Krummedike: Vincens and fru Inger rule harshly
DN 23/198 · [3 august 1529] · [Oslo]
What the letter says
Herr Henrik Krummedike writes from Oslo at the beginning of August 1529 to his son-in-law Eske Bille in Bergen about family matters and errands. Knut Gyldenstierne is willing to take Eske's son Per, and Eske's letters to the king and to friends have been sent on. Henrik writes that doctor Vincens Lunge and fru Inger Ottesdatter keep a harsh rule in their part of the country, and advises Eske to involve himself in it as little as possible. The next day Henrik is to go to court against Vincens over the inheritance of Otte Holgersson Rosenkrantz's children and over his own claims in Morlanda and Brøden with the estates belonging to them.
The letter in modern English
Dear Eske, as you write that I should send little Jørgen to school, you shall know that he has been in Næstved ever since Whitsunday, and it does him no harm [uncertain reading]. As you also write about Per Bille, that you would like to place him with Knut Gyldenstierne, you shall know that Knut is here with Duke Christian, and I spoke with him about it. He then promised me that he will gladly have him, and says that he has promised you this before, and I expect that he will not stay long up here. Dear Eske, you shall also know that the opportunity did not arise for me to send Stig to Denmark, for he had to go straight back to Bergen to you on important business, as you will surely learn from him when, God willing, he reaches you. Nevertheless all your errands that he was charged with, to His Royal Majesty both in writing and by word of mouth, have been dispatched with one of our gracious lord's courtiers, Drage, who shall not tarry night or day until he comes back to us with answers to all your letters and spoken messages. And your letters to Anne, Sofie and several of your friends I have all duly dispatched and sent according to your own instructions and letters. Dear brother-in-law, it seems to me that doctor Vincens and fru Ingerd keep a hard service [a harsh rule] in that end of the country. I advise you to involve yourself in it as little as you can.
Original text
Kære Esge som j skriue at jegh skulle senne Jøren lille tiil skolle daa maa j vide han hauer væredt j Nestedh alt siden pinsdagh oc skaer jnthet. Som j oc skriue om Per Bille at j ville haue ham tiil Knut Gyllenstern daa maa j vide at Knut er her hos hertugh Kristiern oc talledh jeck met ham der om daa lauet han megh han vil gerne hauen oc sier at han hauer lauet eder deth til ffarren oc fformoder jeck at han tøuer her jcke lenge oppe.
Background
Henrik Krummedike was a Danish-Norwegian councillor of the realm who had come to Oslo with Duke Christian, and his daughter Sofie was married to Eske Bille, the new commander of Bergenhus. The letter is a copy in Krummedike's own hand, and the end is missing. By "that end of the country" he probably means Trøndelag and northern Norway, where fru Inger and Vincens Lunge held fiefs and large estates. The tiendegave and fjerdingsgave were gifts made on marriage, reckoned as a tenth or a quarter of the property, and Henrik claimed such gifts in Morlanda, which lies on Orust in Bohuslän. The dispute over the inheritance of Otte Holgersson Rosenkrantz's children also concerned fru Inger, as several letters from the same summer show.
People: Ingerd Ottesdatter (fru Inger)