17th Century Rake – John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester

Code Red – we have a 17th Century Rake Alert!!! John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, who in his thirty-three years of life was one of the most dissolute, reckless, cocksure members of Charles II’s Merry Gang – a collection of the most lusty, debauched personages at the Restoration court. Born on 1 April, 1647, he was an… Read on

Smallpox and the Seventeenth Century

I just finished reading this post from the excellent Anne Boleyn Files about Queen Elizabeth I’s bout with smallpox on this day in 1562 and it made me think of how many people throughout history that were affected by this terrible disease. Rich and poor alike, this disease was nasty, and there were varying strains of the disease. The worst, called Hemorrhagic smallpox, was almost always… Read on