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In the 17th century, the Spanish priest Balthasar Gracian wrote another philosophical novel also narrating the spiritual growth and development of a man stranded on an island.<ref>Van Duzer, Chet. "From Odysseus to Robinson Crusoe: a survey of early western island literature." Island Studies Journal 1, no. 1 (2006): 143-162 </ref> This work was also translated into English in the 1680s and Defoe may have read it. Contemporary critics noted the similarities between the hero of the Spanish novel and Robinson Crusoe. Another possible influence on Defoe in the development of his most famous creation was Puritan spiritual literature. Robinson Crusoe develops spiritually on the island and this is similar to the characters in spiritual autobiographies. The creator of Robinson Crusoe was, it should be noted from a family with Puritan leanings.<ref>Fishelov, David. "Dialogues with/and great books: With some serious reflections on Robinson Crusoe." New Literary History 39, no. 2 (2008): 335-353</ref>
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====The Spanish Robinson Crusoe====
Reputedly in the sixteenth century, during the Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and South America, a sailor by the name of Pedro Luis Serrano was shipwrecked, sometime in 1528. Most likely he was stranded on an island off Columbia and this uninhabited island has become known as Serrano Bank. The Spanish sailor was all alone on a desert island and he had no fresh water. Somehow he managed to survive by fishing and drinking the blood of birds and small animals. Miraculously he survived for an astonishing eight years. But this took a terrible toll on the Spaniard and he was quite mad by the time he was rescued. However, there is some debate as to whether or not Serrano was a historical figure .<ref> Simpson, Lesley Byrd (1929), "The Spanish Crusoe, 1528-1536", The Hispanic American Historical Review, 9 (3): 368–376</ref>.
====English rebel====
