Diego Corrientes Mateos (August 20, 1757 – 1781) was a Spanish bandit famous for his generosity to the poor. He was born in

Utrera Utrera () is a municipality in south-west Spain. It is in the province of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. As of 2018 it has a population of 52,617. The town is of great historical interest. It was occupied by Muslims in the 8 ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

on August 20, 1757, and died by

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

in 1781. In 1780,

Charles III of Spain it, Carlo Sebastiano di Borbone e Farnese , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Elisabeth Farnese , birth_date = 20 January 1716 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain , death_d ...

offered 100

gold piece A gold coin is a coin that is made mostly or entirely of gold. Most gold coins minted since 1800 are 90–92% gold (22karat), while most of today's gold bullion coins are pure gold, such as the Britannia, Canadian Maple Leaf, and American Buffa ...

s to anyone who captured Corrientes Mateos dead or alive. Corrientes Mateos fled to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

but was captured by the governor of Seville and a band of Portuguese under Captain Arias. After being brought back to Seville, he was tried and sentenced to death by hanging. After his death, his body was cut into pieces and sent to the different provinces where he had been active. His head stayed in Seville and was buried in the Church of San Roque, where it was found in the 20th century during restoration work. A metal hook was found in the

cranium The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

Legacy

He has been portrayed in four films including two silent productions. The most recent portrayal was by José Suárez in the 1959 film '' Diego Corrientes''. An article was published in 1999 denouncing the irregularities in the extradition process from Portugal to Spain.

References

1757 births 1781 deaths Spanish folklore Robin Hood 18th-century Spanish people 18th-century executions by Spain People executed by Spain by hanging Executed Spanish people 18th-century Spanish criminals {{Spain-bio-stub