Iden

Iden (Io) – one of the noble estates in Hordaland is mentioned in the estate book of Munkeliv monastery from 1427. In the accounts of Bergenhus district there is a letter dated 20th January 1560, where it is said that the mayor of Bergen Anders Christenssøn exchanged the property “Graff in Sogn” (Hafslo) for the Iden farm which belonged to the Crown. Anders Christenssøn had come to Bergen from Funen in Denmark as magistrate for Bergenhus. Later on he was chief officer and mayor and was married to Karen Jonsdotter from the noble family of Teiste from Kroken in Luster. She owned the farm in Hafslo as an inherited property and as the basis for the exchange. Iden now got the status of a noble estate. Anders Christenssøn had a house at Strandsiden in Bergen and he owned a sawmill in Nordfjord. He was one of the most well-to-do citizens of Bergen, and was involved in the shipping trade and in trade with northern Norway. In 1570 he lost a ship which ran aground in Kjelstraumen