La verdadera patria de Miguel de Cervantes (Miguel de Cervantes’s true homeland) (Biblioteca Nacional de España) n n[4][fol.1] – (Pedro José García Balboa) ◄ Previous Next ►

Artist: Pedro José García Balboa

Date: 1761

Size: 31 x 22 cm

Museum: Acción Cultural Española (Madrid, Spain)

Technique: Paper

Until 1752 it was not known where Cervantes was born. That year the entry in the baptism register of the church of Santa María la Mayor in Alcalá de Henares was discovered. The “native of Alcalá de Henares”, as he is described in several documents, now had a date to go by: he was baptised on 9 October 1547. As Saint Michael’s feast day is on 29 September, scholars take this to be his likely date of birth. The mid-18th century saw the start of the discussions on Miguel de Cervantes’s origins, which linger on to this day – though more in the media than among the scientific community. Once again, Cervantes the legend overshadows Cervantes the man.The reference to Cervantes as a “native of Alcalá de Henares” in a document discovered by Juan Iriarte in 1748 – the list of captives who were released in 1580 – was the clue that led to a systematic search in the baptism register of Alcalá de Henares. This search was initially fruitless, as at the time it was thought that Miguel had been born in 1549. Father Sarmiento wrote this unpublished treatise reporting on the discoveries, sparing no criticism for Blas Nasarre and his determination to seek (and find) other baptism records of Miguel de Cervantes.Scan digital page 4