Events and trends 1605–15 – Miguel de Cervantes writes the two parts of Don Quixote. 1616: April – Death of both William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes : William Bradford writes Of Plymouth Plantation, journals that are considered the most authoritative account of the Pilgrims and their government. 1660–69 – Samuel Pepys writes his diary. 1667–68 – Marianna Alcoforado writes her Letters of a Portuguese Nun. 1671–96 – Madame de Sévigné writes her famous letters. Metaphysical poets German literature of the Baroque period

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Spanish:]; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 23 April 1616 N.S.) [4] was a Spanish writer who is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre- eminent novelists. His masterpiece Don Quixote has been translated into more languages than any other book except the Bible.] His major work, Don Quixote, sometimes considered the first modern novel, [5] is a classic of Western literature, regarded among the best works of fiction ever written. [6] His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes"). [7] He has also been dubbed El príncipe de los ingenios

The popularity of Don Quixote led to the publication of an unauthorized continuation of it by an unknown writer, who masqueraded under the name of Alonso Fernández de Avellaneda. Cervantes produced his own continuation, or Second Part, of Don Quixote, which made its appearance in He had promised the publication of a second part in 1613 in the foreword to the Novelas ejemplares (Exemplary Novels), a year before the publication of Avellaneda's book. Don Quixote has been regarded chiefly as a novel of purpose. It is stated again and again that he wrote it in order to satirize the chivalric romance and to challenge the popularity of a form of literature that had been a favourite of the general public for more than a century. Miguel de Cervantes's famous work, Don Quijote illustrated by Doré Another Don Quijote Illustration by Gustave Doré, this one is of the famous windmill scene

Birth It is assumed that Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares, a Castilian city about 35 kilometres (22 mi) north-east from Madrid, probably on 29 September (the feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel) The probable date of his birth was determined from records in the church register, given the tradition of naming a child after the feast day of his birth. He was baptized in Alcalá de Henares on 9 October 1547 at the parish church of Santa María la Mayor Death Cervantes died in Madrid on 22 April 1616 and was buried the next day, 23 April.The cause of his death, according to Antonio López Alonso, a modern physician who has examined the surviving documentation, was type-2 diabetes, a result of a cirrhosis of the liver. This is the best explanation for the intense thirst he complained of. The cirrhosis was not caused by alcoholism; Cervantes was too productive, especially in his final years, to have been an alcoholic. For many years 23 April 1616 was shown as the date of his death in some references, and is still the date on which his death is widely commemorated (along with that of William Shakespeare, although the date for Cervantes was according to the Gregorian calendar while the date for Shakespeare was according to the Julian calendar and therefore 10 days later in real time).