Miguel de Cervantes Given Formal Reburial 400 Years After His Death
Famed Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote and considered “the Spanish Shakespeare,” has been given a former reburial nearly 400 years after his death. Where Cervantes — judged by many to be the single most important writer in Spanish literature — was buried was a mystery for many years until his remains were discovered earlier this year, as the Inquisitr reported. He was originally buried in a Madrid convent, but his coffin was later moved and only rediscovered in March — with the coffin lid bearing simply his initials.
Miguel Cervantes’ reburial was a grand occasion befitting the much-feted author. The Associated Press reports that Cervantes’ was even given military honors, with Madrid’s mayor, Ana Botella, laying a wreath at the monument containing his remains. The military honors were granted due to Cervantes not only being an author, but a soldier too. It was in Spain’s service that Miguel de Cervantes was badly wounded; he received three gunshot wounds at the Battle of Lepanto fighting the Ottomans.
#Cervantes ha recibido honores militares como soldado de España por parte de los Regimientos del Ejercito español. pic.twitter.com/EpzAtlBEue
— Ayuntamiento Madrid (@MADRID) June 11, 2015
Translated: Cervantes has received military honors as a soldier of Spain by the regiments of the Spanish Army.
The Associated Press report that Botella said that Spain had finally repaid Cervantes for his work, considered a major part of the Spanish “Siglo de Oro”, or golden age.
“Now we can say, ‘Miguel, mission accomplished.'”
As Cervantes’ remains were not well preserved and were found amidst other fragments, it is impossible to know for certain which bones discovered were his. However, thanks to historical knowledge, it is thought to be extremely likely that some of the fragments were his, according to forensic scientist Almudena Garcia Rubio, BBC News reported earlier this year.
“The remains are in a bad state of conservation and do not allow us to do an individual identification of Miguel de Cervantes, but we are sure what the historical sources say is the burial of Miguel de Cervantes and the other people buried with him is what we have found.”
The Local reports the monument in which the bone fragments are buried bears a particularly poignant passage by Cervantes himself. From his last novel, The Trials of Persiles and Segismunda, the words inscribed give an insight into Cervantes’ unrelenting tenacity.
“Time is short, my agonies increase, my hopes diminish. And yet despite all this, my desire to live keeps me alive.”
Cervantes left a battered body when he departed this world — as well as the gunshot wounds he’d suffered at Lepanto, he also had just six teeth left at the end of his life.
“His end was that of a poor man. A war veteran with his battle wounds,” Madrid council official Pedro Corral said, according to BBC News.
Miguel de Cervantes’ life was hard, but his work left an indelible mark on world literature — and he has finally got the reburial he deserved.
[Image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images]
