Fra' Nicolas Cotoner (Nicolau Cotoner i d'Olesa; 1608, Mallorca - 1680, Malta) was the 61st Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta, between 1663 and 1680. He was the son of Marc Antoni Cotoner i de Santmartí and brother of the previous master, Rafael Cotoner. .[1]
In 1669, after a peace agreement signed between Venetia and the Ottoman Empire following the retake of Candia, Nicolas Cotoner improved the fortifications of Malta and funded the building of one of the fortresses intended to host the inhabitants in case of invasion. The fortress was named the Cottonera.
A strategist and a diplomatic, he greatly increased the prestige of the order, mainly in France, Venetia and England. In 1674 funded in Malta a school of Anatomy and Medicine as an annex of the Sacra Infermeria. He drew up (in italian) the constitutions and estatutes of the order (1674).
He is buried in the Chapel of Aragon in the Co-Cathedral. He was succeeded by Fra Gregorio Carafa.
Nicolas Cotoner continued the work on the redecoration of St. John's Co-Cathedral commenced by his brother, Rafael, and much of the splendour of the Cathedral occurred during his reign including the decoration of the vault painted by the Calabrian artist Mattia Preti as well as much of the carving and gilding of most of the walls.
The sepulchral monument to Grand Master Nicolas Cotoner, located prominently to the right side of the main altar in the chapel of the langue of Aragon in St John's Co-Cathedral, was produced by Domenico Guidi and is one of the most prominent and beautiful monuments in the Cathedral. The remarkable Cotoner monument consists of a pyramidal distribution of figures with a central grouping of triumphal paraphernalia such as arms and trophies which surround the bronze gilded bust of the Grand Master. Above a cherub holds the Cotoner armorial shield whilst the allegory of Fame blows a trumpet in triumph. The sepulchral monument was assembled in the chapel in June 1686.
| Preceded by Raphael Cotoner |
Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller 1663–1680 |
Succeeded by Gregorio Carafa |