The following is a partial list of characters in the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Main characters Don Quixote, a Spanish gentleman of La Mancha Alonso Quijano (or Quesada, or Quijada), who believes himself and acts as a knight-errant as described in various medieval books of chivalry, riding his horse Rocinante. Sancho Panza (or Zancas), Don Quixote's squire. He is uneducated and unable to read, but he knows numerous proverbs and rides a donkey. Other characters Antonia, Alonso Quijano's niece, a woman under twenty; she urges both the priest and the barber to burn all of Alonso's books Antonio, a goatherder, who plays a song for Don Quixote on the rebec (in Book I, Chapter 11) Avellaneda, author of the false Second Part of Don Quixote who is frequently referred to in Cervantes' second part. Cardenio, an honorable young man who dwells in misery and madness in Sierra Morena, driven there by the apparent infidelity of his beloved Lucinda and the treachery of Duke Ferdinand (Fernando). Shakespeare's lost play The History of Cardenio may have been based on his story. Ferdinand (Fernando), a young and reckless nobleman, who promises to marry Dorotea, but leaves her and instead takes Lucinda from Cardenio, but eventually repents (since his promise to Dorotea is legally binding), returns Lucinda to Cardenio and marries Dorotea. Dorotea (Dorothea), a modest young woman, whom Ferdinand promises to marry, seduces, and then leaves. She remains loyal to Ferdinand despite his reckless behavior. Like Cardenio, she hid out in the mountains, but dressed as a young man. Pretended to be Princess Micomicona to get Don Quixote to leave the mountains. Cide Hamete Benengeli is the fictional Moorish author created by Cervantes and listed as Don Quixote's chronicler. Cide is a title like sir, meaning My Lord; Hamete is the Spanish form of the Arabic name Hamed, he who praises; and Benengeli is a comical invention of Cervantes that suggests aubergine-eater via the Spanish berenjena or aubergine, popularly considered to be the favorite food in Toledo at the time of the novel. Friston the magician (El Sabio Frestón), an imaginary character who Quixote imagines as the thief of his books and the enchanter of the windmills. Dulcinea of El Toboso, the woman Don Quixote fancies his lady love; her real name is Aldonza Lorenzo, and he has never actually met her. Ginés de Pasamonte a.k.a.