11. T H A N K S F O R L I S T E N I N G . M A R I N A A N D S O L
P E R E I R O .
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Notas del editor
We are going to talk about Cervantes’ life, not about his work but about his personal life, where he was living or who he got married to. Hope you enjoy it.
MARINA
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born in Alcala de Henares (Spain) the 29th September 1547. He was the son of Don Rodrigo Cervantes Saavedra, a modest surgeon, and Leonor Cortinas. He had 6 brothers. At the age of eighteen, in 1565, he had to flee to Italy because he had hurt a man; there, he entered to the service of the cardinal Acquaviva.
SOL
. Later, in 1571, he enlisted as soldier and took part in Lepanto's battle heroically, where he lost the left arm. This is why his nickname is "Lepanto's one-armed ". In spite of this, he has always proved to be proud of having taken part at that mentioned battle.
MARINA
In 1575, Cervantes was returning with his brother Rodrigo to Spain when they were caught by the Turks and taken captive to Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It is not accurately known why he was jailed, but it is thought that it was because he defrauded public money or because of his having been a soldier. Cervantes tried to escape from prison several times but he couldn't manage to do it until five years later, in 1580, when his family contributed with a rescue, so he was finally free.
MARINA
It is in 1580, having been returned to Spain, when it starts a harsh and tough period in his life; he tried to work out some projects and apply for some jobs but he was not accepted, and that is why he meets with his family in Madrid and tries to "remodel" his family and start from the scratch. He could have returned to the militia but been imprisoned in Algeria made him change the idea, in addition, with his 34 years he was not able to be a soldier. The letters could not satisfy his economic needs either, since he did not have an university degree, no book was published yet; in those days Cervantes was not known in this world yet.
SOL
Two years later, his luck starts to change, he is admitted in a job and he also starts to write his first work; LA GALETA. In 1584, he got married with a young 19-yars-old women called Catalina de Salazar y Palacios.
MARINA
Both settled in Seville, between 1587 and 1600, where Cervantes carried out an ungrateful and humble job - supplies' commissioner -, which forced him to cross Andalusia requisitioning food for the expeditions that Philip II was preparing. The stay in Seville is crucial in Cervantes' life, as the trips and the jail allowed him to know all kinds of peoples who will appear as prominent figures in his works.
MARINA
Later on, in 1604 he moved to Valladolid, since he continued having certain economic difficulties. Finally, the first part of "El Quijote" was published in 1605,it was a great success, which allowed him to publish what he had been writing a few years later.
MARINA
In his last years, Cervantes moved again to Madrid. There, he finally established in León's street. Unfortunately, his sister Andrea died in 1609 and also did his other sister Magdalena in 1611. The house of Cervantes remained at the time very small as he was just living with his wife and niece. Among 1612 and 1616, Cervantes publishes several works although these were the last years of his life.
SOL
Finally, the death of Cervantes came surprisingly in April, 1616, at the age of 68, because of diabetes. He died in The street León of Seville together with his niece and wife.
Cervantes was buried in the convent of the Trinitarias Descalzas, which is in Lope de Vega's street in Madrid. In addition, Catalina asked to be buried in the same place.
SOL
