Giske timber in a Flemish tariff
HUB 3 nr. 499 · 1360 June 14 · Gent
What the letter says
Count Louis of Flanders fixes in Ghent on 14 June 1360, at the request of the towns of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres, what brokers may charge in fees on the goods the German merchants trade in. On the long list stands «Ghysekenhout, dat ghenomet es tyenvoethout», timber called ten-foot timber, at half a groat for each hundred. Right after it come spars from Viken and from Bergen. The editors think that the name Ghysekenhout probably comes from Giske.
The letter in modern English
[Extract from a long list of brokerage fees.] ... Further, of each hundred «Ghysekenhout», which is called ten-foot timber [timber in ten-foot lengths], half a groat. Further, of spars from Viken, spars from Bergen and «Ghotensche» spars [probably from Gotland, uncertain], and of oar timber [uncertain interpretation of «ryemhout»] of every measure, small or great, of each hundred one groat ... [The editors' footnote:] The name probably derives, as Edward Gaillard supposes in the glossary to the archive inventory of Bruges, from Giske. The following designations also fit this. The spars from Viken are from Viken in Norway. [End of the letter:] ... Therefore we make known to all people that at the wish and request of our good people of our towns of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres, and for the common good of these towns and our land of Flanders, we will keep and have kept all the things and articles written above, point by point, as prince and lord of the land, for ourselves and our heirs, the counts of Flanders. We command all our bailiffs, officials, subjects and servants to keep these articles and points in all their parts, to do nothing against them and to take no other brokerage than what is written here, as they wish to avoid our displeasure. In witness we have had this letter sealed with our seal. It was made and given in our town of Ghent in the year one thousand three hundred
Original text
[...] Item van Ghysekenhout, dat ghenomet es tyenvoethout, van elken hondert eenen halven gr. Item van Wilcer sparren, Bergher sparren, Ghotensche sparren, van ryemhoute van elken mster, cleene of groot, van elken hondert eenen gr. [...] [Anm. der Herausgeber:] Der Name schreibt sich wohl, wie Edw. Gaillard im Glossaire zum Inventaire des archives de Bruges 8, 305 vermuthet, von Giske her. Mittelniederdeutsches WB. 2, 115. Dazu passen auch die nachfolgenden Bezeichnungen. Sparren von Viken, Nor
Background
Bruges was the Hansa's most important market in the west, and the tariff was drawn up so that the German merchants would know what the brokers could demand. The link to Giske is in a footnote in the edition, which rests on a guess by Edward Gaillard in the glossary to the archive inventory of Bruges and on the Mittelniederdeutsches Wörterbuch. The editors add that the next goods on the list fit with this, since the spars from Viken and Bergen are also Norwegian. Giske is a flat island with little forest, so if the name really comes from Giske, it is probably a trade name after the place or the people the goods were bought from [inference]. In 1360 Ingebjørg Erlingsdatter and Sigurd Havtoresson owned Giske. No person from the family is mentioned, and the link to Giske should be read as a possibility.