Miguel
de Cervantes
(~1547-1616)
Other names: Manco de Lepanto
Positions Held
Commissioner of supplies for the Spanish Armada in the Andalusian region,
1587
Chamberlain to Cardinal Giulio de Acquaviva, 1569
Biographical
Novelist, poet, and playwright, Cervantes is considered the greatest
figure in Spanish literature. He studied in the Universities of
Salamanca and Madrid, and cultivated poetry in his youth without much
success. His first literary work was a sonnet for
Queen Isabel in celebration of the birth of her first child.
Between 1568 and 1569, he fled to Rome to escape punishment for wounding his
opponent in a duel. In about 1570 he entered as a volunteer in the
papal army under Marcantonio Colonna, and in 1571 he signalised his courage
at the battle of Lepanto, where he was wounded. In 1575 he was taken
by an Algerine corsair and carried as a slave to Algiers. After
risking his life in gallant efforts to liberate his fellow captives, and
after terrible sufferings, he was ransomed in 1580 for five hundred ducats,
and returned to Madrid. In 1584 he published Galatea, and
married that year. Cervantes wrote numerous dramas, which, he informs
us, were performed with success, but neither these nor his other earlier
works sufficed to relieve him from poverty. Between 1597 and 1598, he
was jailed for seven months for mishandling tax revenues. He moved to
Valladolid in 1604. At length, in 1605, he published the first part of
the inimitable Don Quixote de la Mancha, which soon became immensely
popular, and ran through four editions in the first year. That year,
he was arrested with members of his family after being falsely accused of
involvement in the death of man. The charges were dropped, but
Cervantes' reputation as a writer was tarnished. He afterwards moved
to Madrid and lived there until his death. In 1609, he joined the
Confraternity of Slaves of the Most Blessed Sacrament. In 1613, he
produced his Novelas exeplares, which were much admired. That
year, he joined the Third Order of St Francis. The second part of
Don Quixote appeared in 1615.
Place of baptism: Álcala de Henares
Place of marriage: Esquivas
Place of death and burial: Madrid
List of
works
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Sources
1. L. Astrana Maran. Vida ejemplar y heroica de Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Madrid, Instituto Editorial Reus, 1948-58
2. J. Thomas. The Universal Dictionary of Biography and Mythology, vol. 1 [part 1]. London: J.S. Virtue & Co., Limited, 1887.
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