Manuel Matamoros García (1834–1866) was a leading

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Protestant.

Biography

Matamoros was born in

Lepe Lepe is a Spanish town in the province of Huelva, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is near the Portugal, Portuguese border. According to the 2009 census, the city has a population of 25,886 inhabitants ...

in Huelva as the son of a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish Artillery and he was brought up at

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

in Andulusia. He studied from 1850 to 1853 at the Military Academy in Toledo. He became enthusiastic about

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

ism following figures such as Francisco de Paula Ruet and Antonio Vallespinosa and he is said to have been converted in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. In a strict

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

country he was sentenced in

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

to eight years and banned from being a teacher. The sentence was not for being a Protestant but for spreading propaganda that encouraged others (proselitism). Eleven others were acquitted whilst his co-defendant José Alhama Teva was given nine years. Matamoros and Teva's sentences were eventually commuted to exile. In May 1863 they were attending the

Gibraltar Methodist Church The Gibraltar Methodist Church is part of the South East District of the Methodist Church of Great Britain. It has a long history associated with the development of British Gibraltar, and it has greatly strengthened its ties with the local populat ...

.History
, Gibraltar Methodist Church, accessed December 2012 Matamoros went to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and finally died in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He has been described as the founder of Spanish Protestantism and a symbol of religious freedom.Manual Matamoros
Filosofia.org, English translation, accessed December 2012 Matamoros died in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

Legacy

Matamoros left behind an extensive collection of

Carte de Visite The ''carte de visite'' (, visiting card), abbreviated CdV, was a type of small photograph which was patented in Paris by photographer André Adolphe Eugène Disdéri in 1854, although first used by Louis Dodero. Each photograph was the size o ...

for Protestants he had met in Lausanne, Gibraltar and elsewhere. These provide an insight into who he knew. For instance there is a card for Rev. William Harris Rule, a Methodist minister who had tried unsuccessfully to introduce Protestantism into Spain twenty years before Matamoros.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matamoros, Manuel 1834 births 1866 deaths People from the Province of Huelva Spanish Protestants Converts to Protestantism