ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the police regulation of the guilds during early Danish absolutism with a specific focus on the attempt to abolish the initiation rite of the journeyman joiners called ‘the planing’. The creation of a police force to enforce the absolutist guild reforms has been seen as a turning point towards more effective social disciplining. The police commissioner did indeed act as the king's loyal servant in his repression of the artisans' customs, but also as an ally in a conflict with the city council and a mediator between the guild and the king in bringing about a compromise about the planing ceremony. The creation of police forces in absolutist states has been interpreted as a way of disempowering urban elites. After the introduction of absolutism in 1660, abolishing the guilds was considered, because the jurisdictional autonomy of the guilds was incompatible with the new constitution.
