Otte Matsson claims Store-Bor in Skogn
DN 5/952 · 30 Septbr. 1490 · Bergen
What the letter says
At the royal estate in Bergen on 30 September 1490, Archbishop Gaute, Bishop Hans of Bergen, Provost Christiern Pedersson, Lord Alv Knutsson, Didrik Pining and Lawman Erlend Frakk judged a case about the farm Store-Bor in Skogn. Dean Trond of Trondheim and Katrin, widow of Bertel Jensson, conducted the case for Bertel's heirs. Bertel had bought the farm from Lord Jakob Matsson, and now his brother Lord Otte Matsson claimed it on the basis of a letter about an agreement between the brothers concerning the lands of both. Otte did not have the letter with him, so the court gave him twelve months to produce it, and meanwhile Bertel's heirs were to keep the farm and collect the land rent.
The letter in modern English
We, Gaute, by the grace of God archbishop of Nidaros and papal legatus natus [standing papal legate], Hans, by the same grace bishop of Bergen, Christiern Pedersson, provost of the Apostles' Church, Lord Alv Knutsson, knight, Didrik Pining, squire, and Erlend Frakk, lawman in Bergen, make known with this our open letter that we were at the royal estate in Bergen on the Thursday next after Michaelmas in the year of the Lord 1490 [30 September]. Then there came before us in court on the one side Master Trond, dean in Trondheim, and Mistress Katrin, Bertel Jensson's surviving widow, on behalf of Bertel Jensson's heirs, and on the other side the well-born man Lord Otte Matsson, knight. They went to law over landed property which the said Bertel Jensson had bought from Lord Jakob Matsson, the said Lord Otte's brother, called Storebor and lying in Skogn in Trøndelag. We then examined letters and evidence on both sides, and Lord Otte said that he had a letter concerning a purchase and settlement that he had made with his brother Lord Jakob about the landed property of them both. And since he did not have that letter at hand, we judged that the said letter should be brought into court within the next twelve months. Until then Bertel's heirs shall keep the property and collect the land rent, and Lord Otte shall not concern himself with it until they are separated by law.
Original text
Vij Gawto meth gudz nadh erkebiskop i Nidrooss ock paweliges settis legatus Hans medh sama nadh biscop i Berghen Cristiern Pedhersson proffwast ath Appostola kirkia her Alff Knwtsson riddare Diderik Pining aawapn oc Erlend Frak lagman i Berghen gøra witherliget medh thesso woro opno breffwe ath wij worom vppa kongs gardhen i Berghen tordz daghen nesth effter sancti Mikelss dagh anno domini mcdxcmo.
Background
The letter brings two of the family's men into the same courtroom. Alv Knutsson sits among the judges, and Otte Matsson (Rømer) is a party to the case. Both became heirs of Junker Hans at the division the same year. Didrik Pining, who also judges, was a captain, hirdstjore (royal governor) of Iceland and commander at Vardøhus. Otte's claim rested on an agreement with his brother Jakob to divide or exchange their lands, and the case shows how much written evidence weighed: without the letter he lost his right to the farm for a time. Skogn lies in Trøndelag, where the Rømer family held land, and Austrått on Ørland was their seat.
People: Otte Matsson (Rømer), Alv Knutsson