Counterfeit goods brought to Bergen to be confiscated
HUB 2 nr. 496 · 1330 Dec. 12 · Oslo
Erling Vidkunsson of Bjarkøy and Giske was drottsete for the young King Magnus. His seal beside the king's on the ordinance against adulterated goods in Bergen was to show that the council of the realm stood behind it.
What the letter says
King Magnus Eriksson announces in Oslo on 12 December 1330 to everyone in Bergen that many have complained that the goods brought there are more adulterated than goods brought anywhere else. Cloth measures fewer ells than it should, and wine, wax, honey, rice, almonds, groats and spices are mixed so that they become useless. From now on all adulterated goods are to be confiscated for the king, and the owner or skipper fined 13 mark and 8 ørtuger, unless he can show with the oath of twelve men that he did not know of the adulteration. The drottsete Erling Vidkunsson set his seal beside the king's.
The letter in modern English
Magnus, by the grace of God King of Norway, Sweden and Gautland, sends to all people in Bergen who see or hear this letter God's greeting and his own. Many people have repeatedly complained before us and our council that the goods brought here are demonstrably far more adulterated than those carried to any other place. This applies to cloth of every kind, which measures many fewer ells than it should and formerly did. Further, wine, wax, honey, rice, almonds, groats, spices and all kinds of other goods are so mixed with various substances that they become quite useless. Since we can no longer tolerate anything of the kind, we make known to all that every adulterated article brought here is to be confiscated for our benefit, and its owner or the man carrying it is to be sentenced to a fine of 8 ørtuger and 13 mark for the offence, unless he can swear with twelve [with eleven compurgators] that he did not know of the adulteration. The goods are confiscated in any case. In witness that our council has consented, Sir Erling Vidkunsson, our drottsete, has set his seal beside our seal on this ordinance, which was given in Oslo on the Wednesday after St Nicholas' Mass [12 December], in the twelfth year of our reign. Sir Pål Bårdsson, our chancellor, has sealed the document, the cleric Pål wrote it.
Original text
Magnus von Gottes Gnaden König von Norwegen, Schweden und der Goten sendet allen Leuten in Bergen, die diese Urkunde sehen oder hören, Gottes Gruss und den seinigen. Mannigfache Leute haben wiederholt vor uns und unserm Rathe darüber Klage geführt, dass die Waaren, die hier angeführt werden, erweislich viel mehr verfälscht sind als die nach irgend einem andern Ort beförderten. Nämlich die Tuche jeder Art, die viel weniger Ellen messen, als sie enthalten sollten und früher gehabt haben; ferner se
Background
Erling Vidkunsson (c. 1292 to 1355) of Bjarkøy and Giske was drottsete (steward of the realm) for the young King Magnus Eriksson, and his seal was to show that the council of the realm stood behind the ordinance. Most of the goods mentioned were imports that German and other foreign merchants brought to Bergen in exchange for stockfish. The fine of 13 mark and 8 ørtuger was the standard royal fine in Norwegian law, and it recurs in the ordinance on foreigners in Bergen the following year (HUB 2 nr. 502) and in the complaint from Oslo and Tønsberg in the 1440s (HR II,2 nr. 590). To swear «with twelve» meant that the accused had to bring eleven compurgators who swore with him. The letter is printed in Norges gamle Love 3 nr. 69, and the Hansisches Urkundenbuch gives it in German translation.
People: Erling Vidkunsson