Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( sur-VAN-teez, -⁠tiz; Spanish: [miˈɣel de θeɾˈβantes saːˈβeðɾa]; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his two-part novel Don Quixote, a work considered to be the first modern novel. Don Quixote has been labelled by many well-known authors as the "best book of all time" and the "best and most central work in world literature".

Much of his life was spent in relative poverty and obscurity, which led to many of his early works being lost. Despite this, his influence and literary contribution are reflected by the fact that Spanish is often referred to as "the language of Cervantes".

In 1569, Cervantes was forced to leave Spain and move to Rome, where he worked in the household of a cardinal. In 1570, he enlisted in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment, and was badly wounded at the Battle of Lepanto in October 1571 and lost the use of his left arm and hand. He served as a soldier until 1575, when he was captured by Barbary pirates; after five years in captivity, he was ransomed, and returned to Madrid.

His first significant novel, titled La Galatea, was published in 1585, but he continued to work as a purchasing agent, and later as a government tax collector. Part One of Don Quixote was published in 1605, and Part Two in 1615. Other works include the 12 Novelas ejemplares (Exemplary Novels); a long poem, the Viaje del Parnaso (Journey to Parnassus); and Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses (Eight Plays and Eight Interludes). The novel Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (The Travails of Persiles and Sigismunda), was published posthumously in 1617.

The cave of Medrano (also known as the casa de Medrano) in Argamasilla de Alba, which has been known since the beginning of the 17th century, and according to the tradition of Argamasilla de Alba, was the prison of Cervantes and the place where he conceived and began to write Don Quixote.

Biography

Despite his subsequent renown, many details of Cervantes' life remain uncertain, including his name, background, and physical appearance. He signed his name as "Cerbantes", but his printers used "Cervantes", which became the common form. In later life, Cervantes used "Saavedra", the name of a distant relative, rather than the more usual "Cortinas", after his mother. Historian Luce López-Baralt has suggested that "Saavedra" comes from the Arabic dialect word shaibedraa, meaning "one-handed", a reference to his nickname during his captivity. Further linguistic and historical evidence for this claim, however, remains debated.

Another area of dispute is Cervantes' ethnic background. It has been suggested that one or both of his parents may have been New Christians, that is, Catholics of Jewish ancestry. There is no wide following for the view that Cervantes had converso origins. The Cuban writer Roberto González Echevarría argues that the claims of Cervantes' converso origins are based on "very flimsy evidence", namely Cervantes' lack of social and financial progression which was not unusual for Spaniards of his time, regardless of their ancestry, as many did not receive these rewards during this period.

It is generally accepted Miguel de Cervantes was born around 29 September 1547, in Alcalá de Henares. He was the second son of barber-surgeon Rodrigo de Cervantes and his wife, Leonor de Cortinas (c. 1520–1593). Rodrigo came from Córdoba, Andalusia, where his father Juan de Cervantes was an influential lawyer.

1547 to 1566: Early years

Rodrigo was frequently in debt, or searching for work, and moved constantly. Leonor came from Arganda del Rey, and died in October 1593, at the age of 73; surviving legal documents indicate she had seven children, could read and write, and was a resourceful individual with a keen eye for business. When Rodrigo was imprisoned for debt from October 1553 to April 1554, she supported the family on her own.

In his Novelas ejemplares, Cervantes claims to be a stutterer. Some authors believe it to be a figure of speech to describe himself as endowed with little verbal eloquence. Others, conversely, take it as a true speech impediment, citing similar commentaries made by Cervantes in three more of his writings aside from Novelas.

Cervantes' siblings were Andrés (born 1543), Andrea (born 1544), Luisa (born 1546), Rodrigo (born 1550), Magdalena (born 1554) and Juan. They lived in Córdoba until 1556, when his grandfather died. For reasons that are unclear, Rodrigo did not benefit from his will and the family disappears until 1564 when he filed a lawsuit in Seville.

Seville was then in the midst of an economic boom, and Rodrigo managed rented accommodation for his elder brother Andres, who was a junior magistrate. It is contended that Cervantes attended the Jesuit college in Seville, where one of the teachers was Jesuit playwright Pedro Pablo Acevedo, who moved there in 1561 from Córdoba. However, legal records show his father got into debt once more and in 1566 the family moved to Madrid.

1566 to 1580: Military service and captivity

In the 19th century, a biographer discovered an arrest warrant for a Miguel de Cervantes, dated 15 September 1569, who was charged with wounding Antonio de Sigura in a duel. Although disputed at the time, largely on the grounds such behaviour was unworthy of so great an author, it is now accepted as the most likely reason for Cervantes leaving Madrid.

Cervantes eventually made his way to Rome, where he found a position in the household of Giulio Acquaviva, an Italian bishop who spent 1568 to 1569 in Madrid, and was appointed Cardinal in 1570. When the 1570 to 1573 Ottoman–Venetian War began, Spain formed part of the Holy League, a coalition formed to support the Venetian Republic. Possibly seeing an opportunity to have his arrest warrant rescinded, Cervantes went to Naples, then part of the Crown of Aragon. The military commander in Naples was Álvaro de Sande, a friend of the family, who gave him a commission in the Tercio of Sicily under the Marqués de Santa Cruz. At some point, he was joined in Naples by his younger brother Rodrigo.

In September 1571, Cervantes sailed on board the Marquesa, part of the Holy League fleet under Don John of Austria, illegitimate half brother of Phillip II of Spain; on 7 October, they defeated the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Lepanto. This landmark sea battle, the most significant naval conflict since the Roman Battle of Actium in 32 B.C., stopped Muslim incursion into Europe, and for the first time allowed European Christians to feel that they were not going to be overrun by Islam.

According to his own account, although suffering from malaria, Cervantes was given command of a 12-man skiff, a small boat used for assaulting enemy galleys. The Marquesa lost 40 dead, and 120 wounded, including Cervantes, who received three separate wounds, two in the chest, and another that rendered his left arm useless. This last wound is the reason why he later was called "El manco de Lepanto" (English: "The one-handed man of Lepanto", "The one-armed man of Lepanto"), a title that followed him for the rest of his life. His actions at Lepanto were a source of pride to the end of his life, while Don John approved no less than four separate pay increases for him.

In Journey to Parnassus, published two years before his death in 1616, Cervantes claimed to have "lost the movement of the left hand for the glory of the right". As with much else, the extent of his disability is unclear, the only source being Cervantes himself, while commentators cite his habitual tendency to praise himself. However, they were serious enough to earn him six months in the Civic Hospital at Messina, Sicily.

Although he returned to service in July 1572 in the Tercio de Figueroa, records show his chest wounds were still not completely healed in February 1573. Based mainly in Naples, he joined expeditions to Corfu and Navarino, and took part in the 1573 occupation of Tunis and La Goulette, which were recaptured by the Ottomans in 1574. Despite Lepanto, the war overall was an Ottoman victory, and the loss of Tunis a military disaster for Spain. Cervantes returned to Palermo, where he was paid off by the Duke of Sessa, who gave him letters of commendation.

In early September 1575, Cervantes and Rodrigo left Naples on the galley Sol; as they approached Barcelona on 26 September, their ship was captured by Ottoman corsairs, and the brothers taken to Algiers, to be sold as slaves, or – as was the case of Cervantes and his brother – held for ransom, if this would be more lucrative than their sale as slaves. Rodrigo was ransomed in 1577, but his family could not afford the fee for Cervantes, who was forced to remain. Turkish historian Rasih Nuri İleri found evidence suggesting Cervantes worked on the construction of the Kılıç Ali Pasha Complex, which would mean he spent at least part of his captivity in Istanbul. This is yet to be proven and no evidence has been published on the matter.