Re: Medieval documents

[Niven Sinclair <niven@niven.co.uk>]

At 14:33 24/05/99 +0200, you wrote:
>Hi Niven,'
>
>strange..... but ok I give it an other try.....
>
>Regards Lena
> 
Dear Lena,

23 pages received with thanks.

Critical years 1398 - 1400 seem to be missing.

We have documents referring to the years: 1379, 1380, 1383, 1389, 1391,
1416, 1418, 1426,
1438, 1446, 1448, 1470, 1496 and 1520.

We have many of these documents ourselves particularly those relating to
the installation
of Prince Henry as 'jarl' of Orkney; the appointment of Robert St Clair as
Bishop of Orkney;
the transfer of the lands of Newburgh and Auchdale in Aberdeenshire to his
brother, David 
but there are some which are new to mde which I will read with interest
(once I've had them
translated).

Incidentally, how do you read v.11 p.396 in which Henry Sinclair promises
to repay Haquin
Johnson £140 over a period of 4 years and, if he fails to do so, he would
have to relinquish
the rentals of  Sanday and Ronaldsay (two of the principal islands in Orkney)

It is my belief that the King (Eric but, in reality his aunt, Queen
Margrete) wished to ensure
that Henry Sinclair would not be an absentee 'landlord' as many of the
previous 'jarls' had been so required him to pay this token amount at
Tingwall every year.

Henry Sinclair was rich in his own right.  He had to pay the King of Norway
1,000 golden
English nobles annually at Tunsberg.  Here again, the King wished to see
his subject.  He
didn't want the money to be sent by a messenger.  It is unlikely that Henry
would have 
borrowed money from the King's representative in Shetland because, if he
had done so, the
King would have been alreted to the effect that his 1,000 golden nobles
would be at risk!!
Henry was also related to the Drummonds and the Douglasses and other rich
Scottish families.  He would hardly have jeopardised his position by
borrowing a miserly sum of £140.
To pay Haakon Johnson £40 per year, may have been the King's way of
ensuring that (a)
Henry visited Shetland (which we know he did as he killed his cousin,
Malise Sperre, there
in 1391) and (b) Haakon Johnson received some remuneration as the King's
representative.

Thank you again.  We look firward to receiving the geneology of your family
which goes right
back to the Sinclairs of Murkle.  Your father should be proud of you.  His
saga, like many of the Norse sagas, has proved to be remarkably true.
Indeed, the sagas are probably the most accurate historical documents we
possess.

Thank you again.  If you have any documents which cover the period 1398 to
1403, I'd be
delighted to see them.  It is noted that Henry II was 'jarl' of Orkney from
1403 - 1420 which
(for the first time) gives us an accurate year for his father's death and
supports the belief of
some experts that he may have made two journeys to the New World and died
there of fever.
It is surprising that there is no grave in Scotland to mark the death of
one of the greatest men of the 14th Century.

Niven.


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