THE LIFE OF CERVANTES. CHAPTER I. THE YOUTH OF CERVANTES. Antiquitas sæculi, juventus mundi. TELLO MURIELLIZ, Ricohome of Castile, who died towards the end of the tenth century, may be looked upon as the founder of the family of Cervantes. His grandson in the fifth generation was the famous Nuño Alfonso, whose reputation is only less than that of the Cid Campeador, and of whose half-fabulous achievements an elaborate record, based on the manuscript genealogy of Juan de Mena, has been left by Rodrigo Méndez Silva. Nuño Alfonso was born in Galicia (probably at Celanova) in 1090, and, after being appointed Alcaide of Toledo, a post of honour first occupied by the Cid himself, died fighting against the Moors under Farax at Peña del Ciervo, on August 1, 1 "Ascendencia Ilustre, Gloriosos Hechos, y Posteridad Noble del Famoso Nuño Alfonso. . . . Que escrive Rodrigo Mendez Silva" (Madrid, 1648). a B 1143. His first wife was Doña Fronilde, by whom he had a son, Pelay Munio, and a daughter, Fronilde-an unhappy girl whom he afterwards killed on suspicion of an intrigue. His second wife was a widow, Doña Teresa Barroso, who bore him five sons and several ("algunas") daughters, one of whom, Ximena Muñiz, wedded the Count D. Pedro Gutiérrez de Toledo from whom Charles V. traced his descent. The third son of Nuño Alfonso, Alfonso Munio, assumed the territorial surname of Cervatos on inheriting the castle of Cervatos. built by his father on a strip of land near Toledo granted to him by Alfonso VII. On the death of Alfonso Munio, his elder son, Pedro Alfonso Cervatos, succeeded to the estate, while the younger son, Gonzalo, in order to distinguish himself from his brother, changed the family arms and took the surname of Cervantes, the 4 1 Méndez Silva, f. 18. See also "Origen de las dignidades seglares de Castilla y Leon, por el Doctor Salazar de Mendoça" (Toledo, 1618), f. 32. 2 se arrojó Nuño Alfonso à matar à doňa Fronilde su hija del primer matrimonio, por hallarla hablando co vn Cauallero; y lo mismo hiziera del, si la industria de escaparse no le valiera," Méndez Silva, f. 14. See also Nuño Alfonso's will: "Yten, mando se digan otras docientas Missas por la desdichada de mi hija Fronilde, que yo matè." Ibid. f. 21. 3 The sons of Nuño Alfonso by his second marriage were Fernando Munio, Pedro Munio, Alfonso Munio, Telle Munio, and Juan Munio. Ibid. f. 4. 4 The arms of the Cervatos family were: Azure, two stags in pale, trippant to the left, or; a bordure gules charged with eight saltires or. These Gonzalo de Cervantes changed to: Vert, two hinds in pale or, the upper one at gaze, the lower pascant. The castle was probably restored by Alfonso VI. soon after his occupation of Toledo in 1085, and was named after San Servando, |