The Council of the Realm answers King Christopher from Lödöse
DN 5/707 · udat. [9 Febr. 1441.] · Lödese
What the letter says
The Norwegian Council of the Realm writes from Lödöse, probably in February 1441, to King Christopher. The council had been sent there by the drottsete Sigurd Jonsson to meet the king's envoys Nisse Eriksson and Albrekt Bydelsbak, but the envoys had only a letter of credence and no authority to negotiate. The council points out that they had already promised from Sarpsborg to send plenipotentiaries, and says that they will come to the meeting in Kalmar with full authority, because two journeys in a short time would be too costly and cumbersome.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
To the most exalted prince etc. First all that is fitting in the Lord. Worthy prince and gracious lord. We have received Your Grace's letter, which you have now sent us with Your worthy envoys Nisse Eriksson and Albrekt Bydelsbak. We have understood it well and received it with humility and reverence. Your Grace shall know that we have now been here in Lödöse. Our drottsete (Sigurd Jonsson) sent us here, and we expected that here we should meet Your Grace's fully empowered envoys and procurators, so that from them we could understand, hear and learn more of what Your Grace wished, and so that the affairs of the realm could be dealt with and considered more thoroughly and completely, as is needed. But we could not notice or understand anything other than that Your Grace had given them no other power or command than what Your Grace's letter of credence shows, namely that we should trust them as Your Grace's envoys. They told us and gave us to understand that it is Your Grace's will that the fully empowered envoys of the realm of Norway should come to Kalmar. Dear gracious lord, Your Grace will surely remember that the drottsete, we and others of the realm's council and men wrote to Your Grace from Sarpsborg that our fully empowered envoys would come to Your Grace. So Your Grace shall also know that they will gladly come to Kalmar at Your Grace's invitation, with full power and authority to do and complete together with Your Grace what will then be more closely agreed, for the preservation and be
Original text (excerpt)
Serenissimo principi etc. Premissis in domino omnibus debite premittendis. Werdhoghe første ok nadhoghe herra. jdhars nadhes breff feingo wj som j oss nw sende medh jdhar werdhugha sendebudh. Nisse Eriksson ok Albrikth Bydhelsbak. ok haffuer wi thet well vndirstandit ok medh ødhmiukt ok werdhugheit vntfangit. Swa ma idhar nadh ok witha. at wy haffwa nw her warit j Lødhosa. ok sende waar drotzæte oss hijt ok formoddo wj oss. at her skulde oss ok møøt hafua jdhar nadhes fulmektughe sendebudh ok pr
Background
The union king Eric of Pomerania had been deposed in Denmark and Sweden, and his nephew Christopher of Bavaria had been elected king there. Norway held on to Eric longer, and Christopher was only acclaimed as Norwegian king in 1442. Sigurd Jonsson, daughter's son of Ingeborg Erlingsdatter and owner of Giske, was then drottsete (steward of the realm) and led the Council of the Realm in the negotiations. A letter of credence only showed that the envoy spoke on the king's behalf, while a full power gave the right to enter into agreements. Lödöse was a Swedish trading town on the Göta älv close to the border, and Kalmar was the place where the union meetings were often held. The letter shows that the Norwegian council took care to negotiate with full authority and would not be overruled on the union question. The letter is preserved as a copy in a letter book.
People: Sigurd Jonsson