Ducado de Saboya - History Lab

File on the merits and services of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:33:04 +0000

File on the merits and services of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, containing the following documents: 1.- Memorial (apparently in Cervantes’ own handwriting) in which he sets out his merits and services performed in Italy, in the battle of Lepanto and elsewhere, on the occasion of requesting the granting of any of the four vacant posts he sets out: the accounting of the New Kingdom of Granada, the governorship of Soconusco, the accounting of the galleys of Cartagena de Indias, or the corregimiento of the city of La Paz (1590). Folios 1-2 2.- Certification given by the Duke of Sesa confirming the merits and services of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1578). Folio 3. 2.- Information at the request of Rodrigo de Cervantes, father of Miguel de Cervantes, made in Madrid before a court mayor to prove that he is his son, that he is noble, the services he contracted in Italy, that he was captive in Algiers and that because his father is poor he will not be able to ransom him (1578). Folios 4-13. 3.- Information made in Algiers before the Trinitarian Redemptor Father Fray Juan Gil and before the notary Pedro de Rivera, at the request of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, in which the services he has done and the great labours he suffered in his captivity are stated. All verified with the certification of the said redeeming father (1580). This information was made a few days after the rescue of Cervantes. Folios 14-52.

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Plan of the order of battle of the armies at the Battle of Lepanto

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:58 +0000

The first of the Holy League’s objectives (1571) was to recruit a navy of galleys to confront the Turkish navy. In the end, 206 galleys and 6 galleys (large, heavily armed galleys) under the command of Juan de Austria, Luis de Requesens, Álvaro de Bazán, Gianandrea Doria, Agostino Barbarigo and Marcantonio Colonna were ordered. On 7 October 1571 they were confronted by just over 300 Turkish ships off the coast of Naupactos in the Gulf of Patras. The League’s superiority was due to its cannon (the Turks much preferred to sweep the decks with arrows) and the quality of the Spanish infantry on board. The battle was nothing more than a battle of infantry on ships: the League fought in three blocks: one along the coast, with Venetian galleys commanded by Agostino Barbarigo; one in the centre, commanded directly by John of Austria and Marcantonio Colonna; and one towards the open sea, under the command of Gianandrea Doria. The reserve was commanded by Álvaro de Bazán. In the central clash the Turkish admiralty ship, the Sultana, almost took the League’s admiral, the Royal, but the help of Marcantonio Colonna’s galleys reversed the situation and the Turkish admiralty was taken, annihilating all its crew, including Admiral Ali Paschá.By the end of the day the League had sunk 50 ships, taken about 140, taken 10,000 Turkish prisoners and freed the Turkish prisoners.despite the resounding victory (“the highest occasion that the past centuries have seen, the present nor the future centuries hope to see”, in the words of Miguel de Cervantes – who fought on the galley Marquesa – in the prologue to his Don Quixote) neither the League nor Spain nor Venice knew how to profit from it. Two years later the Turkish navy had completely recovered and Venice ceded Cyprus to the Ottoman Empire.

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The Infanta Catherine Micaela

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:28 +0000

Catherine Micaela, daughter of Philip II and Isabella of Valois, was born in 1567 in the Alcázar Palace in Madrid. Her childhood was parallel to that of her sister Isabella Clara Eugenia, both of whom spent long periods in the convent of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid under the care of their aunt Juana of Austria. In 1584, when Philip II had already annexed Portugal, he decided to secure the overland route to his Flanders states, which the House of Savoy was holding up. This sovereignty was ruled at the time by Prince Charles Emmanuel, who in 1585 became the husband of Catherine Micaela. After the marriage, celebrated in Saragossa, they both left for Turin. Her husband’s belligerence forced her to make many decisions on economic and even military matters. The training she received as a young woman with her father served her well, as her actions never seemed to be an abuse of power or a whim, as in the deliberations of the Council of State she was praised for “her prudence and great knowledge as well as her assiduity and diligence in resolving everything she undertakes”. The city of Turin also underwent various changes after the arrival of Catherine Michaela, as she personally took charge of the renovation of royal residences such as the Miraflores Palace and the Valentino Castle, as well as promoting the construction of devotional buildings such as Our Lady of Mondovi and the Sanctuary of the Capuchins. As a result of his great devotion, he sent copies of the Holy Shroud to various members of the House of Austria, as well as to the monastery of Guadalupe (Cáceres). During this period he personally chose his court portraitists, among them Jan Kraek, Cesare Arbassia and the Sadeler brothers. The Duchy of Savoy then became a very important cultural centre, bringing together literary figures of the stature of Torcuato Tasso and Gian Battista Guarini. She lived in Turin until her death in 1597 as a result of premature childbirth.

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