Cervantes at Lepanto: From Battlefield to Quixote

Ep 154 of The Story of Spain turns to the extraordinary life of Miguel de Cervantes, best known as the author of Don Quixote but also a veteran of the Spanish Tercio. In 1571, at 24, Cervantes fought in the Battle of Lepanto aboard the Marquesa, where he was shot twice in the chest and permanently maimed his left hand. Lucas and Luna explore how his four years in the Tercio, his captivity in Algiers, and his later bureaucratic career shaped the most famous novel in Spanish literature. They discuss the poet-soldier ideal, Cervantes's multiple escape attempts from the bagnio of Algiers, his service as a requisitions agent for the Armada, and the autobiographical echoes in the Captive's Tale. The episode also touches on the controversy around Cervantes's converso ancestry and why he signed his name with an unusual flourish. A story of war, slavery, and the birth of the modern novel. #Spain #Cervantes #Lepanto #DonQuixote #Tercio #SpanishLiterature #Algiers #Conversos #GoldenAge #History #FexingoHistory #Marquesa #Mediterranean #OttomanEmpire #Algeria #Captivity #Armada #SigloDeOro Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo