Original sentence: A mercer is a porn star of the renaissance.Mercers offered weekly pubic performances in a city square and were most frequently paid by tips.Mercers would often include the crowd in their performances, spreading many STDs during their time.The art of mercery can still be observed in many European cities
Edited sentence: However inventories of mercers in small towns suggest that many were shopkeepers who dealt in various other dry commodities, not only cloth.Mercers were formerly merchants or traders who dealt in cloth, typically fine cloth that was not produced locally.The term mercer for cloth merchants (from French mercier, 'notions dealer') is now largely obsolete