Amund Sigurdsson Bolt

Amund Sigurdsson Bolt (* before 1412, probably around 1400; † before 1463, last mentioned in 1450) was the leader of a Norwegian peasant revolt in the 15th century. Little is known about him outside of the uprising he led. According to the first document in which he is mentioned (from 1432), he was apparently married, presumably to Eline Eriksdatter, who died in 1445. Judging from the inheritance documents, he had no children who would have survived him.

His father was Sigurd Berdorsson Bolt († 1411/1412), his mother is unknown.

The Bolt dynasty was an influential family in southern Norway. His father had been knighted when the Kalmar Union was founded.

1436–1437 he led an uprising against the policies of Erich von Pomerania in the area around the Oslofjord . The Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson revolt in Sweden 1434–1436 probably served as a model, in which farmers from Dalarna rose up against Erich von Pomerania. In Norway, in June 1436, a settlement was reached between the rebels and the Imperial Council on Jersøy near Tønsberg . At the same time, a ceasefire came into effect until October. The Reichsrat and five lagmen were supposed to meet in Oslo and listen to the complaints from the people. Amund did appear, but this meeting did not take place because the other side did not appear. Thereupon the captain of the fortress Akershus Svarte Jens Nilsson distanced himself from the uprising.

In this situation, Amund Sigurdsson and his followers seem to have occupied the bishopric in Oslo. However, it is not clear whether this happened in the spring of 1436 or not until the autumn, when the insurgents were already in trouble. They were driven out from there with the significant participation of the Akershus castle captain and had to surrender in December. In February 1437 settlement negotiations between the Imperial Council and the rebels took place in Østlandet . Here it was determined that the people should never again rise up against the king. In return, the king was not allowed to occupy any offices, neither secular nor spiritual, with foreign persons. An exception was made for foreigners who were married in. But this exception should also be restricted. Nor should the general public be burdened with heavy taxes. The country should have its own head office, and the imperial seal should be in the country. That meant a significant curtailment of royal power. Amund should go unpunished and even receive the Faroe Islands as a fief. With the comparison of 1437, the Imperial Council was in agreement with the Imperial Councils in Denmark and Sweden.

Amund Sigurdsson's uprising was an essential event for understanding Norwegian politics during the Kalmar Union , and the Telemark uprising the following year, led by Hallvard Gråtopp , made the Norwegian Imperial Council a leading political force in this difficult phase of Norwegian union politics .

The uprising is judged differently in historiography. Some want to recognize a national program to expel foreign officials in the uprising. On the other hand, the Norwegian Imperial Council did not show solidarity with the uprising, which would have been expected in such a case. Therefore, it is also believed that the focus was on the social demands, namely against taxes without legal basis and corrupt officials. Against this, the objection is again raised that those leaders of the uprising who are known belonged to the social leadership of the country. More recent research sees the uprising as more of a resistance to the modernization of the state, which drove back the influence of the local elite.

Nothing is known about the fate of Amund Sigurdsson after 1437. In the past, various hypotheses were put forward, the longest of which was that he had become Sysselmann in the Faroe Islands.

literature

• Halvard Bjørkvik: Folketap og sammenbrudd 1350–1520. Oslo 1996. Aschehougs Norges historie Volume 4. P. 163 ff.
• Geir Ande Ersland, Hilde Sandvik: Norsk historie 1300–1625. Eit rike tek form. 2008.
• Magne Njåstad: Article “Amund Sigurdsson Bolt” in Norsk biografisk leksikon , accessed on December 22, 2011.