Afonso Anes do Cotom
Trovador ou Jogral medieval

Biographical Note:

Excepting his probable Galician birth (maybe from Negreira, Coruña, a village whose medieval name was Cotón), we have practically no data regarding this author, whose main activity period, accounting for his songs, seems to be the decade of 1240. Integrating almost certainly the circle of Prince Alfonso (future Alfonso X), as shown by those same compositions, he was probably a gentry knight, as it seems to be inferred by a tenção (poetical exchange) with Pero da Ponte, in which the matter at hand is the payment (in clothing) that the latter feels as being his rightful demand. Recently, Souto Cabo1, based in a document of Santiago's catedral, dated 1192, and where a certain Joan de Coton, knight, is named, raises the hypothesis that he could be the troubadour's father (and that, in this case, the troubadour was probably born in Santiago).
Furthermore, a certain Martin Peres de Coton, knight, is documented in Santarém, Portugal (where he married and had possessions) between 1230 and 1241, the date of his death2. It’s possible that he had the same Galician origins of Afonso Anes, but we do not know if there was a family relationship.

References

1 Souto Cabo, José António (2012), "En Santiago, seend’ albergado en mia pousada. Nótulas trovadorescas compostelanas", in Verba, 39.
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2 Viana, Mário (2005), "Os cavaleiros de Santarém nos séculos XII e XIII", in Arquipélago. História, 2ª série, IX .
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