Alv Knutsson buys farms in Hedmark, Toten and Romerike
DN 2/834 · 24 August 1460 · Grefsheim
What the letter says
At Grefsheim on 24 August 1460, the squire Brynjulf Knutsson sells two farms in Austdal in Nes in Hedmark, a farm in Noreim in Kolbu on Toten and the whole of Finnestad in Eidsvoll to Sir Alv Knutsson and his wife Lady Magnhild Oddsdatter. Brynjulf declares that he has received full payment. If the land does not become free for the buyers, he is to provide equally good land instead.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
To all who see or hear this letter, Brynjulf Knutsson, squire, sends God's greeting and his own, and makes known with this my open letter that I have sold to the well-born man Sir Alv Knutsson and Lady Magnhild Oddsdatter, his wife, these lands of mine: two farms in Austdal, which lie in Ullinshof [Wllenshofs] parish in Nes in Hedmark, and one farm in Noreim, which lies in Kolbu on Toten. These lands my father, God have mercy on his soul, inherited from his kinswoman Mistress Sigrid Ivarsdatter, of blessed memory. Further, the whole of Finnestad, which lies in Eidsvoll parish in Romerike, and which I inherited from my father Knut Brynjulfsson. These lands I have sold with all lutter og lunnende [all the rights and appurtenances that belong to it] that lie with them or have lain with them of old and of new, outside the fence and inside, without any exception, from me and my heirs and under Sir Alv Knutsson and Lady Magnhild Oddsdatter and their heirs to own for ever, free and warranted against every man. Should these lands not become free for Sir Alv and Lady Magnhild, I bind myself and my heirs to provide them with other equally good lands instead. I also acknowledge that I have received the first penny and the last and all in between, according to what we agreed in the purchase, so that I am well content. In truth and further testimony of this I hang my seal under this letter, which was made at Grefsheim on St Bartholomew's Day (24 Augu
Original text (excerpt)
Ollom monnom þeim sem þetta bref sia eder heyra sender Bryniolfer Knwtzson wepnare q. guds ok sina kunught gørande med þesso mino opno brefwe at iek hafwer selt welbornom manne her Alf Knwtzson ok frw Magnilde Odzdotter hans hustru þessa myna iarder som er ij gardha i Austalom eer liggia i Wllenshofs sokn aa Nesi a Heidmark, ok j gard i Noræime er ligger i Kolabw aa Þotne, hwilka iarder myn fader gud hans saal nade erfde eftir sina frendkoo hustru Sigride Jfuarsdotter godar aminnighar, ok alt Fi
Background
Alv Knutsson of Tre Rosor was a daughter's son of Katarina Jonsdatter and later became owner of Giske. He and Lady Magnhild Oddsdatter had the manor farm Grefsheim in Nes in Hedmark, and a number of letters show how they built up a large landed estate in eastern Norway through purchase and exchange. This is a deed of purchase, a document that proved that the right of ownership had been transferred, and which the buyer kept in case anyone later laid claim to the land. The formula that the seller is to provide equally good land if the purchase is challenged is called hjemmel (warranty) and was a common guarantee. The expression «lutter og lunnende» means everything belonging to the farm in rights and appurtenances. Accumulating estates of this kind was typical of the nobility in the late Middle Ages, when many farms lay deserted after the Black Death and land was cheaper to acquire.
People: Alv Knutsson, Magnhild Oddsdatter