Sehested receives his own jurisdiction at Giske
NRR 9, s. 425 f. · 20. juni 1649 · København
What the letter says
In Copenhagen on 20 June 1649 Sir Hannibal Sehested and his heirs receive supreme jurisdiction at the manor of Vestnes. They may appoint their own district judges (sorenskrivere) there, and all Sehested's tenants in the main parish and the annex parishes, both those now belonging to the manor and those who may be added later, are to have their proper court there according to the law of Norway. He receives an identical letter for jurisdiction at the manor of Giske north of the mountains, and at the manors of Sæim, Sandvik, Finne in Voss, Hamar, Verne abbey and Nygård on Kolsøy.
The letter in modern English
[...] Sir Hannibal Sehested of Nøraggergård, knight etc., has humbly asked us to graciously grant and allow him and his heirs supreme jurisdiction at his manor of Vestnes in the main parish and its annex parishes in our realm of Norway, lying north of the mountains, to have it administered according to the law of Norway by his own judges appointed for the purpose. We have graciously granted and allowed, and herewith grant and allow, that the said Sir Hannibal Sehested and his heirs shall from now on have power themselves to appoint and install their own judges at the said Vestnes manor. There all the said Sir Hannibal Sehested's tenants in the main parish and its annexes, those who now belong to his manor or may hereafter be acquired for it, shall have their proper court, and there each shall do and receive what the law of Norway prescribes, as far as is right. Copenhagen, 20 June 1649. The said Sir Hannibal Sehested received an identical letter for jurisdiction at his manor of Giske in Norway, lying north of the mountains. Likewise for jurisdiction at his manor of Sæim [?], lying north of the mountains. Further at his manor of Sandvik, north of the mountains. Further at his manor of Finne in Voss, north of the mountains. Likewise at his manor of Hamar, lying south of the mountains. Likewise for his manor of Verne abbey, south of the mountains. Likewise for his manor of
Original text
... Sehested til Nøraggergaard, Ridder etc., underdanigst af os haver været begjerendes, vi naadigst vilde unde og bevilge hannem og hans Arvinger øverst Jurisdiction ved hans Hovedgaard Vestnes Gaard udi Hovedsognet og tilliggendes Annexer udi vort Rige Norge, Nordenfjelds liggendes, efter Norges Lov at lade administrere ved hans egne dertil forordnede Sorenskrivere, da have vi naadigst bevilget og tilladt saa og hermed bevilge og tillade, at for. Hr. Hannibal Sehested og hans Arvinger maa here
Background
With these letters Giske became a seat estate with its own court. The tenants on Sehested's land were from now on to appear before a judge whom Sehested himself appointed. The right rested on the noble privileges of 1646, which gave Norwegian nobles rights of high justice and fines in the main parish of their seat farms. Finne in Voss had been one of Gjørvel's farms and appears in the deed of 1582. Sehested's power in Norway was at its height in 1649, two years before his fall.