Philippa receives nine farms in pledge
DN 5/735 · 12 March 1446 · Stockholm
What the letter says
The squire Fikke Bylow announces in Stockholm on 12 March 1446 that he has pledged Noteby with nine farms, which he inherited from his nephew Henrik Bylow, to Lady Philippa, daughter of Count Hans, for 200 Stockholm marks. If the property is not redeemed by Easter in a year's time, Philippa is to own it for ever as compensation for her loss and expenses. If she loses any of the farms by a court case, Fikke is to give her equally good property within six weeks. The knight Kolbjørn Gerst and the hundred chief Peder Nilsson of Vartofta hundred seal with him.
The letter in modern English
All good men who hear or see this letter, I, Fikke Bylow, squire, greet lovingly with God. I make known to all honest men, both those who are now and those who are to come, that I have pledged to the well-born woman Lady Philippa, daughter of Sir Count Hans, Noteby with all the property that lies under it, which is nine farms that I inherited from my brother's son Henrik Bylow, for 200 Stockholm marks. It shall be so that the said Lady Philippa shall hold this property freely and unhindered as a pledge until Easter a year from now. Further: if the property is not redeemed again for 200 Stockholm marks by Easter a year from now, as is written, then the said Lady Philippa shall own and keep the property in perpetual ownership, from Fikke Bylow and his heirs and to Lady Philippa and her heirs, for her loss and expenses. Further: if any of this property, one farm or more, is lawfully taken from her, then I bind myself and my heirs to give equally good property, equally well placed, in return within six weeks after. Further: if this property is not redeemed on the day and in the year that is written, then I, Fikke Bylow, bind myself and my heirs to pay out these 200 Stockholm marks honestly, without objection or new devices, on my good faith and honour [so the letter reads].
Original text
Alle the godhe men som thettæ breff høre eller se helser jach Ffikke Bylow aff wapn kerlighen med gudh. gører jach alle donde men witerlich sa nærwerende som kommaschulande at jach haffuer panth sath welborne quinno ffrv Philippa her grewe Hanis dotter Noteby med alt thet godz som ther vnder liger som er ix gardhe som jach erffde effter min broder son Henrich Bylow ffore ij hundrat Stokholmz mark j sa matte at fornemde ffrw Philippa schal thette forscriffue godz friith oc ffrielsth følgia fore
Background
Philippa was the daughter of Count Hans of Eberstein and married to Sigurd Jonsson, and here she acts as a lender in her own right. Her father had held Gripsholm in Sweden as a pledge for a large loan to the crown, and the year after this letter the pledge sum was divided between Sigurd and Philippa and her stepmother or mother Helena (DN 2/774). A pledge like this was a loan with land as security: the lender could use the property, and if the loan was not repaid in time, the land became hers. Noteby probably lay in Västergötland, where Vartofta hundred lay. A note on the back says that Lady Philippa «bought» the nine farms, which suggests that the pledge was never redeemed. Later Philippa also gave away her morning gift, Fiskedim in Västergötland (DN 18/87).
People: Philippa av Eberstein