Philip Sidney died of a leg wound and became famous at his funeral
The Anglo-Spanish cold war turns hot, and Philip Sidney finally gets his chance at glory on the Low Countries battlefield — only to die of a wound that need not have killed him. What made him a hero of Protestant Europe was the funeral, not the fighting.
The video won't play here. Listen to the audio instead:
The argument · tap a timestamp to hear it
The person the queen trusted least was the perfect courtier
At the 1581 tournament Philip Sidney was the star of the field: born into England's most elite web of connections, and already a poet and courtier famous across Europe — Astrophil and Stella is reckoned second only to Shakespeare's sonnet sequence. But Elizabeth never really trusted him, finding him too well connected, too independent, too aggressively Protestant; keeping him at court to entertain the French marriage embassy was closer to an insult. That same year, in a tennis-court quarrel, the Earl of Oxford called him a puppy, and the queen herself reprimanded Sidney for forgetting his station. He was not knighted until 1583, at the age of 29 — for a "perfect courtier," the lateness was itself a snub.
The Dutch-Belgian border was drawn by this war
Around 1585 Parma had recovered most of the southern Low Countries for Spain, with Ghent and then Brussels falling, and the rebel cause looked about to collapse. Four great rivers formed a natural dividing line: the northern provinces eventually held off Spain and became the 17th-century Dutch Republic of Protestantism, capitalism and Rembrandt; the south returned to the Habsburgs and Catholicism and, two and a half centuries later, became Belgium. This shadow war between England and Spain also happened to decide the borders of the Low Countries on today's map of Europe.
Drake and Sidney were both waiting for the war that had to come
Drake, back from his circumnavigation, bought four grand houses, sat as an MP, served as mayor of Plymouth, and even legislated on the cod trade — and was bored out of his mind. Sidney had been Master of the Ordnance since 1583, responsible for England's defensive preparations. Both were like Churchill in the 1930s, convinced that a life-and-death war with Spain was closing in, and both were militant Protestants by faith. Their mutual admiration was no accident: one wanted a real war, the other wanted a kindred spirit. By 1585 the war had actually arrived.
With Orange dead, the Dutch revolt nearly collapsed
On 10 July 1584 William of Orange was assassinated at Delft, crying out as he died, "God have mercy on me and on this poor people." He was the symbol, the spirit and the military leader of the Dutch revolt; with him gone, the rebels nearly fell apart. Opposite them stood Parma, the most feared commander in Europe — both governor of the Netherlands and commander of its army, capable in diplomacy and in war. When he took over in 1578 the Spanish army was on the verge of collapse; by 1584 he had recovered almost the entire south. France, paralysed by the War of the Three Henrys, left Philip II finally free to act.
Antwerp wasn't taken by an army, but by a bridge
Antwerp was the largest, richest and most strongly Protestant city in the Low Countries. Parma began the siege in June 1584, and its core was a floating bridge nearly half a mile long cutting the Scheldt. The Dutch sent fireships packed with explosives to blow up the bridge; they did destroy a section and kill 800 Spanish soldiers, but Parma repaired the bridge before the gap could be exploited. When the rebels attacked again in May, the tide swept their own fire ships back onto their own lines. The siege lasted 13 months, and Antwerp fell on 17 August 1585, with more than half its inhabitants leaving.
Elizabeth sent troops for trade, not for Protestantism
Three days after Antwerp fell, Elizabeth signed the Treaty of Nonsuch with the Dutch rebels, sending 6,350 infantry and 1,000 cavalry and — unusually — agreeing to subsidise the war effort. She had not suddenly turned militant: Philip II had imposed an embargo on English shipping in May 1585, and if Antwerp fell into Spanish hands the whole trade artery of the Low Countries would be throttled. She demanded three ports be handed over as cautionary towns garrisoned by English troops, ensuring control of the Scheldt estuary. Sensitivity to money did more to move this queen than enthusiasm for the Protestant cause.
Destroying a rival's credit is deadlier than seizing his gold
Sidney had been meant to sail with Drake's fleet to the West Indies, but the queen recalled him and sent him to Flushing instead. Drake stormed Vigo, San Domingo and Cartagena, dismantling towns and extracting ransoms; though he failed to intercept the treasure ship, he exposed the fragility of Spain's American empire to Europe's financiers. The pope and the dukes of Florence and Savoy refused to lend Philip II any more money, and the banks of Seville failed. Burghley gloated that Drake was the man the King of Spain feared most. The genuinely valuable idea in this episode is that 16th-century strategists already understood that striking at a rival's credit is deadlier than seizing his gold and silver.
Sidney's heroic status was manufactured by his funeral
At the battle of Zutphen Sidney charged three times; turning back on the third, he was hit above the left knee and the bone shattered. Surgery to remove the ball brought on gangrene, and he died on 17 October, aged only 31. On his deathbed he lamented that his life had been "vanity of vanities." What truly turned him into a hero was the funeral: the coffin was carried from Arnhem to London, with 14 pallbearers at St Paul's Cathedral, the Lord Mayor in attendance, 300 armed Londoners, and his warhorse trailing a broken lance. In death he won the admiration of all Protestant Europe that he had sought in vain while alive. The hero myth was made by the funeral.
In their own words · checked verbatim
They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts.
And so that's why Philip is named after Philip of Spain. So, you know, even when he's a little baby. Philip Sydney is meeting very famous people.
So that's maybe a third of the population end up leaving Ghent and heading to Holland.
Probably around 60,000 people.Out of it.Total population of 100000.So more than half.
And this is to consist of 6350 infantry.And 1000 cavalry.
whilst his riches of the Indies continue.He thinketh he will be able with them to weary out all other prince s.Those taken away himself, will quickly fall.
And so in death.Sydney becomes what he had yearned to be all his life.A hero.To every English Protestant and indeed, to every Protestant.
Figures
| Protestants who left after the fall of Ghent | about 15,000, roughly one third of the city | 30:00 |
| Length of Parma's floating bridge | about half a mile, twice the length of Caesar's bridge over the Rhine | 32:13 |
| Spanish soldiers killed by the fireship | 800 | 32:13 |
| Length of the siege of Antwerp | 13 months | 40:00 |
| English troops under the Treaty of Nonsuch | 6,350 infantry + 1,000 cavalry | 41:51 |
| Size of Drake's West Indies fleet | about 20 ships, 2 of them provided by Elizabeth | 45:00 |
| Spanish reinforcements sent to relieve Zutphen | 5,000 | 54:14 |
Glossary
- cautionary towns
- The three ports handed over to England under the Treaty of Nonsuch to be garrisoned by English troops, as security for English aid.
- fireships / hell-burners
- Fire attack vessels packed with explosives and drifted downstream toward an enemy bridge or fleet; the Dutch used them against Parma's floating bridge.
- Politiques
- Moderate Protestants in the Low Countries revolt who advocated toleration rather than extreme Calvinism, in conflict with Leicester's hard line.
- War of the Three Henrys
- From 1585, three Henrys went to war with one another in France, paralysing the country and giving Spain room to act.
How to listen
Listeners who want to understand Elizabethan court politics, how the Anglo-Spanish cold war turned hot, and where the Dutch/Belgian border comes from; especially suited to those who like big history told through one person's fate.
The first ~7 minutes are a sponsor read and a poetry recitation and can be skipped; returning listeners to the series can start at 11:38.