The Casa de Cervantes ("Cervantes' House") is a museum located in the city of

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

, Spain. The building was the home of the Spanish author

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best kno ...

. It is not to be confused with other houses associated with Cervantes, the birthplace in Alcala de Henares and the museum in

Esquivias Esquivias is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2006 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 4,812 inhabitants. The author Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 ...

Overview

Valladolid is where the Spanish Court was briefly, from 1601 to 1606, the last time it left Madrid. (See :es:Capitalidad de Valladolid.) Cervantes' House was part of the wave of construction that filled the demand created by the sudden growth in population the Corte's relocation provoked. That is to say, it was a new or nearly-new house. There is good information on Cervantes' Valladolid house, where he was living in 1605. By chance, a prominent nobleman was murdered in the street in front of Cervantes' house. The body of the dying man was taken to the lower floor of the house Cervantes lived in, where he expired. The ensuing investigation involved depositions from everyone in the house at the time. From this documentation, thoroughly studied by :es:Luis Astrana Marín, we know that instead of occupying the three houses joined to create the museum, his mother lived in one room and the rest of his household in another, above a tavern on the ground floor. Only women were living with him: his wife Catalina, his very religious ("beata") sister Magdalena, a

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Not ...

for wealthy gentlemen, his sister Andrea, also a seamstress, her

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

daughter Costanza, Cervantes' illegitimate daughter Isabel, and a maid named María. It is well documented in the testimony that prostitutes were associated with the house, but the identity of the prostitutes has never been clarified. There were suspicions that among them may have been some of the women in Cervantes' household, who were the only single adult wonen living in the building. The building has been designated with the heritage listing

Bien de Interés Cultural A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" (" goods" in the economic sense) and incl ...

(Property of Cultural Value), and has been protected since 9 June 1958.

Gallery

References

Bibliography

* Juan Agapito y Revilla, ''Boletín de la Sociedad castellana de excursiones (1905–1906)'', tomo II. * Juan Agapito y Revilla, ''Las calles de Valladolid'', Valladolid, Imprenta Casa Martín, 1937. * N. Sanz y Ruiz de la Peña, ''La casa de Cervantes en Valladolid'', Fundaciones Vega-Inclán, 1972. * Javier Salazar Rincón, ''El escritor y su entorno. Cervantes y la corte de Valladolid en 1605'', Valladolid, Junta de Castilla y León, 2006. * Macarena Márquez, ''Lo que Cervantes me contó de su casa de Valladolid'', Jeromín 12º, Valladolid, Servicios de Publicaciones del Ayuntamiento, 2012.

External links

Museo Casa de Cervantes websiteVirtual tour of the Casa de Cervantes
provided by Google Arts & Culture * {{Authority control Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Castile and León

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

Historic house museums in Spain Museums in Valladolid Miguel de Cervantes