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((Short description|English antiquarian (d. 1631)))
((EngvarB|date=August 2014))
((Use dmy dates|date=August 2014))
((Infobox officeholder
| name = Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington
| image = RobertCotton1626.jpg
| caption = Portrait of Robert Cotton, commissioned 1626 and attributed to [[Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen]]
| constituency_MP = [[Newtown (UK Parliament constituency)|Newtown]]
| parliament = English
| alongside = [[Robert Wroth (died 1614)|Robert Wroth]]
| term_start = 1601
| term_end = 1601
| predecessor = ((unbulleted list| [[Sylvanus Scory]] | [[Thomas Crompton (died c.1607)|Thomas Crompton]]))
| successor = ((unbulleted list| [[John Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope|Sir John Stanhope]] | [[William Meux]]))
| constituency_MP2 = [[Huntingdonshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Huntingdonshire]]
| parliament2 = English
| alongside2 = [[Oliver Cromwell (died 1655)|Sir Oliver Cromwell]]
| term_start2 = 1604
| term_end2 = 1611
| predecessor2 = ((unbulleted list| [[Gervase Clifton, 1st Baron Clifton|Sir Gervase Clifton]] | Oliver Cromwell))
| successor2 = ((unbulleted list| [[Robert Payne (died 1631)|Sir Robert Payne]] | Sir Oliver Cromwell))
| constituency_MP3 = [[Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)|Old Sarum]]
| parliament3 = English
| alongside3 = [[Michael Oldisworth]]
| term_start3 = 1624
| term_end3 = 1624
| predecessor3 = ((unbulleted list| [[George Myne]] | [[Thomas Brett (MP)|Thomas Brett]]))
| successor3 = ((unbulleted list| [[Sir John Stradling, 1st Baronet|Sir John Stradling]] | Michael Oldisworth))
| constituency_MP4 = [[Thetford (UK Parliament constituency)|Thetford]]
| parliament4 = English
| alongside4 = [[Framlingham Gawdy]]
| term_start4 = 1625
| term_end4 = 1625
| predecessor4 = ((unbulleted list| Framlingham Gawdy | [[Sir Drue Drury, 1st Baronet|Drue Drury]]))
| successor4 = ((unbulleted list| Framlingham Gawdy | [[Sir John Hobart, 2nd Baronet|Sir John Hobart, Bt]]))
| constituency_MP5 = [[Castle Rising (UK Parliament constituency)|Castle Rising]] 
| parliament5 = English
| alongside5 = [[Thomas Bancroft (MP)|Sir Thomas Bancroft]]
| term_start5 = 1628
| term_end5 = 1629
| predecessor5 = ((unbulleted list| [[Hamon le Strange|Sir Hamon le Strange]] | Sir Thomas Bancroft))
| successor5 = ''Parliament suspended until 1640''
| birth_name = Robert Bruce Cotton
| birth_date = 22 January 1570/1
| birth_place = [[Denton, Cambridgeshire]], England
| death_date = ((death date|df=y|1631|5|6))
| death_place = 
| children = [[Sir Thomas Cotton, 2nd Baronet, of Connington|Sir Thomas Cotton, 2nd Baronet]]<br /> Roland Rowland Cotton (Saltonstall) II of Derby
))

'''Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Baronet''' (22 January 1570/71 – 6 May 1631) of Conington Hall in the parish of [[Conington, Huntingdonshire|Conington]] in [[Huntingdonshire]], England,<ref name="kcs">Kyle, Chris & Sgroi</ref> was a [[Member of Parliament]] and an [[antiquarian]] who founded the [[Cotton library]].

==Origins==
Sir Robert Cotton was born on 22 January 1571 in [[Denton, Cambridgeshire|Denton]], Huntingdonshire, the son and heir of Thomas Cotton (1544–1592) of Conington (son of Thomas Cotton of Conington, [[Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire]] in 1547<ref>[[John Lambrick Vivian|Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L.]], (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the [[Heraldic visitation|Heralds' Visitations]] of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.242, pedigree of Cotton</ref>) by his first wife, Elizabeth Shirley, a daughter of Francis Shirley of [[Staunton Harold]], Leicestershire.<ref name="kcs" />

The Cotton family originated at the manor of [[Cotton, Cheshire]],<ref>Vivian, p.240</ref> from where they took their surname. They were prominent in [[Shropshire]] by the 16th century with centres of power at [[Alkington, Shropshire|Alkington]]<ref>((Cite web |title=COTTON, Rowland (1581-1634), of Crooked Lane, London; later of Alkington Hall, Whitchurch and Bellaport Hall, Norton-in-Hales, Salop ((!)) History of Parliament Online |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/cotton-rowland-1581-1634 |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org))</ref> and [[Norton in Hales]] where a member of the family, [[Rowland Cotton]], gave one of the first architectural commissions to [[Inigo Jones]].<ref>((Cite web |title=Norton in Hales Saint Chad’s |url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/4659/about-us/ |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=www.achurchnearyou.com |language=en))</ref> The family was close to polymath and antiquarian [[Rowland Hill (MP)|Sir Rowland Hill]], publisher of the [[Geneva Bible]].<ref>((Cite web |last=nortoninhales |date=2017-06-02 |title=History of Norton Parish |url=https://www.nortoninhales.org/single-post/2017/06/01/history-of-norton-parish |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=nortoninhales |language=en))</ref>

==Education==
Cotton was educated at [[The King's (The Cathedral) School|King's School, Peterborough]] and [[Westminster School]] where he was a pupil of the [[antiquarian]] [[William Camden]], under whose influence he began to study antiquarian topics.  He began collecting rare manuscripts as well as collecting notes on the history of Huntingdonshire when he was seventeen.<ref>"Robert Cotton, 1571–1631." Robert Cotton, 1571–1631. Montague Millennium Inc., 22 February 2006. Web.</ref> He proceeded to [[Jesus College, Cambridge]], where he graduated BA in 1585<ref>((acad|id=CTN581R|name=Cotton, Robert (Bruce)))</ref> and in 1589 entered the [[Middle Temple]] to study law. He began to amass a library in which the documents rivalled, then surpassed, the [[Royal manuscripts, British Library|royal manuscript collections]].

==Career==
((Unreferenced section|date=January 2023))
Cotton was elected a [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Newtown (Isle of Wight) (UK Parliament constituency)|Newtown, Isle of Wight]] in 1601 and as [[Knight of the Shire]] for [[Huntingdonshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Huntingdonshire]] in 1604.

He helped to devise the institution of the title of ''[[baronet]]'' as a means for [[James I of England|King James I]] to raise funds: like a [[peerage]], a baronetcy was heritable but, like a [[knighthood]], it gave the holder no seat in the [[House of Lords]].

One of his scarce monographs, ''Twenty-Four Arguments'', proposed the bolstering of royal powers to suppress Catholic elements in England<ref>((Cite book |last=Cotton |first=Robert |title=Cottoni posthuma : divers choice pieces of that renowned antiquary, Sir Robert Cotton, Knight and Baronet |publisher=The Cotton Library |year=1671 |location=London |pages=107 |language=en))</ref> in the wake of the [[Popery Act 1627]]. His public [[anti-Catholicism]] brought him short-lived favour with the king.

Despite this early period of goodwill with King James I, his approach to public life, based on his immersion in the study of old documents, was essentially based on that "sacred obligation of the king to put his trust in parliaments" which in 1628 was expressed in his [[monograph]] ''The Dangers wherein the Kingdom now Standeth, and the Remedye''.

From the Court party's point of view, this was anti-royalist in nature, and the king's ministers began to fear the uses being made of Cotton's library to support pro-parliamentarian arguments. Thus it was confiscated in 1630 and returned only after his death to his heirs.

==Role in Parliament==
((More citations needed|section|date=January 2023))
[[File:Robert Bruce Cotton bust BM 1924 0412 1.jpg|thumb|right|A bust of Cotton by [[Louis-François Roubiliac]] in the [[British Museum]]]]
Cotton supported the claim of King [[James VI and I|James VI]] of Scotland to succeed Queen [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] on the English throne, and after the queen's death was commissioned to write a work defending James's claim to the throne, for which he was rewarded with a knighthood in 1603.

Cotton was elected to Parliament for [[Huntingdonshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Huntingdonshire]] in 1604, a constituency previously represented by his grandfather, [[Thomas Cotton (MP for Huntingdonshire)|Thomas Cotton]]. Cotton worked on the Committee on Grievances and in 1605–06 received the Bill pertaining to the [[Gunpowder Plot]] through his work on the Committee of Privileges. In 1607 he was reappointed to the Committee of Privileges. Cotton was appointed to the joint conference with the [[House of Lords]] during his work on the bill pertaining to the full union between Scotland and England in 1606–07.

In 1610, Cotton was nominated in first place to the Committee of Privileges. In 1610/11 the royal revenues were low, and Cotton wrote ''Means for raising the king’s estate'' in which he suggested the formation of the [[baronetcy]], a new order of social rank, higher than the knight but lower than the baron.

Cotton was not elected to the 1614 Parliament. In 1621, Cotton advised James I on the impeachment of [[Francis Bacon|Sir Francis Bacon]] concerning the respective roles of the king and Parliament. In 1624, Cotton was elected to represent [[Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)|Old Sarum]] after the previous member, [[Arthur Ingram|Sir Arthur Ingram]], decided to sit for [[York (UK Parliament constituency)|York]].<ref name=ODNB>((cite ODNB|last=Stuart|first=Handley|title=Cotton, Sir Robert Bruce, first baronet (1571–1631) |year=2011 |orig-year=2004 |id= 6424))</ref>

He was subsequently elected to Parliament for [[Thetford (UK Parliament constituency)|Thetford]] (1625) and [[Castle Rising (UK Parliament constituency)|Castle Rising]] (1628).

==Society of Antiquaries==
Cotton reunited with his former schoolmaster [[William Camden]] in the late 1580s as an early member of the [[Elizabethan Society of Antiquaries|Society of Antiquaries]]. Camden was one of the greatest early antiquarians, whose 1586 work ''[[Britannia (Camden)|Britannia]]'' was a [[chorography|chorographical]] (topographical and historical) survey of Britain.<ref name=Commemoration>Howarth, D. ''Sir Robert Cotton and the Commemoration of Famous Men''. British Library</ref>

Cotton exerted little influence in the society until after his father's death in 1592. In 1593, he was resident at the family seat of [[Conington Castle]], which he rebuilt. He returned to London in 1598 and revived the Society and petitioned for a permanent academy for antiquarian studies, suggesting that Cotton's collection of manuscripts be combined with the Queen's library to form a national library. The plan did not receive royal approval.<ref name=ODNB/>

The discussion of the Society in the summer of 1600 focused on ancient burial customs, probably the result of a recent visit to [[Hadrian's Wall]] by Camden and Cotton during which they collected Roman coins, monuments and fossils. The trip appears to have initiated Cotton's interest in Roman artefacts. The antiquarians Reginald Bainbridge and [[Lord William Howard]] offered Cotton Roman stones while the Essex antiquarian [[John Barkham (antiquary)|John Barkham]] arranged to send him Roman relics.<ref name=Commemoration/>

Cotton's antiquarian studies influenced many people of his time and he was often looked to by other antiquarians for ideas. Below is a letter written by fellow antiquarian [[Roger Dodsworth]] to Cotton:
((blockquote|Honble- Sr
:
:With my due acknowledgement of your multiplied favours presupposed, I thought good to advertise you that, since I saw you, I have used such meanes, as my health would permitt, to enquire after such things as you desired. I have beene att Cattericke wher I was informed of 2Romaine monuments weh were found in a 1620 and are now in my Io: of Arundells keeping. I have found, a peece of a round piller, att Ribblccester, being almost half a yeard thick, and half an ell in height, with such letters, on the one side thereof, as I have figured in this paper inclosed. I saw, ther, a little table of free stone, not half a yeard square, with the portraitures of 3 armed men cutt therin, but no inscription att all theron. I saw likewise 2 other stones of the nature of slate, or thicke flaggs some yeard square, with fretted antique workes engraven on them, without any letters. I shalbe very gladd that my uttmost endeavours, might availe to requite the least of many respects you have done unto me. And do desire you to signify your pleasure, what you would have mee to doo touching the premisses, and I shall not faile to do my best in effecting thereof...
:
:Yours faythfully

:Roger Dodsworth

:Hutton grange 16 February 1622.<ref name=Commemoration/>))

The last recorded meeting of the Society of Antiquaries was in 1607.<ref name=ODNB/>  Cotton, however, continued collecting.

==Marriage and progeny==
As a young man, Cotton may have contracted a (possibly irregular) marriage with Frideswide Faunt, daughter of [[William Faunt]] of [[Foston, Leicestershire]], and sister of the [[Jesuit]] theologian [[Arthur Faunt]]. The marriage was recorded by [[William Burton (antiquary, died 1645)|William Burton]], Frideswide's nephew, but is not mentioned in Cotton's own papers.<ref>((cite book |first=Oliver |last=Harris |chapter='The greatest blow to antiquities that ever England had': the Reformation and the antiquarian resistance |editor1-last=Dijkhuizen |editor1-first=Jan Frans van |editor2-last=Todd |editor2-first=Richard |title=The Reformation Unsettled: British literature and the question of religious identity, 1560–1660 |location=Turnhout |publisher=Brepols |year=2008 |isbn=9782503526249 |pages=225–42 (228–9) ))</ref>

In about 1593 (the precise date is not known), he married Elizabeth Brocas, the daughter of William Brocas of [[Theddingworth]] in Leicestershire. This marriage took place about a year after the death of Cotton's father, and helped to shore up his financial position, as Elizabeth was an heiress. Their subsequent marital history suggests that perhaps these factors outweighed personal compatibility.<ref>((Cite book|title=Cotton's library: the many perils of preserving history |last=Matt |first=Kuhns |year=2014 |isbn=9780988250543 |location=Lakewood, Ohio|oclc=903273973))</ref>

By Elizabeth, Cotton had a son: [[Sir Thomas Cotton, 2nd Baronet, of Connington|Sir Thomas Cotton, 2nd Baronet]] (1594–1662). Sir Thomas in turn married Margaret Howard, by whom he had a son, Sir John Cotton (born 1621).<ref name=ODNB/>

Sir Robert had an extensive circle of friends and a considerable capacity to charm, which he displayed both before and after marrying. He spent several years, and possibly more than a decade, living with the widowed [[Elizabeth Spencer, Baroness Hunsdon|Lady Hunsdon]], perhaps as her lover during an overt separation from his wife. Eventually, the Cottons patched things up. Nonetheless, a reputation as something of a playboy attached to Sir Robert until the end of his life.<ref>((cite book|title=Remapping Early Modern England|first=Kevin|last=Sharpe|date=2000|page=328))</ref>

==Library==
((main|Cotton library|List of manuscripts in the Cotton library))

The Cotton library was the richest private collection of [[manuscripts]] ever amassed.<ref>((Cite book |last=Kesselring |first=K.J. |title=The Trials of Charles 1 |publisher=The Broadview Sources Series |year=2016 |isbn=9781554812912 |pages=27 |language=English))</ref> Of secular libraries, it outranked the Royal Library, the collections of the [[Inns of Court]] and the [[College of Arms]]. Cotton's collection included several rare and old texts, including the original codex bound manuscript of [[Beowulf]], written around the year 1000; the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]], written in the 7th or 8th century; and the ''[[Codex Alexandrinus]]'', a 5th-century manuscript of the Greek Bible.<ref name="murray">((Cite book|last=Murray|first=Stuart A. P.|title=The Library: An Illustrated History|publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |orig-year=2009 |year=2012 |isbn=9781616084530 |location=New York |pages=122–124))</ref> Cotton's house near the [[Palace of Westminster]] became the meeting-place of the Society of Antiquaries of London and of all the eminent scholars of England.<ref>((cite DNB|wstitle=Cotton, Robert Bruce|volume=12|first=Sidney |last=Lee ))</ref> The library was eventually donated to the nation by Cotton's grandson and is now housed in the [[British Library]].<ref>((Cite book |last=Kesselring |first=K.J. |title=The Trials of Charles I |publisher=The Broadview Sources Series |year=2016 |isbn=9781554812912 |pages=27 |language=English))</ref>

The physical arrangement of Cotton's library continues to be reflected in citations to manuscripts formerly in his possession. His library was housed in a room ((convert|26|ft|m)) long by six feet wide filled with [[Bookcase|bookpresses]], each surmounted by the bust of a figure from [[classical antiquity]].<ref name="murray"/> Counterclockwise, these were catalogued as [[Julius Caesar|Julius]], [[Caesar Augustus|Augustus]], [[Cleopatra VII of Egypt|Cleopatra]], [[Faustina the Younger|Faustina]], [[Tiberius]], [[Caligula]], [[Claudius]], [[Nero]], [[Galba]], [[Otho]], [[Vitellius]], [[Vespasian]], [[Titus]], and [[Domitian]]. (Domitian had only one shelf, perhaps because it was over the door). Manuscripts are today designated by library, bookpress, and number: for example, the manuscript of ''[[Beowulf]]'' is designated ''Cotton Vitellius A.xv'', and the manuscript of ''[[Pearl (poem)|Pearl]]'' is ''[[Pearl Manuscript|Cotton Nero A.x]]''.

==Role of family on the Cotton library==
Sir Robert Cotton began developing the works and manuscripts into a collection for his library shortly after the birth of his son in 1594.<ref name=ODNB/> From the period 1609 to 1614 the deaths of various people (including Lord Lumley, Earl of Salisbury, Prince Henry, William Dethick and Northampton) all contributed to Sir Robert Cotton's purchase of works for his library.<ref name=ODNB/> 

Sir Robert Cotton is understood to have had a residence in [[Chester]]:

<blockquote>
[e]arly in the 17th century, this Priory, or so much of as remained, was occupied as a dwelling-house by Sir Robert Cotton, the antiquary... there, according to tradition, he had been visited by [[Ben Jonson]]<ref>((Cite book |last=Quincey |first=Thomas De |url= |title=Confessions of an English Opium Eater: And Other Writings |date=2003-03-27 |publisher=Penguin Classics |isbn=978-0-14-043901-4 |editor-last=Milligan |editor-first=Barry |edition=Revised |language=English))</ref>
</blockquote>

and also in [[London]]; his wife and son remained in the country.<ref name="ODNB" /> 

During his father's absence Thomas Cotton studied to eventually receive his BA on 24 October 1616 from [[Pembroke College, Oxford|Broadgates Hall, Oxford]] — the same year that Sir Robert Cotton returned to his wife Elizabeth and family (a result of a hiccup with the law involving the death of earl of Somerset).<ref name="ODNB" /> At that point, Sir Thomas Cotton had taken the responsibilities of the home and the library into his own hands.<ref name="ODNB" />

[[File:Robert Cotton.jpg|thumb|left|Robert Cotton in 1629, the year that he was forced to close the [[Cotton library]] by [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] because the content within the library was believed to be harmful to the interests of the Royalists]]

In 1620, Thomas Cotton married Margaret Howard with whom he had his first son, Sir John Cotton, just one year later in 1621.<ref name=ODNB/> Sir Thomas Cotton's marriage with Margaret Howard ended in 1622, which had been the year that Thomas Cotton's father, Sir Robert Cotton, permanently moved residence to Cotton House, Westminster, along with the library which remained in Cotton House until Sir Robert Cotton's death in 1631.<ref name=ODNB/> The relocation of the library and residence to Cotton House gave members of Parliament and government workers better access to the matter within the library to be used as resources for their work.<ref name=ODNB/>
 
The Cotton library offered important and valuable sources of reference and knowledge to many people, such as John Selden, "a frequent borrower from the library, and probably its protector during the civil wars" as stated in the ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]''.<ref name=ODNB/> Selden, in 1623 said of Cotton: “his kindness and willingness to make them [his collection of books and manuscripts] available to students of good literature and affairs of state".<ref>Smith, T. "Catalogue of the manuscripts in the Cottonian Library, 1696 / Catalogus librorum manuscriptorum bibliothecae Cottonianae." Ed. C. G. C. Tite (1696); repr. (1984).</ref><ref name=ODNB/> In keeping with the notion that John Selden was a common presence in the Cotton library, The British Library holds a list of thirteen works, and the locations of those volumes today, that had been lent to Seldon by Sir Robert Cotton.<ref>((cite journal |last=Tite |first=Colin G. C. |title=A 'loan' of printed books from Sir Robert Cotton to John Selden |journal=Bodleian Library Record |volume=13 |issue=6 |year=1991 |pages=486–490 ))</ref>

After another hiccup with the government, Sir Robert Cotton was forced to close the library by [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] because the content within the library was believed to be harmful to the interests of the Royalists in 1629.<ref>((Cite book |last=Kesselring |first=K.J. |title=The Trial of Charles I |publisher=The Broadview Sources Series |year=2016 |isbn=9781554812912 |pages=27 |language=English))</ref><ref name=ODNB/> In September 1630 Sir Robert Cotton and Sir Thomas Cotton, together, petitioned for renewed access to their library.<ref name=ODNB/> One year later, in 1631, Sir Robert Cotton died without knowing what the future held for his library, but wrote in his will that the library be left to his son Thomas Cotton and that it be passed down accordingly.<ref name=ODNB/> After the death of his father, Sir Thomas Cotton married his second wife, Alice Constable, in 1640 with whom they had their son Robert Cotton in 1644.<ref name=ODNB/> Sir Thomas Cotton's "ownership access to the Cotton library was more limited than under his father" according to the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', and Thomas Cotton maintained his ability to "protect," "improve" and "maximize the profits" received during the civil war, as he had earlier on in his life as a result of his father's absence.<ref name=ODNB/> Upon the death of Sir Robert Cotton on 13 May 1662, Sir Thomas Cotton obeyed the will of his father and passed down the library to his eldest son from his first marriage, Sir John Cotton.<ref name=ODNB/>

On 12 September 1702, Sir John Cotton died.<ref name=ODNB/> Prior to his death, Sir John Cotton had arranged for the Cotton library to be bought for the nation of England through acts of Parliament.<ref name=ODNB/> If the library had not been sold to the nation, despite the wish of his grandfather Sir Robert Cotton, the library would have been taken over and inherited by John Cotton's two grandsons, who, unlike the rest of the college-educated Cotton family, had been illiterate and put the library at risk of getting broken up and sold to different divisions within the family.<ref name=ODNB/>

===Selected manuscripts===
[[File:Sir Gawain first page 670x990.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Pearl Manuscript|Cotton Nero A.x]]'']]
*[[Cotton Julius]] A.x ''Old English Martyrology''
*[[Cotton Augustus]] II.106 ''[[Magna Carta]]: [[Exemplified copy|Exemplification]] of 1215''
*[[Cotton Cleopatra]] A.ii ''Life of St Modwenna''
*[[Cotton Faustina]] A.x ''Additional Glosses to the Glossary in [[Ælfric of Eynsham|Ælfric's]] Grammar''
*[[Cotton Tiberius]] B.v ''[[Labours of the Months]]''
*[[Cotton Caligula]] A.ii "A Pistil of Susan" (frag.)
*[[Cotton Claudius]] B.iv ''Genesis''
*[[Pearl Manuscript|Cotton Nero A.x]]. ''[[Pearl (poem)|Pearl]]'', ''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]''
*Cotton Nero D.iv ''[[Lindisfarne Gospels]]''
*[[Cotton Galba]] A.xviii ''Athelstan Psalter''
*[[Cotton Otho]] C.i [[Ælfric of Eynsham|Ælfric's]] ''De creatore et creatura''
*[[Cotton Vitellius A.xv]] ''[[Beowulf]]'', ''[[Judith (homily)|Judith]]''
*[[Cotton Vespasian]] D.xiv [[Ælfric of Eynsham|Ælfric's]] ''De duodecim abusivis''
*Cotton Titus D.xxvi ''[[Ælfwine, abbot of New Minster|Ælfwine]]'s Prayerbook''
*[[Cotton Domitian]] A.viii ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' (version E)

==See also==
*[[Anglo-Saxon literature]]

==References==
((Reflist))

==Further reading==
*((cite book |last=Sharpe |first=Kevin |author-link=Kevin Sharpe (historian) |year=1979 |title=Sir Robert Cotton, 1586–1631: History and Politics in Early Modern England |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=Oxford |isbn=019821877X ))
*((cite book |first=Colin G.C. |last=Tite |title=The Manuscript Library of Sir Robert Cotton |publisher=British Library |location=London |year=1994 |isbn=0712303596 )) 
*((cite book |editor-last=Wright |editor-first=C. J. |editor-link=Christopher Wright (academic) |title=Sir Robert Cotton as Collector: essays on an early Stuart courtier and his legacy |year=1997 |publisher=British Library |location=London |isbn=978-0-7123-0358-3 ))
*((cite EB1911|wstitle=Cotton, Sir Robert Bruce|volume=7))
*Kyle, Chris & Sgroi, Rosemary, biography of ''Cotton, Sir Robert Bruce (1571-1631), of Blackfriars, London; New Exchange, The Strand; Cotton House, Westminster and Conington Hall, Hunts.'', published in [[History of Parliament]]: House of Commons 1604–1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010 [http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/cotton-sir-robert-1571-1631]

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071011184145/http://montaguemillennium.com/familyresearch/h_1631_cotton.htm Sir Robert Bruce Cotton]
* ((UK National Archives ID))
* ((NPG name|name=Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, 1st Bt))
* [https://sketchfab.com/models/e5c8bd7e64a54ea186b98fa4192d6a1c 3D Scan of the Sir Robert Cotton portrait bust at the British Museum on sketchfab.com]

((s-start))
((s-par|en))
 ((succession box 
| title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Newtown (UK Parliament constituency)|Newtown]] 
| before= [[Sylvanus Scory]]
| before2= [[Thomas Crompton (died c.1607)|Thomas Crompton]]
| with= [[Robert Wroth (died 1614)|Robert Wroth]]
| years=1601
| after= [[John Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope|Sir John Stanhope]]
| after2 = [[William Meux]]
))
 ((succession box 
| title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Huntingdonshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Huntingdonshire]] 
| before= [[Gervase Clifton, 1st Baron Clifton|Sir Gervase Clifton]]
| before2= [[Oliver Cromwell (died 1655)|Oliver Cromwell]]
| with= [[Oliver Cromwell (died 1655)|Sir Oliver Cromwell]]
| years=1604–1611
| after= [[Robert Payne (died 1631)|Sir Robert Payne]]
| after2 = [[Oliver Cromwell (died 1655)|Sir Oliver Cromwell]]
))
 ((succession box 
| title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)|Old Sarum]] 
| before= [[George Myne]]
| before2= [[Thomas Brett (MP)|Thomas Brett]]
| with= [[Michael Oldisworth]]
| years=1624
| after= [[Sir John Stradling, 1st Baronet|Sir John Stradling]]
| after2 = [[Michael Oldisworth]]
))
 ((succession box 
| title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Thetford (UK Parliament constituency)|Thetford]] 
| before= [[Framlingham Gawdy]]
| before2= [[Sir Drue Drury, 1st Baronet|Drue Drury]]
| with= [[Framlingham Gawdy]]
| years=1625
| after= [[Framlingham Gawdy]]
| after2 = [[Sir John Hobart, 2nd Baronet|Sir John Hobart, Bt]]
))
((s-bef
| before= [[Hamon le Strange|Sir Hamon le Strange]]
| before2= [[Thomas Bancroft (MP)|Sir Thomas Bancroft]]
))
((s-ttl
| title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Castle Rising (UK Parliament constituency)|Castle Rising]] 
| with= [[Thomas Bancroft (MP)|Sir Thomas Bancroft]]
| years=1628–1629
))
((s-non| reason= [[Personal Rule|Parliament suspended until 1640]]))
((s-reg|en-bt))
((s-new| creation))
((s-ttl | title=[[Cotton baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Connington)''' | years=1611–1631))
((s-aft | after=[[Sir Thomas Cotton, 2nd Baronet of Connington|Thomas Cotton]]))
((s-end))

((Authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Cotton, Sir Robert, 1st Baronet, Of Connington))
[[Category:English antiquarians]]
[[Category:English book and manuscript collectors]]
[[Category:1570s births]]
[[Category:1631 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of England]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:English MPs 1601]]
[[Category:English MPs 1604–1611]]
[[Category:English MPs 1624–1625]]
[[Category:English MPs 1625]]
[[Category:English MPs 1628–1629]]
[[Category:17th-century antiquarians]]
[[Category:16th-century English people]]
[[Category:17th-century English nobility]]

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