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1550 Philip II 8/3 < John was 8, Mike was 3
Philip called “paper King” (Kamen, 214)
1551 Spain at war with France until battle of San Quentin 1557
47-51 John to Aravelo
50-53 Mike to Valladolid
John moved to Medina del Campo when he was 8-9 years old.
Philip called “paper King” (Kamen, 214)
1551 Cervantes Valladolid 9/4
John was 9, Mike was 4
The Cervantes family leaves for Valladolid, then capital of Spain
1551 to 1566 Cervantes family in vagabondage (McCrory, p.31)
47-51 John to Aravelo
50-53 Mike to Valladolid
51-64 John to Medina del Campo
In 1551 the Cervantes family joined the throng of vagabonds that frequented the King’s highway looking for work. The target destination on this trip behind an ox art for two weeks was Valladolid, the new capital of Spain, the next residence of the king.
Three year old Miguel’s grandfather’s reputation as a good lawyer was a big part of the family’s decision to move from Madrid. Business follows bureaucracy, so the family signed on to an ox caravan that was headed north. Miguel’s father was a barber and a surgeon, and deaf; and decided to follow the population that was following the king to his new quarters.
“That’s where the jobs are.”
In that same year John’s mother moved her fatherless children to Medina del Campo, a weaving center on the road between Madrid and Valladolid, after an unsuccessful plea to her deceased husband’s family for help. On arrival, she did not have a job, but her weaving skills were good enough to find work. She also was a wet nurse.
Nine year old John was an accomplished beggar. His slight stature and dark eyes were a sales gimmick seen by the highway people who camped for a night or two at the edge of town.
John could tell that Mike’s family had food in one of the ox carts. Although on the road with all their possessions, they were not poor. John hung around between the food ox and Mike’s mom, a tactic that had been successful for other caravans.
Little Miggy started crawling around toward the ox’s legs and John was suddenly worried that harm may come to the toddler. He was still shocked by the death of his older brother who lost his life a few years ago, saving John from an ox’s hooves.
editors note: so his beggar role was displaced by big brother behavior?
1551 Science 9/4
1551: Girolamo Cardano, studies of falling bodies
47-51 John to Aravelo
50-53 Mike to Valladolid
