Sidney’s Death in Battle.
Sidney’s life, however, did not end with his nose in books. In 1585, he took up an offer from the queen to serve as governor of Flushing in the Netherlands, where as a knight-errant, he served in many skirmishes against Spain. In a battle in 1586, he was fatally wounded in the thigh after taking off his armor in some sort of chivalric gesture–for another knight? To show how brave he was? History is not sure. His death was a huge event in England, and his funeral almost stopped all activity in London. He was a hero almost of a romantic sort, a brave and adventurous knight, courtier, poet and thinker, he seemed to encapsulate what everyone believed were the virtues of the “Renaissance Man.”