Alcala' de Henares,

Alcala' de Henares, a town in Spain, Cervantes's birthplace, on the Henares, 21 miles E. of Madrid by rail. It once boasted of a university, founded by the famous Cardinal Ximenes in 1510, which enjoyed a European fame, and was attended by thousands of students. It was removed to Madrid in 1836, and the town is now not a shadow of its former self. Here was printed in 1517, in six folio volumes, at an expense of 80,000 ducats, the great Complutensian Bible, a monument of the piety and learning of the great cardinal. The chief buildings are the Colegio de San Ildefonso, the seat of the ancient university; its chapel containing the founder's tomb; the archbishop's palace; the cathedral; and the church of Santa Maria, in which Cervantes was baptised, October 9, 1547. The house in which he was born is marked by an inscription. Pop. 14,317. The Complutum of the Romans, the town owes its modern name to the Moors, under whom it was Al-Kalat, 'the castle.'