Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland

Who was Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland?

Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland KG, PC was an English statesman and nobleman from the Spencer family. His sarcasm and bad temper, and his reputation as a ruthless advocate of absolute monarchy, made him numerous enemies, and he was forced to flee abroad in 1688, but later underwent a political rehabilitation. In his last years he appeared in a somewhat different light as a disinterested adviser to the Crown who neither sought nor wished for office. By the standards of the Restoration Court, his private life was remarkably free from scandal.