''Mercurius Aulicus'' was one of the "most important early

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s" in England, famous during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

for its role in Royalist propaganda.

Creation

The ''Mercurius Aulicus'' newspaper originated during the

from a suggestion by George Digby, a key advisor to King Charles I, that the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

faction needed a method for promoting their views in Parliament-held

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. As a result, the publication was established in January 1643 - it is variously termed either a

or a

newsbook Newsbooks were the 17th-century precursors to today's newspapers. Originating in England and Scotland, they are distinct from the earlier news periodicals, known as corantos, which were sourced from continental Europe. History The first newsboo ...

- the latter being an alternative term for this form of weekly news publication in a

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

format. John Birkenhead, a Fellow of

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

in Oxford, was appointed editor of the newspaper, receiving updates on events around the country from Digby's contacts, although his colleague

Peter Heylin Peter Heylyn or Heylin (29 November 1599 – 8 May 1662) was an English ecclesiastic and author of many polemical, historical, political and theological tracts. He incorporated his political concepts into his geographical books ''Microcosm ...

appears to have done much of the practical editing himself. The ''Mercurius Aulicus'' was printed in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, which was at this time during the war the Royalist capital, for a

penny A penny is a coin (: pennies) or a unit of currency (: pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is ...

a copy, then smuggled into London where it was sold on by local women, often at heavily inflated prices. It was also reprinted on occasion - albeit not necessarily accurately - by local sympathisers in London itself. When logistics made it impossible to print a copy for several weeks, Birkenhead would resort to including gaps in page numbers and issues to give the impression that the reader had merely missed a specific copy that had no doubt been delivered elsewhere across the country satisfactorily.

Impact on the industry

The ''Mercurius Aulicus'' has been considered one of the "most important early newspapers" in England. The newspaper revolutionised the industry in England, initiating the idea of popular journalism as a political tool for dividing and mobilising popular opinion. Prior to the ''Mercurius'', newspapers had purported to portray facts, avoiding commentary on current events - by contrast, the ''Mercurius'' represented the

Laudian Laudianism, also called Old High Churchmanship, or Orthodox Anglicanism as they styled themselves when debating the Tractarians, was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England that tried to avoid the extremes of Rom ...

, or more extreme, end of Royalist opinion, openly smearing and mocking its opponents in a way that was quite novel for the period.

Final days

The publication began to go downhill from 1644 onwards. As the Royalist defeats on the battlefield continued, the Oxford publication found it harder and harder to obtain current news and issues became badly delayed. The ''Mercurius Aulicus'' finally closed in 1645.Sommerville 1996, p. 39.

References

Bibliography

*Clarke, Bob (2004). ''From Grub Street to Fleet Street: an Illustrated History of English Newspapers to 1899.'' Aldershot: Ashate. *Peacey, Jason (2004). ''Politicians and Pamphleteers: Propaganda during the English Civil Wars and Interregnum.'' Aldershot: Ashgate. *Sommerville, Charles John (1996). ''The news revolution in England: cultural dynamics of daily information.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press. *Thomas, Peter William (1969). ''Sir John Berkenhead, 1617-1679: a Royalist career in politics and polemics.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press. *Wedgwood, C.V. (1970). ''The King's War: 1641-1647.'' London: Fontana. *Wilcher, Robert (2001). ''The Writing of Royalism, 1628-1660.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Creation

Impact on the industry

Final days

References

Bibliography

Further reading