Matthieu Merle
Mathieu Merle (c.1548 in Uzès – after 1587) was a Huguenot captain who sowed terror in the south of the Auvergne, Gévaudan and Velay during the Wars of Religion. Captain Merle is an example of the possibilities of social climbing and enrichment offered by the religious troubles. Biography. He was one of three sons of Antoine Merle, an ennobled merchant from Uzès, and Marguerite de Virgilli. He was married on 20 October 1576 at the sovereign castle ("château souverain" or Castelsoubro) of Roffiac, to Françoise d'Auzolles, daughter of Guillot d'Auzolles, seigneur of Serre and Françoise de La Rochette. They  are known to have had two children, Marie and Heralh (1583-1621), Baron de Lagorce and his father's heir. In 1568, he entered the service of Jacques de Crussol as an arquebusier in his guard. It was probably under Crussol's influence that he converted to Calvinism and subsequently converted his two older brothers, Antoine et François. He played an active part in the civil wars between 1568 and 1580, winning a reputation for cruelty, particularly during the taking of Malzieu in Gévaudan in 1573 and Issoire in 1575. At the head of his bands, he acquired considerable riches  from collecting ransoms and spoils. While his father had owned a single house in Uzès, two farms and a vineyard, Merls was able, thanks to his gains, to but the government of Marvejols in 1575, the manor of Lagorce in June 1582, and other fiefdoms in Vivarais. On 28 April 1578, he was made a "gentilhomme ordinaire" ("gentleman of the bed-chamber") by the King of Navarre, as well as Governor of Mende. In July 1581, he retired in style to Uzès. The date of his death is not known precisely. The Marquis d'Aubais placed it at the start of  1584, but several attest that Merle was still living after the Battle of Coutras, at the end of 1587. His "Mémoires", incomplete, were edited by one of his companions at arms, Colonel Gondin.