section_path: Biography
section_name: Biography
paragraph_text: Biography
  
  Despite his subsequent renown, much of Cervantes' life is uncertain, including his name, background and what he looked like. Although he signed himself Cerbantes, his printers used Cervantes, which became the common form. In later life, Cervantes used Saavedra, the name of a distant relative, rather than the more usual Cortinas, after his mother. But historian Luce López-Baralt, claimed that it comes from the word shaibedraa that in Arabic dialect means "one-handed", his nickname during his captivity.
  
  Another area of dispute is his religious background. It has been suggested that not only Cervantes' father but also his mother may have been New Christians. Anthony Cascardi writes, "While the family might have had some claim to nobility they often found themselves in financial straits. Moreover, they may have been of converso origin, that is, converts to Catholicism of Jewish ancestry. In the Spain of Cervantes' days, this meant living under clouds of official suspicion and social mistrust, with far more limited opportunities than were enjoyed by members of the 'Old Christian' caste." According to Charles D. Presberg, there is no wide following for the view that Cervantes had converso origins. Cuban writer Roberto Echevarría asserts that the claims of Cervantes' converso origins are based on "very flimsy evidence", namely Cervantes' lack of social and financial progression in a time when such rewards were denied to most Spaniards regardless of social group.
  
  It is generally accepted Miguel de Cervantes was born around 29 September 1547, in Alcalá de Henares. He was the second son of barber-surgeon Rodrigo de Cervantes and his wife, Leonor de Cortinas (c. 1520–1593). Rodrigo came from Córdoba, Andalusia, where his father Juan de Cervantes was an influential lawyer.