A second witness letter about the estate in Täng
DN 23/66 · 30 juni 1399 · [Digreskytningen i Oslo]
The letter concerns the same settlement as DN 2/560, in which Jon Marteinsson received the estate in Täng. Jon was the son-in-law of Sigurd Havtoresson and Ingebjørg Erlingsdatter and the father of Sigurd Jonsson, who later won Giske.
What the letter says
Torstein Hallvardsson, Olav Andresson, Jon Andresson and Nikolas Magnusson declare that they were present in Digreskytningen in Oslo on the Monday after St Peter's Day, 30 June 1399. There Sir Jon Marteinsson, knight, and Svein Kempe took each other by the hand. Svein gave Jon all the property he owned in Täng in Ås härad in Västergötland, which the parents of Sigge Birgersson had owned. With this Svein was quit of all responsibility for stewardship and accounts and all other claims between them.
The letter in modern English
To all men who see or hear this letter, Torstein Hallvardsson, Olav Andresson, Jon Andresson and Nikolas Magnusson send God's greeting and their own. We make known that on the Monday after St Peter's Day [uncertain reading] in the tenth year of the reign of our worthy lord Sir Erik, by God's grace King of Norway, we were present in Digreskytningen in Oslo. We saw and heard that they took each other by the hand, on the one side the honourable and well-born man Sir Jon Marteinsson, knight, and on the other side Svein Kempe. The condition was that the said Kempe gave and handed over to the said Sir Jon all the property he owns in Täng in Ås härad in Västergötland, which the parents of Sigge Birgersson had owned, and which he has held to this day. It was to be free and warranted and entirely without claim from any man, with all parts and appurtenances that lie or have lain with it from of old and of new, outside the farmyard and within, from Kempe and his heirs to Sir Jon and his heirs as everlasting property. With this Kempe shall be quit and entirely free of all stewardship and all accounts and all other claims that were between them. In truth of this we set our seals to this letter, which was made on the day and in the year stated above (1399). [Endorsement on the back, in a somewhat later hand: «Letter about Täng in Ås härad».]
Original text
Ollom monnom þeim sæm þetta bref sea æder høyra sænda Þorstein Haluardzson Olaf Andresson Jon Andresson ok Nicholis Magnusson quediu gudz ok sina kunnykt gørande at aa manodaghin næsta æfter petars sokko a tiunda are rikis wars virdheliks herra herra Eriks met gudz nadh Noreks kongs j Dighra skytninggenum j Oslo.
Background
The letter concerns the same settlement as DN 2/560, written on the same day and at the same place, with one more witness and slightly different wording. Here it says that Svein shall be free of all «vmbodh ok rækinskap», that is, the stewardship and accounts he had kept for Jon. This strengthens the impression that Svein had been Jon's ombudsmann (estate steward), and that the land was payment for what he owed. The animal horn is not mentioned in this version. Jon Marteinsson of the Rømer family was the son-in-law of Sigurd Havtoresson and Ingebjørg Erlingsdatter and the father of Sigurd Jonsson, who later won Giske. It was common to make more than one letter about the same transaction, so that both parties could have their proof.
People: Jon Marteinsson