Sigurd Havtoresson claims back the farm Åmot in Värmland
DN 3/308 · udat. [c. 1359.] · uden Sted
What the letter says
Around 1359 Sigurd Havtoresson writes to Birger Djekn, lawman in Värmland, because the lawman has judged the farm Åmot in Ed parish away from him without Sigurd or his representative being summoned. Sigurd points out that Mistress Elin and Andor Petersson gave him the land to own for ever, and asks that the case rest until Sir Erik comes home to Värmland. He offers to buy the other party's share or to sell his own. The letter is preserved in a vidisse from Sunne in 1399, together with a letter of exchange from 1355, a royal letter from 1357 and a judgement from 1359 concerning the same farm.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
God be with you, my good friend Birger Djekn, lawman in Värmland. I, Sigurd Havtoresson, greet you with God. I make known to you that I have received letters from you and several other good men in Värmland, saying that you have judged away from me my land Åmot, which lies in the same province. It is the same land that Mistress Elin [Ølyyn] and Andor Petersson gave me to own for ever, free and with lawful title against any man and without claims from others, in the presence of good men, as evidence and documents show. Neither I nor my rightful representative was summoned, as Norway's law and the law of Värmland require: that no lawman shall judge a man's property away from him before the owner or his rightful representative has been summoned. I will help every man to his right here in the land and never rob any man's property or let it be wrongfully robbed. Therefore I also ask you not to take this land from me before Sir Erik comes home again to Värmland, unless you own half [uncertain reading]. In that case grant me your share in the land for its full value, or buy my share from me. God keep you. Endorsement: Editor's note: To understand this letter one must include the vidisse (the certified copy) and the other letters in it, which otherwise do not concern Norway. The vidisse reads as follows: To all who see this letter, Johannes Algutsson, Dag of the hospital in Lödöse, Nikolaus of Husaby, canons in Skara, Peter, parish priest at Tingvalla
Original text (excerpt)
Gud zay med ider min godhe vin Birger diekn logmanne j Værmalandæ. Ek Sighurder Haffþoreson heilsar yder med gudhi kunnighar ek yder at ek fek bref af yder ok flerom odhrum godhom mannum j Vermelande swa latande at þeer haffuer døømt fra mik mina iordh Amooth sæim ligger j sama lantskap. þa samu iord sem mik gaf hustru Ølyyn ok Andor Petersson til euerdelika æighu frialsæ ok heimola firir hworium manne ok akiærslalausa ok godom monnom nærwarande sæim prof ok skilriki hittiz til. nw var ek eighi
Background
Sigurd Havtoresson of Sudreim in Romerike was a grandson through his mother of King Håkon V and married Ingeborg Erlingsdatter, who in 1354 received Giske from her father Erling Vidkunsson. The letter shows that the Sudreim family also owned land in Värmland, which was possible because Norway and Sweden had a common king, Magnus Eriksson, in these years. According to the other letters in the vidisse, Åmot was exchanged away in 1355 and awarded to a Bjørn (Bero) Djekn at the provincial assembly in 1359, so Sigurd's claim stood against a judgement that had already been given. A vidisse is a certified copy in which trustworthy men confirm that they have seen the original letters undamaged; such copies were made when a letter was to be used as evidence somewhere else or long afterwards. That a summons was required before a lawman could judge away a man's property was a basic principle in both Norwegian and Värmland law, and Sigurd builds his whole case on it. Sir Erik is probably Erik Ketilsson Puke, a Swedish magnate with power in Värmland, but the identification is uncertain.
People: Sigurd Havtoresson