Fru Inger's servants receive money for 20 våg of fish
DN 9/747 · 20 March 1534 · Throndhjem
What the letter says
Anders Madsen and Sigurd Torkelsson declare in Trondheim on 20 March 1534 that they have received 10 joachimsthalers from Archbishop Olav. The money was payment for the 20 våg of fish the archbishop owed fru Ingerd according to the account Sir Jens Olsson had drawn up at Austrått. If fru Ingerd would rather have the fish, the money is to be returned, and then 20 våg of fish and 1 øre are to be paid at Kråkvåg or elsewhere in the fief.
The letter in modern English
We, the undersigned Anders Madsen and Sigurd Torkelsson, acknowledge with this our open letter that we have received and collected from the most reverend father and lord, Lord Olav, by God's grace Archbishop of Trondheim and legate of the papal see, 10 joachimsthalers [large silver coins] for the 20 våg of fish [one våg is c. 18 kg] which the said lord archbishop came to owe our lady, fru Ingerd, in the account which Sir Jens Olsson reckoned up at Austrått and gave his handwriting on. This is done on the condition and proviso that if the said fru Ingerd will not accept or agree to what has now been done about the said money, and demands the fish according to the said handwriting, then she shall deliver or have delivered the 10 joachimsthalers back to the said lord archbishop, and then 20 våg of fish and 1 øre shall be delivered and paid at Kråkvåg or elsewhere there in the fief. For further certainty in this we press our signet below on this letter, which is written in Trondheim on the Friday after Laetare [20 March] in the year after God's birth 1534. [Under the drawn house mark:] Anders Madsen. [On the back:] Anders Madsen's and Sigurd Torkelsson's letter.
Original text
Thess bekennis wi effterscreffne Andres Masson och Siurd Torkilson met detthe wort obne breffh att wii haffue anammett och vpbaareth affh werdegeste ffader och herre her Oluff mett gudz naadhe erkebysp vdy Trondheym och paauelige sedis legate x Jochimdaler ffor dhe xx waager ffisk som ffornemdhe her erkebysp bleffh wor ffrue ffru Jngerd skyldigh y then rekenskaff som her Ienss Olson recknett paa Østrott och der paa vtgaff syn handscrifft mett saa skell och fforord om ffornemdhe ffru Jngerd icke
Background
Anders Madsen and Sigurd Torkelsson were fru Inger's servants, and she also sent them with her seal to the archbishop in April that year. Stockfish was still a common means of payment along the coast, and a våg was about 18 kilos. The letter shows that 20 våg of fish were reckoned equal to 10 joachimsthalers, large silver coins from Joachimsthal in Bohemia that had become common in the North. Kråkvåg lies on Ørland, near Austrått. The reservation suggests that the servants were not sure that fru Inger would accept money instead of fish. The archbishop's note that he had paid 10 joachimsthalers stands on the list of his debts to her.
People: Ingerd Ottesdatter (fru Inger)