England, Interrupted: The Interregnum and Restoration, 1650-1685
Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong
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The King and the Merry Gang
He was known as a wit who could improvise brilliant comments and even epigrammatic verses. He led a group called the merry gang, which were drunken, lewd pranksters constantly causing mischief at the royal court. Like the king, he was a lover of theatre,. had an affair with elizabeth barry, and then also encouraged her to become an actress on stage. And so finally, in the late 16 seventies, rochester was exiled from court and went out and lived in london.
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