Thursday, October 06, 2011

Question from Dafydd - Henry VIII and Cotter

Some years ago I watched a televised dramatisation of Henry VIII and his many wives. I can't remember the name of that particular series, but it wasn't Dr. Starkey's "Six Wives".

In two episodes of that series, the character playing Henry VIII would shout "Send for Cotter"; I seem to recall that this Cotter was summoned when Henry was having problems with two of his wives, Anne Boelyn and Catherine Howard.

Would anyone know who this Cotter was? or was he an invention of the screenwriter?

There is a Cotter Baronetcy of Rockforest, Co. Cork, who found favour with the Stuarts, but I can't find a connection to the Tudors.
Thank you.

1 comment:

Mary R said...

I checked Alison Weir's "Henry VIII and His Court" and did not find any reference to Cotter. You'd think that if he was close enough to Henry to be the first one called for, Weir would have mentioned him. My guess is that Cotter was a fictional character.