Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra is credited with writing Don Quixote of La Mancha, a work translated into more languages than any other but the Bible. Cervantes was a novelist, playwright, and poet, but only two of his plays are extant and his skills as a poet were generally critically condemned. It is his masterpiece of world literature, Don Quixote, that brought him fame as a man of letters despite Cervantes having led an ôunsettled life of hardship and adventure,ö (Miguel 2003, 1).
Cervantes was the fourth child born of seven to a father, Rodrigo de Cervantes, who was a surgeon and a mother of minor nobility, Leonor de Cortinas (Miguel 2003). CervantesÆ father routinely moved from town to town looking for employment. The young Cervantes studied in Madrid before serving in Rome under Guilio Acquavita, who later became a cardinal. Though CervantesÆ family was distinguished, they eventually came to know hard times. In 1570 Cervantes joined a Spanish regiment in Napes and participated in the naval Battle of Lapardo in the Spanish war against the Ottomans. Cervantes took great pride in his participation in the victory at Lapardo, earning a nickname of ôEl manco de Lepardoö (the cripple of Lapardo) because of a wound that permanently maimed his left hand, (Miguel 2003, 1).
On his return to Spain in 1575, Cervantes was kidnapped by pirates along with his brother Rodrigo. Both of the Cervantes were enslaved in Algiers. Two years later Rodrigo would be ransomed but Miguel was considered too worthy a catch to let go free. Cervantes has in his possession letters from Commander Don John of Austria and the Duke of Sessa. These letters of commendation were viewed with awe by his captors. For five long years Cervantes worked as a slave in Algiers. Despite his numerous attempts to escape, his efforts were in vain. Eventually his family raised the money necessary to pay the ransom demanded by his captors. Cervantes would us...