ABSTRACT
In the eyes of peasants from the small surrounding villages, Kalundborg would have been an impressive place. The town’s western end was dominated by the church with its five spires, and, on Mollebakken to the east, five mills in a row stood sentry on the horizon and bore witness to a busy trade in grain. A peasant from Ugerlose in the 1730s would easily have been seduced by all the magnificence, but other features would probably strike a pair of modern eyes. The majority of peasants living within a large radius around Kalundborg were copyholders under the estate. The name of the nightman in Kalundborg was Mikkel, just like the vanished peasant from Ugerlose. The men of Ugerlose decided to set up an investigation into the disappearance of their fellow villager. They were particularly interested in the nightman’s house, but they also searched the road from Ugerlose to Kalundborg.
