187 / 201
E N G L I S H S U M M A R Y
I
79
in
1648
by some members o f the high nobility
as a result o f the administrative activity o f the
Council in the period between the death o f
Christian IV in
1648
and the introduction o f
absolutism in
1660
. This factory, which was
destroyed during the Swedish occupation in
16 58
, must have employed some sword-
cutlers. Difficulties may have risen for the
sword-cutlers in connexion with such work,
so different from the ancient working me
thods o f a craftsman, and they may have
tended to separate themselves from the old
guild, in which they seem only to have played
inferior part. Further, they had to endure ri
valry from some o f the other guild-members,
especially the spur-makers. As a result o f the
sword-cutlers’ petition a royal order was is
sued on March
2 5
,
16 5 1
to the effect that the
magistrate o f Copenhagen should require the
sword-cutlers to lay down statutes for a
sword-smiths’ guild.
The establishment o f a new guild with full
acknowledgment o f the State Authorities may
have made its members more compliant to
the wishes o f the Government, than was
usually the case with the members o f the an
cient guilds, where the independence o f the
craftsman was stubbornly asserted. On the
other hand, they inherited some essential
ideals from the old guild, e.g. the require
ments as to the professional ability o f the
members, so that, like other guilds, the sword-
cutlers’ guild was able in the future to keep
alive a valuable tradition o f exquisite work
manship.
c h a p te r
3
THE PERIOD UNTIL THE DEATH
OF CHRISTIAN V
It cannot be exactly stated how many mem
bers the sword-cutlers’ guild could muster in
the first decades o f its existence. The type o f
work, by which the individual sword-cutlers
are known to-day, roughly divides them into
three groups: Those working mainly for the
Court, those working for the A rm y, and the
third group whose names seldom occur in
public records at all. These three groups can
not be distinguished in the list o f the citizens
able to serve on the walls during the siege o f
Copenhagen
1658
-
59
, apart from the fact that
Marcus Kopper is described as sword-cut! er
to the King. The name o f the before men
tioned Johan Willumsen occurs in January
1659
, that o f his w idow in December, so' he
may have given his life in defence o f his city.
N or is it indicated in the list, which o f the
sword-cutlers enrolled was on the staff o f the
Royal Armoury, where a sword-cutler con
stantly had a regular employment, probably
without being obliged to be a member o f the
guild.
Marcus Kopper had worked for Prince
Christian at Nykøbing in the
1640
’s and, after
the death o f the Prince, was appointed sword-
cutler to K in g Frederik III in
1648
. Fie was
still alive in
16 8 3
, but during the reign o f
K ing Christian V (
1670
-
1699
) another sword-
cutler, Bendix Nielsen, is the only one men
tioned b y name in the Royal records.
Jens Nielsen seems to have been the most
important sword-cutler before the etablish-
ment o f the guild, but he is not mentioned in
16 59
. His seal is reproduced on page
7 4
. It
shows three swords pointing downwards into
a crescent, a symbol o f the sword-cutier’s
craft which is found also in the seal o f the
Elsinore smiths in
16 03
. Later it became the
chief device o f the seal o f the sword-cutlers’
guild (see page
10
).
The social position o f the sword-cutlers
in the late
1 7
th century is illustrated b y the
fact that a relatively large number o f them
are known to have been owners o f real estate
in Copenhagen.
The accounts o f the Royal Armoury afford