Miguel de Cervantes and Navarino

Miguel de Cervantes at the Battle of Lepanto by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau

Miguel de Cervantes sailed on board the Marquesa, part of the galley fleet of the Holy League that defeated the Ottoman fleet on October 7 in the Battle of Lepanto, in the Gulf of Patras. Though taken down with fever, Cervantes refused to stay below, and asked to be allowed to take part in the battle, saying he would rather die for his God and his King than keep under cover. He fought on board a vessel, and received 3 gunshot wounds – 2 in the chest, and one which rendered his left arm useless. From 1572 to 1575, he continued his soldier’s life: he participated in expeditions to Corfu and Navarino. In 1575 he was captured by the Barbary Pirates, after 5 years spent as a slave in Algiers, and 4 unsuccessful escape attempts, he was ransomed by his parents and the Trinitarians and returned to his family in Madrid.