Sigurd and Jon Havtoresson counted among the most powerful in Norway
HR I,1 nr. 383 · 1366 Jun. 24 · Lübeck
What the letter says
The envoys of the maritime towns, gathered in Lübeck on Midsummer Day 1366, write to the aldermen and the common merchant of the German Hansa in Bergen. They have written to King Håkon asking him to return three ships with their cargo that Norwegians had taken, and reminded him that under the old privileges the merchants are to be safe in the realm for a year and a day even if conflict arises. They have also written to Archbishop Olav of Nidaros, the bishops of Bergen and Stavanger, Ågmund Finnsson and the brothers Sigurd and Jon Havtoresson, knights, because these were the most powerful in the land. The merchants in Bergen are asked to keep the peace with the Norwegians, not to look down on them, and to restrain the loose tongues among them.
The letter in modern English
To the prudent and honourable men, the aldermen and the common merchant of the German Hansa who are in Bergen, their dear friends, the councillors of the maritime towns, gathered in Lübeck in the year of the Lord 1366 on the feast of the nativity of St John the Baptist [24 June], send as much honour, advancement, prosperity and health as they can. By this letter we wish to let you know that on behalf of you and the common merchant we have sent letters to the lords named below. First to Sir Håkon, King of Norway. We asked him in the best manner and with the greatest zeal we could to return the ship of the skipper Little Arnold and the ship Grawecop of Rostock, both taken and carried off at Gethckor [uncertain place] by Dorkelinus Harun [uncertain name], and likewise the ship of Angelbeke, which his vassals took at Zuderwiderholmen [uncertain place], with their goods, or at least to see that they are compensated. We asked him to keep God and justice before his eyes, and our willing service, and to keep inviolably the old privileges granted to the merchants by his predecessors. That is, if strife or enmity should arise between the King of Norway on the one side and the towns of the German Hansa on the other, which God forbid, the merchants of these towns are still to be safe and secure in his realm and in all his lands for a year and a day, with food, life and property. The merch
Original text
Circumspectis viris ac honorandis, aldermannis ac communi mercatori hanse Theutonice Berghis existentibus, amicis sibi dilectis, consules civitatum maritimarum anno Domini 1366, festo nativitatis beati Johannis baptiste Lubeke congregati, quantum poterunt honoris, promocionis, prosperitatis et salutis. Dileccionibus vestris insinuare conamur presencium per tenorem, nos pro vobis et communi mercatore nostras legasse litteras ad dominos subscriptos. Primo ad dominum Haquinum, regem Norwegie, rogan
Background
Sigurd Havtoresson (d. c. 1392) of Sudreim was married to Ingebjørg Erlingsdatter, the heiress of Giske, and his brother Jon Havtoresson was a knight and councillor of the realm. The brothers were grandsons of King Håkon V through their mother and so cousins of King Magnus Eriksson. The towns name them right after the churchmen and Ågmund Finnsson, who in 1369 is called drottsete (HR I,1 nr. 506), and the reason given is that they were «the most powerful in the land» and knew its needs. The letter was written at the same meeting as the record HR I,1 nr. 376, where the letters to the king and the magnates are also mentioned (§ 28). Four years later, in 1370, Hanseatic merchants put pressure on Sigurd Havtoresson in the royal residence in Bergen (SDHK 9730). The places where the ships were taken, «Gethckor» and «Zuderwiderholmen», have not been securely identified.
People: Sigurd Havtoresson