Miguel de cervantes family

Miguel de Cervantes was born near Madrid in He became a soldier in and was badly wounded in the Battle of Lepanto. Captured by the Turks in , Cervantes spent five years in prison. After less successful earlier efforts, Cervantes finally achieved literary success in his later years, publishing the first part of Don Quixote in He died in The fourth of seven children, Miguel de Cervantes struggled financially for almost his entire life.

His father, Rodrigo, deaf from birth, worked as a surgeon—a lowly trade at the time—and the family moved around often in Cervantes youth as his father searched for better prospects. Whatever his family's financial conditions, Cervantes was an avid reader as a child—a skill he was reportedly taught by a relative. But whether he had much in the way of formal education has been a subject of debate among scholars.

Based on analyses of Cervantes's later work, some believe that he may have been taught by the Jesuits, however, others dispute this claim. Cervantes's first known published writing dates to , when he contributed some poetry to a memorial collection after the death of Elizabeth of Valois, the wife of Spain's King Philip II. But by the following year, Cervantes had put his pen aside and, instead, picked up a weapon, joining a Spanish military unit in Italy.

Miguel de cervantes famous works

Known for his bravery, Cervantes took part in the Battle of Lepanto in Stationed on the ship La Marquesa , he fought against the Ottoman Empire and sustained serious injuries in the conflict, suffering two chest wounds and the complete maiming of his left hand. Despite his disability, however, Cervantes continued to serve as a soldier for several more years.

In , Cervantes and his brother Rodrigo tried to return to Spain, but they were captured during their voyage by a group of Turkish ships. Cervantes subsequently spent five years as a prisoner and an enslaved person, and made several failed attempts to escape during his imprisonment.