Struensee was named royal adviser (forelæser) and konferensråd on 5 May 1770. As in the course of the year the king sank into a condition of mental torpor, Struensee's authority became paramount. On 15 September the 16-month period generally referred to as the "Time of Struensee" began. At first, Struensee kept a low profile as he began to control the political machine. However, as the royal court and government spent the summer of 1770 in Schleswig-Holstein (
Gottorp,
Traventhal, and
Ascheberg) his political influence increased. In December 1770, he subsequently took more direct control and on the 10th of that month, he abolished the council of state. A week later, he appointed himself
maître des requêtes. It became his official duty to present reports from the various departments of state to the king. Because King Christian was scarcely responsible for his actions, Struensee dictated whatever answers he pleased. Next, he dismissed all department heads, and abolished the
Norwegian viceroyship. Henceforth, the cabinet with himself as its central authority became the one supreme authority in the state. Struensee exercised extensive authority for almost thirteen months, between 18 December 1770 and 16 January 1772. During that time, he issued no fewer than 1,069 cabinet orders, or more than three a day. Reforms initiated by Struensee included: • abolition of torture • abolition of unfree labor (
corvée) • abolition of the
censorship of the press • abolition of the practice of preferring nobles for state offices • abolition of noble privileges • abolition of "undeserved" revenues for nobles • abolition of the etiquette rules at the Royal Court • abolition of the Royal Court's aristocracy • abolition of state funding of unproductive manufacturers • abolition of several holidays • introduction of a tax on gambling and luxury horses to fund nursing of
foundlings • ban of
slave trade in the
Danish colonies • rewarding only actual achievements with feudal titles and decorations • criminalization and punishment of bribery • re-organization of the judicial institutions to minimize corruption • introduction of state-owned grain storages to balance out the grain price • assignment of farmland to peasants • re-organization and reduction of the army • university reforms • reform of the state-owned medical institutions Other reforms included the abolition of
capital punishment for theft; the doing away with such demoralizing abuses as perquisites; and of "lackey-ism", the appointment of powerful men's domestic staff to lucrative public posts. Critics of Struensee thought that he did not respect native Danish and Norwegian customs, saw them as prejudices and wanted to eliminate them in favour of abstract principles. He also did not speak Danish and conducted his business in German. To ensure obedience, he dismissed entire staffs of public departments, without pensions or compensation, and substituted with nominees of his own. The new officials were in many cases inexperienced men who knew little or nothing of the country that they were supposed to govern. Initially, the Danish people favored his reforms, but they began to turn against him. When Struensee abolished all censorship of the press, it mostly resulted in a flood of anti-Struensee pamphlets. During the initial months of his rule, middle-class opinion was in his favour. A major source of public opposition was the way in which he put the king completely on one side, and the feeling was all the stronger as, outside a very narrow court circle, few people appear to have believed that Christian VII was mentally ill, but only that his will had been weakened by habitual ill usage. That opinion was confirmed by the publication of the cabinet order of 14 July 1771, which appointed Struensee "gehejme kabinetsminister" or "Geheimekabinetsminister", with authority to issue cabinet orders which were to have the force of royal ordinances, even if unprovided with the royal sign manual. Struensee's relations with the queen were offensive to a nation which had a traditional veneration for the royal
House of Oldenburg, and Caroline Matilda's conduct in public scandalized the populace. The society which daily gathered round the king and queen excited the derision of the foreign ambassadors. The king had limited effective authority and was subject to influence by those around him, but occasionally, the king would put up a show of obstinacy and refuse to carry out Brandt's or Struensee's orders. Once, when he threatened his keeper, Brandt, with a flogging for some impertinence, Brandt ended up in a struggle with the King and he struck the King in the face. == Arrest and execution ==