Tiscali Quicklinks. Please visit our Accessibility Page for a list of the Access Keys you can use to find your way around the site, skip directly to the main navigation, to the page content, or to more links within reference.

Cervantes entered the army in Italy, and was wounded in the sea battle of Lepanto in 1571 against the Ottoman empire. On his way back to Spain in 1575, he was captured by Barbary pirates and taken to Algiers, where he became a slave until ransomed in 1580.
Returning to Spain, he wrote several plays, and in 1585 his pastoral romance La Galatea was printed. Don Quixote was an immediate success and was soon translated into English and French.
The wingless dragon holds jewels in its claws to represent prosperity. Saffron yellow symbolizes the power of the monarchy. Orange-red stands for Buddhism. Effective date: c. 1971.
>>