Sir Philip Sydney's funeral procession

When Sir Philip Sidney died of a wound received at the battle of Zutphen (1586) his body was brought home to England for an elaborate public funeral. The next year Thomas Lant published a series of engravings of the funeral procession.

Henry Danvers, aged 13, Philip Sidney's page, seated upon Sidney's war horse and trailing a broken lance.

The funeral cortege of Sir Philip Sidney on its way to St Paul's Cathedral 1587. Sidney was the earliest national hero to be awarded a State funeral.

Pictures from The Procession at the Obsequies of Sir Philip Sidney, drawn by his servant, Thomas Lant, and engraved by Theodor Dirk de Bry, 1587 (From the series of 32 plates featuring 344 engraved figures on a 38 foot long roll in the possession of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C.)

Further details and pictures of the funeral.

Updated 11 Jul 2009              (C) Gary Danvers                  Page opened 16 Jul 2006