Bishop Håkon advises Bjarne Erlingsson to be patient
DN 8/124 · 19 January 1340 · Bergen
What the letter says
Bishop Håkon of Bergen writes on 19 January 1340 to Bjarne Erlingsson. He explains that he did not come to the meeting in Tunsberg the previous summer because he feared the winter and was unsure how it would be received if he came without being summoned. He has heard that Bjarne has worries in his affairs, and asks him to win through with patience and wisdom without haste, even if some advise otherwise. Finally he thanks Bjarne for what he has done for Sira Gisbrekt, who is now a canon and holds St Laurence's Church.
The letter in modern English (excerpt)
To Bjarne Erlingsson. God thank you for the loving letter we last received from you. From it we understood that you were somewhat displeased that we did not meet in Tunsberg this summer. That was due to certain circumstances on our side, and to the approach of winter, which we feared somewhat, as it turned out for those who travelled later. Nor did we know how certain people would take it if we had come there with uninvited curiosity [uncertain interpretation] when we had not been summoned. Since then we have understood from a friend of yours and ours that you have some worries about the matters that concern you. We ask you to take God as your strength, so that he may be your patience, and that you win through with patience and wisdom, without any kind of haste or anything else that is unbecoming, even if there are some who would advise otherwise. And we trust that with God's will you will do so, for God can bring everything to a good end if trust and longing are placed in his hand. Here there is almost no news, apart from what Simon will write to you. We thank you greatly for the good you have done for Sira Gisbrekt, who is now our korsbror (canon) and holds St Laurence's Church. He himself will gladly thank you, and with good reason. Ask us for whatever you wish. God keep you and all that is yours with his grace and mercy without end. Written in Bergen on the day before the feast of Fabian and Sebastian (20 January) 1340.
Original text (excerpt)
Ad Bernonem Erlingi. Gud þakke ydr firir kærleght bref. er ver fenghom neest af yðr. vndirstoðom ver þar med at yðr mislijkade nokot. at vit funnumst ikki j sumar. j. Tunsberghi. volldo þui nokor so vaar tilfoll. ok vetrar nauist er ver nokot ottaðomzst. sem raun gaf af þæim sem seinna foro. æighi vissum ver ok hworsu sumir vildi vyrda. ef ver hefdim þar komet med faskyrri foruitni sem ver æighi kallaðr varom vndirstodom ver sijdan. af æinum ydrum ok vaarom vin. nokora so ydra mœde. vm þa luti e
Background
Bjarne Erlingsson the younger (died 1353) was the son of Erling Vidkunsson, who had been drottsete until 1332. Bishop Håkon Erlingsson of Bergen was a learned and politically active man who stood close to the circle around Erling, and a number of private letters from him are preserved. At the end of the 1330s relations between King Magnus Eriksson and the Norwegian magnates were tense, and there were negotiations between them, among other places in Tunsberg in 1339. The advice to stay calm and not let himself be pressed by others suggests that Bjarne was in a difficult position, but the letter does not say what his affairs concerned. The letter is a private letter, and such letters are rare sources for how the magnates talked to each other and gave each other advice. St Laurence's Church lay in Bergen, and a korsbror was a canon of the cathedral.
People: Bjarne Erlingsson den yngre