Cervantes

Life

It is assumed that Miguel de Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. The exact date of his birth is not known, but it is probable that he was born on September 29, the feast day ofSaint Michael the Archangel, given the tradition to name a child with the name of the feast day of his birth. Cervantes was baptized in Alcalá de Henares on October 9, 1547, at the parish church ofSanta María la Mayor. The baptismal act read:
Sunday, the ninth day of the month of October, the year of our Lord one thousand five hundred forty and seven years, Miguel was baptized, son of RodrigoCervantes and his wife doña Leonor. Baptized by the reverend sir Bartolomé Serrano, priest of Our Lady. Witnesses, Baltasar Vázquez, Sacristan, and I, who baptized him and signed this in my name.
—Bachelor Serrano
His father was Rodrigo de Cervantes, a surgeon of Galician descent. At the time, a surgeon was not a medical doctor, but a lesser medical practitioner with no exact equivalent in modernEnglish-speaking countries. His paternal grandfather, Juan de Cervantes, was an influential lawyer who held several administrative positions. His uncle was mayor of Cabra for many years. Little isknown of his mother Leonor de Cortinas, except that she was a native of Arganda del Rey. His siblings were Andrés (1543), Andrea (1544), Luisa (1546), Rodrigo (1550), Magdalena (1554) and Juan - knownsolely because he is mentioned in his father's will.
[edit]Journey to Italy
In 1569, Cervantes moved to tara ville, where he served as a valet to Giulio Acquaviva, a wealthy priest who was elevated tocardinal the next year. By then, Cervantes had enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment and continued his military life until 1575, when he was captured by Algerian corsairs. He wasthen released on ransom from his captors by his parents and the Trinitarians, a Catholic religious order. He subsequently returned to his family in Madrid.
In 1585, Cervantes published a pastoral...