ABSTRACT
The case of Morten Tailor provides a fine illustration of the everyday social isolation in which the nightmen lived. Even when it came to life’s major celebrations, they were subject to stigmatisation. At the suggestion of the provincial governor, therefore, the king made out an ordinance commanding officials in provincial towns to provide citizens with a good example by attending baptisms and burials for nightmen families when they were so requested. The desire of the king and the town council to include nightmen in the Christian community indicates the importance accorded to religion at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The God of early modern times made severe demands on society. The nightmen formed part of the church community in Kalundborg and had to adhere to the Ten Commandments.
