Nicholas Wotton (c. 1497 – 26 January 1567) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

diplomat, cleric and courtier.

Life

He was a son of Sir Robert Wotton of Boughton Malherbe,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and a descendant of Sir Nicholas Wotton,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

in 1415 and 1430, who was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

from 1406 to 1429. Soon after ordination Wotton was granted the benefices of Boughton Malherbe and of

Sutton Valence Sutton Valence (in the past also called Sudtone, Town Sutton and Sutton Hastings, see below) is a village about five miles (8 km) SE of Maidstone, Kent, England on the A274 road going south to Headcorn and Tenterden. It is on the Greensand ...

, and later of

Ivychurch Ivychurch is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. The village is located on the Romney Marsh, three miles (4.8 km) north-west of New Romney. The parish council consists of five members. ...

. Desirous of a more worldly career, he entered the service of Prince-Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall, then

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. Having helped to draw up the '' Institution of a Christian Man'', Wotton in 1539 went to arrange the marriage between Henry VIII and

Anne of Cleves Anne of Cleves (german: Anna von Kleve; 1515 – 16 July 1557) was Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. Not much is known about Anne before 1527, when she became betrothed to Francis, Duke o ...

and the union of Protestant princes which was to be the complement of this union. Wotton crossed over to England with the new royal bride but, unlike

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false char ...

, he did not lose the royal favour when the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

repudiated Anne. In 1541, having already refused the bishopric of Hereford, he became the first post-Reformation

dean of Canterbury The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The current office of Dean originated after the English Reformation, although Deans had also existed before this time; its immediate precur ...

and in 1544

dean of York Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles ...

. In 1543 he went on diplomatic business to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and for the next year or two he had much intercourse with the Emperor Charles V He helped to conclude the Treaty of Ardres between England and France in 1546, and was Ambassador resident in France from 1546 to 1549. Henry VIII made Wotton an executor of his Will and left him £300, and in October 1549, under

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

the post of

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

lay vacant; he held the post for about a year until succeeded by the unimpeachable Protestant Sir William Cecil. In 1550 Wotton was again sent as Royal Envoy to the Holy Roman Emperor and as Ambassador to France during the reign of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, doing valuable work in that capacity securing the peace. He left France in 1557, but in 1558 he was again in that kingdom, helping to arrange the preliminaries of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis. In 1560 he signed the

Treaty of Edinburgh The Treaty of Edinburgh (also known as the Treaty of Leith) was a treaty drawn up on 5 July 1560 between the Commissioners of Queen Elizabeth I of England with the assent of the Scottish Lords of the Congregation, and the French representatives ...

on behalf of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

, and he had again visited the

before his death in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He is buried in the Trinity Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral.www.british-history.ac.uk
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Relatives

His brother

Sir Edward Wotton Sir Edward Wotton (1489–1551) was the Treasurer of Calais and a privy councillor to Edward VI of England. Life Edward first appears in the commission of the peace for Kent on 2 June 1524; subsequently his name was generally included in the comm ...

was made

Treasurer of Calais The town of Calais, France, was in English hands from 1347 to 1558. During this historical period the task of the treasurer, in conjunction with the Captain of Calais, was keeping the defences in order, supplying victuals and paying the garrison ...

in 1540, and was one of those who took part in the overthrow of the

Lord Protector Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (150022 January 1552) (also 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp), also known as Edward Semel, was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry VI ...

. His nephew, Thomas Wotton (1521–1587) was the father of Sir Henry Wotton and of

Edward Wotton, 1st Baron Wotton Edward Wotton, 1st Baron Wotton (1548–1626) was an English diplomat and administrator. From 1612 to 1613, he served as a Lord of the Treasury. Wotton was Treasurer of the Household from 1616 to 1618, and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Kent ...

. His sister Margaret was the mother of

Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 3rd Marquess of Dorset (17 January 151723 February 1554), was an English courtier and nobleman of the Tudor period. He was the father of Lady Jane Grey, known as "the Nine Days' Queen". Origins He was born on ...

, and the grandmother of Lady Jane Grey.

Notes

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wotton, Nicholas 1490s births 1567 deaths People from Boughton Malherbe 16th-century English Anglican priests Ambassadors of England to France Deans of York Deans of Canterbury Ambassadors of England to Scotland Court of Mary, Queen of Scots 16th-century English diplomats