Matthieu 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.
He was one of three sons of Antoine Merle, an ennobled merchant from Uzès, and Marguerite de Virgilli.
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.
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.