Full remission at the hour of death for Erling and Elin
DN 6/175 · 13 June 1345 · Villeneuve
What the letter says
Pope Clement VI grants on 13 June 1345 to the knight Erling Vidkunsson and his wife Elin the right that the confessor they choose may, once at the hour of death, give them full remission for all sins they repent and confess. The condition is that they hold fast to the faith and to obedience towards the church and the pope. If they have wronged others, they themselves or their heirs must make it good. If they sin more because they rely on this grace, it shall not apply to those sins.
The letter in modern English
Clement, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved son, the noble man Erling Vidkunsson, knight, and his beloved daughter in Christ, the noble lady Elin, his wife, in the diocese of Nidaros, greeting and apostolic blessing. It comes from the devout affection with which you revere us and the Roman Church that we admit your petitions to the grace of a hearing, especially those that concern the salvation of your souls. Therefore, inclined to your petitions, we grant your devotion by this letter that the confessor whom each of you chooses may by apostolic authority give you full remission of all sins of which you are contrite in heart and have confessed with your mouth, once only, at the hour of death, provided that you persist in the sincerity of the faith, in unity with the Holy Roman Church and in obedience and devotion to us or our successors, the Roman pontiffs canonically entering office. Yet in such a way that the same confessor, in those matters where satisfaction must be made to another, enjoins you to make it yourselves if you survive, or through your heirs if you should then have passed away, and this you or they shall be bound to do, as stated.
Original text
Clemens episc. s. s. d. dilecto filio nobili viro Erlingo Wichkunni militi, et dilecte in Christo filie nobili mulieri Elene eius vxori Nidrosiensis diocesis salutem et apostol#. benedict. Prouenit ex uestre deuotionis affectu quo nos et Romanam ecclesiam reueremini ut petitiones uestras illas presertim que animarum uestrarum salutem respiciant ad exauditionis gratiam admittamus.
Background
Such a plenary indulgence at the hour of death was a sought-after privilege among magnates in the late Middle Ages, because it promised that the soul would escape punishment for its sins after death. The letter belongs with the letter of 11 June, which gave Erling and Elin the right to choose a confessor. The condition of making amends for wrongs to others shows that forgiveness did not remove the duty to compensate, which was also a legal principle in Norway. Erling died ten years later, in 1355.
People: Erling Vidkunsson, Elin Toresdatter