and collected taxes for the king, and a pledged fief was a fief given as security for money the king owed. Alv Knutsson of Tre Rosor, who later owned Giske, had his own case against Krummedike; the letter does not say what it concerned. Christian I had also become king in Sweden the year before, and that is why both the Danish and the Swedish council were present in Skara.
People: Alv Knutsson