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Shakespeare and Cervantes share a traditional death date, 23 April 1616, but they did not die on the same day. Spain had adopted the new Gregorian calendar while England still used the older Julian one, so Shakespeare in fact died 11 days after Cervantes.

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The story behind the card

Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1582 to correct the old Julian calendar, which had drifted ten days behind the seasons. Catholic Spain switched at once, but Protestant England kept the Julian calendar until 1752. Cervantes died in Madrid on 22 April 1616 and was buried the next day, and 23 April became his traditional date. Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon on 23 April by the English calendar, which was 3 May by Spain's. The shared date still has a legacy: in 1995 UNESCO chose 23 April for World Book and Copyright Day, partly in memory of both writers and of the Peruvian author Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, who is also recorded as dying on that date in 1616.

Türkçe oku
Shakespeare ile Cervantes'in geleneksel ölüm tarihi aynıdır: 23 Nisan 1616. Ama aynı gün ölmediler. İspanya yeni Gregoryen takvime geçmişti, İngiltere ise eski Jülyen takvimini kullanıyordu; bu yüzden Shakespeare aslında Cervantes'ten 11 gün sonra öldü.

Papa XIII. Gregorius 1582'de Gregoryen takvimi yürürlüğe koydu; amaç, zamanla mevsimlerin on gün gerisine düşen eski Jülyen takvimini düzeltmekti. Katolik İspanya yeni takvime hemen geçti; Protestan İngiltere ise 1752'ye kadar Jülyen takvimini kullandı. Cervantes 22 Nisan 1616'da Madrid'de öldü ve ertesi gün toprağa verildi; gelenekte ölüm tarihi olarak 23 Nisan yerleşti. Shakespeare ise Stratford-upon-Avon'da İngiliz takvimine göre 23 Nisan'da öldü; bu tarih İspanya'da 3 Mayıs'a denk geliyordu. Ortak tarih bugün de yaşıyor: UNESCO 1995'te 23 Nisan'ı Dünya Kitap ve Telif Hakkı Günü ilan etti. Bu seçimde iki yazarın yanı sıra, 1616'da aynı tarihte öldüğü kaydedilen Perulu yazar Inca Garcilaso de la Vega da anıldı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Miguel de Cervantes
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