Research uncovers 27 new documents on Cervantes' life in Seville archives

Researcher José Cabello Núñez uncovered 27 documents in various Seville archives that shed new light on the life of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of "Don Quixote," according to La Razón. Among these documents are two notarial testimonies from 1590, each bearing Cervantes' signature, discovered in the Archive of Notarial Protocols of Seville.

Since 2011, Cabello Núñez, an archivist from Puebla de Cazalla in Seville, has been conducting extensive research on Cervantes. He located a total of five signatures and 60 documents related to the author. These findings corroborate Cervantes' long-standing relationship with the city and province of Seville [https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-801270], where he lived between 1587 and 1601.

Two newly discovered documents, dated August 13 and September 18, 1590, provide insights into Cervantes' activities during that period. In a payment letter dated August 13, Cervantes, declaring himself a resident of Seville in the parish of Santa Cruz, acknowledges having received 82,278 maravedís from Agustín de Cetina, paymaster of the Royal Armadas, according to 20 Minutos. The payment was made by the general supplier Antonio de Guevara in Madrid on August 22, 1588. The letter does not expressly stated why Cervantes received the money. However, the involvement of Agustín de Cetina and Antonio de Guevara, both officials connected to the Royal Armadas, suggests it was related to his work as a royal commissioner of supplies.

Núñez said the finding is "of great interest" that de Cervantes had to present two witnesses to identify himself since the public notary did not know him. The witnesses were his servant Juan Gómez de la Hermosa, who lived with Cervantes, and the renowned silversmith Hernando de Ballesteros.

The second document, a letter of obligation granted by Cervantes on September 18, 1590, reveals a different aspect of his life. Cervantes, along with his companion Juan de Manzanares, the mayor alguacil of the General Provisioning of the Galleys and Armadas who acted as his guarantor, purchased 52 varas and three cuartas of black taffeta in doublet from Damián de Ribas. In this letter, unlike the previous one, Cervantes states he is a resident of Esquivias, in the archbishopric of Toledo.

Cervantes bought the taffeta at the price of seven reales and cuartillo per vara, committing to the payment of 382 reales and a half. As before, he presented two witnesses who attested to knowing him. The witnesses in this letter of obligation were Francisco de Laguna, a resident of Madrid and chamber porter of His Majesty, and Pedro Suazo Ibáñez, a resident of Seville.

These documents contribute to a better understanding of the period when Cervantes served as royal commissioner of supplies, a time during which some of his biographers believe he may have begun writing Don Quixote. The two new documentary contributions, along with the conclusions from the analysis of the other 25 documents, will soon be published in the specialized journal Anales Cervantinos.

Among the 27 documents located by Cabello Núñez in the Municipal Archive of Carmona and the Provincial Historical Archive of Seville, there are eight that certify Cervantes' presence in Alcalá de Guadaíra in February 1590. These documents confirm that Cervantes obtained oil from Alcalá de Guadaíra on February 9, 1590.

Among these eight documents are three powers of attorney, three payment letters, a declaration, and a letter of obligation, granted in Seville and Alcalá de Guadaíra between February 13 and August 3, 1590. They include Alcalá de Guadaíra, along with Carmona, in the area where Cervantes collected the oil needed to meet the needs of the Royal Armada.

Six residents of Alcalá de Guadaíra, including a farmer named Juan de Mairena, and three from Seville are involved in these new notarial documents. They certify that Cervantes obtained 406 arrobas of oil in Alcalá de Guadaíra at a price that ranged between ten and eleven reales and a half per arroba. In Carmona, the oil was paid between twelve and thirteen reales each.

The other documents, dated between April 15, 1590, and March 25, 1593, are payment letters and powers of attorney granted in Carmona and Seville by pastry chefs, clerics, muleteers, farmers, tax collectors, and the royal commissioner of supplies Pedro Gómez de la Hermosa. Some of these documents indicate that they had not yet been paid in 1593, three years later, for the arrobas of oil that Cervantes obtained for the Armada.

The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.