| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born to a family of modest means in 1547 in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. He never obtained a university education. In 1569 he left for Italy where some elegies he wrote were published. He also joined a Spanish regiment there and was wounded while fighting in the Battle of Lepanto against the Turks in 1571; as a consequence, he lost the use of his left hand. From then on he was called 'el manco de Lepanto' (the one-handed man of Lepanto). In 1575, while returning to Spain from the Netherlands, he was captured by Barbary pirates based in Algiers. He was held captive in Algiers until he was freed in 1580 when his ransom was paid.
Upon returning to Spain he married Catalina de Salazar y Palacios in 1584Events June 1 With the death of the Duc d'Anjou, the Huguenot Henry of Navarre becomes heir-presumptive to the throne of France. July 5 Maronite College established in Rome July 10 William I of Orange assassinated Dates between October 5 14 ignored in the and published La GalateaLa Galatea was Cervantes' first full-length puplication, published in 1585, soon after his return from Algiers in the custody of Barbary Pirates. It was, however, a rather orthodox story, a provincial romance aimed at the current vogue of Spanish literary a year later; he was a supplier and a tax collector for a while.
Cervantes began writing Don Quixote in 1597Events January 24 Battle of Turnhout. Maurice of Nassau defeats a Spanish force under Jean de Rie of Varas in the Netherlands The first opera is considered to have been written. Bali discovered by the Dutch explorer Cornelis Houtman Births Pieter Saenreda while imprisoned in Sevilla for debt. In 1605Events April 13 Tsar Boris Godunow dies Feodor II accedes to the throne May 16 Paul V becomes Pope June 1 Russian troops in Moscow imprison Feodor II and his mother. They are later executed June 20 Pretender Dmitri and his supporters march to Moscow July he published Part I of his major work, formally known as El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha). Part II did not appear until 1615. Between Part I and Part II of Don Quixote he published Novelas Ejemplares (The Exemplary Novels), a collection of twelve short stories. In 1615, he published Ocho Comedias y Ocho Entremeses Nuevos Nunca Representias although his most famous play today, La Numancia , stayed unedited until the 18th century.
His novel Los Trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda was published posthumously one year after his death in 1616. Interestingly enough, he considered it to be his best work and far superior to Don Quixote.
His influence was such that in French and Spanish, the Spanish language is referred to proverbially as la langue/la lengua de Cervantes.