Axel Arenfeldt is to abolish the disused sawmills
NRR 6, s. 509 · 14. mars 1633 · København
What the letter says
In Copenhagen on 14 March 1633 King Christian IV writes to Axel Arenfeldt about the idle sawmills on Giske estate land, with which he is enfeoffed. Several stand entirely idle, and at some there is no longer any forest. The tenants do not want to keep them and have asked to be spared the dues at the last royal assemblies in Trondheim and Bergen. The king decides that the mills are to be abolished, since it is unreasonable that the tenants should pay dues on something they cannot use or benefit from.
The letter in modern English
Axel Arenfeldt received a letter that the idle sawmills on the Giske estate are to be abolished. Christian IV. Our favour first. Know that we have graciously learned that a number of sawmills lying on Giske estate land, with which you are graciously enfeoffed by us, stand entirely idle, and that at some there is no forest left to keep them going. The tenants also complain of having to keep them any longer, and have therefore humbly petitioned to be spared the dues at the last royal assemblies in both Trondheim and Bergen. We have therefore graciously seen fit that these mills shall be abolished again, since it is unreasonable that they should pay any dues on them when they cannot use them or benefit from them. Copenhagen, 14 March 1633.
Original text
Axel Arenfeldt fik Brev, om Giskø Gods's øde Sagers Afskaffelse anrørendes. C. IV. V. G. t. Vid, eftersom vi naadigst forfare, endeel Sagmøller, liggendes paa Giskø Gods's Grund, som du naadigst af os er med forlenet, at være ganske øde, ei heller til endeel nogen Skov være, hvoraf de kunne underholdes, Bønderne sig og besverger dennem længer at beholde og derfor om Afgiftens Forskaansel baade til seneste udi Throndhjem og Bergen holdne Herredage underdanigst suppliceret: da have vi naadigst fo
Background
This is the feudal lord's copy of the decision that the tenants received as an open letter on 31 January 1633. The reason is clearer here: the king calls it «ubilligt», unreasonable, that the tenants should pay for mills that cannot be used. Axel Arenfeldt of Basnæs was a Danish nobleman and commander of Giske fief from the 1630s into the 1640s, according to the lists of feudal lords in the Rigs-Registranter for 1632 and 1642.