Miguel De Cervantes :: essays research papers

Miguel de CervantesMiguel de Cervantes Saavedra, born September 29, 1547, was a Spanish novelist,dramatist, and poet. Cervantes was the causation of the novel Don Quixote, amasterpiece of world literature that was a great influence to other renaissancewriters. Cervantes was born to a ridiculous family in a town called Alcala de Henares.His father was a surgeon who make little money to support the family . Withoutthe means for much formal education, Cervantes became a soldier. On his returnto Spain he worked at a series of political relation jobs that involved extensive travelin Andalucia. (Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia) . His career as a public servantwas marked by as much fortuity as was his military career. Not till his later(prenominal)years did Cervantes muster a patron. It was then that he had the time to devoteto his writing.Cervantes was a literary experimenter. In 1568, when Cervantes was astudent, a number of his poems appeared in a good deal published in Madrid tocom memorate the death of the Spanish female monarch Elizabeth of Valois. In 1569 he wentto Rome, where in the following year he entered the renovation of Cardinal GiulioAcquaviva. Soon afterward Cervantes joined a Spanish command in Naples. Hefought in 1571 against the Turks in the naval battle in Lepanto, in which helost the use of his left hand. While go to Spain in 1575, Cervantes wascaptured by Barbary pirates. He was taken to Algeria as a break ones back and held therefor ransom. (Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia). He did however make severalunsuccessful flight of steps attempts, but he was finally ransomed in 1580 by his familyand friends. locomote to Spain at the age of 33, Cervantes, despite his wartimeservice and Algerian adventure, was unable to encounter employment with a noblefamily. This was usually the gift presented to military veterans for their heroic courage. Deciding to become a writer, he turned out poems andplays at a prodigious rate between 1582 and 1585 (Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia).Few of these are restrained existent. His pastoral novel La Galatea (1585) gainedhim a reputation, but the proceeds from its change were insufficient to supporthim. Cervantes then took government jobs, first furnishing goods to the fleet ofthe Armada and later collecting taxes. The government imprisoned him severaltimes because he failed to name a satisfactory explanation of his tax-collectingactivities. While in prison Cervantes conceived the creative thinker for a story about amadman who imagines himself a knight-errant playacting the splendid featsdescribed in medieval tales of chivalry.