anders leegaard knudsen special friends in whom I have more confidence than in any other living persons’ (specialissimos amicos meos in quos maiorem pre ceteris aliis uiuentibus gero confidenciam). If anyone could, they would surely be able to enact the provisions of her testament. Ida died a year later. Surely, the executors would now follow her wishes. No, not fully, as it turned out. As the de facto ruler, Margrete and her trusted collaborator, the bishop of Roskilde, also had the interests of the Crown to consider. They had better use for Gladsax, it seems. The estate with its vast appurtenances was turned into a royal administrative district instead of a convent. Margrete and the bishop almost immediately set out to find another place for the convent. They chose Zealand, which is not only a different region but also a different diocese than the one intended by the testatrix. Having first considered another place, in the end they chose the small island of Gavnø. The Crown already owned most of it, and through an exchange of property with one of the wealthiest monasteries on Zealand, Margrete obtained the rest. The bishop’s help must have been essential here. Margrete then made another exchange involving that property and the lands bequeathed to the convent of Gladsax, thus compensating for the change made to Ida’s testament. Eventually the convent was founded, though neither in the region nor in the diocese that Ida had wanted.29 The convent at Gavnø in Zealand thrived until the Reformation, however, and was allowed to wind down slowly afterwards, the last nuns permitted to live there for the next twenty to thirty years. Neither of the two examples is typical, but both illustrate in their own ways the difficulties a testatrix might meet. These testatrices were extremely wealthy and well-connected, and thus able to select powerful executors. Yet this was no guarantee that the testament would not be contested, however, as we have seen in Ingerd’s case. Powerful executors 159 29 The history of the foundation of the convent, known mainly through the letters issued by Pope Boniface IX, is well explained in Wallin 1954, pp. 30−54. Boniface IX’s final confirmation was issued on April 21,1403, Diplomatarium Danicumno.14030421002,URL:http: //diplomatarium.dk/dokument/14030421002, a mere 44 months after Ida’s death. This fact points to a rather swift execution of her testament.
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