Rochester, John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1647–1680)

English poet and courtier. He fought gallantly at sea against the Dutch, but chiefly led a debauched life at the court of Charles II. He wrote graceful (but often obscene) lyrics, and his A Satire against Mankind (1675) rivals Swift. He was a patron of the English poet John Dryden. He was made an earl in 1658.