| Mateo Gil | |
|---|---|
| Alcalde of Santa Fe | |
| In office 1576–1576 | |
| Monarch | Philip II of Spain |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1540 Jaraicejo, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain |
| Died | 1590s Santa Fe, Argentina |
| Occupation |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Spanish Empire |
| Branch/service | Spanish Army |
Mateo Gil (c. 1540–1590s) was a Spanish conquistador, who served as alcalde and regidor of Santa Fe, Argentina, during the Viceroyalty of Peru.
Born in Jaraicejo, Gil had arrived at Río de la Plata in the expedition of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. In 1573, he participated in the delegation led by Juan de Garay to found Santa Fe and is named as one of the settlement's first regidores.
Mateo Gil also participated in the wars against the indigenous Charrúa people, he is remembered for his extreme cruelty. Although contemporary references don't support this claim.
References
- Barriera, Darío G. (2008). "Voces Legas, Letras de Justicia. Las Culturas Jurídicas de los Legos en el Río de la Plata Entre los Siglos XVI y XIX" [Legal Voices, Letters of Justice. Legal Cultures of the Laity in the Río de la Plata Between the 16th and 19th Centuries]. In Mantecón Movellán, Tomás Antonio (ed.). Bajtín y la Historia de la Cultura Popular: Cuarenta Años de Debate [Bakhtin and the History of Popular Culture: Forty Years of Debate] (in Spanish). Santander, Spain: Ed. Universidad de Cantabria. ISBN 9788481025002.
- Calvo, Luis María (1999). Santa Fe la Vieja: Población y Grupos Familiares Españoles, 1573–1660 [Santa Fe la Vieja: Spanish Population and Family Groups, 1573–1660] (in Spanish). Caracas, Venezuela: Academia Nacional de la Historia.
- de Garay, Juan. "1573 — Acta de Fundación de la Ciudad de Santa Fe". Argentina Histórica. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
- Guevara, José (1882). Historia de la Conquista del Paraguay, Rio de la Plata y Tucuman, Volume 1 [History of the conquest of Paraguay, Rio de la Plata and Tucuman] (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: E. Ostwald.