Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington (c. 15791652) was the English lord treasurer and ambassador and leader of the pro-Spanish, pro-Roman Catholic faction in the court of Charles I.
Early life
He was the fourth son of Philip Cottington of Godmanstone, then in Somerset. According to Hoare, his mother was Jane, daughter of Thomas Biflete, but according to Clarendon, "a Stafford nearly allied to Sir Edward Stafford", through whom he was recommended to Sir Charles Cornwallis, ambassador to the court of Philip III of Spain, becoming a member of his suite and acting as English agent on the latter's recall, from 1609 to 1611.
Career
In 1612 he was appointed English consul at Seville. Returning to England, he was made a clerk of the council in September 1613. His Spanish experience rendered him useful to King James, and his bias in favour of Spain was always marked. He seemed to have promoted the Spanish policy from the first, and pressed on Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, conde de Gondomar, the Spanish ambassador, the proposal for the Spanish in opposition to the French marriage for Prince Charles (later King Charles I).
In 1616 he went as ambassador to Spain, transferring in 1618 the proposal of mediation by James I in the dispute with Frederick V, Elector Palatine.
After his return he was appointed secretary to Prince Charles in October 1622, and was knighted and made a baronet in 1623. He strongly disapproved of the prince's expedition to Spain, as an adventure likely to upset the whole policy of marriage and alliance, but was overruled and chosen to accompany him. His opposition greatly incensed George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, and still more his perseverance in the Spanish policy after the failure of the expedition, and on Charles I's accession Cottington was through his means dismissed from all his employments and forbidden to appear at court. The duke's assassination, however, enabled him to return.
He was a Roman Catholic at least at heart, becoming a member of that communion in 1623, returning to Protestantism, and again declaring himself a Roman Catholic in 1636, and supporting the cause of the Roman Catholics in England. On 12 November 1628 he was made a privy councillor, and in March 1629 appointed chancellor of the exchequer. In the autumn he was again sent as ambassador to Spain; he signed the peace treaty of Madrid of 5 November 1630 and subsequently a secret agreement arranging for the partition of the Dutch Republic between Spain and England in return for the restoration of the Palatinate. On 10 July 1631 he was created Baron Cottington of Hanworth in Middlesex.
In March 1635 he was appointed master of the Court of Wards and Liveries, and his exactions in this office added greatly to the unpopularity of the government. He was also appointed a commissioner for the Treasury, together with William Laud, and a fierce rivalry sprang up between the two men. However, in their personal encounters Cottington nearly always had the advantage, because he practised great reserve and possessed great powers of self-command, an extraordinary talent for dissembling, and a fund of humour. Laud completely lacked these qualities, and although really possessing much greater influence with Charles, he was often embarrassed and sometimes exposed to ridicule by his opponent.
The aim of Cottington's ambition was the place of lord treasurer, but Laud finally triumphed and secured it for his own nominee, Bishop Juxon, when Cottington became "no more a leader but meddled with his particular duties only." He continued, however, to take a large share in public business and served on the committees for foreign, Irish, and Scottish affairs. In the last, appointed in July 1638, he supported the war, and in May 1640, after the dismissal of the Short Parliament, he declared it his opinion that at such a crisis the king might levy money without the Parliament. His attempts to get funds from the City of London were unsuccessful, and he had recourse instead to a speculation in pepper.