ABSTRACT
In 1577 the young Philip Sidney was sent on a mission to the imperial court to convey to the new emperor, Rudolph II, the condolences of Queen Elizabeth on the death of the previous emperor, his father, Maximilian II. It was in the course of this journey that Sidney took occasion to visit German Protestant princes, particularly the Calvinist rulers of the Palatinate, in order to explore the possibility of a Protestant League in Europe. Sidney had already developed his political and religious position, based on that of his uncle, the Earl of Leicester. He believed in a policy of Protestant ‘activism’ against Spain, a policy more daring than Queen Elizabeth’s caution was prepared to sanction. And he found a kindred spirit at Heidelberg in the person of John Casimir, brother of the then Elector Palatine. Sidney reported to Walsingham that the Protestant princes of Germany were in general lukewarm about a Protestant League, the only keen ones being Casimir of the Palatinate and the Landgrave William of Hesse.1
