Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (/sɜːrˈvæntiːz,-tɪz/sur-VAN-teez, -tiz;[5]Spanish:[miˈɣeldeθeɾˈβantessaːˈβeðɾa]; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616)[6] was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in theSpanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his two-part novelDon Quixote, a work considered to be the first modernnovel.Don Quixote has been labelled by many well-known authors as the "best book of all time"[b] and the "best and most central work in world literature".[8][7]
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".[9]
In 1569, Cervantes was forced to leave Spain and move toRome, where he worked in the household of acardinal. In 1570, he enlisted in aSpanish Navy infantry regiment, and was badly wounded at theBattle 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 byBarbary pirates; after five years in captivity, he was ransomed, and returned toMadrid.
His first significant novel, titledLa Galatea, was published in 1585, but he continued to work as a purchasing agent, and later as a governmenttax collector. Part One ofDon Quixote was published in 1605, and Part Two in 1615. Other works include the 12Novelas ejemplares (Exemplary Novels); a long poem, theViaje del Parnaso (Journey to Parnassus); andOcho comedias y ocho entremeses (Eight Plays and EightInterludes). The novelLos trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (The Travails of Persiles and Sigismunda), was published posthumously in 1617.
The cave ofMedrano (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 writeDon Quixote.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
Santa María la Mayor, inAlcalá de Henares, where Cervantes was reputedly baptised; the square in front is namedPlaza Cervantes
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.[17] HistorianLuce López-Baralt has suggested that "Saavedra" comes from the Arabic dialect wordshaibedraa, meaning "one-handed", a reference to his nickname during his captivity.[18] Further linguistic and historical evidence for this claim, however, remains debated.
Another area of dispute is his religious background. It has been suggested that not only Cervantes' father but also his mother may have beenNew Christians.[19][20] Anthony Cascardi writes, "While the family might have had some claim tonobility they often found themselves in financial straits. Moreover, they may have been of converso origin, that is,converts to Catholicism ofJewish ancestry. In the Spain of Cervantes' days, this meant living under clouds of official suspicion and social mistrust, with far more limited opportunities than were enjoyed by members of the 'Old Christian' caste."[21] According to Charles D. Presberg, however, there is no wide following for the view that Cervantes had converso origins.[22] Cuban writerRoberto 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 didn't receive these rewards during this period.[23]
It is generally accepted Miguel de Cervantes was born around 29 September 1547, inAlcalá de Henares. He was the second son ofbarber-surgeon Rodrigo de Cervantes and his wife, Leonor de Cortinas (c. 1520–1593).[24] Rodrigo came fromCórdoba, Andalusia, where his father Juan de Cervantes was an influential lawyer.
Rodrigo was frequently in debt, or searching for work, and moved constantly. Leonor came fromArganda 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.[25]
In hisNovelas ejemplares, Cervantes claims to be astutterer. Some authors believe it to be a figure of speech to describe himself as endowed with little verbal eloquence.[26] Others, conversely, take it as a true speech impediment, citing similar commentaries made by Cervantes in three more of his writings aside fromNovelas.[27]
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 inSeville.[28]
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 theJesuit college in Seville, where one of the teachers was Jesuit playwright Pedro Pablo Acevedo, who moved there in 1561 from Córdoba.[29] However, legal records show his father got into debt once more and in 1566 the family moved toMadrid.[30]
In the 19th century, a biographer discovered anarrest warrant for a Miguel de Cervantes, dated 15 September 1569, who was charged with wounding Antonio de Sigura in a duel.[31] 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.[32]
Cervantes eventually made his way to Rome, where he found a position in the household ofGiulio Acquaviva, an Italian bishop who spent 1568 to 1569 in Madrid, and was appointedCardinal in 1570.[33] When the 1570 to 1573Ottoman–Venetian War began, Spain formed part of theHoly League, a coalition formed to support theVenetian Republic. Possibly seeing an opportunity to have his arrest warrant rescinded, Cervantes went toNaples, then part of theCrown of Aragon.[34] The military commander in Naples was Álvaro de Sande, a friend of the family, who gave him a commission in theTercio of Sicily[35] under theMarqués de Santa Cruz. At some point, he was joined in Naples by his younger brother Rodrigo.[34]
Statue of Miguel de Cervantes at the harbour ofNaupactus (Lepanto)
In September 1571, Cervantes sailed on board theMarquesa, part of the Holy League fleet under DonJohn of Austria, illegitimate half brother ofPhillip II of Spain; on 7 October, they defeated theOttoman fleet at theBattle of Lepanto.[36] This landmark sea battle, the most significant naval conflict since the RomanBattle 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.[citation needed]
According to his own account, although suffering from malaria, Cervantes was given command of a 12-manskiff, a small boat used for assaulting enemy galleys. TheMarquesa 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 deLepanto" (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,[c] while Don John approved no less than four separate pay increases for him.[38]
InJourney 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".[39] 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.[d][41] However, they were serious enough to earn him six months in the Civic Hospital atMessina, Sicily.[42]
Although he returned to service in July 1572 in theTercio de Figueroa,[43] records show his chest wounds were still not completely healed in February 1573.[44] Based mainly in Naples, he joined expeditions toCorfu andNavarino, and took part in the1573 occupation ofTunis andLa Goulette, which wererecaptured by the Ottomans in 1574.[45] Despite Lepanto, the war overall was an Ottoman victory, and the loss of Tunis a military disaster for Spain. Cervantes returned toPalermo, where he was paid off by theDuke of Sessa, who gave him letters of commendation.[46]
In early September 1575, Cervantes and Rodrigo left Naples on thegalleySol; as they approachedBarcelona on 26 September, their ship was captured byOttoman corsairs, and the brothers taken toAlgiers, to be sold asslaves, or – as was the case of Cervantes and his brother – held for ransom, if this would be more lucrative than their sale as slaves.[47] Rodrigo was ransomed in 1577, but his family could not afford the fee for Cervantes, who was forced to remain.[48] Turkish historianRasih Nuri İleri found evidence suggesting Cervantes worked on the construction of theKılıç Ali Pasha Complex, which would mean he spent at least part of his captivity inIstanbul.[49][50][51] This is yet to be proven and no evidence has been published on the matter.[52]
By 1580, Spain was occupied with integratingPortugal, and suppressing theDutch Revolt, while the Ottomans were atwar with Persia; the two sides agreed a truce, leading to an improvement of relations.[53] After almost five years, and four escape attempts, in 1580 Cervantes was set free by theTrinitarians, a religious charity that specialised in ransomingChristian captives, and returned to Madrid.[54]
While Cervantes was in captivity, both Don John and the Duke of Sessa died, depriving him of two potential patrons, while the Spanish economy was in dire straits. This made finding employment difficult; other than a period in 1581 to 1582, when he was employed as an intelligence agent in North Africa, little is known of his movements prior to 1584.[55]
Shortly before this, his illegitimate daughter Isabel was born in November. Her mother, Ana Franca, was the wife of a Madrid innkeeper; they apparently concealed it from her husband, but Cervantes acknowledged paternity.[57] When Ana Franca died in 1598, he asked his sister Magdalena to take care of his daughter.[58]
In 1587, Cervantes was appointed as a government purchasing agent,Commissary of the Royal Galleons in Seville, obtaining wheat and oil for the doomedSpanish Armada.[59] He became a tax collector in 1592 and was briefly jailed for 'irregularities' in his accounts, but quickly released.[59] Several applications for positions in Spanish America were rejected i.e. to theCouncil of Indies in 1590, though modern critics note images of the colonies appear in his work.[39]
From 1596 to 1600, he lived primarily in Seville, then returned to Madrid in 1606, where he remained for the rest of his life.[60] In later years, he received some financial support from theCount of Lemos, although he was not included in the retinue Lemos took to Naples when appointedViceroy in 1608.[39] In July 1613, he joined theThird Order Franciscans, then a common way for Catholics to gain spiritual merit.[61]
It is generally accepted Cervantes died on 22 April 1616 (NS; theGregorian calendar had superseded theJulian in 1582 in Spain and some other countries). The date of 23 April 1616 was long considered his death date, but is now understood to be his date of burial.[62] 23 April, which is also the death date ofWilliam Shakespeare (also in 1616, but not on the same day, as England then used the Julian calendar), is now celebrated asWorld Book Day.
The symptoms described leading to his death, including intense thirst, correspond todiabetes, then untreatable.[63]
In accordance with his will, Cervantes was buried in theConvent of the Barefoot Trinitarians, in central Madrid.[64] His remains went missing when moved during rebuilding work at the convent in 1673, and in 2014, historianFernando de Prado launched a project to rediscover them.[65]
In January 2015, Francisco Etxeberria, theforensic anthropologist leading the search, reported the discovery of caskets containing bone fragments, and part of a board, with the letters 'M.C.'.[66] Based on evidence of injuries suffered at Lepanto, on 17 March 2015 they were confirmed as belonging to Cervantes along with his wife and others.[67] They were formally reburied at a public ceremony in June 2015.[68]
No authenticated portrait of Cervantes is known to exist. The one most often associated with the author is attributed toJuan de Jáuregui, but both names were added at a later date.[69] TheEl Greco painting in theMuseo del Prado, known asRetrato de un caballero desconocido (Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman), is cited as 'possibly' depicting Cervantes, but there is no evidence for this.[70] It has been suggested that the portraitThe Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest, also by El Greco, may possibly depict Cervantes.[71]
However,The Prado itself, while mentioning, in passing, that "specific names have been proposed for the sitter, including that of Cervantes",[72] and even "that the painting could be a self-portrait [of El Greco]",[72] goes on to state that "Without doubt, the most convincing suggestion has connected this figure with the Second Marquis of Montemayor, Juan de Silva y de Ribera, a contemporary of El Greco who was appointed military commander of the Alcázar in Toledo by Philip II and Chief Notary to the Crown, a position that would explain the solemn gesture of the hand, depicted in the act of taking an oath."[72]
The windmill scene fromDon Quijote, byGustave Doré
Cervantes claimed to have written over 20 plays, such asEl trato de Argel, based on his experiences in captivity. Such works were extremely short-lived, and evenLope de Vega, the best-known playwright of the day, could not live on their proceeds.[4] In 1585, he publishedLa Galatea, a conventionalpastoral romance that received little contemporary notice; despite promising to write a sequel, he never did so.[76]
Aside from these, and some poems, by 1605, Cervantes had not been published for 20 years. InDon Quixote, he challenged a form of literature that had been a favourite for more than a century, explicitly stating his purpose was to undermine 'vain and empty'chivalric romances.[77] His portrayal of real life, and use of everyday speech in a literary context was considered innovative, and proved instantly popular. First published in January 1605, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza featured in masquerades held to celebrate the birth ofPhilip IV on 8 April.[58]
He finally achieved a degree of financial security, while its popularity led to demands for a sequel. In the foreword to his 1613 work,Novelas ejemplares, dedicated to his patron, the Count of Lemos, Cervantes promises to produce one, but was pre-empted by an unauthorised version published in 1614, published under the nameAlonso Fernández de Avellaneda. It is possible this delay was deliberate, to ensure support from his publisher and reading public; Cervantes finally produced the second part ofDon Quixote in 1615.[78]
The two parts ofDon Quixote are different in focus, but similar in their clarity of prose and their realism. The first was more comic, and had greater popular appeal.[79] The second part is often considered more sophisticated and complex, with a greater depth of characterisation and philosophical insight.[80]
In addition to this, he produced a series of works between 1613 and his death in 1616. They include a collection of tales titledExemplary Novels. This was followed byViaje del Parnaso,Eight Comedies and Eight New Interludes, andLos trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda, completed just before his death, and published posthumously in January 1617.
Cervantes also possessed a unique writing style, often blending elements of comedic themes to more complex adult-oriented undertones, best displayed by Don Quixote.
"In the space of a few pages, what started as an exercise in comic ridicule and, as the narrator insists on several occasions, a satirical send-up of the tales of chivalry, has taken on an entirely different dimension; it has begun to transform itself into the story of a relationship between two characters whose incompatible takes on the world are bridged by friendship, loyalty, and eventually love."[81]
Cervantes was rediscovered by English writers in the mid-18th century. The literary editorJohn Bowle argued that Cervantes was as significant as any of the Greek and Roman authors then popular, and published an annotated edition in 1781. Now viewed as a significant work, at the time it proved a failure.[82] However,Don Quixote has been translated into all major languages, in 700 editions. Mexican authorCarlos Fuentes suggested that Cervantes and his contemporaryWilliam Shakespeare form part of a narrative tradition that includesHomer,Dante,Defoe,Dickens,Balzac, andJoyce.[83]
Sigmund Freud claimed he learnt Spanish to read Cervantes in the original; he particularly admiredThe Dialogue of the Dogs (El coloquio de los perros), fromExemplary Tales, in which two dogs, Cipión and Berganza, share their stories; as one talks, the other listens, occasionally making comments. From 1871 to 1881, Freud and his close friend Eduard Silberstein wrote letters to each other, using the pen names Cipión and Berganza.[84]
In 1905, the tricentennial of the publication ofDon Quixote was marked with celebrations in Spain;[85] the 400th anniversary of his death, in 2016, saw the production ofCervantina, a celebration of his plays by the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico in Madrid.[86]Man of La Mancha, the 1965 musical, was loosely based on Cervantes' life.[87][88] TheMiguel de Cervantes Virtual Library is the world's largestdigital archive of Spanish-language historical and literary works.
The Cervantes Society of America was founded in 1978 and held its first membership meeting in San Francisco in December, 1979. The organization aims to further studies of Cervantes' works and his influence in our society.[89]
Cervantes is generally considered a mediocre poet; few of his poems survive. Some appear inLa Galatea, while he also wroteDos Canciones à la Armada Invencible.
Hissonnets includeAl Túmulo del Rey Felipe en Sevilla,Canto de Calíope andEpístola a Mateo Vázquez.Viaje del Parnaso, orJourney to Parnassus, is his most ambitious verse work, anallegory that consists largely of reviews of contemporary poets.
He published a number of dramatic works, including ten extant full-length plays:
Trato de Argel; based on his own experiences, deals with the life of Christian slaves in Algiers;
These plays and short farces, except forTrato de Argel andLa Numancia, made upOcho Comedias y ocho entreméses nuevos, nunca representados[107] (Eight Comedies and Eight New Interludes, Never Before Performed), which appeared in 1615.[108] The dates and order of composition of Cervantes's short farces are unknown. Faithful to the spirit of Lope de Rueda, Cervantes endowed them with novelistic elements, such as simplified plot, the type of descriptions normally associated with a novel, and character development. Cervantes included some of his dramas among the works he was most satisfied with.
Cervantes. A municipality in theprovince of Lugo, Galicia, Spain, but the name of the town is not based on Miguel de Cervantes (nor is there any evidence tying him or his family to this town).
Cervantes played a prominent role in the episode "Gentlemen of Spain" of the TV seriesSir Francis Drake (1961–1962). He was portrayed by the actorNigel Davenport and the plot had him heroically rescuing other Christian captives from the Barbary pirates.
^Although Cervantes wrote in his preface toExemplary Novels that Jáuregui did paint his portrait: "el cual amigo bien pudiera, como es uso y costubre, grabarme y esculpirme en la primera hoja de este libro, pues le diera mi retrato el famoso D. Juan de Jauregui".
^In the Preface to Volume 2 ofDon Quixote, he writes "the loss of my hand (came about) on the grandest occasion the past or present has seen, or the future can hope to see. If my wounds have no beauty to the beholder's eye, they are, at least, honorable in the estimation of those who know where they were received".[37]
^According to scholar Nicolás Marín: "No hay ocasión en que Cervantes no se elogie, bien que excusándose por salir de los límites de su natural modestia; tantas veces ocurre esto que no es posible verla nunca ni creer en ella". [There is no occasion in which Cervantes does not praise himself, even if he excuses himself for going beyond the limits of his natural modesty; this happens so many times that it is never possible to see it or believe in it].[40]
^Presberg, Charles D. (2018)."Chapter 5: Anatomy of Contemporary Cervantes Studies: A Romance of "Two Cities"". In Cruz, Anne J.; Johnson, Carrol B. (eds.).Cervantes and His Postmodern Constituencies. Taylor & Francis. p. 89.ISBN978-1-317-94451-5. Retrieved10 December 2023.Though the thesis of Cervantes,converso, has yet to gain a wide following among Cervantes scholars,El pensamiento stood as the sponsoring text for most criticism on Cervantes, whose other writings were judged in relation toDon Quixote, for over fifty years.
^Echevarria, Roberto G. (2010)."Introduction".Cervantes' Don Quixote: A Casebook. Casebooks in Criticism. Oxford University Press. p. 13.ISBN978-0-19-996046-0. Retrieved10 December 2023.
^Eren, Güleren (June 2006). "The Heritage of a Sailor".Beyoğlu. No. 3. pp. 59–64.
^Bayrak, M. Orhan (1994).Türkiye Tarihi Yerler Kılavuzu (in Spanish). İstanbul: İnkılâp Kitabevi. pp. 326–327.ISBN975-10-0705-4.
^Sumner-Boyd, Hilary; Freely, John (1994).Strolling Through Istanbul: A Guide to the City (6 ed.). İstanbul: SEV Matbaacılık. pp. 450–451.ISBN975-8176-44-7.
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Egginton, William (2016).The Man Who Invented Fiction: How Cervantes Ushered in the Modern World. Bloomsbury.ISBN978-1-62040-175-0.
Eisenberg, Daniel (1996). "Cervantes, autor de la "Topografía e historia general de Argel" publicada por Diego de Haedo".Cervantes: Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America.16 (1):32–53.doi:10.3138/Cervantes.16.1.032.S2CID187065952.
Fitzmaurice-Kelly, James (1892).The Life of Cervantes. Chapman Hall.
Fuentes, Carlos (1988).Myself with Others: Selected Essays. Farrar Straus Giroux.ISBN978-0-37421-750-1.
Garcés, Maria Antonia (2002).Cervantes in Algiers: A Captive's Tale. Vanderbilt University Press.ISBN978-0-82651-406-6.
Glete, Jan (2001).War and the State in Early Modern Europe: Spain, the Dutch Republic and Sweden as Fiscal-Military States (Warfare and History). Routledge.ISBN978-0-41522-644-8.
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Lucía Megías, José Manuel (2015).La juventud de Cervantes: una vida en construcción.ISBN978-84-414-3616-9.
Ma, Ning (2017).The Age of Silver: The Rise of the Novel, East and West. OUP.ISBN978-0-19060-656-5.
McCrory, Donald P. (2006).No Ordinary Man: The Life and Times of Miguel de Cervantes. Dover Publishing.ISBN978-0-48645-361-3.
Mitsuo, Nakamura; Cullen, Jennifer (December 2006). "On 'Don Quixote'".Review of Japanese Culture and Society.18 (East and West):147–156.JSTOR42800232.
Parker, Barbara Keevil; Parker, Duane F. (2009).Miguel de Cervantes. Infobase Publishing.ISBN978-1-43810-685-4.
Putnam, Samuel (1976).Introduction to The Portable Cervantes. Harmondsworth: Penguin.ISBN978-0-14015-057-5.
Riley, E. C. (1994). "Cipión" Writes to "Berganza" in the Freudian Academia Española".Cervantes: Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America.14 (1):3–18.doi:10.3138/cervantes.14.1.003.S2CID193117593.
Sliwa, Krzysztof (2025).Vida de Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Penguin Random House.ISBN9788466348867.
Truman, R. W. (2003). "The Rev. John Bowle's Quixotic Woes Further Explored".Cervantes: Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America.23 (1):9–43.doi:10.3138/Cervantes.23.2.009.S2CID190575135.
Eisenberg, Daniel (2004). "La supuesta homosexualidad de Cervantes".Siglos dorados: homenaje a Augustin Redondo. Vol. 1. Madrid:Castalia.ISBN84-9740-100-X.
El Saffar, Ruth S. (ed.) 1986.Critical Essays on Cervantes. Boston: G. K. Hall.
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