But the book went further than the intentions of it’s author and Don Quijote, the Knight of the Woeful Countenance whom Cervantes wished to present as a ludicrous character, has become an archetype of nobility of character and naïve and deranged idealism. As the author explains in the prologue, it’s a parody of chivalric romance and the ethics of the medieval knights. “El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote”, published in 1605, is considered the beginning of the modern novel. Later he spent five months imprisoned in Seville, when a banker, to whom he had given money from his job as a tax collector, bankrupted. Appointed as Royal Commissioner of supplies for the Spanish Armada he was imprisoned in Castro del Río (Cordova) under accusations of selling part of the wheat seized. In 1585 he published his first novel, “La Galatea”. Returning to Spain in a boat, with his brother Rodrigo, they would be captured by corsairs and would spend five years prisoner before recovering freedom, after paying a ransom of 500 ducat. He joined the militia and took part in the battle of Lepanto against the Turks where he was severely injured and his left hand became useless. In 1569, he left Spain fleeing justice and installed himself in Rome. His father was a barber-surgeon and due to his job and debts, the family lived in different Spanish cities like Valladolid, Cordova, Seville and Madrid. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) in 1547.
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