Alv Haraldsson among the sealers of the Kalmar document
SDHK 14837 · 20. juli 1397 · Kalmar
What the letter says
The councils of Denmark, Sweden and Norway resolve in Kalmar, with the consent of King Eric and Queen Margaret, that the three kingdoms shall be united under one king. This is the so-called Kalmar document. Named as sealers are Archbishop Jakob of Lund, Archbishop Henrik of Uppsala, Bishop Peter of Roskilde, Bishop Knut of Linköping, the knights Karl Ulfsson of Tofta, Jöns Andersson, Sten Bengtsson, Jöns Rut, Ture Bengtsson, Folmar Jakobsson, Erengisle Nilsson, Peter Nilsson of Ågård and Algot Magnusson, Provost Arend of Oslo cathedral and the knights Amund Bolt, Alv Haraldsson and Göte Eriksson. Only ten of them have pressed their seals on the letter, and Alv Haraldsson's seal is not among them.
Background
Alv Haraldsson (died c. 1433) was a councillor of the realm and a knight and was married to Katarina Jonsdatter, the sister of Sigurd Jonsson. Through their daughter Agnes Alvsdatter, who married Knut Jönsson of Tre Rosor, the claim to the Giske estate passed on to Alv Knutsson. In Kalmar in the summer of 1397 he was one of four Norwegians among the sealers, together with Provost Arend of Oslo, Amund Bolt and Göte Eriksson. King Eric of Pomerania was crowned in Kalmar that same summer, and Queen Margaret held the real power. The letter is written on paper, its language is coloured by Danish, and only ten of the seventeen seals are attached. Scholars have therefore long debated what kind of document this is. The record says nothing about why Alv's seal is missing. The date is St Margaret's Day, which may be 13 or 20 July.
People: Alv Haraldsson (Bolt)