Setesvein

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Setesvein or Setesvenn (norrön: "setusveinn", masculine) was the name given to the armed man who was in the service of a chief and stayed with him. A special group among them were the Skutelsvein. They did their service at the ruler's table. But the word was soon used for certain offices, from which institutions developed that corresponded to the continental offices of "cupbearer", "marshal" and "chamberlain". They were ordered to behave in a special courtly manner in the Hirðskrá. It was normal as a young aristocrat to serve first as Svein at the bishop's court and later as Setesvein in the districts. Huskarl, Setesvein, Herresvein, and sworn Svein are often mentioned side by side in the sources. The name "Huskarl" goes back to the rules of the Hirðská about the tax exemption of the manorial staff. "Herresvein" is an import from abroad, especially from Sweden. The same goes for the sworn Svein. It was a vassal relationship between Svein and his master.

In a bull by Pope Cölestin III. From June 15, 1194 the secular servants of the archbishop were exempted from all taxes and military duties. The birth of the episcopal Setesvein was then the Concordat of Tønsberg in 1277. The word "Setesvein" is first recorded in a decree of King Magnus Eriksson of December 18, 1332 on the huskarle of the chiefs. There it is said that some servants (Svende) have acquired themselves who have to swear allegiance to them like a king and that these Svein "sitia oc þeir i stodhum eder bygdhum heima" (sit in settlements and districts). The chiefs are forbidden to keep “nokoro seto sveina”. Here you can see the etymology of the term. Setesvein is therefore a servant with his own permanent place of residence, in contrast to the huskarl, who is at the chief's court. When Queen Margarethe took over the Norwegian government in 1388, it was decided that the archbishop, bishops, knights and provosts Huskarle and "Setesvein" could hold.

When the old Hirð organization gradually dissolved, all its members, both those at the respective court and those who lived outside, became kingsmen. The lords were directly obliged to the king, the Svein indirectly through their master. The ecclesiastical Svein had the same position, but without the obligation to the king. They were vassals of the bishops.

At the time of the Great Plague in 1347 and after, the exemption of the secular Svein der Ritter from military service was eliminated. In a royal ordinance, all men capable of arms were obliged to serve in the royal defense of the country, in particular to build and maintain warships. That was the end of the secular setesvein.

In the late Middle Ages, the Setesvein were only special functionaries of the bishops in their dioceses, who performed various economic and administrative tasks. The archbishop was a group of clients in North West Country and North Norge . They belonged to the lower nobility or were large farmers. The boundaries between these aristocratic groups are fluid, so that it cannot always be determined with certainty whether a family belongs to the lower nobility (miners) or the leading large peasant class. Apparently, shortly before the Reformation, the bishops were interested in binding secular nobles to themselves. Erik Valkendorf uses the term in a letter to Pope Hadrian VI. "Liberos seruos dicte ecclesie Nidrosiensis Sedesuene vulgariter nuncupatos" In the same letter the archbishop emphasizes that the Setesvein have been exempt from all secular taxes and duties since time immemorial . Ludvig Ludvigsen Daae fact that the setesvein member joined the Episcopal Hird were, a following that keep the bishops and auxiliary bishops by the Concordat of Tønsberg was of 1277 allowed. According to this concordat, the archbishop was allowed to carry 100 men and the other bishops 40 men as a protective force. Archbishop Aslak Bolt also referred to this concordat in his certificate of appointment for Steinar Øysteinsson to the Setesvein in Nidaros. The calling of secular members of noble families greatly expanded the secular influence of the Church. Like royalty, the Setesvein enjoyed tax exemption. They were also exempt from royal military service.

In Olav Engelbrektsson's account book from 1533 there is a list of 69 named Setesvein. The list ends with “etc.”, from which it can be seen that it is not complete. Of these, 18 sat in Finnmark , 18 in today's Troms , 13 in Nordland , 3 in Fosen and 4 in Møre og Romsdal and 2 in Iceland. The list shows that most of the Setesvein were located in the fish-rich areas. There were also non-nobles and foreigners among them, which is due to the fact that there were only a few nobles in this area whose sons would have been eligible. It can be assumed that they also had duties in the archbishopric fishing and fish trade. Apparently they shipped the fish to Bergen to the Hanseatic League, which was a profitable business with the tax exemption. This trade and tax exemption was therefore a particular source of conflict between Archbishop Erik Valkendorf and Jørgen Hansson, the captain of Christian II in Bergen. He saw the Setesvein as illegal competition to the citizens of Bergen. When Jørgen Hansson sent his bailiffs to collect the tithe, he also had it raised by the episcopal Setesvein. During the last days of Olav Engelbrektsson’s office, Eske Bille was commissioned to sell all Setesvein from what is now Møre og Romsdal. He had this commission carried out by his subordinate Tord Rod. In the Archbishop's letter of April 1, 1537, the day he fled the country, to Eske Bille, he describes the violence that had taken place.

The episcopal Setesvein in Sønnafjelske Norge fared no better. Archbishop Erik Valkendorf called the Imperial Councils in Norway and Denmark in vain because of the tax exemption. But at that time the imperial councils were no longer important. Thereupon he offered Hans Mule , at that time the governor of Christian II in Norway, that he would pay the taxes of his Setesvein. In this way he wanted to avoid the precedent of taxation of the Setesvein. But that is precisely why Hans Mule did not get involved. It was not so much the tax itself that mattered to him, but rather the decisive weakening of the institution of the Setesvein as the economic and organizational apparatus of the church.

The Setesvein only existed until the Reformation in 1537, when the episcopate was abolished. But in northern Norway, members of this old Setesvein group became an important element in the regional lower nobility and ruling class.

In Sweden, the term “Setesvein” is also found for a man in the service of a great man who did military service and was therefore exempt from taxes. In 1497 the "Satuswena" of Bishop Henrik von Linköping are mentioned, and in 1506 Svante Nilsson (Sture) wrote about "menige frelsit ... ehwars godhe herres och mans thienere och sæteswenæ the wara kunne".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hamre Sp. 161.
  2. ↑ skutill, Latin scutella, = bowl, here meaning "small dining table".
  3. ↑ Lars Hamre: "Skutilsvein" in: Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middel alder . Vol. 16. Copenhagen 1971. Col. 35-36.
  4. ↑ Hirðskrá chap. 29
  5. ^ Hamre column 163.
  6. ↑ Diplomatarium Norvegicum Vol. 2 No. 3 .
  7. ↑ Daae p. 23.
  8. ↑ Daae p. 23 f.
  9. ^ R. Keyser / PA Munch: Norges Gamle Love indtil 1387 . Vol. 3. Christiania 1849. No. 71 p. 160.
  10. ↑ Daae p. 24.
  11. ↑ Bjørkvik p. 82.
  12. ↑ Bjørkvik p. 81.
  13. ↑ Imsen p. 10; Tratteberg Sp. 23 writes: “The nobility did not have a definite lower limit; neither the title nor the seal image give any definite criteria as to whether someone belonged to the nobility or not. Even letter texts do not always provide a sufficient distinguishing feature. "
  14. ↑ Diplomatarium Norvegicum Vol. 7 No. 562.
  15. ↑ Diplomatarium Norvegicum Vol. 21 No. 452.
  16. ↑ a b Benediktow p. 327.
  17. ↑ Daae pp. 5-8.
  18. ↑ Hamre Sp. 162 f.
  19. ↑ Benediktow p. 328.
  20. ↑ Printed in Paludan-Müller: Aktstykker til Norges Historie i Grevefeidens Tid . Odense 1853. Vol. 2 No. 138 p. 307 .
  21. ↑ Benediktow p. 329.
  22. ↑ Canes / Bratrein.
  23. ↑ Hamre column 164.

literature

  • Ole Jørgen Benediktow: "Kirkens setesvener og domsrett". In: Norges historie . Vol. 5. Fra rike til provins 1448–1586 . JW Cappelens forlag. ISBN 82-02-03429-9 . Pp. 327-333.
  • Halvard Bjørkvik: Folketap og sammenbrudd 1350–1520 . Oslo 1996. ISBN 82-03-22017-7 . Aschehougs Norgeshistorie Vol. 4.
  • Ludvig Ludvigsen Daae: "Den Throndhjemske Erkestols Sædesvende og Frimænd." In: Historisk Tidsskrift udgivet af den Norske Historiske Forening . 3rd row, 1st volume. Kristiania 1890. pp. 1-27. This essay was partly taken verbatim by both Benediktow and Hamre.
  • Lars Hamre: “Setesvein” in: Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder . Vol. 15. Copenhagen 1970. Col. 161-164.
  • Steinar Imsen / Håvard Dahl Bratrein: “Setesvein” in: Norsk historisk leksikon. Cappelens Akademisk Forlag Oslo 1999. ISBN 82-456-0552-2 . P. 372.
  • Hallvard Tratteber: “Adliga sigill; Norge ”in: Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder . Vol. 1. Copenhagen 1956. Col. 23-24.