Spenser's poetry, likewise, is more Romantic in the sense that it is looking towards a nostalgic past rather than towards an uncertain future, than that of many of his contemporaries. Spenser was a close friend and an associate of the poets Sir Philip Sidney and Sir Walter Raleigh, both of whom, in addition to being poets, were wild, adventuresome, Renaissance men. His other close contemporaries include Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, both of whom, in one way or another, were writing in response to the massive change in thought and outlook resulting from the Renaissance. Spenser does not quite fit into this category. His most important poem, the massive epic The Faerie Queene is intentionally archaic, and was conceived by Spenser as a rejuvenation of the medieval code of chivalry and morality. He was also staunchly anti-Protestant and anti-Catholic, and a number of his shorter poems were written as polemics, in hopes of preventing the unity of the Anglican Church from being torn apart by the dissent of an increasingly dissatisfied people. For all these reasons Spenser's works seem anachronistic to contemporary audiences.