The Force of Blood: 16th Century tale about a woman vying for revenge from her past abuser

Written by Miguel de Cervantes

Narrated by Eliott Fitzpatrick and Ghizela Rowe

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born in late September 1547 in Alcalá de Henares, a few miles to the north-east of Madrid in Spain.

Despite his reputation as a literary leviathan surprisingly little is known of his life. All the portraits and paintings raised in his honour are unattributed and so may, or may not be, his likeness.

What is known of his life is thought to have been embellished by the man himself and for a literary man he spent much of his time involved in wars and military adventures in Spanish territories or jewels they had eyes upon whilst usually locked in debilitating wars with the Ottoman Empire.

During these years he spent time abroad in Rome and Naples also, it is thought, in attempting to avoid an arrest warrant for wounding another man in a duel in Madrid.

During the Battle of Lepanto, which ensured the safety of Europe from the Ottomans, he was badly wounded in the chest and also lost the use of his left arm which earned him the sobriquet ‘The one-armed man of Lepanto’.

Later he was captured with his brother by Ottoman Corsairs and taken to be sold or ransomed and appears to have spent some time in Istanbul during his years in captivity.

In 1580 Cervantes was set free by the Trinitarians, a religious charity that specialised in ransoming Christian captives, and returned to Madrid. Here he took on various Government works including as tax collector, accountant and as a purchasing agent for the Navy.

The astounding and revolutionary work for which he is famed is, of course, Don Quixote, the first volume of which was published in 1605 and the second in 1615. It was during this period that he wrote most of his other works, including plays, poems and a short story collection. Writing for any kind of income in these times was difficult. Popular works were more often stolen and printed by others for their own immediate gain. The idea of copyright and reliable income was still some time away.

Miguel de Cervantes died on the 22nd April 1616 in Madrid, Spain. He was 68.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Copyright Group
• Release date: Sep 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9781835479544

Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes was born on September 29, 1547, in Alcala de Henares, Spain. At twenty-three he enlisted in the Spanish militia and in 1571 fought against the Turks in the Battle of Lepanto, where a gunshot wound permanently crippled his left hand. He spent four more years at sea and then another five as a slave after being captured by Barbary pirates. Ransomed by his family, he returned to Madrid but his disability hampered him; it was in debtor's prison that he began to write Don Quixote. Cervantes wrote many other works, including poems and plays, but he remains best known as the author of Don Quixote. He died on April 23, 1616.