Miguel de Cervantes
Fought at Lepanto and spent five years as a captive in Algiers; late in life he wrote Don Quixote, often called the first modern novel.
| Lived | 1547 – 1616 |
| Known as | Writer |
| Birthplace or main place | Alcalá de Henares |
| Places on the map | Madrid, Seville |
Alcalá de HenaresSee the world of Miguel de Cervantes in the interactive map
Who ruled these places in his lifetime
| Place | At birth (map of 1500) | At death (map of 1600) |
|---|---|---|
| Alcalá de Henares | Castile | Spain |
| Madrid | Castile | Spain |
| Seville | Castile | Spain |
From the border maps nearest to each date; borders are approximate.
Events in his lifetime
| Year | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1561 | Philip II moves the court to Madrid | Madrid |
Battles and sites of the time
- Battle of Gravelines · 1588
Further reading
Contemporaries
| Lived | Person | |
|---|---|---|
| 1543 – 1616 | Tokugawa Ieyasu | First Tokugawa shogun |
| 1542 – 1605 | Akbar | Mughal emperor |
| 1552 – 1610 | Matteo Ricci | Jesuit missionary |
| 1533 – 1603 | Elizabeth I | Queen of England |
| 1564 – 1616 | William Shakespeare | Playwright and poet |
| 1564 – 1642 | Galileo Galilei | Scientist |
| 1527 – 1598 | Philip II | King of Spain |
| 1537 – 1598 | Toyotomi Hideyoshi | Unifier of Japan |
| 1545 – 1598 | Yi Sun-sin | Korean admiral |
| 1571 – 1629 | Shah Abbas I | Safavid shah |
Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.