Sir Sidney

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY (1554-1586) was an English poet, courtier, scholar, and soldier. He is widely regarded as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan age. His works include Astrophel and Stella, The Defence of Poesy (also known as The Defence of Poetry or An Apology for Poetry), and The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia. He also wrote some psalms.

He was born at Penshurst Place, Kent, to Sir Henry Sidney and Lady Mary Dudley. In 1572, when he was just 18, he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury. The same year he travelled to France as part of the embassy to negotiate a marriage between Elizabeth-I and the Duc D’Alençon. He spent the next several years in various European countries, like Germany, Italy, Poland, and the Kingdom of Hungary and Austria.

Sidney was knighted in 1583. He married Frances, the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham the same year. He made a visit to Oxford University with Giordano Bruno, who subsequently dedicated two books to him. Earlier, Sidney had met Edmund Spenser, who dedicated The Shepheardes Calender to him.

He remained absent from court for some time, and wrote Astrophel and Stella and the first draft of The Arcadia and The Defence of Poesy.

Sidney was a keenly militant Protestant. In the 1570s, he had persuaded John Casimir to consider proposals for a united Protestant effort against the Roman Catholic Church and Spain. In 1586, he joined Sir John Norris in the Battle of Zutphen, fighting for the Protestant cause against the Spanish. During the battle, he was shot in the thigh and died of gangrene a few days later. He was just 31 at that time. While lying wounded he gave his water to another wounded soldier, saying, “Thy necessity is yet greater than mine”. This became a very famous story about Sir Phillip Sidney, which illustrates his noble and gallant character.