"Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland KG, PC (5 September 1641 ? 28 September 1702) was an English statesman and nobleman. 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."--Wikipedia.