Mercurius Aulicus

Mercurius Aulicus was one of the "most important early newspapers"[1] in England, famous during the English Civil War for its role in Royalist propaganda.

The Mercurius Aulicus newspaper originated during the English Civil War from a suggestion by George Digby, a key advisor to King Charles I, that the Royalist faction needed a method for promoting their views in Parliament-held London.

[3] John Birkenhead, a Fellow of All Souls College in Oxford, was appointed editor of the newspaper, receiving updates on events around the country from Digby's contacts,[4] although his colleague Peter Heylin appears to have done much of the practical editing himself.

[5] The Mercurius Aulicus was printed in Oxford, which was at this time during the war the Royalist capital, for a penny a copy, then smuggled into London where it was sold on by local women, often at heavily inflated prices.

[7] 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.