by Pits (De Angliæ Scriptoribus, § 527, p. 443) to have borne the distinguishing title among schoolmen of ‘doctor amœnus.’ This, no doubt (as is the case apparently with all the other titles of its kind), was not given him by contemporaries. His ‘Quæstiones’ on the four books of ‘Sentences’ of Peter Lombard must have enjoyed a wide popularity, at least in Oxford, to judge by the large number of manuscripts which still exist there. He also wrote ‘Quodlibeta Scholastica,’ ‘Disceptationes Magistrales,’ and ‘Sermones ad Crucem Sancti Pauli.’ Cowton is quoted as one of those who engaged in controversy relative to the conception of the Virgin Mary. Bale speaks as though he opposed the higher (or modern) view on the subject; but it is evident, considering the share which the Franciscan order took in the development of the doctrine of the immaculate conception, that the presumption is the other way; and this is, in fact, stated by Pits (l. c. pp. 443 et seq.) and Wadding (Scriptores Ordinis Minorum, p. 209, ed. Rome, 1806). Cowton is also cited by Wycliffe as the author of an abridgment of the theological works of Duns Scotus (Wycliffe, De Benedicta Incarnatione, ed. E. Harris, 1886, cap. iv. p. 57).
Out of seven manuscripts of the ‘Quæstiones Sententiarum’ in the college libraries at Oxford which bear Cowton's name, six offer the spelling ‘Cowton,’ and the remaining one has ‘Couton.’ The forms ‘Conton’ and ‘Cothon’ are manifest blunders, which seem to make their appearance first in Pits.
[Bale's Scriptt. Brit. Cat. v. 65, p. 424; cf. Sbaralea, supplement to Wadding's Scriptt. Ord. Min. p. 638 b.
COX. [See also Coxe.]
COX, Captain ——, of Coventry (fl. 1575), collector of ballads and romances, is described as ‘an od man, I promiz yoo: by profession a mason, and that right skilfull; very cunning in fens, and hardy as Gavin; … great oversight hath he in matters of storie’ (Robert Laneham, ‘A Letter whearin, part of the entertainment unto the Queenz Majesty at Killingwoorth Castl, in Warwik Sh'eer, in this Soomerz Progress, 1575, iz signified,’ 8vo). The contents of the captain's library, which are described by Laneham at considerable length, are of the most curious character. Among the entertainments provided for Queen Elizabeth during her visit to Kenilworth was a burlesque imitation of a battle, from an old romance, and Captain Cox took a leading part. He is introduced on his hobby-horse in Ben Jonson's ‘Mask of Owls, at Kenelworth. Presented by the Ghost of Captain Cox,’ 1626.
[Captain Cox, his Ballads and Books; or Robert Laneham's Letter: On the Entertainment at Kenilworth in 1575. Re-edited … by F. J. Furnivall, 1871; Ben Jonson's Works, ed. Gifford (1875), viii. 52–5.]
COX, ANNE (d. 1830), authoress. [See Woodroffe, Anne.]
COX, COXE, or COCKES, BENJAMIN (fl. 1646), baptist, the son of a minister, was born in Oxfordshire about 1595. He is said to have been the son of a bishop; but this is impossible, for Richard Cox, bishop of Ely, died in 1581. He was probably a member of the bishop's family. Cox entered Oxford as a commoner of Christ Church in 1609, when he was about fourteen, and afterwards became a member of Broadgates Hall, whence he took his degrees in arts, proceeding M.A. in 1617. He was ordained, and held a living in Devonshire. According to one account, he was strongly in favour of ceremonies ‘in Laud's time,’ and was afterwards taunted by his presbyterian opponents for his zeal in this direction (Crosby, History of the English Baptists). Wood, however, says that he was always a puritan at heart, and it appears that in 1639 he was convened by Hall, bishop of Exeter, for preaching that the Church of England did not hold episcopacy to be jure divino, but made ‘a handsome retractation’ (Brook). The two accounts may to some extent be reconciled. Although a puritan and an enemy to episcopacy, Cox in his earlier days may have upheld the sacramental system as warmly as many other presbyterians did. After the outbreak of the civil war he ventured to express opinions that he had thought it prudent to conceal up to that time. He became a minister at Bedford, and openly preached the invalidity of infant baptism. In 1643 he was invited to form a congregation at Coventry. On his arrival Richard Baxter [q. v.], who was then chaplain to the rebel forces in the town, challenged him to a controversy. Cox imprudently accepted the challenge of an opponent whose arguments were supported by the swords of an admiring congregation. After the discussion had been held, the presbyterians ordered him to quit the town, and when he refused or delayed to do so they imprisoned him. Baxter was afterwards reproached for having instigated this act of intolerance; and though he denied that he had done so, he can scarcely have opposed it. After his release Cox went to London, and preached to a congregation of baptists, or, as they were then called, anabaptists. He was one of the managers of a public dispute that was to be held at Aldermanbury on 3 Dec. 1645, and,
