Attorneys for Nils Lykke's children in Deventer
DN 6/742 · 26 August 1540 · Bergen
What the letter says
Tord Rod, commander of Bergenhus, Master Geble Pederssøn, superintendent, and Jens Splid announce in Bergen on 26 August 1540 that fru Ingerd Ottesdatter appeared before them as grandmother of Sir Nils Lykke's two children, Nils and Helvig. At her wish and with her consent they appoint Niclaes Venraedt, chief notary of Deventer, and the Bergen traders Johan Drake and Johan van Halteren as attorneys. They are to claim and receive the half-barrel of money, silver and jewels that Archbishop Olav Engelbrektsson had given the burgher Johan de Qwade in Deventer for safekeeping.
The letter in modern English
I, Tord Rod, commander of Bergenhus on behalf of our most gracious lord, His Royal Majesty of Denmark, etc., Master Geble Pederssøn, superintendent, and Jens Splid, well-born, make known, manifest and public and testify with our open writing that in the year 1540, on the 26th day of August, the well-born fru Ingerd Ottesdatter appeared before us as grandmother of the two children of the late Sir Nils Lykke, knight, named Nils and Helvig. She asked us to help and advise her and the under-age, fatherless children and, for the sake of God and justice, to assist in their rightful causes, so that on the children's behalf she might have empowered men to whom she could give sufficient authority in their rightful causes according to all secular and canon law, to claim the said property. This concerns the half-barrel that is in Deventer, which the archbishop of Trondheim, Olav Engelbrektsson, delivered in trust to the burgher Johan de Qwade in Deventer. The half-barrel with the goods in it, and also with the archbishop's own handwriting, was brought to Deventer by that same Johan de Qwade and handed on against a receipt, and it is still there and kept in safekeeping.
Original text
Jck Tuurd Ruddt hopmann vp Bergerhuys van weghen vnsses alregnedichsten heeren koenynglicke magestadt tho Dannemarcken etc. meyster Gebell Peterssonn superattendent Joennss Splith wolboeren, doen kundt witlick vnnd apenbaer betuegende myth vnssenn apenyn schrifften dath ahm jaer dussenth viffhunderth vertich des sessvndtwintigesten daeges Augusti voer vnss erschenen syntt de wolgebaerene ffruwe Jngerdth Ottesdocter als eene oldemoeder der beyden kynderen van seligenn hernn Nils Lucken ridder
Background
By then the case of the jewels in Deventer had been going on for more than a year (DN 5/1095 and 5/1096). The letter gives the names of Nils Lykke's children, Nils and Helvig, and shows that fru Inger pursued the case as their guardian. Tord Rod was the new commander of Bergenhus, and Geble Pederssøn was the first Lutheran superintendent, that is, bishop, in Bergen after the Reformation. Jens Splid was married to one of fru Inger's daughters and is named as her son-in-law in 1547 (DN 1/1108). That the king's commander and the head of the new church stood behind the power of attorney gave it weight against the opposing party in Deventer. Bergen traders (Bergenfarere) were merchants from the Hanseatic towns who traded with Bergen, and Deventer in the Netherlands belonged to the Hanseatic network. The letter survives only as a loose copy or translation in the Deventer archives.
People: Ingerd Ottesdatter (fru Inger)