Charles Cotterell

Sir Charles Cotterell (7 April 1615 – 7 June 1701), was an English courtier and translator.^{[1][lower-alpha 1]}

Cotterell was knighted in 1644, and appointed master of ceremonies to the court of King Charles I in 1641, a post that he held until the execution of Charles in 1649. During the first years of the English Interregnum from 1649 until 1652 he resided in Antwerp. From 1652 until 1654 he was steward at the Hague to Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia. In 1655 he entered the service of Henry, Duke of Gloucester as secretary a post he held until the Restoration in 1660. In 1660 he was appointed master of ceremonies under Charles II a position he held until 1686. In 1670 he was appointed master of requests a position he also held until 1686.^[2]

In addition to his court appointments Cotterell was a member of the Cavalier Parliament in which he represented the constituency of Cardigan from 1663 until 1678, and a translator of French romances and histories and of The spiritual Year a Spanish devotional tract.^[2]

Biography

Cotterell was born on 7 April 1615 in Wilsford, Lincolnshire, England. He is the son of Sir Clement Cotterell (1585–1631) and Anne Alleyne (d. 1660). Sir Clement was appointed as muster-master of Buckinghamshire in 1616 and groom-porter to James I in 1619, and was knighted in 1620.^[1]

Cotterell attended Queens' College, Cambridge in 1629. He completed one more year at university but did not proceed to any degree. In June 1632 he began touring Europe with aristocratic friends. On his second tour the death of Charles of Pembroke resulted in an early return to England and the enlistment of Cotterell to Charles' father's service in 1636. Cotterell served the Earl of Pembroke under courtly and military service until he was knighted in Oxford in 1645.^[1]

In Oxford Cotterell collaborated with William Aylesbury to translate Davila's Storia delle guerre civileat the request of the king. This work was published in 1647. In March 1649, following the king's execution, Cotterell, along with his wife and elder daughter, accompanied Aylesbury and the Duke of Buckingham into exile in Antwerp.

By 1652 Cotterell had moved to The Hague to become steward to Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia while completing his translation of La Calprenède's Cassandre. After resigning his stewardship in September 1655 Cotterell was appointed as an adviser to the Duke of Gloucester under whom he fought in three campaigns in Flounders.^[1]

On 29 May 1660 Cotterell returned with the royal party to London where he was sworn master of the ceremonies on 5 June. The pursuit of a young widow, Anne Owen, after the death of Frances his wife in 1657, led Cotterell to form a friendship with Katherine Phillips, whose husband was the MP for Cardigan. Phillips was a young poet who was known in her salon as Orinda. Cotterell became a major figure in Orinda's literary circle and she dubbed him Poliarchus, after a character in Barclay's Argenis.Cotterell later took Phillps' MP seat.^[1]

Cotterell resigned his seat on 27 December 1686 to his son Charles Lodowick. His last years were quiet. Sir Charles Cotterell died on 7 June 1701.^[1]

Family

In the summer of 1642 Cotterell married Frances (1614 – c. 1657), daughter of Edward West of Marsworth, Buckinghamshire.^[1] Their children included:

• Charles Lodowick (1615–1701), who followed his father as Master of the Ceremonies.^[1]
• Frances (Frank), their eldest daughter. ^[1]
• Anne, who married Robert Dormer, of Rousham, Oxfordshire^[1]
• Elisabeth (or Katherine), who married Sir William Trumbull.^[3]
• A younger son was killed in the sea Battle of Solebay in 1672.^[3]

Notes

1. Also spelt Sir Charles Cottrell.^[1]

1. Clayton 2009.
2. Lee 1903, p. 283.
3. Lee 1887, p. 291.

References

• Clayton, Roderick (May 2009) [2004]. "Cotterell , Sir Charles (1615–1701)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6397. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
•  Lee, Sidney (1887). "Cotterell, Charles". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography 12. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 290–291.

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1903). "Cotterell, Charles". Dictionary of National Biography. Index and Epitome. Cambridge University Press. p. 283.