The land register of Trondenes church and the chapels, with Bjarkøy
DN 6/302 · [c. 1370-80] · Nidaros
What the letter says
The canons of the cathedral chapter in Nidaros list the land that belonged to Trondenes church and the chapel churches Ibestad, Kvæfjord, Bjarkøy, Tranøy, Sand and Lenvik, around 1370 to 1380. For each farm it states how much rent the church received, measured in spann and pund of butter, and often how much it had been before. The list distinguishes between gifts from before and after the Black Death, and mentions among other things that Erling the farmer at Bjarkøy gave half a spann's rent to Bjarkøy church in 1264 for his soul.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
The canons in the chapter in Nidaros send all men who see or hear this letter God's greeting and their own, and make known that the lands named further down in this roll belong to Trondenes church and the chapel churches that lie under it, as follows here. They were given before the great mortality (the Black Death). The lands that were given after the great mortality are written up there in the north in the books of hours and the missals. These lands belong to Trondenes church, for the upkeep of the priest. First: the parsonage at Trondenes, whole, 12 spann's rent (spannsleie: land rent measured in spann, a unit for butter). At Hol two parts of the property, 2 spann, was formerly 5. At Harakka 2 spann, two parts of the property. At Ketilshus a third of the property, added to the parsonage. At Hauklond 2 pund, was formerly 2 spann. At Steinsland 1 spann, was formerly 3 spann. At Valustad 1 pund, was formerly 1 spann. In Leiruvåg 2 spann's rent, and later Halldor in Kasafjord gave half a spann's rent. In Leiruvåg one and a half spann. At Gamabjorg 2 spann, was formerly 4. At Hals 2 pund, was formerly 1 spann. At Teistahals 3 spann, the whole property. At Bergseng two and a half spann. At Skjeldreksvik 2 spann. At Slakstad 1 spann. At Tærvoll 2 spann, old and from a division [uncertain reading], and later Eirik Angerdarson gave one spann's rent of the four spann's rents that remained. In Midbjorg 1 spann, a fifth of the property. At Vebolstad 1 spann, half the propert
Original text (excerpt)
Allom mannom þeim sem þetta bref sea eder høyra. senda korsbrøder capitulum j Nidaros quediu gudes oc sina kunnikt gerande at swa margar jarder. sem hær sidharæ mæire nempnast j þessare rollo. liggia til Þrondanæs kirkiu oc þæira flæira capellukirkna sem vndir hona liggia, sem hær eftir fylghia. oc gefnar varo firir stora mandaudhan. En þær jarder som eptir stora mandaudan vaaro giæfnar. standa þar norder scrifwader jnne j aaltiids bookene oc messo bookene. Þæssar jarder liggia til Þrondanes kir
Background
This is a land register (jordebok), a list of the church's properties and revenues, partly copied from older lists. Such lists were made so that the church could collect the rent and prove what it owned. Many farms now pay far less than before, for example 2 spann where it was formerly 5, and this suggests that the Black Death in 1349 and the years after had left many farms deserted or worth less. The rent was paid in butter, and spann and pund are weight measures for butter; in northern Norway butter and fish were the usual means of payment. Bjarkøy was the chief seat of the Bjarkøy family, and the Erling at Bjarkøy who gave land in 1264 was probably one of the chieftains there, perhaps Erling Ivarsson, father of Bjarne Erlingsson, but the letter says no more about who he was. The note that the Karelians burned the parsonage in Lenvik is a reminder that in the first half of the 1300s there were Russian and Karelian raids in northern Norway.
People: Erling Ivarsson