Philip Sidney

Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586) was an English Elizabethan poet, courtier, and soldier, celebrated as a leading figure of Renaissance literature. Born into a prominent family, he was educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford, and later traveled widely in Europe. At the court of Queen Elizabeth I he combined public service with literary ambition. Sidney’s major works include the sonnet sequence *Astrophel and Stella*, the prose romance *The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia*, and the critical essay *The Defence of Poesy*. In 1586 he was mortally wounded at the Battle of Zutphen in the Netherlands, dying soon after.