Leicester orchestrated a magnificent funeral procession from Arnhem to London, where Sydney was carried by armored mourners through thronged streets, cementing his status as a hero for all of Protestant Christendom. ✦ AI generated
Tom Holland · The Rest Is History · 2026-08-10 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 56:47
Lester may have been irascible, incompetent, arrogant. But one thing he does know is how to create a martyr. And so Lester ensures that Sydney's funeral cortege is very slow, very somber, very stately... In London, his coffin is carried to St. Paul's Cathedral by 14 men. He's accompanied by the Lord Mayor, by 300 Londoners in full armor, and by a page riding Sydney's horse trailing a broken lance... And so in death, Sydney becomes what he had yearned to be all his life, a hero to every English Protestant and indeed to every Protestant in Christendom. And for Elizabeth and her PR team, her propaganda team, this must be a tremendous coup because it happens at precisely the point when it looks as though the storm clouds of war are moving over the English Channel.
verbatim transcript · starts at 56:47
56:29the Lord Mayor, by 300 Londoners in full armor, and by a page riding Sydney's waror trailing a broken lance. So shades perhaps of the funeral of of JFK. And the streets were so thronged with people that the mourers had scarce room to pass. And so in death, Sydney becomes what he had yearned to be all his life, a hero to every English Protestant and indeed to every Protestant in
56:58Christendom. And for Elizabeth and her uh PR team, her propaganda team, this must be a tremendous coup because it happens at precisely the point when it looks as though the storm clouds of war are moving over the English Channel towards our own beloved country. >> Yeah. About to break. They are about to break, aren't they? Because I mean, all of this has been it's been building and
57:22building over the episodes of this series, over the last few years. >> And um the storm is what is it? I mean, is it pouring with with rain over the dikes of the low countries? Surely there must be some metaphor you can employ here, Tom. >> Yes, the the the storm is breaking over the the the the [laughter] dikes of the low countries and the rumbling of
57:42thunder can be heard on the south coast of England. I think that's that's definitely the way to frame it. But of course, even as these war clouds are building, war is brewing as well amid the shadows. Um, and so in our our next and final episode, we will be returning to that dimension of shadow, to a world of secrets and of spies and conspiracies. And in particular, we will
58:12be tracking someone who has been absolutely central to this series, but who until now has been a largely off-stage presence. Um, and Dominic, a personal favorite of yours, one of your great heroins, [laughter] someone who in all kinds of ways actually was the precise opposite of Sir Phillip Sydney. So, um, she's a woman, not a man, a Catholic, not a Protestant. She's an aging prisoner, not a youthful,
58:41dashing courtier. And we are talking, of course, about Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary, [clears throat] Queen of Scots and her appointment with the Executioner, all to come in the next episode. Now, if you're a member of the Rest is History Club, if you're a member of our own expeditionary force to um uh bring the gospel of history to the Low Countries, then you'll be able to hear that episode
59:04right now. And if you want to join them, if you want to join us in the dikes and whatever they are, the pders of uh the Netherlands, love a per. Uh if you want to join us, then head to the rest ishistory.com and sign up. And that is of course the only way that you'll be able to get this cornucopia of unbelievable benefits. The other thing you probably want to do, uh, this is a