When he was twenty, Miguel was in the retinue of the Cardinal Nuncio Acquaviva and spent his service in Rome. Joining the army with his brother Rodrigo, he participated in the battle of Lepanto where the Spanish established superiority of seapower against the Turks. Sick below decks, Cervantes insisted on joining the battle in a most exposed position. He fought bravely, receiving two shots in his chest and a wound that rendered his left hand useless the rest of his life. This lacerated hand was his glory, and the bravery he showed at Lepanto earned him a document of recommendation from Don Juan himself, the Austrian half brother of Phillip who commanded the Spanish forces. After a long convalescence, Cervantes rejoined the army to fight in the famous battle of La Goleta (mentioned in the Captive's story). He also campaigned in Tunis, Sardinia, Naples, Sicily, and Genoa, learning much about Italian culture during this period of service. Returning with Rodrigo to Spain, their ship was captured by pirates and both brothers were sold as slaves in Algiers.
The story of his incredible bravery during those five years is almost legendary, for Cervantes schemed again and again, not only for his own escape, but for the liberation of numerous fellow slaves. Each time he failed, he declared he alone, and not his countrymen, was to blame, knowing full well the atrocities reserved for punishing escaped Christians. The bloodthirsty Dey of Algiers, Hassan Pacha, however, was impressed by the audacity of the maimed Spaniard and always spared him. Although Rodrigo was eventually ransomed, it was not until much later that Miguel's ransom was negotiated.
In 1580, Cervantes returned to Spain, maimed, without any means of livelihood. Don Juan was dead and hated by the king, so Miguel could not hope for any preferment through his recommendations. Out of desperation, he began to write for the theater, but of as many as thirty or forty plays only a few have survived. During this period, Cervantes had an affair with a Portuguese girl who eventually deserted him, leaving their daughter Isabel de Saavedra for him to raise.
