The National Archives of Norway (formerly Arkivverket) has recently made a culturally and historically important acquisition that ensures the preservation of Norway's oldest written sources.
When ten rare medieval documents went under the hammer at an auction in November last year, the National Archives exercised the state's right of first refusal and ensured that the sources are now safely back in public ownership - to the benefit of researchers and the general public.
The diplomas that have now been purchased date from 1368-1528 and provide valuable insight into the social and economic history of Follo, Enebakk and Lier. Nine of them document various property rights, while one stands out by containing a testimony about a defamation in Enebakk in 1428, where the statement «thou shalt be damned» used in a legal context illustrates the language and conflicts of the time.
In a historical context, a diploma is a written document that formally confirms a right, agreement or decision. In Norwegian medieval history, the word is used particularly for legal and administrative documents
This is the first time the National Archives has exercised its right of first refusal under the Cultural Heritage Act for archive material from the Middle Ages. The Act allows the state to secure sources from before 1537, and the National Archives paid a total of NOK 383,500 for the documents from the private Schøyen collection.
The Schøyen Collection is one of the world's largest and most significant private collections of manuscripts and historical documents, with over 20,000 manuscripts and fragments from more than 30 cultures and a time span of around 5,000 years. Owned by Norwegian collector Martin Schøyen, the collection was built up from the 1980s, based in both Norway and the UK.
National Archivist Inga Bolstad emphasizes that the documents are already known through the well-known source series Diplomatarium Norvegicum, but that it is important to secure the physical objects for future research and analysis.
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In addition to the acquisition, the National Archives has also - for the first time - exercised its right to refuse applications to take older archive material out of the country. This applies to five farm archive sources from the 16th and 17th centuries, and is an important step in preserving Norwegian cultural heritage at home.
Minister of Culture and Equality Lubna Jaffery praises the National Archives for its efforts and points out the importance of this part of our common history now being secured for the public.
