city with the strength all of his forces.
In 1534 a farmers' uprising tried to storm the town unsuccessfully. Massive moats were set up around the town under the rule of King Christian III(1536–1559).
During its peak there were almost 170 merchants' estates in the area, and a sizeable navy that sailed around the world. Some of these old half-timbered estates and manor homes can still be seen in the town.
According to "The Popular Encyclopedia; or, Conversations Lexicon", Blackie & Son c 1890, it contained at that time an arsenal, a classical school with six professors, and had several industrial establishments, including manufacturers of gloves, for which it had long been famous. The town was also known for salmon, rope, and pretty women. The harbour near the town had only 7⁄2 feet (2.3 m) of water, but there was a good shipyard; and at some distance below, at the mouth of the fjord, there was another harbour with 9 to 10 feet (3.0 m) water, and roads with good anchorage in 4 to 5 fathoms (24 to 30 ft; 7 to 9 m). Randers was important militarily, and could encamp from 10,000 to 15,000 men in the town and its neighbourhood, in a position which could not easily be overrun. The population in 1880: 13,457.
Today
The municipality was managed for almost 100 years by Social Democrats, until the Liberal Party's (Venstre) Michael Aastrup Jensen took over political leadership in 2002. Jensen, who was 25 years old at the time, distinguished himself as Denmark's youngest mayor ever. Since 2007, the city has again been ruled by Social Democrats.
The town has had its share of problems in recent years before the political power switch, including problems with motorcycle gangs and municipal administration scandals
