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How did Miguel de Cervantes’s father earn a living?

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Engraving of Miguel de Cervantes, shown with a mustache and beard, wearing a ruffled collar and cloak, based on works by Gregorio Ferro and Fernando Selma. — Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes, engraving by E. Mackenzie after Gregorio Ferro and Fernando Selma; from *The Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography* (1863).

Miguel de Cervantes’s father was a barber-surgeon. In this profession, he earned a living by setting bones, performing bloodlettings, and attending to various lesser medical needs.12