Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra[b](/srvntez/or/srvntiz/;[2]Spanish:[miel de erantes saea]; 29 September 1547 (assumed) 22 April 1616),[3]often simply calledCervantes, was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright.His major work,Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern European novel,[4]is a classic ofWestern literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written.[5]His influence on theSpanish languagehas been so great that the language is often calledla lengua de Cervantes("the language of Cervantes").[6]He was dubbedEl Prncipe de los Ingenios("The Prince of Wits").[7]In 1569 Cervantes moved to Rome where he worked as chamber assistant of a cardinal. He then enlisted as a soldier in aSpanish Navy infantryregiment and continued his military life until 1575, when he was captured byAlgerian corsairs. After five years of captivity, he was released by his captors on payment of a ransom by his parents and theTrinitarians, a Catholic religious order, and he subsequently returned to his family in Madrid.In 1585 Cervantes published apastoralnovel namedLa Galatea. He worked as a purchasing agent for theSpanish Armada, and later as atax collector. In 1597 discrepancies in his accounts for three years previous landed him in the Crown Jail ofSeville. In 1605 he was inValladolidwhen the immediate success of the first part of hisDon Quixote, published in Madrid, signalled his return to the literary world. In 1607 he settled in Madrid, where he lived and worked until his death. During the last nine years of his life, Cervantes solidified his reputation as a writer; he published theNovelas ejemplares(Exemplary Novels) in 1613, theJourney to Parnassus(Viaje al Parnaso) in 1614, and in 1615 theOcho comedias y ocho entremesesand the second part ofDon Quixote.Contents[hide] 1Birth and early life 2Military service and captivity 3Life after his return to Spain 4Literary pursuits 5Death 6Works 6.1Don Quixote 6.2Novelas ejemplares(Exemplary Novels) 6.3Los Trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda(The Labors of Persiles and Sigismunda) 6.4Poetry 6.5Viaje del Parnaso 6.6Plays 6.7La Numancia 7Legacy 8Ethnic and religious heritage 9Likeness 10See also 11Notes 12References 13Further reading 14External linksBirth and early life[edit]

The Church ofSanta Mara la Mayor(background) where Cervantes was baptized inAlcal de Henares. The square in front of it is now calledPlaza CervantesIt is assumed that Cervantes was born inAlcal de Henares, aCastiliancity about 35 kilometres (22mi) northeast from Madrid, probably on 29 September (the feast day ofSaint Michael the Archangel) 1547. The probable date of his birth was determined from records in the church register, given the tradition of naming a child after the feast day of his birth. He was baptized in Alcal de Henares on 9 October 1547[8]at the parish church ofSanta Mara la Mayor. The register of baptisms records the following:On Sunday, the ninth day of the month of October, the year of our Lord one thousand five hundred forty and seven, Miguel, son of Rodrigo Cervantes and his wife Leonor, was baptised; his godfathers were Juan Pardo; he was baptised by the Reverend Bachelor Bartolom Serrano, Priest of Our Lady. Witnesses, Baltasar Vzquez, Sexton, and I, who baptised him and signed this in my name. Bachelor Serrano.[9]Miguel at birth was not surnamedCervantes Saavedra. He adopted the "Saavedra" name as an adult. BySpanish naming conventionshis second surname was that of his mother, Cortinas.Miguel's father, Rodrigo, was abarber-surgeonfromCrdoba, who set bones, performed bloodlettings, and attended "lesser medical needs";[10]at that time, it was common for barbers to do surgery, as well. His paternal grandfather, Juan de Cervantes, was an influential lawyer who held several administrative positions. His uncle was mayor of Cabra for many years.His mother, Leonor de Cortinas, descended from Jewish "Conversos", was a native ofArganda del Reyand the third daughter of a nobleman, who lost his fortune and had to sell his daughter into matrimony in 1543. This led to a very awkward marriage and several affairs by Rodrigo.[11]Leonor died on 19 October 1593.Little is known of Cervantes' early years. It seems he spent much of his childhood moving from town to town with his family. During this time, he met a young barmaid named Josefina Catalina de Parez. The couple fell madly in love and plotted to run away together. Her father discovered their plans and forbade Josefina from ever seeing Cervantes again, perhaps because of the young man's poor prospects of ever rising from povertyMiguel's own father was embargoed for debt. The court records of the proceedings show a very poor household. While some of his biographers argue that he studied at theUniversity of Salamanca, there is no solid evidence for supposing that he did so.[c]There has been speculation also that Cervantes studied with theJesuitsin Crdoba or Seville.[12]His siblings were Andrs (1543), Andrea (1544), Luisa (1546), Rodrigo (1550), Magdalena (1554) and Juanknown solely because he is mentioned in his father's will.Military service and captivity[edit]

TheBattle of LepantobyPaolo Veronese(c. 1572, oil on canvas, 169 x 137 cm,Gallerie dell'Accademia,Venice).The reasons that forced Cervantes to leaveSpainremain uncertain. Whether he was a "student" of the same name, a "sword-wielding fugitive from justice", or fleeing from a royal warrant of arrest, for having wounded a certain Antonio de Sigura in a duel, is unclear.[13]Like many young Spanish men who wanted to further their careers, Cervantes left for Italy: in Rome he focussed his attention onRenaissanceart, architecture, and poetry knowledge ofItalian literatureis discernible in his work. He found "a powerful impetus to revive the contemporary world in light of its accomplishments".[14][15]Thus, Cervantes' stay in Italy, as revealed in his later works, might be in part a desire for a return to an earlier period of the Renaissance.[16]By 1570, Cervantes had enlisted as a soldier in a regiment of theSpanish Navy Marines,Infantera de Marina, stationed in Naples, then a possession of the Spanish crown. He was there for about a year before he saw active service. In September 1571 Cervantes sailed on board theMarquesa, part of thegalleyfleet of theHoly League(a coalition ofPope Pius V, Spain, theRepublic of Venice, theRepublic of Genoa, theDuchy of Savoy, theKnights Hospitallerbased inMalta, and others, under the command ofPhilip II of Spain's illegitimate half brother,John of Austria) that defeated theOttomanfleet on October 7 in theBattle of Lepanto, in theGulf of Patras. Though taken down with fever, Cervantes refused to stay below, and asked to be allowed to take part in the battle, saying he would rather die for his God and his king than keep under cover. He fought on board a vessel, and received 3 gunshot wounds 2 in the chest, and one which rendered his left arm useless. InJourney to Parnassushe was to say that he "had lost the movement of the left hand for the glory of the right" (he was thinking of the success of the first part ofDon Quixote). Cervantes looked back on his conduct in the battle with pride: he believed he had taken part in an event that would shape the course ofEuropean history."What I cannot help taking amiss is that he[d]charges me with being old and one-handed, as if it had been in my power to keep time from passing over me, or as if the loss of my hand had been brought about in some tavern, and not 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, honourable in the estimation of those who know where they were received; for the soldier shows to greater advantage dead in battle than alive in flight."

After the Battle of Lepanto, Cervantes remained in hospital in Mesina, Italy, for about 6 months, before his wounds were sufficiently healed to allow his joining the colors again.[17]From 1572-75, based mainly in Naples, he continued his soldier's life: he participated in expeditions toCorfuandNavarino, and saw the fall ofTunisandLa Gouletteto theTurksin 1574.[18]:220On 6 or 7 September 1575 Cervantes set sail on thegalleySolfrom Naples toBarcelona, with letters of commendation to the king from theDuke of Sessa.[19]On the morning of September 26, as theSolapproached the Catalan coast, it was attacked byAlgeriancorsairs under the command ofArnaut Mami, anAlbanianrenegade and terror of the narrow seas.[20]After significant resistance, in which the captain and many crew members were killed, the surviving passengers were taken toAlgiersas captives.[18]:236After 5 years spent as aslavein Algiers, and 4 unsuccessful escape attempts, he was ransomed by his parents and theTrinitariansand returned to his family in Madrid. Not surprisingly, this traumatic period of Cervantes' life supplied subject matter for several of his literary works, notably the Captive's tale inDon Quixoteand the two plays set in AlgiersEl trato de Argel(Life in Algiers) andLos baos de Argel(The Dungeons of Algiers) as well as episodes in a number of other writings, although never in straight autobiographical form.[8]Life after his return to Spain[edit]Cervantes led a middle-class life after his return to Spain. Like almost all authors of his day, he was unable to support himself through his writings. Two periods of his life that are very well documented are his years of work in Andaluca as a purchasing agent for the Spanish navy (i.e., the King). This led to his imprisonment for a few months in Seville after a banker where he had deposited Crown funds went bankrupt. (Since Cervantes says thatDon Quixotewas "engendered" in a prison, that is presumably a reference to this episode.) Also he worked as a tax collector, travelling from town to town collecting back taxes due the crown. He applied unsuccessfully for "one of four vacant positions in the New World", one of them as an accountant for the port ofCartagena. At the time he was living in Valladolid, then briefly the capital (16011606), and finishingDon QuixotePart One, he was presumably working in the banking industry, or a related occupation where his accounting skills could be put to use. He was turned down for a position as secretary toPedro Fernndez de Castro y Andrade, the Count of Lemos, although he did receive some type of pension from him, which permitted him to write full-time during his final years (about 1610 to 1616). His last known written words the dedication toPersiles y Sigismunda were written, he tells us, after having receivedExtreme Unction. He died in 1616 of type IIdiabetes.[21]His burial place in Madrid was reportedly rediscovered in March 2015, but his unpublished manuscripts were mostly lost.[citation needed]Literary pursuits[edit]This sectionis written like apersonal reflection or opinion essaythat states the Wikipedia editor's particularfeelingsabout a topic, rather than the opinions of experts.Pleasehelp improve itby rewriting it in anencyclopedic style.(March 2015)

Main article:Don Quixote

"The pen is the language of the soul; as the concepts that in it are generated, such will be its writings." Miguel de Cervantes at theBiblioteca Nacional de Espaa(National Library of Spain).InEsquivias,Toledo, on 12 December 1584, he married the much younger Catalina de Salazar y Palacios (born Esquivias d. 31 October 1626),[8]daughter of Fernando de Salazar y Vozmediano and Catalina de Palacios. Her uncle Alonso de Quesada y Salazar is said to have inspired the character of Don Quixote.[citation needed]Over the next 20 years, Cervantes led a nomadic existence, working as a purchasing agent for theSpanish Armadaand as a tax collector. He suffered bankruptcy and was imprisoned at least twice (1597 and 1602) for irregularities in his accounts.[8]Between 1596 and 1600, he lived primarily in Seville. In 1606, Cervantes settled in Madrid, where he remained for the rest of his life.[22]In 1585 Cervantes published his first major work,La Galatea,[8]a pastoral romance, at the same time that some of his plays, now lost except forEl Trato de Argel(where he dealt with the life of Christian slaves in Algiers) andEl Cerco de Numancia were playing on the stages of Madrid.[citation needed]La Galateareceived little contemporary notice; and Cervantes never wrote the continuation for it, which he repeatedly promised to do. Cervantes next turned his attention to drama, hoping to derive an income from that source, but his plays failed.[citation needed]Aside from his plays, his most ambitious work in verse wasViage del Parnaso(1614) an allegory which consisted largely of a rather tedious though good-natured review of contemporary poets. Cervantes himself realized that he was deficient in poetic talent.[8]If a remark which Cervantes himself makes in the prologue ofDon Quixoteis to be taken literally, the idea of the work (though hardly the writing of its First Part, as some have maintained) occurred to him in prison atArgamasilla de Albain La Mancha. Cervantes' idea was to give a picture of real life and manners, and to express himself in clear language. The intrusion of everyday speech into a literary context was acclaimed by the reading public. The author stayed poor until January 1605, when the first part ofDon Quixoteappeared.[8]Although it did not make Cervantes rich, it brought him international appreciation as a man of letters.

The statue of Miguel de Cervantes at the harbour ofNaupactus(Lepanto).The popularity ofDon Quixoteled to the publication of an unauthorized continuation of it by an unknown writer, who masqueraded under the name ofAlonso Fernndez de Avellaneda.[8]Cervantes produced his own continuation, or Second Part, ofDon Quixote, which made its appearance in 1615.[8]He had promised the publication of a second part in 1613 in the foreword to theNovelas ejemplares(Exemplary Novels), a year before the publication of Avellanda's book.Don Quixotehas been regarded chiefly as a novel of purpose. It is stated again and again that he wrote it in order to satirize thechivalric romanceand to challenge the popularity of a form of literature that had been a favourite of the general public for more than a century.[23]Don Quixotecertainly reveals much narrative power, considerable humour, a mastery of dialogue, and a forceful style. Of the two parts written by Cervantes, perhaps the first is the more popular with the general public containing the famous episodes of the tilting at windmills, the attack on the flock of sheep, the vigil in the courtyard of the inn, and the episode with the barber and the shaving basin. The second part shows more constructive insight, better delineation of character, improved style, and more realism and probability in its action. Most people agree that it is richer and more profound.[8]In 1613 he published a collection of tales, theExemplary Novels, some of which had been written earlier.[8]Thepicaroonstrain, already made familiar in Spain through the Picaresque novels ofLazarillo de Tormesand his successors, appears in one or another of them, especially in theRinconete y Cortadillo. In 1614, he published theViage del Parnasoand in 1615, theEight Comedies and Eight New Interludes.[8]At the same time, Cervantes continued working onLos Trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda, anovel of adventurous travel, completed just before his death, and appearing posthumously in January 1617.[8]Death[edit]

Cervantes was buried at theConvent of the Barefoot Trinitariansin MadridWhile 23 April 1616 was recorded as the date of his death in some references, and the date on which his death was widely commemorated, he in fact died in Madrid the previous day, 22 April.[24]He was buried on 23 April.[25]The cause of his death, according to Antonio Lpez Alonso, a modern physician who has examined the surviving documentation, wasDiabetes 2, a result of a cirrhosis of the liver. This is the best explanation for the intense thirst he complained of. The cirrhosis was not caused by alcoholism; Cervantes was too productive, especially in his final years, to have been an alcoholic.[26]William Shakespearedied on 23 April 1616. To honor this,UNESCOestablished 23 April as theInternational Day of the Book.[27]However, these dates refer to different days: Spain had adopted theGregorian calendarin 1582, but England was still using theJulian calendar. Shakespeare's death on 23 April 1616 (Julian) was equivalent to 3 May 1616 (Gregorian). This was 10 days after Cervantes was buried and 11 days after he died.In accordance with Cervantes' will, he was buried in the neighboringConvent of the Barefoot Trinitarians, in central Madrid.[28]His bones went missing in 1673 when building work was done at the convent, and were known to have been taken to a different convent and were returned later. A project began in 2014 to rediscover his remains.[29]In January 2015 it was reported that researchers searching for Cervantes's remains had found part of a casket bearing his initials at the convent. Francisco Etxeberria, theforensic anthropologistleading the search, said: "Remains of caskets were found, wood, rocks, some bone fragments, and indeed one of the fragments of a board of one of the caskets had the letters M.C. formed in tacks." The first significant search for Cervantes' remains had been launched in May 2014 and had involved the use ofinfrared cameras,3D scannersandground-penetrating radar. The team had identified 33 alcoves where bones could be stored.[30]On 17 March 2015 it was reported that Cervantes' remains had been discovered, along with those of his wife and others, at the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians.[31]Through documentary research, archaeologists stated that they had identified the remains as those of Cervantes. Clues from Cervantes' life, such as the loss of the use of his left hand at age 24 and the fact that he had taken at least one bullet to the chest, were hoped to help in the identification. Historian Fernando de Prado had spent more than four years trying to find funding before Madrid City Council had agreed to pay. DNA testing would now be carried out in an attempt to confirm the findings.[32]On 11 June 2015 Cervantes was given a formal burial at aMadridconvent, containing a monument holding bone fragments that were believed to have been of the author. The city mayorAna Botellaand military attended the event.[33]Works[edit]This sectionneeds additional citations forverification.Please helpimprove this articlebyadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(March 2015)

Cervantes'La Galatea(1585), original title page. El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha(1605): First volume ofDon Quixote. Novelas ejemplares(1613): a collection of 12 short stories of varied types about the social, political, and historical problems of Cervantes' Spain: "La gitanilla" ("The Gypsy Girl") "El amante liberal" ("The Generous Lover") "Rinconete y Cortadillo" ("Rinconete & Cortadillo") "La espaola inglesa" ("The English Spanish Lady") "El licenciado Vidriera" ("The Lawyer of Glass") "La fuerza de la sangre" ("The Power of Blood") "El celoso extremeo" ("The Jealous Man From Extremadura")[8] "La ilustre fregona" ("The Illustrious Kitchen-Maid") "Novela de las dos doncellas" ("The Novel of the Two Damsels") "Novela de la seora Cornelia" ("The Novel of Lady Cornelia") "Novela del casamiento engaoso" ("The Novel of the Deceitful Marriage") "El coloquio de los perros" ("The Dialogue of the Dogs") Segunda Parte del Ingenioso Cavallero [sic] Don Quixote de la Mancha(1615): Second volume ofDon Quixote. Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda(1617).Persiles, as it is commonly known, is the best evidence not only of the survival ofByzantine novelthemes but also of the survival of forms and ideas of the Spanish novel of the secondRenaissance. In this work, published after the author's death, Cervantes relates the ideal love and unbelievable vicissitudes of a couple, who, starting from the Arctic regions, arrive in Rome, where they find a happy ending to their complicated adventure. La Galatea, thepastoralromance, which Cervantes wrote in his youth, is an imitation of theDianaofJorge de Montemorand bears an even closer resemblance toGil Polo's continuation of that romance. Next toDon Quixoteand theNovelas ejemplares, it is particularly worthy of attention, as it manifests the poetic direction in which Cervantes moved at an early period of life.Don Quixote[edit]Main article:Don QuixoteGustave Dor's first (of about 370) illustrations forDon Quixote.Don Quixote(spelled "Quijote" in modern Spanish) is two separate volumes, now nearly always published as one, that cover the adventures ofDon Quixote, also known as the knight or man ofLa Mancha, a hero who carries his enthusiasm and self-deception to unintentional and comic ends. On one level,Don Quixoteworks as asatireof the romances ofchivalry, which, though still popular in Cervantes' time, had become an object of ridicule among more demanding critics. The choice of a madman as hero also served a critical purpose, for it was "the impression of ill-being or 'in-sanity,' rather than a finding of dementia or psychosis in clinical terms, that defined the madman for Cervantes and his contemporaries." Indeed, the concept of madness was "associated with physical or moral displacement, as may be seen in the literal and figurative sense of the adjectiveseccentric,extravagant,deviant,aberrant, etc."[34]The novel allows Cervantes to illuminate various aspects of human nature. Because the novel, particularly the first part, was written in individually published sections, the composition includes several incongruities. Cervantes pointed out some of these errors in the preface to the second part; but he disdained to correct them, because he conceived that they had been too severely condemned by his critics. Cervantes felt a passion for the vivid painting of character.Don Quixoteis noble-minded, an enthusiastic admirer of everything good and great, yet having all these fine qualities accidentally blended with a relative kind of madness. He is paired with a character of opposite qualities,Sancho Panza, a man of low self-esteem, who is a compound of grossness and simplicity.

Statuettes of Don Quixote (left) and Sancho Panza (right).Don Quixoteis cited as the first classic model of the modern romance or novel, and it has served as the prototype of the comic novel. The humorous situations are mostly burlesque, and it includes satire.Don Quixoteis one of theEncyclopdia Britannica'sGreat Books of the Western World, while the Russian authorFyodor Dostoyevskycalled it "the ultimate and most sublime work of human thinking".[35]It is inDon Quixotethat Cervantes coined the popular phrase "the proof of the pudding is in the eating" (por la muestra se conoce el pao), which still sees heavy use in the shortened form of "the proof is in the pudding", and "who walks much and reads much, knows much and sees much" (quien anda mucho y lee mucho, sabe mucho y ve mucho).Novelas ejemplares(Exemplary Novels)[edit]Main article:Novelas ejemplaresCervantes intended they should be to Spanish nearly what thenovellasofBoccacciowere to Italians.[36]Some are anecdotes, some are romances in miniature, some are serious, some comic; they are written in a light, smooth, conversational style.Four novelas, though favorites in Cervantes' day, are perhaps of less interest today than the rest:El amante liberal,La seora Cornelia,Las dos doncellas, andLa espaola inglesa. The theme common to these is pairs of lovers (couples) separated by lamentable and complicated events; they are finally reunited and find the happiness they have longed for. The heroines are all beautiful and of perfect behavior; they and their lovers are capable of the highest sacrifices; and they try to elevate themselves to the ideal of moral and aristocratic distinction which illuminates their lives. InEl amante liberal, the beautiful Leonisa and her lover Ricardo are carried off by Turkish pirates. Both fight against serious material and moral dangers. Ricardo conquers all obstacles, returns to his homeland with Leonisa, and is ready to renounce his passion and to hand her over to her former lover in an outburst of generosity; but Leonisa's preference naturally settles on Ricardo in the end.Another group of "exemplary" novels is formed byLa fuerza de la sangre,La ilustre fregona,La gitanilla, andEl celoso extremeo. The first three offer examples of love and adventure happily resolved, while the last unravels itself tragically. Its plot deals with the old Felipe Carrizales, who, after traveling widely and becoming rich in America, decides to marry, taking all the precautions necessary to forestall being deceived. He weds a very young girl and isolates her from the world, by having her live in a house with no windows facing the street. But in spite of his defensive measures, a bold youth succeeds in penetrating the fortress of conjugal honour; and one day Carrizales surprises his wife in the arms of her seducer. Surprisingly, he pardons the adulterers, recognizing that he is more to blame than they, and dies of sorrow over the grievous error he has committed. Cervantes here deviated from literary tradition, which demanded the death of the adulterers; but he transformed the punishment inspired, or rather required, by the social ideal ofhonourinto a statement on the responsibility of the individual.Rinconete y Cortadillo,El casamiento engaoso,El licenciado Vidriera, and the untitled novella known today asEl coloquio de los perros, four works of art which are concerned more with the personalities of the characters than with the subject matter, form the final group of these stories. The protagonists are, respectively, two young vagabonds, Rincn and Cortado, Lieutenant Campuzano, a student Toms Rodaja (who goes mad and believes he has become glass, and who makes many remarks on society and customs of the time) and finally two dogs, Cipin and Berganza, whose wandering existence serves to mirror the most varied aspects of Spanish life.El coloquio de los perrosfeatures even more sardonic observations on the Spanish society of the time.Rinconete y Cortadillois today considered one of the most delightful of Cervantes' works. Its two young vagabonds come to Seville, attracted by the riches and disorder that the 16th-century commerce with the Americas had brought to that metropolis. There they come into contact with a brotherhood of thieves, theThieves' Guild, led by Monipodio, whose house is the headquarters of the Sevillian underworld. The solemn ritual of this band of ruffians is all the more comic for being presented in Cervantes' drily humorous style.Los Trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda(The Labors of Persiles and Sigismunda)[edit]

Title page of Persiles and Segismunda.Cervantes finished the romance ofPersiles and Sigismunda, shortly before his death. The idea of this romance was not new and Cervantes appears to imitateHeliodorus.[37]The work is a romantic description of travels, both by sea and land. Real and fabulous geography and history are mixed together; and in the second half of the romance the scene is transferred to Spain and Italy.Poetry[edit]Some of his poems are found inLa Galatea.He also wroteDos Canciones la Armada Invencible. His best work however is found in thesonnets, particularlyAl Tmulo del Rey Felipe en Sevilla. Among his most important poems,Canto de Calope,Epstola a Mateo Vzquez, and theViaje del Parnaso(Journey to Parnassus 1614) stand out. The latter is his most ambitious work in verse, anallegorywhich consists largely of reviews of contemporary poets. Compared to his ability as a novelist, Cervantes is often considered a mediocre poet.Viaje del Parnaso[edit]

Frontispiece of theViaje(1614).The prose of theGalatea, which is in other respects so beautiful, is occasionally overloaded with epithet. Cervantes displays a totally different kind of poetic talent in theViaje del Parnaso, an extended commentary on the Spanish authors of his time.Plays[edit]Comparisons have diminished the reputation of his plays; but two of them (El Trato de ArgelandLa Numancia 1582) made an impact.El Trato de Argel, is written in 5 acts; based on his experiences as a captive of the Moors, the play deals with the life of Christian slaves in Algiers.La Numanciais a description of the siege of Numantia by the Romans. It details the horrors of the siege, and has been described as devoid of the requisites of dramatic art. Cervantes's output published in his lifetime consists of 16 dramatic works including 8 full-length plays: El gallardo espaol, Los baos de Argel, La Gran Sultana, Doa Catalina de Oviedo, La casa de los celos, El laberinto de amor, La entretenida, El rufin dichoso, Pedro de Urdemalas, a sensitive play about apicaro, who joins a group of Gypsies for love of a girl.He also wrote 8 short farces (entremeses): El juez de los divorcios, El rufin viudo llamado Trampagos, La eleccin de los Alcaldes de Daganzo, La guarda cuidadosa(The Vigilant Sentinel), El vizcano fingido, El retablo de las maravillas, La cueva de Salamanca, andEl viejo celoso(The Jealous Old Man).These plays and entremeses made upOcho Comedias y ocho entire messes nuevos, nunca representados(Eight Comedies and Eight New Interludes, Never Before Performed) which appeared in 1615. The dates and order of composition of Cervantes' entremeses 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.La Numancia[edit]Main article:The Siege of Numantia

Miguel de Cervantes in a late and idealized portrait of the 18th century (Retratos de Espaoles Ilustres-Portraits of Illustrious Spanish, 1791).

Cervantes: Image from a 19th-century German book on the history of literature.This play is a dramatization of the long and brutal siege of theCeltiberiantown Numantia,Hispania, by the Roman forces ofScipio Africanus. Cervantes invented, along with the subject of his piece, a peculiar style of tragic composition; and, in doing so, he did not pay much regard to the theory of Aristotle. His object was to produce a piece full of tragic situations, combined with the charm of the marvellous. In order to accomplish this goal, Cervantes relied heavily on allegory and on mythological elements. The tragedy is written in conformity with no rules, save those which the author prescribed for himself, for he felt no inclination to imitate the Greek forms. The play is divided into four acts,jornadas; and no chorus is introduced. The dialogue is sometimes in tercets, and sometimes inredondillas, and for the most part in octaves without any regard to rule.Legacy[edit]During his life Cervantes was primarily known as a writer of a funny book, which was howDon QuixotePart I was viewed in his day.[citation needed]HisExemplary Novelswere better received[citation needed]than wasDon Quixote, and allowed him to publish his plays andentremeses,Viaje del Parnaso, Part II ofDon Quixote, and (by his widow)Persiles y Sigismunda. He then faded into semi-obscurity.[citation needed]The revival of interest in him was born in England in the eighteenth century, first by the deluxe edition of Tonson, for which the first biographical sketch was written (1738), and then by the scholarly editorJohn Bowle (writer), who was the first to call Cervantes a "classic" author.[citation needed]His influence on other novelists began in eighteenth-century England, and was followed by an intense interest by the Germanromanticsin the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.[citation needed]In 1805 (the bicentennial of the publication ofDon QuixotePart I), and 1816 (the bicentennial of his death), nothing happened. The tricentenial, 1905, saw a great wave of celebrations in Spain.[citation needed]Cervantes' novelDon Quixotehas had a tremendous influence on the development of prose fiction. It has been translated into all major languages and has appeared in 700 editions. The first translation was in English, made byThomas Sheltonin 1608 (Part I only[38]), but not published until 1612. Shelton renders some Spanish idioms into English so literally that they sound nonsensical when translated.[citation needed]As an example Shelton always translates the worddedosasfingers, not realizing thatdedoscan also meaninches. (In the original Spanish, for instance, a phrase such asuna altura de quince dedos, which makes perfect sense in Spanish, would mean "fifteen inches high" in English, but a translator who renders it too literally would translate it as "fifteenfingershigh".Carlos Fuentesraised the possibility that Cervantes and Shakespeare were the same person, in the sense that Homer, Dante, Defoe, Dickens, Balzac, and Joyce are all the same writer whose spirit wanders through the centuries.[39]Fuentes noted that, "Cervantes leaves the page open where the reader knows himself read and the author written."[40][41]Don Quixotehas been the subject of a variety of works in other fields of art, including operas by the Italian composerGiovanni Paisiello, the FrenchJules Massenet, and the SpanishManuel de Falla, a Russian ballet by the Russian-German composerLudwig Minkus, a tone poem by the German composerRichard Strauss, a German film (1933) directed byG. W. Pabst, a Soviet film (1957) directed byGrigori Kozintsev, a 1965 ballet (no relation to the one by Minkus) with choreography byGeorge Balanchine, an American musicalMan of La Mancha(1965) byDale Wasserman,Mitch Leigh, andJoe Darion. which was made into a film in 1972, directed byArthur Hiller, and a song by Braziliantropicalia-pioneersOs Mutantes.Don Quixote's influence can be seen in the work ofSmollett,Defoe,Fielding, andSterne, as well as in the classic 19th-century novelistsScott,Dickens,Flaubert,Melville,Twain, andDostoevsky, and in the 20th -century works ofJames Joyce,Giannina Braschi, andJorge Luis Borges. The theme of the novel also inspired the 19th-century French artistsHonor DaumierandGustave Dor.[citation needed]Sigmund Freudwas greatly influenced by "El coloquio de los perros," which has been called the origin of psychoanalisis. In it only one character tells his story; the other listens, occasionally making comments. At the center of the dog's story is a sexual event. Freud stated that he learned Spanish so as to read Cervantes in the original, and he signed 55 letters with the name of the character (dog) Cipin.[42][43][44]TheBiblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, the largestdigital archiveof Spanish-language historical and literary works in the world, is named after the author.Ethnic and religious heritage[edit]Modern scholars have suggested that he may have descended from aNew ChristianorConversobackground, i.e., that his ancestors, prior to 1492, had been Jews.[45]Prof. Leandro Rodriguez of the University of Lausanne (Don Miguel, Judo de Cervantes, 1992), has written that the places, foliage, distances and sounds in the city ofCervantes, Lugoprove that the setting for the Don Quixote story took place there. Rodriguez also says that "Saavedra" is believed to refer to the area of Spain known as La Mancha, but was rather set nearZamora, Spainand that la mancha (the stain) refers to his converso ("forced convert from Judaism") background.[46]Advocates of the New Christian theory, first set forth byAmrico Castro, often suggest Cervantes' mother was a converso as well. The theory rests almost exclusively on circumstantial evidence, but would explain some mysteries of Cervantes' life.[47]It has been supported by authors such as Anthony Cascardi[48]and Eisenberg.[49]Others, such asClaudio Snchez-Albornoz(or Francisco Olmos Garcia, who considers it a "tired issue" and only supported by Amrico Castro, which is not true) reject the theory strongly.[50]Likeness[edit]

Bust of Cervantes erected in 1905,Burgos.Although the portrait of Cervantes attributed toJuan de Jureguiis the one most associated with the author, the fact is that there is no known portrait that is a true likeness.[51][52]The oil painting,Retrato de un caballero desconocido(Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman), painted byEl GrecoinToledobetween 1600 and 1605, and on display at theMuseo del Prado, has also been cited as a possible portrait of Cervantes, based on the fact that he was living near Toledo in 1604 and that he knew people within El Greco's circle of friends.[53]The 1859 portrait byLuis de Madrazo, which the painter himself stated is based on his own imagination, is currently at theBiblioteca Nacional de Espaa.[54]TheSpanish euro coinsof 0.10, 0.20, and 0.50 bear a bust of Cervantes.[55]