Whose Life Is It Anyway?

"Poverty may partly eclipse a gentleman, but cannot totally obscure him; and those glimmerings of ingenuity that peep through the chinks of a narrow fortune, have always gained the esteem of the truly noble and generous spirits."

- "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha" (1605 and 1615)

It's been almost four centuries since Miguel de Cervantes's death, yet it is only now that Spain is searching for his resting place. "Don Quixote" is the first modern European novel, but Cervantes didn't receive the fame and riches he deserved. He was considered something of a loser, historian Fernando de Prado said. The search should have been done a long time ago.

"I think that we've done less than others to find some of our most famous people because this also corresponds to a Catholic view, which considers that what is important after a burial is the spirit and not the body and the physical remains," he said.

It was believed that Cervantes was buried in the The Convent of las Monjas Trinitarias Descalzas in Madrid, which was what the novelist wished for. If his remains were found, then it would be ironic. It was an obscure place for someone so famous.

There's no other way but down

Cervantes was born on September 29, 1547. It was Spain's Golden Age. The Spanish Empire extended its rule over the New World. But the native of Alcalá de Henares only witnessed a glimpse of that glory, as Spain was in the middle of the war.

The Reformation was spreading throughout Western Europe and the Spanish crown was the only one waging a fight against it. Then the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, in 1453. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the empire controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, the Caucasus, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. Spain, with all the resources, could've withstood it. But it was depleted. Defeat followed.

Many saw the similarity between Spain's downfall and Cervantes's life. He was a romantic who believed in military heroism. He got what he wished for, as during a campaign, he was captured by pirates and sold as slave. It was five years of hardship, his experience was a red badge of courage to Cervantes. But others saw it differently. His heroics weren't recognized. He wallowed in poverty. Not even the publication of "Don Quixote", which was an instant bestseller, turned his fortunes around.

Readers, I ask you

"Though seemst to be a witty fellow, you should have said unfortunate too, for the bitch Fortune is still unkind to men of wit."

- Don Quixote

"The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha", regarded as the foundation of modern fiction, was about Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, chivalrous knight and his squire, who were clinging to their idealist values. Readers would be amused, but they couldn't help admiring the duo. Then doubt set in. What was that unflinching trait that kept the two going on? The answer was pretty obvious. Little was known about Cervantes's early life. Apart from the book, only a scant of his plays survived to this day. Whether or not Cervantes discarded them out of frustration would never be known. But he lived according to what was right for him.

It was no other's life, anyway.