French missionary has not been proved yet. On the other hand other historians disagreed with that theory. They argued that there is a plant with the same name. Besides there are some place names of Indian roots which are very similar to the name Matur�n.
Independence war
Matur�n (as a part of the Province of Cuman�) was on the republican side during the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence on July 5, 1811. Five battles took place in Matur�n from 1813 to 1814, including the famous Battle of Alto de los Godos. In this battle the Venezuelan patriots, led by Manuel Piar, obtained a great victory against the Spanish general Juan Domingo de Monteverde. Antonio Jos� de Sucre, Jos� Francisco Berm�dez, Jos� Tadeo Monagas, Jos� Gregorio Monagas and Jos� F�lix Ribas were others who fought in the five battles. The last battle of Matur�n (1814), however, was a defeat. Persons, who had escaped from Caracas during the military campaign of Jos� Tom�s Boves against the republic, came to Matur�n to shelter from the Spanish troops. After the battle of Urica (where Boves died) Tom�s Jos� Morales, a Spanish general, decided to take the town. The republicans defended the town, but they were beaten and many of them were murdered by Morales. The town was destroyed. Some survivors of the last battle rebuilt Matur�n two years later.
19th and 20th centuries
Matur�n grew slowly during the 19th century. The causes of this lack of population were civil wars (which destroyed the former farming and livestock richness of the region and killed many people) and fatal diseases, such as malaria and yellow fever, which were caused by mosquitoes. In 1909 Matur�n became capital of the new Monagas state. Before that the town was the capital of the Province Matur�n from 1856 to 1859. In the 20th century Matur�n had rapid demographic growth thanks to the discovery of petroleum fields near the town and a health campaign carried out by doctors to eliminate
