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177-582: There is no accurate data on when the town was founded, but it was a settlement before the conquest and was located in the chieftainship of Cupules. Within the municipality is Chichen Itza , a city built in the Post Classic Maya period, which reached its apex between the 11th and 12th centuries. After colonization by the Spanish, the area became part of the encomienda system with various encomenderos, beginning with Juan García de Llanos in 1549 and passing to

354-678: A battle against the natives. He received twenty young indigenous women from the vanquished natives, and he converted them all to Christianity. Among these women was La Malinche , his future mistress and mother of his son Martín . Malinche knew both the Nahuatl language and Chontal Maya, thus enabling Cortés to communicate with the Aztecs through Aguilar. At San Juan de Ulúa on Easter Sunday 1519, Cortés met with Moctezuma II 's Aztec Empire governors Tendile and Pitalpitoque. In July 1519, his men took over Veracruz . By this act, Cortés dismissed

531-624: A shipwreck followed by a period in captivity with the Maya , before escaping. Aguilar had learned the Chontal Maya language and was able to translate for Cortés. Cortés's military experience was almost nonexistent, but he proved to be an effective leader of his small army and won early victories over the coastal Indians. In March 1519, Cortés formally claimed the land for the Spanish crown . Then he proceeded to Tabasco , where he met with resistance and won

708-556: A 1.7-metre (5.5 ft) long two-handed version was also used. Crossbows had 0.61-metre (2 ft) arms stiffened with hardwoods, horn, bone and cane, and supplied with a stirrup to facilitate drawing the string with a crank and pulley. Crossbows were easier to maintain than matchlocks, especially in the humid tropical climate of the Caribbean region that included much of the Yucatán Peninsula . Maya warriors entered battle against

885-401: A 36-year span. Some of the inhabitants had fled Tixchel for the forest, while others had succumbed to disease, malnutrition and inadequate housing in the Spanish reducción . Coastal reducciones , while convenient for Spanish administration, were vulnerable to pirate attacks; in the case of Tixchel, pirate attacks and contagious European diseases led to the eradication of the reducción town and

1062-654: A Maya lord. Aguilar had learnt the Yucatec Maya language and became Cortés' interpreter. From Cozumel, the fleet looped around the north of the Yucatán Peninsula and followed the coast to the Tabasco River , which Cortés renamed as the Grijalva River in honour of the Spanish captain who had discovered it. In Tabasco, Cortés anchored his ships at Potonchán , a Chontal Maya town. The Maya prepared for battle but

1239-566: A battle in Otumba , they managed to reach Tlaxcala, having lost 870 men. With the assistance of their allies, Cortés's men finally prevailed with reinforcements arriving from Cuba . Cortés began a policy of attrition towards Tenochtitlán, cutting off supplies and subduing the Aztecs' allied cities. During the siege he would construct brigantines in the lake and slowly destroy blocks of the city to avoid fighting in an urban setting. The Mexicas would fall back to Tlatelolco and even succeed in ambushing

1416-422: A blood-caked altar, where many of the city's inhabitants crowded around. The Indians piled reeds before the visitors; this act was followed by a procession of armed Maya warriors in full war paint, followed by ten Maya priests. The Maya set fire to the reeds and indicated that the Spanish would be killed if they were not gone by the time the reeds had been consumed. The Spanish party withdrew in defensive formation to

1593-479: A colony on the mainland where there was a bonanza of silver and gold, and Velázquez decided to send him help. Cortés was appointed captain-general of this new expedition in October 1518, but was advised to move fast before Velázquez changed his mind. With Cortés's experience as an administrator, knowledge gained from many failed expeditions, and his impeccable rhetoric he was able to gather six ships and 300 men, within

1770-412: A detailed description of Hernán Cortés's physical appearance: He was of good stature and body, well proportioned and stocky, the color of his face was somewhat grey, not very cheerful, and a longer face would have suited him more. His eyes seemed at times loving and at times grave and serious. His beard was black and sparse, as was his hair, which at the time he sported in the same way as his beard. He had

1947-563: A herd of pigs, artillery, munitions and other supplies. He also had with him the captured Aztec emperor Cuauhtemoc , and Cohuanacox and Tetlepanquetzal , the captive Aztec lords of Texcoco and Tlacopan . Cortés marched into Maya territory in Tabasco ; the army crossed the Usumacinta River near Tenosique and crossed into the Chontal Maya province of Acalan, where he recruited 600 Chontal Maya carriers. In Acalan, Cortés believed that

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2124-551: A high chest, a well shaped back and was lean with little belly. Cortés was born in 1485 in the town of Medellín , then a village in the Kingdom of Castile , now a municipality of the modern-day province of Badajoz in Extremadura , Spain . His father, Martín Cortés de Monroy, born in 1449 to Rodrigo or Ruy Fernández de Monroy and his wife María Cortés, was an infantry captain of distinguished ancestry but slender means. Hernán's mother

2301-434: A high-ranking nobleman, Antonio de Mendoza . In 1541 Cortés returned to Spain, where he died six years later of natural causes. Cortés himself used the form "Hernando" or "Fernando" for his first name, as seen in the contemporary archive documents, his signature and the title of an early portrait. William Hickling Prescott 's Conquest of Mexico (1843) also refers to him as Hernando Cortés. At some point writers began using

2478-608: A hundred men in Veracruz, Cortés marched on Tenochtitlán in mid-August 1519, along with 600 soldiers, 15 horsemen, 15 cannons , and hundreds of indigenous carriers and warriors. On the way to Tenochtitlán, Cortés made alliances with indigenous peoples such as the Totonacs of Cempoala and the Nahuas of Tlaxcala . The Otomis initially, and then the Tlaxcalans clashed with the Spanish in

2655-411: A low hill. The Spanish called it Gran Cairo (literally "Great Cairo") due to its size and its pyramids . Although the location is not now known with certainty, it is believed that this first sighting of Yucatán was at Isla Mujeres . The following morning, the Spanish sent the two ships with a shallower draught to find a safe approach through the shallows. The caravels anchored about one league from

2832-477: A man of substance with an encomienda to provide Indian labor for his mines and cattle. This new position of power also made him the new source of leadership, which opposing forces in the colony could then turn to. In 1514, Cortés led a group which demanded that more Indians be assigned to the settlers. As time went on, relations between Cortés and Governor Velázquez became strained. Cortés found time to become romantically involved with Catalina Xuárez (or Juárez),

3009-421: A month. Velázquez's jealousy exploded and he decided to put the expedition in other hands. However, Cortés quickly gathered more men and ships in other Cuban ports. In 1518, Velázquez put Cortés in command of an expedition to explore and secure the interior of Mexico for colonization. At the last minute, due to the old argument between the two, Velázquez changed his mind and revoked Cortés's charter. Cortés ignored

3186-476: A notary of the town of Azua de Compostela . His next five years seemed to help establish him in the colony; in 1506, Cortés took part in the conquests of Hispaniola and Cuba. The expedition leader awarded him a large estate of land and Taíno slaves for his efforts. In 1511, Cortés accompanied Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar , an aide of the Governor of Hispaniola, in his expedition to conquer Cuba. Afterwards Velázquez

3363-494: A number of Old World diseases previously unknown in the Americas , initiating devastating plagues that swept through the native populations. The first encounter with the Yucatec Maya may have occurred in 1502, when the fourth voyage of Christopher Columbus came across a large trading canoe off Honduras . In 1511, Spanish survivors of the shipwrecked caravel called Santa María de la Barca sought refuge among native groups along

3540-407: A red field, in memory of the fact that you, the said Hernando Cortés, by your industry and effort brought matters to the state described above" (i.e., the conquest). The specificity of the other two quadrants is linked directly to Mexico, with one quadrant showing three crowns representing the three Aztec emperors of the conquest era, Moctezuma , Cuitlahuac , and Cuauhtemoc and the other showing

3717-672: A series of three battles from 2 to 5 September 1519, and at one point, Diaz remarked, "they surrounded us on every side". After Cortés continued to release prisoners with messages of peace, and realizing the Spanish were enemies of Moctezuma, Xicotencatl the Elder and Maxixcatzin persuaded the Tlaxcalan warleader, Xicotencatl the Younger , that it would be better to ally with the newcomers than to kill them. In October 1519, Cortés and his men, accompanied by about 1,000 Tlaxcalteca, marched to Cholula ,

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3894-617: A ship commanded by Alonso Quintero, who tried to deceive his superiors and reach the New World before them in order to secure personal advantages. Quintero's mutinous conduct may have served as a model for Cortés in his subsequent career. Upon his arrival in 1504 in Santo Domingo , the capital of Hispaniola, the 18-year-old Cortés registered as a citizen; this entitled him to a building plot and land to farm. Soon afterward, Governor Nicolás de Ovando granted him an encomienda and appointed him as

4071-529: A single battle, which marked the final conquest of the northern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula. The polities of Petén in the south remained independent and received many refugees fleeing from Spanish jurisdiction. In 1618 and in 1619 two unsuccessful Franciscan missions attempted the peaceful conversion of the still pagan Itza . In 1622 the Itza slaughtered two Spanish parties trying to reach their capital Nojpetén . These events ended all Spanish attempts to contact

4248-406: A son around 1522 by his cultural translator, Doña Marina , Cortés knew he was capable of fathering children. Cortés's only male heir at this point was illegitimate, but nonetheless named after Cortés's father, Martín Cortés. This son Martín Cortés was also popularly called "El Mestizo". Catalina Suárez died under mysterious circumstances the night of November 1–2, 1522. There were accusations at

4425-586: A son. From Tabasco , Cortés continued to Cempoala in Veracruz , a subject city of the Aztec Empire , and from there on to conquer the Aztecs. In 1519, Cortés sent the veteran Francisco de Montejo back to Spain with treasure for the king. While he was in Spain, Montejo pleaded Cortés' cause against the supporters of Diego de Velásquez . Montejo remained in Spain for seven years, and eventually succeeded in acquiring

4602-450: A storm for two days and nights; Alaminos, the pilot, then steered a course for Florida , where they found good drinking water, although they lost one man to the local Indians and another drank so much water that he died. The ships finally made port in Cuba , where Hernández de Cordóba wrote a report to Governor Velázquez describing the voyage, the cities, the plantations, and, most importantly,

4779-551: A variety of Yucatecan Maya . The Kowoj were the second in importance; they were hostile towards their Itza neighbours. The Kowoj were located to the east of the Itza, around the eastern Petén lakes: Lake Salpetén, Lake Macanché, Lake Yaxhá and Lake Sacnab. The Yalain appear to have been one of the three dominant polities in Postclassic central Petén, alongside the Itza and the Kowoj. The Yalain territory had its maximum extension from

4956-418: A variety of forest and soil types; water sources include generally small rivers and low-lying seasonal swamps known as bajos . A chain of fourteen lakes runs across the central drainage basin of Petén; during the rainy season some of these lakes become interconnected. This drainage area measures approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) east–west by 30 kilometres (19 mi) north–south. The largest lake

5133-559: Is Lake Petén Itza , near the centre of the drainage basin; it measures 32 by 5 kilometres (19.9 by 3.1 mi). A broad savannah extends south of the central lakes. To the north of the lakes region bajos become more frequent, interspersed with forest. In the far north of Petén the Mirador Basin forms another interior drainage region. To the south the plain gradually rises towards the Guatemalan Highlands . The canopy height of

5310-412: Is now northern Guatemala. In 1527 Francisco de Montejo set sail from Spain with a small fleet. He left garrisons on the east coast, and subjugated the northeast of the peninsula. Montejo then returned to the east to find his garrisons had almost been eliminated; he used a supply ship to explore southwards before looping back around the entire peninsula to central Mexico . Montejo pacified Tabasco with

5487-406: Is our will that besides your coat of arms of your lineage, which you have, you may have and bear as your coat of arms, known and recognized, a shield ... The grant specifies the iconography of the coat of arms, the central portion divided into quadrants. In the upper portion, there is a "black eagle with two heads on a white field, which are the arms of the empire". Below that is a "golden lion on

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5664-474: Is situated upon the site of the former capital of Cupul. Cupul and Chinkinchel are known to have been mutually hostile, and to have engaged in wars to control the salt beds of the north coast. Tazes was a small landlocked province south of Chikinchel. Ecab was a large province in the east. Uaymil was in the southeast, and Chetumal was to the south of it; all three bordered on the Caribbean Sea . Cochuah

5841-526: Is the coldest month; all Petén experiences a hot dry period in late August. Annual precipitation is high, varying from a mean of 1,198 millimetres (47.2 in) in the northeast to 2,007 millimetres (79.0 in) in central Petén. The first large Maya cities developed in the Petén Basin in the far south of the Yucatán Peninsula as far back as the Middle Preclassic (c. 600–350 BC), and Petén formed

6018-492: Is the one Cortés presents in his letters and in the later biography written by Francisco López de Gómara . However, there may be more to the picture than this. Cortés's own sense of accomplishment, entitlement, and vanity may have played a part in his deteriorating position with the king: Cortés personally was not ungenerously rewarded, but he speedily complained of insufficient compensation to himself and his comrades. Thinking himself beyond reach of restraint, he disobeyed many of

6195-528: The Chilam Balam of Chumayel for 1648. That particular outbreak was traced back to the island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean , from whence it was introduced to the port city of Campeche , and from there was transmitted to Mérida . Mortality was high, with approximately 50% of the population of some Yucatec Maya settlements being wiped out. Sixteen Franciscan friars are reported to have died in Mérida, probably

6372-549: The tlatoani (ruler) of Tenochtitlán, on August 13, 1521, the Aztec Empire was captured, and Cortés was able to claim it for Spain, thus renaming the city Mexico City . From 1521 to 1524, Cortés personally governed Mexico. Many historical sources have conveyed an impression that Cortés was unjustly treated by the Spanish Crown , and that he received nothing but ingratitude for his role in establishing New Spain . This picture

6549-457: The Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras . He sent his brother Bartholomew to scout the island. As Bartholomew explored the island with two boats, a large canoe approached from the west, apparently en route to the island. The canoe was carved from one large tree trunk and was powered by twenty-five naked rowers. Curious as to the visitors, Bartholomew Columbus seized and boarded it. He found it

6726-560: The Belize River , which empties into the Caribbean Sea . In the southwest of the peninsula, the San Pedro , Candelaría, and Mamantel Rivers, which all form a part of the Gulf of Mexico drainage. The Petén region consists of densely forested low-lying limestone plain featuring karstic topography. The area is crossed by low east–west oriented ridges of Cenozoic limestone and is characterised by

6903-576: The Cocom Maya of Sotuta became the implacable enemies of the European colonisers. At the time of conquest, polities in the north included Maní , Chakan , and Cehpech . Chakan was largely landlocked with a small stretch of coast on the north of the peninsula. Cehpech was a coastal province to its east; further east along the north coast were Ah Kin Chel , Cupul , and Chikinchel . The modern city of Valladolid

7080-488: The Guatemalan Highlands , suggest that smallpox was rapidly transmitted throughout the Maya area the same year that it arrived in central Mexico with the forces under the command of Pánfilo Narváez . Old World diseases are often mentioned only briefly in indigenous accounts, making it difficult to identify the culprit. Among the most deadly were smallpox, influenza, measles and a number of pulmonary diseases, including tuberculosis;

7257-414: The Maya civilization . It was divided into a number of independent provinces referred to as kuchkabal (plural kuchkabaloob ) in the Yucatec Maya language . The various provinces shared a common culture but the internal sociopolitical organisation varied from one province to the next, as did access to important resources. These differences in political and economic makeup often led to hostilities between

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7434-561: The Palace of Cortés in Cuernavaca , in a region close to the capital where he had extensive encomienda holdings. In 1529 he had been accorded the noble designation of don , but more importantly was given the noble title of Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca and married the Spanish noblewoman Doña Juana de Zúñiga. The marriage produced three children, including another son, who was also named Martín. As

7611-461: The Spanish with flint-tipped spears, bows and arrows and stones. They wore padded cotton armour to protect themselves. Members of the Maya aristocracy wore quilted cotton armour, and some warriors of lesser rank wore twisted rolls of cotton wrapped around their bodies. Warriors bore wooden or animal hide shields decorated with feathers and animal skins. On 30 July 1502, during his fourth voyage , Christopher Columbus arrived at Guanaja , one of

7788-538: The Ulúa River in Honduras before turning around and heading back up the coast to finally meet up with his lieutenant at Xamanha. Late in 1528, Montejo left Ávila to oversee Xamanha and sailed north to loop around the Yucatán Peninsula and head for the Spanish colony of New Spain in central Mexico . Montejo was appointed alcalde mayor (a local colonial governor) of Tabasco in 1529, and pacified that province with

7965-559: The Americas . Born in Medellín, Spain , to a family of lesser nobility, Cortés chose to pursue adventure and riches in the New World . He went to Hispaniola and later to Cuba , where he received an encomienda (the right to the labor of certain subjects). For a short time, he served as alcalde (magistrate) of the second Spanish town founded on the island. In 1519, he was elected captain of

8142-508: The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Encircling the central shield are symbols of the seven city-states around the lake and their lords that Cortés defeated, with the lords "to be shown as prisoners bound with a chain which shall be closed with a lock beneath the shield". Cortés's wife Catalina Súarez arrived in New Spain around summer 1522, along with her sister and brother. His marriage to Catalina

8319-511: The Caribbean coast. It incorporates the modern Mexican states of Yucatán , Quintana Roo and Campeche , the eastern portion of the state of Tabasco , most of the Guatemalan department of Petén , and all of Belize . Most of the peninsula is formed by a vast plain with few hills or mountains and a generally low coastline. A 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) stretch of high, rocky coast runs south from

8496-615: The Franciscans had a particularly strong alliance in Mexico, with Franciscans seeing him as "the new Moses" for conquering Mexico and opening it to Christian evangelization. In Motolinia's 1555 response to Dominican Bartolomé de Las Casas , he praises Cortés. And as to those who murmur against the Marqués del Valle [Cortés], God rest him, and who try to blacken and obscure his deeds, I believe that before God their deeds are not as acceptable as those of

8673-528: The Grijalva expedition. The fleet made its first landfall at Cozumel , and Cortés remained there for several days. Maya temples were cast down and a Christian cross was put up on one of them. At Cozumel, Cortés heard rumours of bearded men on the Yucatán mainland, who he presumed were Europeans. Cortés sent out messengers to them and was able to rescue the shipwrecked Gerónimo de Aguilar , who had been enslaved by

8850-513: The Hernández expedition. The fleet left Cuba in April 1518, and made its first landfall upon the island of Cozumel , off the east coast of Yucatán. The Maya inhabitants of Cozumel fled the Spanish and would not respond to Grijalva's friendly overtures. The fleet sailed south from Cozumel, along the east coast of the peninsula. The Spanish spotted three large Maya cities along the coast, one of which

9027-505: The Itza until 1695. Over the course of 1695 and 1696 a number of Spanish expeditions attempted to reach Nojpetén from the mutually independent Spanish colonies in Yucatán and Guatemala. In early 1695 the Spanish began to build a road from Campeche south towards Petén and activity intensified, sometimes with significant losses on the part of the Spanish. Martín de Urzúa y Arizmendi , governor of Yucatán, launched an assault upon Nojpetén in March 1697;

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9204-454: The Marqués. Although as a human he was a sinner, he had faith and works of a good Christian, and a great desire to employ his life and property in widening and augmenting the fair of Jesus Christ, and dying for the conversion of these gentiles ... Who has loved and defended the Indians of this new world like Cortés? ... Through this captain, God opened the door for us to preach his holy gospel and it

9381-452: The Maya amassed a strong force and attacked the city; the Spanish were able to fight them off, a battle in which the elder Montejo was almost killed. Aj Canul, the lord of the attacking Maya, surrendered to the Spanish. After this battle, the younger Francisco de Montejo was despatched to the northern Cupul province, where the lord Naabon Cupul reluctantly allowed him to found the Spanish town of Ciudad Real at Chichén Itzá . Montejo carved up

9558-589: The Maya leader gave a shout and the Spanish party was ambushed by Maya warriors armed with spears, bows and arrows, and stones. Thirteen Spaniards were injured by arrows in the first assault, but the conquistadors regrouped and repulsed the Maya attack. They advanced to a small plaza bordered by temples upon the outskirts of the city. When the Spaniards ransacked the temples they found a number of low-grade gold items, which filled them with enthusiasm. The expedition captured two Mayas to be used as interpreters and retreated to

9735-461: The Mayanised Guerrero declined. The Maya at Chaktumal fed false information to the Spanish, and Montejo was unable to find Ávila and link up with him. Ávila returned overland to Xelha , and transferred the fledgling Spanish colony to nearby Xamanha, modern Playa del Carmen , which Montejo considered to be a better port. After waiting for Ávila without result, Montejo sailed south as far as

9912-716: The Order of St. Francis and the other from the Order of St. Dominic. They should bring the most extensive powers Your Majesty is able to obtain, for, because these lands are so far from the Church of Rome, and we, the Christians who now reside here and shall do so in the future, are so far from the proper remedies of our consciences and, as we are human, so subject to sin, it is essential that His Holiness should be generous with us and grant to these persons most extensive powers, to be handed down to persons actually in residence here whether it be given to

10089-476: The Spaniards had a large army. On November 8, 1519, they were peacefully received by Moctezuma II. Moctezuma deliberately let Cortés enter the Aztec capital, the island city of Tenochtitlán, hoping to get to know their weaknesses better and to crush them later. Moctezuma gave lavish gifts of gold to the Spaniards which, rather than placating them, excited their ambitions for plunder. In his letters to King Charles, Cortés claimed to have learned at this point that he

10266-497: The Spanish horses and firearms quickly decided the outcome. The defeated Chontal Maya lords offered gold, food, clothing and a group of young women in tribute to the victors. Among these women was a young Maya noblewoman called Malintzin , who was given the Spanish name Marina. She spoke Maya and Nahuatl and became the means by which Cortés was able to communicate with the Aztecs . Marina became Cortés' consort and eventually bore him

10443-699: The University of Salamanca. After two years, Cortés returned home to Medellín, much to the irritation of his parents, who had hoped to see him equipped for a profitable legal career. However, those two years in Salamanca , plus his long period of training and experience as a notary, first in Valladolid and later in Hispaniola , gave him knowledge of the legal codes of Castile that he applied to help justify his unauthorized conquest of Mexico. At this point in his life, Cortés

10620-456: The Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of what is now mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century. Cortés was part of the generation of Spanish explorers and conquistadors who began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of

10797-625: The Younger abandoned Ciudad Real by night after arranging a distraction for their attackers, and he and his men fled west, where the Chel , Pech and Xiu provinces remained obedient to Spanish rule. Montejo the Younger was received in friendship by Namux Chel, the lord of the Chel province, at Dzilam. In the spring of 1534 he rejoined his father in the Chakan province at Dzikabal, near Tʼho (the modern city of Mérida ). Hern%C3%A1n Cort%C3%A9s Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of

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10974-416: The aid of his son, also named Francisco de Montejo . In 1531 the Spanish moved their base of operations to Campeche , where they repulsed a significant Maya attack. After this battle, the Spanish founded a town at Chichen Itza in the north. Montejo carved up the province amongst his soldiers. In mid-1533 the local Maya rebelled and laid siege to the small Spanish garrison, which was forced to flee. Towards

11151-475: The aid of his son, also named Francisco de Montejo . Alonso d' Ávila was sent from eastern Yucatán to conquer Acalan , which extended southeast of the Laguna de Terminos . Montejo the Younger founded Salamanca de Xicalango as a base of operations. In 1530 Ávila established Salamanca de Acalan as a base from which to launch new attempts to conquer Yucatán. Salamanca de Acalan proved a disappointment, with no gold for

11328-411: The approximately 100-strong expedition members was Bernal Díaz del Castillo . The expedition sailed west from Cuba for three weeks, and weathered a two-day storm a week before sighting the coast of the northeastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula . The ships could not put in close to the shore due to the shallowness of the coastal waters. However, they could see a Maya city some two leagues inland, upon

11505-410: The authority of the governor of Cuba to place himself directly under the orders of King Charles . To eliminate any ideas of retreat, Cortés scuttled his ships. In Veracruz, he met some of the tributaries of the Aztecs and asked them to arrange a meeting with Moctezuma II , the tlatoani (ruler) of the Aztec Empire. Moctezuma repeatedly turned down the meeting, but Cortés was determined. Leaving

11682-512: The beginning of the 10th century AD with the onset of the Classic Maya collapse . A significant Maya presence remained in Petén into the Postclassic period after the abandonment of the major Classic period cities; the population was particularly concentrated near permanent water sources. In the early 16th century, when the Spanish discovered the Yucatán Peninsula , the region was still dominated by

11859-657: The books of Chilam Balam . In 1511, the Spanish caravel Santa María de la Barca set sail along the Central American coast under the command of Pedro de Valdivia. The ship was sailing to Santo Domingo from Darién to inform the colonial authorities there of ongoing conflict between conquistadors Diego de Nicuesa and Vasco Nuñez de Balboa in Darién. The ship foundered upon a reef known as Las Víboras ("The Vipers") or, alternatively, Los Alacranes ("The Scorpions"), somewhere off Jamaica . There were just twenty survivors from

12036-400: The brigantine and the ships' boats to fill their water casks in a freshwater pool. They were approached by about fifty finely dressed and unarmed Indians while the water was being loaded into the boats; they questioned the Spaniards as to their purpose by means of signs. The Spanish party then accepted an invitation to enter the city. They were led amongst large buildings until they stood before

12213-426: The brigantine, although it was purchased on credit from Governor Velásquez of Cuba. The few men who had not been wounded because they were manning the ships during the battle were reinforced with three men who had suffered relatively minor wounds; they put ashore at a remote beach to dig for water. They found some and brought it back to the ships, although it sickened those who drank it. The two ships sailed through

12390-426: The capital, kneeling at the feet of the friars who had walked from the coast. This story was told by Franciscans to demonstrate Cortés piety and humility and was a powerful message to all, including the Indians, that Cortés's earthly power was subordinate to the spiritual power of the friars. However, one of the first twelve Franciscans, Fray Toribio de Benavente Motolinia does not mention it in his history. Cortés and

12567-470: The captive Aztec lords were plotting against him and he ordered Cuauhtemoc and Tetlepanquetzal to be hanged. Cortés and his army left Acalan on 5 March 1525. The expedition passed onwards through Kejache territory and reported that the Kejache towns were situated in easily defensible locations and were often fortified. One of these was built on a rocky outcrop near a lake and a river that fed into it. The town

12744-477: The cargo and seized the elderly Maya captain to serve as an interpreter; the canoe was then allowed to continue on its way. This was the first recorded contact between Europeans and the Maya. It is likely that news of the piratical strangers in the Caribbean passed along the Maya trade routes – the first prophecies of bearded invaders sent by Kukulkan , the northern Maya feathered serpent god , were probably recorded around this time, and in due course passed into

12921-449: The city fell after a brief battle. With the defeat of the Itza, the last independent and unconquered native kingdom in the Americas fell to the Spanish. The Yucatán Peninsula is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the east and by the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west. It can be delimited by a line running from the Laguna de Términos on the Gulf coast through to the Gulf of Honduras on

13098-465: The city of Campeche on the Gulf Coast. A number of bays are situated along the east coast of the peninsula, from north to south they are Ascensión Bay, Espíritu Santo Bay, Chetumal Bay and Amatique Bay . The north coast features a wide, sandy littoral zone . The extreme north of the peninsula, roughly corresponding to Yucatán State , has underlying bedrock consisting of flat Cenozoic limestone. To

13275-415: The city with small cannon; the inhabitants fled, allowing the Spanish to take the abandoned city. Messages were sent with a few Maya who had been too slow to escape but the Maya remained hidden in the forest. The Spanish boarded their ships and continued along the coast. At Champotón , where the inhabitants had routed Hernández and his men, the fleet was approached by a small number of large war canoes, but

13452-410: The conqueror's request. The document granting the coat of arms summarizes Cortés's accomplishments in the conquest of Mexico. The proclamation of the king says in part: We, respecting the many labors, dangers, and adventures which you underwent as stated above, and so that there might remain a perpetual memorial of you and your services and that you and your descendants might be more fully honored ... it

13629-412: The crew; he was able to secure a place on the expedition as a favour from the governor, who was his kinsman. Antón de Alaminos once again served as pilot. Governor Velázquez provided all four ships, in an attempt to protect his claim over the peninsula. The small fleet was stocked with crossbows, muskets, barter goods, salted pork and cassava bread . Grijalva also took one of the captured Indians from

13806-698: The crown in 1551. In 1607, it passed to Baltasar Pacheco Dorantes. Yucatán declared its independence from the Spanish Crown in 1821. In 1825 the Mexican government assigned this community to the Valladolid Municipality . In 1918 Tinúm was designated as an independent municipality. The municipal president is elected for a three-year term. The town council has seven councilpersons, who serve as Secretary and councilors of public works, police commissaries, education, ecology, public monuments and sports. The seat of

13983-440: The defenders were wounded in the initial barrage of missiles, and two Spaniards were captured in the frantic mêlée that followed. All of the Spanish party received wounds, including Hernández de Córdoba . The Spanish regrouped in a defensive formation and forced passage to the shore, where their discipline collapsed and a frantic scramble for the boats ensued, leaving the Spanish vulnerable to the pursuing Maya warriors who waded into

14160-564: The discovery of gold. Hernández died soon after from his wounds. The two captured Maya survived the voyage to Cuba and were interrogated; they swore that there was abundant gold in Yucatán . Based upon Hernández de Córdoba's report and the testimony of the interrogated Indian prisoners, Governor Velázquez wrote to the Council of the Indies notifying it of "his" discovery. Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar ,

14337-406: The dry season runs from October to May. During the dry season, rainfall averages 300 millimetres (12 in); in the wet season this increases to an average 800 to 900 millimetres (31 to 35 in). The prevailing winds are easterly and have created an east–west precipitation gradient with average rainfall in the east exceeding 1,400 millimetres (55 in) and the north and northwestern portions of

14514-516: The east shore of Lake Petén Itzá eastwards to Tipuj in Belize. In the 17th century the Yalain capital was located at the site of that name on the north shore of Lake Macanché. At the time of Spanish contact the Yalain were allied with the Itza, an alliance cemented by intermarriage between the elites of both groups. In the late 17th century, Spanish colonial records document hostilities between Maya groups in

14691-433: The eastern coast of the peninsula. Hernán Cortés made contact with two survivors, Gerónimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero , eight years later. In 1517, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba made landfall on the tip of the peninsula. His expedition continued along the coast and suffered heavy losses in a pitched battle at Champotón , forcing a retreat to Cuba . Juan de Grijalva explored the coast in 1518, and heard tales of

14868-466: The effects of alliances and wars; those kuchkabaloob with more centralised forms of government were likely to have had more stable boundaries than those of loose confederations of provinces. When the Spanish discovered Yucatán, the provinces of Maní and Sotuta were two of the most important polities in the region. They were mutually hostile; the Xiu Maya of Maní allied themselves with the Spanish, while

15045-547: The end of 1534, or the beginning of 1535, the Spanish retreated from Campeche to Veracruz . In 1535, peaceful attempts by the Franciscan Order to incorporate Yucatán into the Spanish Empire failed after a renewed Spanish military presence at Champotón forced the friars out. Champotón was by now the last Spanish outpost in Yucatán, isolated among a hostile population. In 1541–42 the first permanent Spanish town councils in

15222-517: The entire peninsula were founded at Campeche and Mérida . When the powerful lord of Tutul-Xiu Maya in Maní converted to the Roman Catholic religion, his submission to Spain and conversion to Christianity encouraged the lords of the western provinces to accept Spanish rule. In late 1546 an alliance of eastern provinces launched an unsuccessful uprising against the Spanish. The eastern Maya were defeated in

15399-454: The expedition arrived at the Maya village of Tenciz. With local guides they headed into the hills north of Lake Izabal , where their guides abandoned them to their fate. The expedition became lost in the hills and came close to starvation before they captured a Maya boy who led them to safety. Cortés found a village on the shore of Lake Izabal , perhaps Xocolo. He crossed the Dulce River to

15576-479: The expedition was now running dangerously low on fresh water; the hunt for more became an overriding priority as the expedition advanced, and shore parties searching for water were left dangerously exposed because the ships could not pull close to the shore due to the shallows. On 23 February 1517, the day of Saint Lazarus, another city was spotted and named San Lázaro by the Spanish – it is now known by its original Maya name, Campeche . A large contingent put ashore in

15753-425: The extinction of the Chontal Maya of Campeche. Among the Maya, ambush was a favoured tactic. The 16th-century Spanish conquistadors were armed with broadswords, rapiers, crossbows, matchlocks and light artillery. Mounted conquistadors were armed with a 3.7-metre (12 ft) lance, that also served as a pike for infantrymen. A variety of halberds and bills were also employed. As well as the one-handed broadsword,

15930-634: The favoritism that excluded them. In 1523, the Crown (possibly influenced by Cortés's enemy, Bishop Fonseca ), sent a military force under the command of Francisco de Garay to conquer and settle the northern part of Mexico, the region of Pánuco . This was another setback for Cortés who mentioned this in his fourth letter to the King in which he describes himself as the victim of a conspiracy by his archenemies Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar , Diego Columbus and Bishop Fonseca as well as Francisco Garay. The influence of Garay

16107-418: The first ten years of colonial rule owing to a combination of disease and war. In Tabasco the population of approximately 30,000 was reduced by an estimated 90%, with measles, smallpox, catarrhs, dysentery and fevers being the main culprits. The Spanish engaged in a strategy of concentrating native populations in new colonial towns, or reducciones (also known as congregaciones ). Native resistance to

16284-493: The first-born legitimate son, Don Martín Cortés y Zúñiga was now Cortés's heir and succeeded him as holder of the title and estate of the Marquessate of the Valley of Oaxaca . Cortés's legitimate daughters were Doña Maria, Doña Catalina, and Doña Juana. Since the conversion to Christianity of indigenous peoples was an essential and integral part of the extension of Spanish power, making formal provisions for that conversion once

16461-413: The forest gradually decreases from Petén northwards, averaging from 25 to 35 metres (82 to 115 ft). This dense forest covers northern Petén and Belize , most of Quintana Roo , southern Campeche and a portion of the south of Yucatán State . Further north, the vegetation turns to lower forest consisting of dense scrub. The climate becomes progressively drier towards the north of the peninsula. In

16638-530: The garrison at Pole had been entirely wiped out. The support ship eventually arrived from Santo Domingo , and Montejo used it to sail south along the coast, while he sent Ávila over land. Montejo discovered the thriving port city of Chaktumal (capital of the Chetumal Province ). At Chaktumal, Montejo learnt that shipwrecked Spanish sailor Gonzalo Guerrero was in the region, and Montejo sent messages to him, inviting him to return to join his compatriots, but

16815-507: The general of each order or to his provincials. The Franciscans arrived in May 1524, a symbolically powerful group of twelve known as the Twelve Apostles of Mexico , led by Fray Martín de Valencia . Franciscan Geronimo de Mendieta claimed that Cortés's most important deed was the way he met this first group of Franciscans. The conqueror himself was said to have met the friars as they approached

16992-429: The governor of Cuba , was enthused by Hernández de Córdoba's report of gold in Yucatán . He organised a new expedition consisting of four ships and 240 men. He placed his nephew Juan de Grijalva in command. Francisco de Montejo , who would eventually conquer much of the peninsula, was captain of one of the ships; Pedro de Alvarado and Alonso d'Avila captained the other ships. Bernal Díaz del Castillo served on

17169-408: The governor of Cuba sent emissaries to arrest Cortés, he fought them and won, using the extra troops as reinforcements. Cortés wrote letters directly to the king asking to be acknowledged for his successes instead of being punished for mutiny. After he overthrew the Aztec Empire , Cortés was awarded the title of marqués del Valle de Oaxaca , while the more prestigious title of viceroy was given to

17346-610: The heartland of the ancient Maya civilization during the Classic period (c. AD 250–900). The 16th century Maya provinces of northern Yucatán are likely to have evolved out of polities of the Maya Classic period. From the mid-13th century AD through to the mid-15th century, the League of Mayapán united several of the northern provinces; for a time they shared a joint form of government. The great cities that dominated Petén had fallen into ruin by

17523-656: The hereditary military title of adelantado . In 1524, after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , Hernán Cortés led an expedition to Honduras over land, cutting across Acalan in southern Campeche and the Itza kingdom in what is now the northern Petén Department of Guatemala . His aim was to subdue the rebellious Cristóbal de Olid , whom he had sent to conquer Honduras; Olid had, however, set himself up independently on his arrival in that territory. Cortés left Tenochtitlan on 12 October 1524 with 140 Spanish soldiers, 93 of them mounted, 3,000 Mexican warriors, 150 horses,

17700-511: The inhabitants attacked the Spanish party but were defeated. The Spanish then continued to Ake , some 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) north of Tizimín , where they engaged in a major battle against the Maya, killing more than 1,200 of them. After this Spanish victory, the neighbouring Maya leaders all surrendered. Montejo's party then continued to Sisia and Loche before heading back to Xelha . Montejo arrived at Xelha with only 60 of his party, and found that only 12 of his 40-man garrison survived, while

17877-528: The king, Cortés pleaded for friars rather than diocesan or secular priests because those clerics were in his view a serious danger to the Indians' conversion. If these people [Indians] were now to see the affairs of the Church and the service of God in the hands of canons or other dignitaries, and saw them indulge in the vices and profanities now common in Spain, knowing that such men were the ministers of God, it would bring our Faith into much harm that I believe any further preaching would be of no avail. He wished

18054-572: The lake, Cortés continued south along the western slopes of the Maya Mountains , a particularly arduous journey that took 12 days to cover 32 kilometres (20 mi), during which he lost more than two-thirds of his horses. When he came to a river swollen with the constant torrential rains that had been falling during the expedition, Cortés turned upstream to the Gracias a Dios rapids, which took two days to cross and cost him more horses. On 15 April 1525

18231-777: The lakes region, with the incursion of the Kowoj into former Yalain sites including Zacpeten on Lake Macanché and Ixlu on Lake Salpetén. Other groups in Petén are less well known, and their precise territorial extent and political makeup remains obscure; among them were the Chinamita , the Icaiche, the Kejache , the Lakandon Chʼol , the Manche Chʼol , and the Mopan . A soldier arriving in Mexico in 1520

18408-405: The latter disease was attributed to the arrival of the Spanish by the Maya inhabitants of Yucatán. These diseases swept through Yucatán in the 1520s and 1530s, with periodic recurrences throughout the 16th century. By the late 16th century, the reports of high fevers suggest the arrival of malaria in the region and yellow fever was first reported in the mid-17th century, with a terse mention in

18585-451: The leaders of the nearby Maya towns and ordered them to swear loyalty to the Spanish Crown. After this, Montejo led his men to Conil, a town in Ekab that was described as having 5,000 houses, where the Spanish party halted for two months. In the spring of 1528, Montejo left Conil for the city of Chauaca, which was abandoned by its Maya inhabitants under cover of darkness. The following morning,

18762-500: The limestone has caused the formation of extensive cave systems. These cave roofs are subject to collapse forming deep sinkholes ; if the bottom of the cave is deeper than the groundwater level then a cenote is formed. In contrast, the northeastern portion of the peninsula is characterised by forested swamplands. The northern portion of the peninsula lacks rivers, except for the Champotón River – all other rivers are located in

18939-660: The main attention of the conquistadors for some years, then in 1526 Francisco de Montejo (a veteran of the Grijalva and Cortés expeditions) successfully petitioned the King of Spain for the right to conquer Yucatán . On 8 December of that year he was issued with the hereditary military title of adelantado and permission to colonise the Yucatán Peninsula. In 1527, he left Spain with 400 men in four ships, with horses, small arms, cannon and provisions. He set sail for Santo Domingo , where more supplies and horses were collected, allowing Montejo to increase his cavalry to fifty. One of

19116-408: The majority of the Franciscans based there and who had probably numbered not much more than twenty before the outbreak. Those areas of the peninsula that experience damper conditions, particularly those possessing swamplands, became rapidly depopulated after the conquest with the introduction of malaria and other waterborne parasites. An example was the one-time well-populated province of Ecab occupying

19293-532: The mendicants to be the main evangelists. Mendicant friars did not usually have full priestly powers to perform all the sacraments needed for conversion of the Indians and growth of the neophytes in the Christian faith, so Cortés laid out a solution to this to the king. Your Majesty should likewise beseech His Holiness [the pope] to grant these powers to the two principal persons in the religious orders that are to come here, and that they should be his delegates, one from

19470-524: The military conquest was completed was an important task for Cortés. During the Age of Discovery , the Catholic Church had seen early attempts at conversion in the Caribbean islands by Spanish friars, particularly the mendicant orders. Cortés made a request to the Spanish monarch to send Franciscan and Dominican friars to Mexico to convert the vast indigenous populations to Christianity. In his fourth letter to

19647-438: The most important European city in the Americas. Cortés managed the founding of new cities and appointed men to extend Spanish rule to all of New Spain, imposing the encomienda system in 1524. He reserved many encomiendas for himself and for his retinue, which they considered just rewards for their accomplishment in conquering central Mexico. However, later arrivals and members of factions antipathetic to Cortés complained of

19824-491: The municipality is Tinúm. The municipality has 37 populated places besides the seat, including Balantún, Chichén Itzá, Chichil, Dzulotok, Macuchén, Pisté , San Francisco, San Felipe, San Felipe Nuevo, San José, San Nicolás, Santa María, Tohopkú, and X-Calakoop. The significant populations are shown below: Every year on 12 June, the town celebrates the feast of Saint Anthony of Padua , its patron saint. Spanish conquest of Yucat%C3%A1n The Spanish conquest of Yucatán

20001-515: The new nucleated settlements took the form of the flight into inaccessible regions such as the forest or joining neighbouring Maya groups that had not yet submitted to the Spanish. Among the Maya, ambush was a favoured tactic. Spanish weaponry included broadswords , rapiers , lances , pikes , halberds , crossbows , matchlocks , and light artillery . Maya warriors fought with flint-tipped spears, bows and arrows and stones, and wore padded cotton armour to protect themselves. The Spanish introduced

20178-530: The new nucleated settlements took the form of the flight of the indigenous inhabitants into inaccessible regions such as the forest or joining neighbouring Maya groups that had not yet submitted to the Spanish. Those that remained behind in the reducciones often fell victim to contagious diseases. An example of the effect on populations of this strategy is the province of Acalan , which occupied an area spanning southern Campeche and eastern Tabasco . When Hernán Cortés passed through Acalan in 1525 he estimated

20355-489: The newly appointed Governor of Hispaniola . (This island is now divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic ). Cortés suffered an injury and was prevented from traveling. He spent the next year wandering the country, probably spending most of his time in Spain's southern ports of Cadiz , Palos , Sanlucar , and Seville . He finally left for Hispaniola in 1504 and became a colonist. Cortés reached Hispaniola in

20532-459: The newly conquered territory, dubbed " New Spain of the Ocean Sea". But also, much to the dismay of Cortés, four royal officials were appointed at the same time to assist him in his governing—in effect, submitting him to close observation and administration. Cortés initiated the construction of Mexico City , destroying Aztec temples and buildings and then rebuilding on the Aztec ruins what soon became

20709-431: The north shore of Lake Petén Itzá on 13 March 1525. The Roman Catholic priests accompanying the expedition celebrated mass in the presence of Aj Kan Ekʼ , the king of the Itza , who was said to be so impressed that he pledged to worship the cross and to destroy his idols. Cortés accepted an invitation from Kan Ekʼ to visit Nojpetén (also known as Tayasal), and crossed to the Maya city with 20 Spanish soldiers while

20886-551: The north, the annual mean temperature is 27 °C (81 °F) in Mérida . Average temperature in the peninsula varies from 24 °C (75 °F) in January to 29 °C (84 °F) in July. The lowest temperature on record is 6 °C (43 °F). For the peninsula as a whole, the mean annual precipitation is 1,100 millimetres (43 in). The rainy season lasts from June to September, while

21063-431: The northeastern portion of the peninsula was almost eliminated within fifty years of the conquest. In the south, conditions conducive to the spread of malaria existed throughout Petén and Belize . At the time of the fall of Nojpetén in 1697, there are estimated to have been 60,000 Maya living around Lake Petén Itzá , including a large number of refugees from other areas. It is estimated that 88% of them died during

21240-491: The northeastern portion of the peninsula. In 1528, when Francisco de Montejo occupied the town of Conil for two months, the Spanish recorded approximately 5,000 houses in the town; the adult male population at the time has been conservatively estimated as 3,000. By 1549, Spanish records show that only 80 tributaries were registered to be taxed, indicating a population drop in Conil of more than 90% in 21 years. The native population of

21417-518: The orders and, in an act of open mutiny , went anyway in February 1519. He stopped in Trinidad, Cuba , to hire more soldiers and obtain more horses. Accompanied by about 11 ships, 500 men (including seasoned slaves ), 13 horses, and a small number of cannon , Cortés landed on the Yucatán Peninsula in Maya territory. There he encountered Geronimo de Aguilar , a Spanish Franciscan priest who had survived

21594-500: The orders of the Crown, and, what was more imprudent, said so in a letter to the emperor, dated October 15, 1524 (Ycazbalceta, "Documentos para la Historia de México", Mexico, 1858, I). In this letter Cortés, besides recalling in a rather abrupt manner that the conquest of Mexico was due to him alone, deliberately acknowledges his disobedience in terms which could not fail to create a most unfavourable impression. King Charles appointed Cortés as governor, captain general and chief justice of

21771-415: The peninsula receiving a maximum of 800 millimetres (31 in). The southeastern portion of the peninsula has a tropical rainy climate with a short dry season in winter. Petén has a hot climate and receives the highest rainfall in all Mesoamerica . The climate is divided into wet and dry seasons , with the rainy season lasting from June to December, although these seasons are not clearly defined in

21948-415: The population size as at least 10,000. In 1553 the population was recorded at around 4,000. In 1557 the population was forcibly moved to Tixchel on the Gulf of Mexico coast, so as to be more easily accessible to the Spanish authorities. In 1561 the Spanish recorded only 250 tribute-paying inhabitants of Tixchel, which probably had a total population of about 1,100. This indicates a 90% drop in population over

22125-418: The province amongst his soldiers and gave each of his men two to three thousand Maya in encomienda . After six months of Spanish rule, Cupul dissatisfaction could no longer be contained and Naabon Cupul was killed during a failed attempt to kill Montejo the Younger. The death of their lord only served to inflame Cupul anger and, in mid 1533, they laid siege to the small Spanish garrison at Chichén Itzá. Montejo

22302-486: The provinces. The politically fragmented state of the Yucatán Peninsula at the time of conquest hindered the Spanish invasion, since there was no central political authority to be overthrown. However, the Spanish were also able to exploit this fragmentation by taking advantage of pre-existing rivalries between polities. Estimates of the number of kuchkabal in the northern Yucatán vary from sixteen to twenty-four. The boundaries between polities were not stable, being subject to

22479-402: The pursuing Spanish forces, inflicting heavy losses, but would ultimately be the last portion of the island that resisted the conquistadores. The siege of Tenochtitlan ended with Spanish victory and the destruction of the city. In January 1521, Cortés countered a conspiracy against him, headed by Antonio de Villafana, who was hanged for the offense. Finally, with the capture of Cuauhtémoc ,

22656-460: The reality of the gold-rich empire, sailing as far north as Pánuco River . As the fleet returned to Cuba , the Spanish attacked Champotón to avenge the previous year's defeat of the Spanish expedition led by Hernández. One Spaniard was killed and fifty were wounded in the ensuing battle, including Grijalva. Grijalva put into the port of Havana five months after he had left. Juan de Grijalva's return aroused great interest in Cuba , and Yucatán

22833-449: The resolve of his troops, who gradually acclimatised to the harsh conditions of Yucatán. Montejo was able to get more food from the still-friendly Aj Nuam Pat, when the latter made a visit to the mainland. Montejo took 125 men and set out on an expedition to explore the north-eastern portion of the Yucatán peninsula. His expedition passed through the towns of Xamanha, Mochis and Belma, none of which survives today. At Belma, Montejo gathered

23010-440: The rest of his army continued around the lake to meet him on the south shore. On his departure from Nojpetén, Cortés left behind a cross and a lame horse that the Itza treated as a deity, attempting to feed it poultry, meat and flowers, but the animal soon died. The Spanish did not officially contact the Itza again until the arrival of Franciscan priests in 1618, when Cortés' cross was said to still be standing at Nojpetén. From

23187-408: The rest of the peninsula; these regions feature highly porous limestone bedrock resulting in less surface water. This limestone geology results in most rainwater filtering directly through the bedrock to the phreatic zone , from whence it slowly flows to the coasts to form large submarine springs. Various freshwater springs rise along the coast to form watering holes. The filtering of rainwater through

23364-514: The rest to confront Narváez. He overcame Narváez, despite his numerical inferiority, and convinced the rest of Narváez's men to join him. In Mexico, one of Cortés's lieutenants Pedro de Alvarado , committed the massacre in the Great Temple , triggering a local rebellion. Cortés speedily returned to Tenochtitlán. On July 1, 1520, Moctezuma was killed (he was stoned to death by his own people, as reported in Spanish accounts; although some claim he

23541-477: The rivers. Before their defeat in 1697 the Itza controlled or influenced much of Petén and parts of Belize . The Itza were warlike, and their martial prowess impressed both neighbouring Maya kingdoms and their Spanish enemies. Their capital was Nojpetén , an island city upon Lake Petén Itzá ; it has developed into the modern town of Flores , which is the capital of the Petén department of Guatemala . The Itza spoke

23718-669: The sea behind them. Most of the precious water casks were abandoned on the beach. When the surviving Spanish reached the safety of the ships, they realised that they had lost over fifty men, more than half their number. Five men died from their wounds in the following days. The battle had lasted only an hour, and the Spanish named the locale as the Coast of the Disastrous Battle. They were now far from help and low on supplies; too many men had been lost and injured to sail all three ships back to Cuba . They decided to abandon their smallest ship,

23895-481: The second-largest city in central Mexico. Cortés, either in a pre-meditated effort to instill fear upon the Aztecs waiting for him at Tenochtitlan or (as he later claimed, when he was being investigated) wishing to make an example when he feared native treachery, massacred thousands of unarmed members of the nobility gathered at the central plaza, then partially burned the city. By the time he arrived in Tenochtitlán,

24072-532: The settlement of Nito, somewhere on the Amatique Bay , with about a dozen companions, and waited there for the rest of his army to regroup over the next week. By this time the remnants of the expedition had been reduced to a few hundred; Cortés succeeded in contacting the Spaniards he was searching for, only to find that Cristóbal de Olid's own officers had already put down his rebellion. Cortés then returned to Mexico by sea. The richer lands of Mexico engaged

24249-568: The ships was left at Santo Domingo as a supply ship to provide later support; the other ships set sail and reached Cozumel in the second half of September 1527. Montejo was received in peace by the lord of Cozumel, Aj Naum Pat, but the ships only stopped briefly before making for the Yucatán coast. The expedition made landfall somewhere near Xelha in the Maya province of Ekab , in what is now Mexico's Quintana Roo state. Montejo garrisoned Xelha with 40 soldiers under his second-in-command, Alonso d'Avila , and posted 20 more at nearby Pole. Xelha

24426-455: The ships' cannon soon put them to flight. At the mouth of the Tabasco River the Spanish sighted massed warriors and canoes but the natives did not approach. By means of interpreters, Grijalva indicated that he wished to trade and bartered wine and beads in exchange for food and other supplies. From the natives they received a few gold trinkets and news of the riches of the Aztec Empire to the west. The expedition continued far enough to confirm

24603-430: The ships. Over the following days the Spanish discovered that although the Maya arrows had struck with little force, the flint arrowheads tended to shatter on impact, causing infected wounds and a slow death; two of the wounded Spaniards died from the arrow-wounds inflicted in the ambush. Over the next fifteen days the fleet slowly followed the coastline west, and then south. The casks brought from Cuba were leaking and

24780-438: The shore and rapidly boarded their boats to retreat to the safety of the ships. The small fleet continued for six more days in fine weather, followed by four stormy days. By this time water was once again dangerously short. The ships spotted an inlet close to another city, Champotón , and a landing party discovered fresh water. Armed Maya warriors approached from the city while the water casks were being filled. Communication

24957-453: The shore was packed with natives. The conquistadors put ashore in the brigantine and the ships' boats; a few of the more daring Spaniards boarded the native canoes. The Spanish named the headland Cape Catoche , after some words spoken by the Maya leader, which sounded to the Spanish like cones catoche . Once ashore, the Spaniards clustered loosely together and advanced towards the city along a path among low, scrub-covered hillocks. At this point

25134-434: The shore. Ten large canoes powered by both sails and oars rowed out to meet the Spanish ships. Over thirty Maya boarded the vessels and mixed freely with the Spaniards. The Maya visitors accepted gifts of beads, and the leader indicated with signs that they would return to take the Spanish ashore the following day. The Maya leader returned the following day with twelve canoes, as promised. The Spanish could see from afar that

25311-490: The shortened form of "Hernán" more generally. In addition to the illustration by the German artist Christoph Weiditz in his Trachtenbuch , there are three known portraits of Hernán Cortés which were likely made during his lifetime, though only copies of them have survived. All of these portraits show Cortés in the later years of his life. The account of the conquest of the Aztec Empire written by Bernal Díaz del Castillo , gives

25488-411: The sister-in-law of Governor Velázquez. Part of Velázquez's displeasure seems to have been based on a belief that Cortés was trifling with Catalina's affections. Cortés was temporarily distracted by one of Catalina's sisters but finally married Catalina, reluctantly, under pressure from Governor Velázquez. However, by doing so, he hoped to secure the good will of both her family and that of Velázquez. It

25665-447: The south of this the limestone rises to form the low chain of Puuc Hills , with a steep initial scarp running 160 kilometres (99 mi) east from the Gulf coast near Champotón , terminating some 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the Caribbean coast near the border of Quintana Roo. The hills reach a maximum altitude of 170 metres (560 ft). The northwestern and northern portions of the Yucatán Peninsula experience lower rainfall than

25842-565: The south. The Sibun River flows from west to east from south central Quintana Roo to Lake Bacalar on the Caribbean Coast; the Río Hondo flows northwards from Belize to empty into the same lake. Bacalar Lake empties into Chetumal Bay . The Río Nuevo flows from Lamanai Lake in Belize northwards to Chetumal Bay. The Mopan River and the Macal River flow through Belize and join to form

26019-473: The south; with rain occurring through most of the year. The climate of Petén varies from tropical in the south to semitropical in the north; temperature varies between 12 and 40 °C (54 and 104 °F), although it does not usually drop beneath 18 °C (64 °F). Mean temperature varies from 24.3 °C (75.7 °F) in the southeast to 26.9 °C (80.4 °F) in the northeast. Highest temperatures are reached from April to June, while January

26196-595: The taking and with lower levels of population than had been hoped. Ávila soon abandoned the new settlement and set off across the lands of the Kejache to Champotón , arriving there towards the end of 1530. During a colonial power struggle in Tabasco, the elder Montejo was imprisoned for a time. Upon his release, he met up with his son in Xicalango, Tabasco, and they then both rejoined Ávila at Champotón. In 1531, Montejo moved his base of operations to Campeche . Alonso d' Ávila

26373-452: The third expedition to the mainland, which he partly funded. His enmity with the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar , resulted in the recall of the expedition at the last moment, an order which Cortés ignored. Arriving on the continent, Cortés executed a successful strategy of allying with some indigenous people against others. He also used a native woman, Doña Marina , as an interpreter. She later gave birth to his first son. When

26550-525: The time that Cortés had murdered his wife. There was an investigation into her death, interviewing a variety of household residents and others. The documentation of the investigation was published in the nineteenth century in Mexico and these archival documents were uncovered in the twentieth century. The death of Catalina Suárez produced a scandal and investigation, but Cortés was now free to marry someone of high status more appropriate to his wealth and power. In 1526, he built an imposing residence for himself,

26727-523: The tributaries of the Usumacinta River spanning southwestern Petén in Guatemala and eastern Chiapas. The Lakandon had a fierce reputation amongst the Spanish. Although there is insufficient data to accurately estimate population sizes at the time of contact with the Spanish, early Spanish reports suggest that sizeable Maya populations existed in Petén , particularly around the central lakes and along

26904-405: The wealthy Aztec Empire further west. As a result of these rumours, Hernán Cortés set sail with another fleet. From Cozumel he continued around the peninsula to Tabasco where he fought a battle at Potonchán ; from there Cortés continued onward to conquer the Aztec Empire . In 1524, Cortés led a sizeable expedition to Honduras , cutting across southern Campeche , and through Petén in what

27081-464: The wreck, including Captain Valdivia, Gerónimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero . They set themselves adrift in one of the ship's boats, with bad oars and no sail; after thirteen days during which half of the survivors died, they made landfall upon the coast of Yucatán . There they were seized by Halach Uinik , a Maya lord. Captain Valdivia was sacrificed with four of his companions, and their flesh

27258-485: Was Catalína Pizarro Altamirano. Through his mother, Hernán was second cousin once removed of Francisco Pizarro , who later conquered the Inca Empire of modern-day Peru, and not to be confused with another Francisco Pizarro, who joined Cortés to conquer the Aztecs . (His maternal grandmother, Leonor Sánchez Pizarro Altamirano, was first cousin of Pizarro's father Gonzalo Pizarro y Rodriguez.) Through his father, Hernán

27435-413: Was a Maya trading canoe from Yucatán , carrying well-dressed Maya and a rich cargo that included ceramics , cotton textiles , yellow stone axes, flint-studded war clubs, copper axes and bells, and cacao . Also among the cargo were a small number of women and children, probably destined to be sold as slaves, as were a number of the rowers. The Europeans looted whatever took their interest from amongst

27612-413: Was also in the eastern half of the peninsula; it was southwest of Ecab and northwest of Uaymil. Its borders are poorly understood and it may have been landlocked, or have extended to occupy a portion of the Caribbean coast between the latter two kuchkabaloob . The capital of Cochuah was Tihosuco . Hocabá and Sotuta were landlocked provinces north of Maní and southwest of Ah Kin Chel and Cupul. Ah Canul

27789-473: Was appointed Governor of Cuba . At the age of 26, Cortés was made clerk to the treasurer with the responsibility of ensuring that the Crown received the quinto , or customary one fifth of the profits from the expedition. Velázquez was so impressed with Cortés that he secured a high political position for him in the colony. He became secretary for Governor Velázquez. Cortés was twice appointed municipal magistrate ( alcalde ) of Santiago . In Cuba, Cortés became

27966-403: Was at this point extremely awkward, since she was a kinswoman of the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez, whose authority Cortés had thrown off and who was therefore now his enemy. Catalina lacked the noble title of doña, so at this point his marriage with her no longer raised his status. Their marriage had been childless. Since Cortés had sired children with a variety of indigenous women, including

28143-445: Was believed to be a land of riches waiting to be plundered. A new expedition was organised, with a fleet of eleven ships carrying 500 men and some horses. Hernán Cortés was placed in command, and his crew included officers that would become famous conquistadors, including Pedro de Alvarado , Cristóbal de Olid , Gonzalo de Sandoval and Diego de Ordaz . Also aboard were Francisco de Montejo and Bernal Díaz del Castillo , veterans of

28320-503: Was carrying smallpox and caused the plagues that swept through the native populations of the Americas . The European diseases that ravaged the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas also severely affected the various Maya groups of the entire Yucatán Peninsula . Modern estimates of native population decline vary from 75% to 90% mortality. The terrible plagues that swept the peninsula were recorded in Yucatec Maya written histories, which combined with those of neighbouring Maya peoples in

28497-649: Was considered by the Aztecs to be either an emissary of the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl or Quetzalcoatl himself—a belief which has been contested by a few modern historians. But quickly Cortés learned that several Spaniards on the coast had been killed by Aztecs while supporting the Totonacs, and decided to take Moctezuma as a hostage in his palace, indirectly ruling Tenochtitlán through him. Meanwhile, Velázquez sent another expedition, led by Pánfilo de Narváez , to oppose Cortés, arriving in Mexico in April 1520 with 1,100 men. Cortés left 200 men in Tenochtitlán and took

28674-400: Was described by Gómara as ruthless, haughty, and mischievous. The 16-year-old youth had returned home to feel constrained life in his small provincial town. By this time, news of the exciting discoveries of Christopher Columbus in the New World was streaming back to Spain. Plans were made for Cortés to sail to the Americas with a family acquaintance and distant relative, Nicolás de Ovando ,

28851-414: Was effectively stopped by this appeal to the King who sent out a decree forbidding Garay to interfere in the politics of New Spain, causing him to give up without a fight. Although Cortés had flouted the authority of Diego Velázquez in sailing to the mainland and then leading an expedition of conquest, Cortés's spectacular success was rewarded by the crown with a coat of arms, a mark of high honor, following

29028-447: Was fortified with a wooden palisade and was surrounded by a moat. Cortés reported that the town of Tiac was even larger and was fortified with walls, watchtowers and earthworks; the town itself was divided into three individually fortified districts. Tiac was said to have been at war with the unnamed smaller town. The Kejache claimed that their towns were fortified against the attacks of their aggressive Itza neighbours. They arrived at

29205-688: Was he who caused the Indians to revere the holy sacraments and respect the ministers of the church. In Fray Bernardino de Sahagún 's 1585 revision of the conquest narrative first codified as Book XII of the Florentine Codex , there are laudatory references to Cortés that do not appear in the earlier text from the indigenous perspective. Whereas Book XII of the Florentine Codex concludes with an account of Spaniards' search for gold, in Sahagún's 1585 revised account, he ends with praise of Cortés for requesting

29382-410: Was located. In the southern portion of the peninsula, a number of polities occupied the Petén Basin . The Kejache occupied a territory to the north of the Itza and east of Acalan, between the Petén lakes and what is now Campeche, and to the west of Chetumal . The Cholan Maya -speaking Lakandon (not to be confused with the modern inhabitants of Chiapas by that name) controlled territory along

29559-546: Was married to one of Nachan Chan's daughters, Zazil Ha, by whom he had three children. By 1514, Guerrero had achieved the rank of nacom , a war leader who served against Nachan Chan's enemies. In 1517, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba set sail from Cuba with a small fleet, consisting of two caravels and a brigantine , with the dual intention of exploration and of rounding up slaves. The experienced Antón de Alaminos served as pilot; he had previously served as pilot under Christopher Columbus on his final voyage. Also among

29736-573: Was murdered by the Spaniards once they realized his inability to placate the locals). Faced with a hostile population, Cortés decided to flee for Tlaxcala. During the Noche Triste (June 30 – July 1, 1520), the Spaniards managed a narrow escape from Tenochtitlán across the Tlacopan causeway, while their rearguard was being massacred. Much of the treasure looted by Cortés was lost (as well as his artillery) during this panicked escape from Tenochtitlán. After

29913-418: Was not until he had been almost 15 years in the Indies that Cortés began to look beyond his substantial status as mayor of the capital of Cuba and as a man of affairs in the thriving colony. He missed the first two expeditions, under the orders of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba and then Juan de Grijalva , sent by Diego Velázquez to Mexico in 1518. News reached Velázquez that Juan de Grijalva had established

30090-584: Was once again attempted with signs. Night fell by the time the water casks had been filled and the attempts at communication concluded. In the darkness the Spaniards could hear the movements of large numbers of Maya warriors. They decided that a night-time retreat would be too risky; instead, they posted guards and waited for dawn. At sunrise, the Spanish saw that they had been surrounded by a sizeable army. The massed Maya warriors launched an assault with missiles, including arrows, darts and stones; they then charged into hand-to-hand combat with spears and clubs. Eighty of

30267-404: Was probably Tulum . On Ascension Thursday the fleet discovered a large bay, which the Spanish named Bahía de la Ascensión. Grijalva did not land at any of these cities and turned back north from Ascensión Bay. He looped around the north of the Yucatán Peninsula to sail down the west coast. At Campeche the Spanish tried to barter for water but the Maya refused, so Grijalva opened fire against

30444-473: Was related to Nicolás de Ovando , the third governor of Hispaniola . His paternal great-grandfather was Rodrigo de Monroy y Almaraz, 5th Lord of Monroy . According to his biographer and chaplain, Francisco López de Gómara , Cortés was pale and sickly as a child. At the age of 14, he was sent to study Latin under an uncle in Salamanca. Later historians have misconstrued this personal tutoring as time enrolled at

30621-445: Was renamed Salamanca de Xelha and became the first Spanish settlement on the peninsula. The provisions were soon exhausted and additional food was seized from the local Maya villagers; this too was soon consumed. Many local Maya fled into the forest and Spanish raiding parties scoured the surrounding area for food, finding little. With discontent growing among his men, Montejo took the drastic step of burning his ships; this strengthened

30798-416: Was sent overland to Chauaca in the east of the peninsula, passing through Maní , where he was well received by the Xiu Maya . Ávila continued southeast to Chetumal where he founded the Spanish town of Villa Real ("Royal Town"). The local Maya fiercely resisted the placement of the new Spanish colony and Ávila and his men were forced to abandon Villa Real and make for Honduras in canoes. At Campeche ,

30975-480: Was served at a feast. Aguilar and Guerrero were held prisoner and fattened for killing , together with five or six of their shipmates. Aguilar and Guerrero managed to escape their captors and fled to a neighbouring lord who was an enemy of Halach Uinik; he took them prisoner and kept them as slaves. After a time, Gonzalo Guerrero was passed as a slave to the lord Nachan Can of Chetumal . Guerrero became completely Mayanised and served his new lord with such loyalty that he

31152-535: Was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish conquistadores against the Late Postclassic Maya states and polities in the Yucatán Peninsula , a vast limestone plain covering south-eastern Mexico , northern Guatemala , and all of Belize . The Spanish conquest of the Yucatán Peninsula was hindered by its politically fragmented state. The Spanish engaged in a strategy of concentrating native populations in newly founded colonial towns. Native resistance to

31329-429: Was the northernmost province on the Gulf of Mexico coast of the peninsula. Canpech (modern Campeche ) was to the south of it, followed by Chanputun (modern Champotón ). South of Chanputun, and extending west along the Gulf coast was Acalan . This Chontal Maya -speaking province extended east of the Usumacinta River in Tabasco , as far as what is now the southern portion of Campeche state , where their capital

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