What was the name of the Elizabethan Englishman noted for helping the Dutch resistance fight Spanish occupation?

What was the name of the Elizabethan Englishman noted for helping the Dutch resistance fight Spanish occupation?

There were quite a few, but if you're loking for a famous one I suggest it might be Sir Philip Sidney.

Sidney (1554-1586) was a noted coutier, poet and writer. He died young and attracted a number of legends about himself. Most famous is the tale of his death - the mythic version is that he lent his leg armour to a friend, was shot in the (unprotected) leg, and then died after refusing a drink of water (which he said should be given to someone more deserving). The reality of his death is a bit less glorious: he was fighting at Zutphen (against the Spanish, for the Dutch) when he got shot in the leg. His shattered thighbone failed to heal, and he died 22 days later of infection.

For the myth of Sidney's death, I quote Sir Fulke Greville's account:

An unfortunate hand brake the bone of Sir Philip's thigh with a musket shot. The horse he rode upon, was rather furiously choleric than bravely proud, and so forced him to forsake the field, and being thirsty with excess of bleeding, he called for drink, which was presently brought him; but as he was putting the bottle to his mouth, he saw a poor soldier carried along, who had eaten his last at the same Feast, ghastly casting up his eyes at the bottle. Which Sir Philip perceiving, took it from his head, before he drank, and delivered it to the poor man, with these words, Thy necessity is greater than mine. And when he had pledged this poor soldier, he was presently carried to Arnheim, where the principle Chirurgeons of the Camp attended for him....

That's the one! You're practically a walking encyclopedia, thanks :D

Could it be said that the names which follow are those of the main Elizabethan heroes?

Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Francis Drake, Sir George Silver.

I'm hoping to understand the desires of a common Elizabethan man, and to know who he would have admired and perhaps secretly wished to be.

I assume you mean Sir Francis Drake, and not Frake.

I remember reading something about Drake which claimed that before the clash with the Spanish Armarda (or to be exact the main one) off the south coast he ignored direct orders and risked his ship to capture a valuble prize which he alone profited from...

Orders? He was a Privateer, where could orders come from?

Can nobody help with the Elizabethan opinions? :(

Humn... history forum is somewhat quiet :(

Shakespeare & Byrd were too accademic, perhaps, for common people to be able to immagine themselves in such roles so I'll not bother investigating them - but could I be wrong?

Orders? He was a Privateer, where could orders come from?

Remember how privateering worked in those days. The captain of a "private man of war" was issued by the government with a "Letter of Marque and Reprisal" which authorised him to harry, take or burn ships of specified hostile nations. In exchange for that authority (and the concomitant freedom from execution as a pirate if caught), a privateer was expected to fall under at least a modicum of military control.

Basically, Queen Elizabeth carried out a maritime guerre de course policy against Spain through the agency of private men of war. While her public avowal to Spain (especially at those times when no formal state of war existed) was that these were private citizens over whom she had no control, the reality was somewhat different. Orders could, and would, legitimately come from the royal authority to Drake and others...

Given the lack of central command and speedy communications, it seems hard to immagine any precise orders being issued.

What might the orders have been? :confused: