The Written World by Martin Puchner

Author:Martin Puchner
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2017-10-24T00:00:00+00:00

1575, MEDITERRANEAN SEA

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For the longest time, Miguel de Cervantes knew nothing of his future as an author; he was interested only in gaining fame as a soldier. He achieved his goal at the Battle of Lepanto, in 1571, off the western coast of Greece, at the age of twenty-four. Ever since the Ottoman Turks had taken Constantinople more than a century earlier, Christendom had been seeking to stop their westward advance. To this end, sea-bordering Catholic states had formed the Holy League and dispatched a large fleet of several hundred galleys, along with 40,000 sailors and 28,000 troops, including the feared Spanish infantry. Along with his fellow soldiers, Cervantes had been promised a plenary indulgence from the Pope—complete remission of all sins—for his services in battle. The Holy League was faced with a smaller fleet of Ottoman galleys, many of them rowed by captured Christian slaves. In order to keep the slaves motivated, they were promised freedom if the Ottomans won.

During the days leading up to the battle, Miguel de Cervantes had been kept belowdecks by a severe fever, but he refused to stay away while his comrades faced the enemy. The two fleets engaged, pitching hundreds of galleys, sixty thousand humans, and hundreds of cannon against each other on the treacherous seas. Ships rammed each other, went up in flames, and sank. Caught between water, steel, and fire, soldiers fought for every inch of their ships, which were wildly swaying from sudden maneuvers and the impact of cannonballs. The battle cry of the Turks was notoriously frightening, but it was drowned out by the sheer noise of cannon firing and wild cries of desperation as more and more soldiers were killed by fire and blade or flung overboard to find their death amid the waves.

The Battle of Lepanto was won for the Holy League—the Turks were defeated—but it left Cervantes with a maimed left arm. A turning point in the centuries-long war against the Ottoman Empire, the Battle of Lepanto put a stop to the Turkish advance, allowing Don John of Austria, who had led the Holy League, to return home in triumph.

Four years after the battle, Cervantes and his brother returned home as well, and they had every reason to expect a warm welcome. Cervantes was carrying a letter from Don John commending him for his bravery in the Battle of Lepanto. He would be able to use the letter to find employment despite his wound once their ship had finally arrived in Spain.

As the galley carrying the Cervantes brothers made its way along the coast to Barcelona, a ship appeared on the horizon. At first the ship was difficult to make out, but it kept coming straight at them, and at last they realized that they were being pursued by North African pirates. The galley tried to flee, but the pirates, equipped with a faster ship and more slaves to man the oars, closed on them quickly. Some Christians were killed right away, while others

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