Between 15, he lived primarily in Seville. He suffered a bankruptcy and was imprisoned at least twice (15) for irregularities in his accounts. During the next 20 years Cervantes led a nomadic existence, working as a purchasing agent for the Spanish Armada and as a tax collector. Her uncle Alonso de Quesada y Salazar is said to have inspired the character of Don Quixote. In Esquivias (Province of Toledo), on 12 December 1584, he married the much younger Catalina de Salazar y Palacios (Toledo, Esquivias –, 31 October 1626), daughter of Fernando de Salazar y Vozmediano and Catalina de Palacios. He subsequently returned to his family in Madrid. He was then released on ransom from his captors by his parents and the Trinitarians, a Catholic religious order. By then, Cervantes had enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment and continued his military life until 1575, when he was captured by Algerian corsairs. In 1569, Cervantes moved to Italy, where he served as a valet to Giulio Acquaviva, a wealthy priest who was elevated to cardinal the next year. Little is known of his mother Leonor de Cortinas, except that she was a native of Arganda del Rey. His father was Rodrigo de Cervantes, a surgeon of cordoban descent. It is assumed that Miguel de Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares. His novel Don Quixote is often considered his magnum opus, as well as the first modern novel.

Miguel de Cervantes y Cortinas, later Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright.

Don quixote volume 2