that he had previously concerted. It was of so wild and romantic a
character, that its reality might naturally warrant disbelief, were it
not authenticated by trustworthy evidence. This scheme was nothing less
than the excitement of an insurrection among the Christian slaves in
Algiers, who were to make themselves masters of the city, and transfer
it to the dominion of Phillip II. Notwithstanding the rigorous nature
of his imprisonment, he contrived to take some steps towards the
execution of this bold enterprise. Whether the project was thwarted
by discovery, or to what other cause its frustration was assignable
does not clearly appear. Certain it is, however, that the Dey of
Algiers regarded Cervantes as the boldest and most ingenious of all his
Christian slaves. Father Diego de Haedo relates, that so greatly did
Aga Hassan fear Cervantes, that he used to say, “he should consider
his slaves, his barks, and the whole city of Algiers perfectly safe,
_could he but get rid of that one-handed Spaniard_!”
At length, the freedom so ardently sighed for, and for the attainment
of which so many fruitless efforts had been made, was recovered, at a
time when even Cervantes himself, sanguine as he was, had well nigh
relinquished all hope of ever again being restored to his country.
In the year 1580, Juan Gil and Antonio de la Bella, two monks of the
order of the Santissima Trinidad, were sent from Spain to Algiers; the
former as _Redentor_, or slave ransomer, for the Province of Castile,
and the latter in the same capacity for the Province of Andalusia.
The father of Cervantes was by this time dead, and the family were
left in rather straitened circumstances;--nevertheless they
succeeded, by dint of great exertion, in raising some money to assist
in ransoming their relative. Doña Leonora de Cortinas, the mother
of Cervantes, contributed two hundred and fifty ducats;--and Doña
Andrea de Cervantes, his sister, gave fifty.[20] The family naturally
hoped that the high testimonials of courage and merit, furnished in
favour of Cervantes by his former military comrades, together with the
letter of recommendation from the Duke de Sesa to the king, would gain
the interest of the Court in his behalf. But the appeals addressed
to that high quarter were responded to with only lukewarm interest,
and accordingly the Monks departed with a sum very inadequate to the
accomplishment of the object of their mission, which was to obtain the
release of some of the principal captives. Doña Leonora de Cortinas
furnished the Redentores with a description of her son, setting forth
that he was a native of Alcalá, and the slave of Dali-Mami, the
captain of the Dey’s barks,[21] that he was thirty-three years of age
and had lost his left hand. A description of himself given by Cervantes
to the authorities in Algiers is as follows--“A native of Alcalá de
Henares, aged thirty-one, of middle height, having a thick beard
(_bien barbado_), disabled of the use of the left arm and wanting the
left hand; captured on board the galley _El Sol_, when on his passage
from Spain to Naples, where he had been long in the service of His
Majesty.”[22]
The Redentores arrived in Algiers on the 29th of May, 1580. At that
very time the Dey was on the eve of resigning his authority in favour
of another Pacha, who was elected to the government of Algiers. Hassan,
who had been recalled by the Sultan to Constantinople, was preparing
to return thither. Cervantes, being one of the captives he intended to
take with him, was actually on board a galley, and ready to sail for
the Turkish capital, when the slave ransomers arrived in Algiers. There
was no time to be lost, and negotiations for the ransom were set on
foot without a moment’s delay. The amount demanded was more than double
the sum which the Redentores were authorised to pay. However, Father
Juan Gil made up the deficiency by devoting to the release of Cervantes
a portion of the money advanced by the friends of other captives, who
being then absent from Algiers, their ransom could not be effected.
The Redentores pledged themselves to refund the money on their return
to Spain, and by these arrangements, together with some abatement in
the demand of Aga Hassan, Cervantes obtained his release on the 19th of
September, 1580.
But joyfully as he hailed the prospect of returning to his native land,
he nevertheless resolved, ere he should quit Algiers, to controvert
certain calumnies circulated against him, which he conceived were
calculated to impugn his honour. The Dominican Monk, who had betrayed
the last plan formed by the Spanish captives for their escape, and
who had thereby incurred the hatred of all the Christians in Algiers,
sought in revenge to cast on Cervantes the odium of having caused
the failure of the enterprise. Cervantes, whose nice sense of honour
urged him to free himself from even the slightest trace of suspicion,
appealed to the testimony of twelve of his fellow captives, all of
them men of high character and members of noble Spanish families.
Their evidence refuted in the most complete and satisfactory way the
calumnious charges of the Benedictine monk. They unanimously declared
that though there were many noble Spanish cavaliers in Algiers, not
one was more distinguished for honourable and generous sentiment
than Miguel de Cervantes; and that he had invariably manifested the
sincerest interest and sympathy for his countrymen and fellow-captives,
all of whom regarded him in the light of a brother.
On the 22nd of October, 1580, after five years of detention in Algiers,
Cervantes embarked for Spain. He had now before him the cheering
prospect of that happiness which he himself has declared to be “one of
the greatest that can be enjoyed in this life;--the return to one’s
native country after prolonged captivity.” “There is,” he adds, “no
happiness like the recovery of lost freedom.”[23]
On his return to Spain, about the end of the year 1580, he repaired
straight to Madrid, where his mother and sister were then residing.
The reduced circumstances in which he found his family determined him
once more to try his fortune as a soldier. At this time, Philip II. was
intent on completing his conquest of Portugal by the acquisition of the
rich colonial dependencies of that kingdom. It had been determined to
maintain a Castilian army in Portugal, for the purpose of preserving
public tranquillity, enforcing obedience to the authorities of King
Philip, and preparing the reduction of the Azores or Terceras Islands.
Rodrigo Cervantes, who on his return from Algiers, had resumed military
service, was now in the army of occupation in Portugal, and he was
speedily joined there by his brother Miguel.
In the spring of 1581, both the brothers sailed from Lisbon in one of
the ships of an armament commanded by General Don Lope de Figueroa.
This armament was sent to the aid of Don Pedro Valdez, who had been
commissioned to reduce the Azores Islands to the authority of the
Spanish crown. A misunderstanding arose between Figueroa and Valdez, on
the subject of an attempted landing at Tercera, and not being able to
come to an agreement they carried on their operations separately, and
after a short time both returned to Portugal.
The Spanish Government found reason to suspect that the pretensions
of Don Antonio, Prior of Ocrato,[24] were secretly favoured by France
and England, and that the ships of those powers, and especially those
of France kept up the spirit of rebellion in the Azores. Phillip
II., determined to repress these proceedings, and to take measures
for the protection of the Spanish Galeones employed in transporting
the treasures of the colonies to the mother country. He accordingly
ordered several armaments which had been for some time in preparation
in the maritime provinces of Spain, to assemble in the Tagus. It was
understood that a French squadron had already put to sea with hostile
designs on the Portuguese dependencies; and Phillip on receipt of
this intelligence gave the command of the Spanish naval force to the
celebrated Admiral Don Álvaro de Bazán, Marques de Santa Cruz. The
fleet, having on board several regiments of infantry, sailed from
the Tagus on the 10th of July, 1582, and the Spaniards soon fell in
with the French squadron. The result was an engagement in which the
French ships were dispersed or destroyed. Cervantes states that he was
himself engaged in this action, together with his brother Rodrigo,
but he enters into no particulars respecting it. Both the brothers
likewise served in the expedition which sailed from Lisbon in the
following year, 1583, under the command of the Marques de Santa Cruz.
The Spaniards effected a landing at Tercera, on the 23rd of June, and
the result was the surrender of that island. The submission of the rest
of the Azores speedily followed, and the partizans of Don Antonio were
finally put down. The campaign being thus gloriously ended, Don Álvaro
de Bazán returned to Spain, and on the 15th of September, he entered
Cádiz greeted by signal demonstrations of popular triumph.
On the Atlantic, as well as in the Levant, Cervantes had been an
eye-witness of the gallant achievements of the great naval hero
of Spain. As a soldier he had served under his authority, as a
philosopher, he had contemplated his virtues; and he rendered to his
glory a poetic tribute of admiration and gratitude. He wrote a sonnet
on Don Álvaro de Bazán, which was published by the Licentiate Cristobal
Mosquera de Figueroa, in the _Comentarios de la jornada de las Islas
Azores_. In _Don Quixote_, he also pays an emphatic and well merited
compliment to the courage of the celebrated admiral, in that passage
where the captive describing the storming of Navarino, says:--“In this
campaign, the galley called the Prize, whose commander was a son of the
famous corsair Barbarossa, was taken by the captain galley, of Naples,
called the She-Wolf, commanded by that thunderbolt of war, that father
of the soldiers,--that fortunate and invincible Captain Don Álvaro de
Bazán, Marques de Santa Cruz.”
During the time he remained with his regiment in Portugal, Cervantes
mingled freely in society, and made himself familiarly acquainted
with the language as well as with the manners and customs of the
people of the country. His society was sought, and wherever he went
he was kindly and hospitably received. That his sojourn in Portugal
impressed him with pleasing and grateful recollections, is evident,
from the observations here and there scattered through several of
his works, especially _Persiles_. Contrary to the prevailing taste
of his countrymen, (for the Spaniards usually entertain no great
partiality for the Portuguese language,) Cervantes was charmed with
it; pronouncing it to be “a sweet and pleasing tongue,” (_lengua dulce
y agradable_). The people he characterizes as agreeable, courteous,
and generous. Speaking of the women, he says, their beauty inspires
admiration and love, (_la hermosura de las mujeres admira y enamora_).
Lisbon, he calls a great and famous city, and he declares that
Portugal may altogether be regarded as the land of promise (_tierra de
promisión_). With such strong predilections in favour of the country
and everything belonging to it, it can scarcely be matter of surprise
that Cervantes should have become enamoured of a Portuguese lady,
and that the attachment should have been reciprocal. His biographers
are silent respecting the connections of this lady, nor do they even
mention her name; but all concur in stating that the fruit of this
attachment was a daughter, who was known by the name of Doña Isabel
de Saavedra. This daughter was the companion of Cervantes through all
the vicissitudes of his subsequent life, and after his marriage she
constantly resided under the same roof with him and his wife.
On his return to Spain after the successful issue of the Azores
expedition, Cervantes’ pecuniary condition would seem to have been very
similar to that of Horace after the battle of Philippi.[25] He found
himself utterly destitute, and had no means of subsistence save such
as he could procure by writing verses. Heretofore his life had been
pretty equally divided between war and literature, “now taking up the
sword and now the pen,”[26]--like many other eminent Spaniards of that
age, who were distinguished equally as soldiers and writers. Even in
the dungeons of Algiers, and amidst the most stirring events of war,
Cervantes never wholly relinquished his love of literary composition;
and many of his sonnets, and other little fugitive poems, bear evidence
that, in seasons of trial and suffering, he courted the solace of the
Muse. It has been conjectured, and with much appearance of probability,
that many of the sonnets, canzonets, and ballads introduced in the
_Galatea_, were composed amidst the active duties of the author’s
military career, and during the weary hours of his captivity.
The _Galatea_ was the first work which Cervantes submitted to the
press, and it was published in 1584. It is a pastoral romance, partly
in prose, and partly in verse, in the style of the Diana of Montemayor;
but exhibiting still greater resemblance to Gil Polo’s continuation
of Montemayor’s poem. Very little ingenuity is shewn in the invention
of the fable; it is merely an insipid story of pastoral life, in the
affected and unnatural style so much in fashion in the sixteenth
century.
In this frame-work the author has grouped together a rich collection
of metrical compositions, in all the various styles of versification
practised by the old Spanish and Italian poets. “The story,” observes
Bouterwek, “is merely the thread which holds the beautiful garland
together; for the poems are the portions of the work most particularly
deserving of attention. They are as numerous as they are various, and
should the title of Cervantes to rank among the most eminent poets,
or his originality in versified composition be called in question, an
attentive perusal of the romance of _Galatea_, must banish every doubt
upon these points.”[27]
Lope de Vega, and other contemporary writers, have affirmed that
the shepherdess, who is the heroine of the romance, was not a mere
imaginary character; but that under the name of _Galatea_ Cervantes
pourtrayed the lady to whom he was subsequently married. According to
the same authorities, Cervantes represented himself in the character
of Ercilio, “_pastor en riberas del Tajo_,”[28] who is enamoured of
_Galatea_, “_pastora nacida en las orillas de aquel río_.”[29] It is
also believed that the pastoral names of Thyrsis, Damon, &c., are
merely fictitious denominations for several of the most celebrated
poets of his own time.[30]
On the 12th of December, 1584, Cervantes was united in marriage to
Doña Catalina de Salazar, a lady connected with a distinguished Spanish
family. She was the daughter of Don Fernando de Salazar y Vozmediano,
and of Doña Catalina de Palacios. Doña Catalina brought her husband
some little fortune, upon which the newly married couple lived as long
as it lasted. After his marriage, Cervantes definitively left the army,
and for a time fixed his abode at Esquivias, in which town his wife’s
family resided.
The proximity of Esquivias to Madrid, enabled him to make frequent
visits to the capital. There he formed acquaintance with most of the
distinguished Spanish writers of the day, and he became a member of
one of those numerous literary academies which in the reign of Charles
V. were established in Spain in imitation of those of Italy. About
this time Cervantes began to apply himself zealously to dramatic
composition. The taste for theatrical amusements, then so popular in
Spain, rendered play writing a ready mode of turning literary talent
to profitable account. But there is reason to infer that inclination
no less than the prospect of pecuniary gain, prompted Cervantes to
write for the stage; and the complacency with which, at a subsequent
period of his life, he looked back to his early comedies proves that he
thought himself entitled to no little distinction as a dramatic author.
That he should so far have mistaken the true bent of his genius, is
one of those unaccountable fallacies of judgment, from which even
the shrewdest minds are not always exempt. Those of his plays which
in the opinion of Cervantes himself possessed peculiar merit, are of
that class which was so popular among the Spaniards of the sixteenth
century, and called _Comedias de capa y espada_.[31] In his _Viaje
del Parnaso_, alluding to these plays, the author says--“If they were
not my own I should declare that they merit all the praise they have
obtained.” One of them, _la Confusa_, he declares to be “a good one
among the best.”[32] _La Confusa_ is one of the many dramatic works of
Cervantes, which there is reason to fear are totally lost.
Bouterwek, whilst admitting the general failure of Cervantes as a
writer for the stage, nevertheless declares that the high merits of
the tragedy of _Numancia_ might well pardon the self-deception under
which the author laboured in respect to the limits of his talent
in dramatic literature. “With all its imperfections,” observes the
celebrated German critic, “the tragedy of _Numancia_ is a noble
production, and, like _Don Quixote_, it is unparalleled in the class
of literature to which it belongs. It proves that under different
circumstances the author of _Don Quixote_ might have been the Æschylus
of Spain. The conception is stamped by the deepest pathos and the
execution, at least taken as a whole, is vigorous and dignified.”[33]
The tragedy of _Numancia_ and the comedy of _El Trato de Argel_ (life
in Algiers), were accidentally discovered in manuscript about the end
of the last century; after having been supposed to be irretrievably
lost.
During the interval of his alternate residence in Esquivias and Madrid,
it is computed that Cervantes must have written between twenty and
thirty dramatic pieces. Among those successfully performed at the
theatres of Madrid were _Los Tratos de Argel_, _La Numancia_ and _La
Batalla naval_. In these pieces the author ventured to depart from the
forms of the old Spanish drama; and these changes, together with other
innovations he introduced, were very favourably received by the public.
But in spite of this partial success, the scanty emolument he acquired
by writing for the stage, was inadequate to the maintenance of his
family; the more especially as his two sisters were wholly dependent
on him for support; for his brother Rodrigo, who was still in the
army, was engaged in the wars in Flanders. At this time the position
of Cervantes was peculiarly unfortunate and discouraging. He was now
upwards of forty years of age and deprived of the use of one arm; and
neither his military services nor his literary labours had obtained for
him any adequate reward. These considerations determined him to enter
upon some other career of occupation less precarious than that which he
had pursued since his retirement from the army; and he thought himself
exceedingly lucky when an opportunity occurred, which enabled him to
escape from the literary drudgery to which he had for some years been
doomed. To quote his own words, he joyfully “laid aside the pen and
relinquished play writing.” (_Abandonó la pluma y las Comedias._)
Antonio de Guevara had just then been appointed Commissary-General,
(_Proveedor-General_), for provisioning the Spanish armadas fitted out
for South America. This post was one of considerable importance, and
its extensive and various duties required the aid of four assistant
commissaries. Through the influence of Guevara, Cervantes was appointed
to one of the last-mentioned posts, and in April, 1589, he removed to
Seville to enter upon the duties of his office.
It is probable that this change of residence was not less agreeable
to him than the change of his occupation; for several members of
the respective families of Cervantes and Saavedra were settled in
Seville, then the most populous and opulent city in Spain. It is a
fact worthy of mention, that two of these relatives of Cervantes were
distinguished for their literary talent. The author of _Don Quixote_
himself renders an eulogistic tribute to Gonzalo Cervantes de Saavedra,
a famous soldier and poet;[34] and Nicholas Antonio mentions another
Cervantes de Saavedra, who distinguished himself as a writer. Both were
Sevillians.
The subordinate post of assistant-commissary in Seville would appear
to have been accepted by Cervantes, only as the stepping-stone to
something better; and he probably counted on advancement through
the patronage of Guevara, and the influence of his own relatives,
who were persons of some consideration in Seville. Accordingly, we
find him, in May, 1590, petitioning the king for one of several posts
then vacant in South America. The petitioner, without venturing to
express a preference for any particular appointment, declares he shall
be satisfied with any one of which he may be considered worthy; his
only desire being to serve his king, as he had in the earlier years
of his life, and as his ancestors had before him. That Cervantes,
at this time, found no great cause to rejoice in the prosperity of
his worldly affairs, is obvious in the whole tone of the petition,
which he concludes with the declaration of his readiness to “embrace
the course of which many unfortunate men in that city (Seville) have
availed themselves; namely, to proceed to South America, that last
refuge and asylum of despairing Spaniards.”[35] The application for
the South American appointment not having been attended with success,
he continued in his post at Seville.
In the year 1595 Pope Clement VIII. canonized St. Hyacinthus, in
compliance with the solicitation of the King of Poland. The event
was celebrated with great solemnity by the Monks of the Dominican
convent in Saragossa, and certain poetical prize competitions were
proposed on the occasion. The subjects for these competitions having
been determined, they were published in all the principal towns of
Spain. Cervantes was a successful candidate for one of these prizes,
which, from its nature, might have been a more fitting reward for
domestic merit than for poetic talent: it consisted of _three silver
spoons_. The umpires, in awarding this prize, styled the winner a son
of Seville, which circumstance, together with the long residence of
Cervantes in that city, may explain how it came to be regarded as his
native place.
Other events occasionally called forth poetic tributes from the author
of _Don Quixote_ during his abode in Seville. In the year 1596, the
Earl of Essex made a descent on the Spanish coast, took possession of
Cádiz and sacked the city. The gentlemen of Seville formed themselves
into a sort of Urban guard and marched to the assistance of the
neighbouring city. Whether Cervantes enrolled himself in these martial
ranks does not appear; but the event inspired his muse with several
poetic effusions, one of which is a sonnet preserved in manuscript in
the Real Biblioteca at Madrid. This expedition of the English to Cádiz
furnished the subject of _La Española Inglesa_, one of the Novelas
which were written at a subsequent period. On the death of Philip II.,
in 1598, Cervantes was still in Seville, and he composed a sonnet on
the occasion which he himself mentions favourably in the _Viaje del
Parnaso_.