Martín Fernández de, a Spanish historian who was born at Alcalá in Old Castile in 1766. After receiving his education at Vergara, he entered the navy as midshipman in 1789. His ship was engaged in the successful siege of Gibraltar in 1782, and afterwards in engagements against the Algerines and other pirates that infested the Mediterranean. Declining health, however, forced him to retire from active service in 1792. Meanwhile, addition to his professional knowledge, he had been acquiring an accurate acquaintance with history. Spanish king Charles IV., therefore, fixed upon him the proper person to compile a collection of documents relating to the maritime history of the country, and Navarrete himself proceeded to search the records within his own district and other names of importance, eagerly regarding his great undertaking. The war then against French and subsequently against the British kept him busy on board the fleet from 1793 to 1797. This secured an appointment in the office of the admiral general. The invasion of the French happened in 1808, and forced him to remove to Seville. Other causes prevented his attention after the restoration of Ferdinand VII., except in 1825, the first and second volumes of his work appeared under the title of Colección de documentos para la historia de España. A Life of Cervantes by Navarrete, Madrid, 1849, is said by Ticknor to be "the most judicious and best-arranged biographical work ever published in any language." It furnishes materials for Thomas Babington Macaulay's Life of the same author, published in 1856, London, 1856.