Tohil ( IPA: [toˈχil] , also spelled Tojil ) is the Maya god of fire . He is a deity of the Kʼicheʼ Maya in the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica .
135-633: At the time of the Spanish Conquest , Tohil was the patron god of the Kʼicheʼ. He was included in the Tolteca pantheon that was influenced in the highlands Maya culture in the Postclassic Period. Tohil's principal function was that of a fire deity and he was also both a war god , sun god and the god of rain. Tohil was also associated with mountains and he was a god of war , sacrifice and sustenance. In
270-400: A factor , who guarded weapons and supplies belonging to the king, and disposed of tribute collected in the province; and a veedor (overseer), who was responsible for contacts with native inhabitants of the province, and collected the king's share of any war booty. The veedor , or overseer, position quickly disappeared in most jurisdictions, subsumed into the position of factor . Depending on
405-544: A basic meaning of 'diviner' ( kʼin by itself meaning ' sun ' or 'day'). The ah kʼinob had the responsibility of conducting public and private rituals within individual towns throughout the province. They "preached and published the festival days," determined the appropriate steps in case of need, made sacrifices, and administered the " sacraments ", acts connected to life cycle rituals . The town priests were assisted by four old men called chac . The priests carrying out human sacrifice were called ah nakom ; their status
540-399: A commercial firm. Upon the success of the expedition, the spoils of war were divvied up in proportion to the amount a participant initially staked, with the leader receiving the largest share. Participants supplied their own armor and weapons, and those who had a horse received two shares, one for himself, the second recognizing the value of the horse as a machine of war. For the conquest era,
675-699: A complex, hierarchical bureaucracy, which in many ways was decentralized. The crown asserted is authority and sovereignty of the territory and vassals it claimed, collected taxes, maintained public order, meted out justice, and established policies for governance of large indigenous populations. Many institutions established in Castile found expression in The Indies from the early colonial period. Spanish universities expanded to train lawyer-bureaucrats ( letrados ) for administrative positions in Spain and its overseas empire. The end of
810-536: A crude fort built on his first voyage in 1492, had been abandoned by the time he returned in 1493. He then founded the settlement of La Isabela on the island they named Hispaniola (now divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic ). Spanish explorations of other islands in the Caribbean and what turned out to be the mainland of South and Central America occupied them for over two decades. Columbus had promised
945-500: A hunting god of the Aztecs . Tohil was the patron deity of the Kaweq lineage of the Kʼicheʼ. He was associated with a sacred deerskin bundle that was said to embody him, and one of his titles was Qajawal Kej ("Our Lord Deer"). The deity was associated with thunder, lightning and the sunrise. The Kaweq lineage of the Kʼicheʼ built a temple to Tohil at their first capital Jacawitz, identified as
1080-468: A labor force. Spaniards continued to expand their presence in the circum-Caribbean region with expeditions. One was by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba in 1517, another by Juan de Grijalva in 1518, which brought promising news of possibilities there. Even by the mid-1510s, the western Caribbean was largely unexplored by Spaniards. A well-connected settler in Cuba, Hernán Cortés received authorization in 1519 by
1215-674: A long campaign that took decades of fighting to subdue the mightiest empire in the Americas. In the following years, Spain extended its rule over the Empire of the Inca civilization . The Spanish took advantage of a recent civil war between the factions of the two brothers Emperor Atahualpa and Huáscar , and the enmity of indigenous nations the Incas had subjugated, such as the Huanca , Chachapoyas , and Cañaris . In
1350-452: A main scholarly concern. In the course of the 1960s and over the following decades, however, dynastic research came to dominate interest in the subject. A concept of royal ʼ shamanism ʼ, chiefly propounded by Linda Schele and Freidel, came to occupy the forefront instead. Yet, Classic Maya civilization , being highly ritualistic, would have been unthinkable without a developed priesthood . Like other Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican priesthoods ,
1485-533: A major metropolis, it held no interest for Spaniards and the 1535–36 settlement failed and was abandoned by 1541. Pedro de Mendoza and Domingo Martínez de Irala , who led the original expedition, went inland and founded Asunción, Paraguay , which became the Spaniards' base. A second (and permanent) settlement was established in 1580 by Juan de Garay , who arrived by sailing down the Paraná River from Asunción , now
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#17330847448571620-452: A phase of inland expeditions and conquest. In 1500 the city of Nueva Cádiz was founded on the island of Cubagua , Venezuela, followed by the founding of Santa Cruz by Alonso de Ojeda in the present-day Guajira Peninsula . Cumaná in Venezuela was the first permanent settlement founded by Europeans in the mainland Americas, in 1501 by Franciscan friars , but due to successful attacks by
1755-462: A port city so that inland settlements could be connected by sea to Spain. In Mexico, Hernán Cortés and the men of his expedition founded of the port town of Veracruz in 1519 and constituted themselves as the town councilors, as a means to throw off the authority of the governor of Cuba, who did not authorize an expedition of conquest. Once the Aztec Empire was toppled, they founded Mexico City on
1890-572: A serpent were common from the end of the Classic Period through to the Late Postclassic and may represent Qʼuqʼumatz in the act of carrying Hunahpu , the youthful avatar of the sun god Tohil, across the sky. The god's association with human sacrifice meant that Tohil was one of the first deities that the Spanish clergy tried to eradicate after the conquest of Guatemala . Indeed, it's known that
2025-479: A source in Huancavelica (founded 1572), while Mexico had to rely on mercury imported from Spain. The Spanish founded towns in the Caribbean, on Hispaniola and Cuba, on a pattern that became spatially similar throughout Spanish America. A central plaza had the most important buildings on the four sides, especially buildings for royal officials and the main church. A checkerboard pattern radiated outward. Residences of
2160-407: A source of their own wealth, disappearing before their eyes. In the first settlements in the Caribbean, the Spaniards deliberately brought animals and plants that transformed the ecological landscape. Pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens allowed Spaniards to eat a diet with which they were familiar. But the importation of horses transformed warfare for both the Spaniards and the indigenous. Where
2295-400: A spirit. In reference to these features, they are often loosely called 'shamans' by ethnographers. On the other hand, priests are chiefly cultic functionaries operating within a well-defined hierarchy and offering food , sacrifices and prayers to the deities on behalf of social groups situated on different levels. In 20th-century Maya communities of the north-western Guatemalan highlands,
2430-399: Is Lope de Aguirre , who led a mutiny against Ursúa, who was murdered. Aguirre subsequently wrote a letter to Philip II bitterly complaining about the treatment of conquerors like himself in the wake of the assertion of crown control over Peru. An earlier expedition that left in 1527 was led by Pánfilo Naváez , who was killed early on. Survivors continued to travel among indigenous groups in
2565-480: Is a quarter moon, when it rains one or two days, all the other days have such a beautiful sunshine... Chile was explored by Spaniards based in Peru, where Spaniards found the fertile soil and mild climate attractive. The Mapuche people of Chile, whom the Spaniards called Araucanians , resisted fiercely. The Spanish did establish the settlement of Chile in 1541, founded by Pedro de Valdivia . Southward colonization by
2700-528: Is commonly given credit for being the first European to sight Florida in 1513. For political reasons, Spain would sometimes claim that La Florida was all of the North American continent. However, the name was typically used to refer to the peninsula itself as well as the Gulf Coast , Georgia, Carolina, and southern Virginia . In 1521, Ponce de Leon was killed while trying to establish a settlement near what
2835-463: Is likened to the suckling of an infant by its mother. Tohil was originally part of the Tolteca pantheon and was introduced in Postclassic Maya culture. He has been compared to the same god Qʼuqʼumatz , and shared attributes of the feathered serpent with that deity, but they later diverged and each deity came to have a separate priesthood. Sculptures of a human face emerging between the jaws of
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#17330847448572970-568: Is most clearly seen in the conquest of the Aztec Empire with the alliance of the Nahua city-state of Tlaxcala against the Aztec Empire resulting in lasting benefits to themselves and their descendants. Patterns of the first Spanish settlements in the Caribbean were to endure there and had a lasting impact on the Spanish Empire. Until his dying day, Columbus was convinced that he had reached Asia,
3105-477: Is now Charlotte Harbor, Florida . Another failed attempt was conducted by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón , who set out with approximately 500 colonists and established the settlement of San Miguel de Gualdape in modern-day South Carolina in 1526. In 1559, Tristán de Luna y Arellano established the first multi-year European settlement in the United States in what is now Pensacola , Florida. This settlement predates
3240-612: Is sometimes referred to as "the Last Conquistador ", expanded Spanish sovereignty over what is now New Mexico. Like previous conquistadors, Oñate engaged in widespread abuses of the Indian population. Shortly after founding Santa Fe , Oñate was recalled to Mexico City by the Spanish authorities. He was subsequently tried and convicted of cruelty to both natives and colonists and banished from New Mexico for life. Two major factors affected
3375-543: The Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) in Seville. Ships and cargoes were registered, and emigrants vetted to prevent migration of anyone not of Old Christian heritage, (i.e., with no Jewish or Muslim ancestry), and facilitated the migration of families and women. In addition, the Casa de Contratación took charge of the fiscal organization, and of the organization and judicial control of
3510-402: The adelantado was a senior with material wealth and standing who could persuade the crown to issue him a license for an expedition. He also had to attract participants to the expedition who staked their own lives and meager fortunes on the expectation of the expedition's success. The leader of the expedition pledged the larger share of capital to the enterprise, which in many ways functioned as
3645-542: The Audiencia of Bogotá , and comprised an area corresponding mainly to modern-day Colombia and parts of Venezuela . The conquistadors originally organized it as a captaincy general within the Viceroyalty of Peru . The crown established the audiencia in 1549. Ultimately, the kingdom became part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada first in 1717 and permanently in 1739. After several attempts to set up independent states in
3780-511: The Carolinas , Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, and California. Puerto Rico was also colonized by the Spanish during this era, occasioning the earliest contact between Africans and what would become the United States (via the free Black conquistador Juan Garrido ). Free and enslaved Africans were a feature of New Spain throughout the colonial period. One of the colonists who conquered Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de León ,
3915-550: The Catholic Church peacefully or by force. The crown created civil and religious structures to administer the vast territory. Spanish men and women settled in greatest numbers where there were dense indigenous populations and the existence of valuable resources for extraction . The Spanish Empire claimed jurisdiction over the New World in the Caribbean and North and South America, with the exception of Brazil, ceded to Portugal by
4050-765: The Chac Mool under the Temple of the Warriors), long-robed, aged and ascetic-looking characters with broad-rimmed feather hats have been depicted that are carrying offerings. They are seated in a row with rain deity impersonators (perhaps rainmakers) directly behind them, and have been interpreted as Itzá priests. In dictionaries concerning the 16th-century Pokom Mayas of the Verapaz , one finds terms like ah mai and ah zi 'those who make offerings'; ah zacumvach , 'white countenance' and ah quih for diviner; and ihcamcavil , 'carrier of
4185-487: The Spanish Empire were under the jurisdiction of Crown of Castile until the last territory was lost in 1898 . Spaniards saw the dense populations of indigenous peoples as an important economic resource and the territory claimed as potentially producing great wealth for individual Spaniards and the crown. Religion played an important role in the Spanish conquest and incorporation of indigenous peoples, bringing them into
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4320-505: The Treaty of Tordesillas . Other European powers, including England, France, and the Dutch Republic, took possession of territories initially claimed by Spain. Although the overseas territories under the jurisdiction of the Spanish crown are now commonly called "colonies" the term was not used until the second half of 18th century. The process of Spanish settlement, now called "colonization" and
4455-671: The conquest of the Incan Empire , which used similar tactics and began in 1532, was the conquest of the Aztecs matched in scale of either territory or treasure. In 1532 at the Battle of Cajamarca a group of Spaniards under Francisco Pizarro and their indigenous Andean Indian auxiliaries native allies ambushed and captured the Emperor Atahualpa of the Inca Empire . It was the first step in
4590-593: The idol ', a function like that fulfilled by the first ancestors of the Kʼicheʼ and probably referring to priests serving in processions. Black sorcerers ( ah itz , ah var , ah kakzik ) were consulted by lords and princes for witchcraft against enemies and for defensive magic . At least seven centuries separate the early Spanish missionary descriptions of the Maya priesthood from Classic Maya society. Although archaic religions tend to be very conservative, it can not be assumed beforehand that these descriptions are valid for
4725-456: The "colonial era" are terms contested by scholars of Latin America and more generally. It is estimated that during the period 1492–1832, a total of 1.86 million Spaniards settled in the Americas, and a further 3.5 million immigrated during the post-independence era (1850–1950); the estimate is 250,000 in the 16th century and most during the 18th century, as immigration was encouraged by
4860-469: The 1540s and regional capitals founded by the 1550s. Among the most notable expeditions are Hernando de Soto into southeast North America, leaving from Cuba (1539–1542); Francisco Vázquez de Coronado to northern Mexico (1540–1542), and Gonzalo Pizarro to Amazonia, leaving from Quito, Ecuador (1541–1542). In 1561, Pedro de Ursúa led an expedition of some 370 Spanish (including women and children) into Amazonia to search for El Dorado. Far more famous now
4995-439: The 1810s, the kingdom and the viceroyalty ceased to exist altogether in 1819 with the establishment of Gran Colombia . Venezuela was first visited by Europeans during the 1490s, when Columbus was in control of the region, and the region as a source for indigenous slaves for Spaniards in Cuba and Hispaniola, since the Spanish destruction of the local indigenous population. There were few permanent settlements, but Spaniards settled
5130-576: The Andes to the east, Pacific Ocean to the west, and indigenous to the south. Between 1537 and 1543, six Spanish expeditions entered highland Colombia, conquered the Muisca Confederation , and set up the New Kingdom of Granada (Spanish: Nuevo Reino de Granada ). Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada was the leading conquistador with his brother Hernán second in command. It was governed by the president of
5265-580: The Argentine pampas. The introduction of sheep production was an ecological disaster in places where they were raised in great numbers, since they ate vegetation to the ground, preventing the regeneration of plants. The Spanish brought new crops for cultivation. (See Mission Garden for specific foods.) They preferred wheat cultivation to indigenous sources of carbohydrates: casava, maize (corn), and potatoes, initially importing seeds from Europe and planting in areas where plow agriculture could be utilized, such as
5400-506: The Aztec Empire and the Spanish conquest of Peru , more stringent laws to control conquerors' and settlers' exercise of power, especially their maltreatment of the indigenous populations, were promulgated, known as the New Laws (1542). The crown aimed to prevent the formation of an aristocracy in the Indies not under crown control. Queen Isabel was the first monarch that laid the first stone for
5535-827: The Aztec and Inca indigenous civilizations, and rich deposits of the valuable metal silver. Spanish settlement in Mexico "largely replicated the organization of the area in preconquest times". However, in Peru the center of the Incas was too far south, too remote, and at too high an altitude for the Spanish capital, so the capital Lima was built near the Pacific coast. The capitals of both Mexico and Peru (Mexico City and Lima) came to have large concentrations of Spanish settlers and hubs of royal and ecclesiastical administration, large commercial enterprises with skilled artisans, and centers of culture. Although Spaniards had hoped to find vast quantities of gold,
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5670-415: The Aztec emperor Moctezuma II , by Cortés was not a brilliant stroke of innovation, but came from the playbook that the Spanish developed during their period in the Caribbean. The composition of the expedition was the standard pattern, with a senior leader, and participating men investing in the enterprise with the full expectation of rewards if they did not lose their lives. Cortés's seeking indigenous allies
5805-526: The Catholic Monarchs gave official approval for the plans for Columbus's voyage to reach "the Indies" by sailing West, the funding came from the queen of Castile. The profits from Spanish expedition flowed to Castile. The Kingdom of Portugal authorized a series of voyages down the coast of Africa and when they rounded the southern tip, were able to sail to India and further east. Spain sought similar wealth, and authorized Columbus's voyage sailing west. Once
5940-529: The Chichimeca demanded. "Peace by purchase" ended the conflict. In southern Chile and the pampas, the Araucanians (Mapuche) prevented further Spanish expansion. The image of mounted Araucanians capturing and carrying off white women was the embodiment of Spanish ideas of civilization and barbarism. Cattle multiplied quickly in areas where little else could turn a profit for Spaniards, including northern Mexico and
6075-493: The Classic period, the king should probably be considered a sacred, priestly king , perhaps subsuming in his person the priesthood as a whole. The latter idea has been used as an explanation for the seeming lack of references to priests in Classic period texts. The idea of the king representing the priesthood should not be pushed to its limits, however, since due to our lack of knowledge of priestly titles and imperfect understanding of
6210-428: The Classic priesthood as well. It has been suggested that the priestly function of the king completely overshadowed that of the priests (see above). Nonetheless, Classic iconography appears to show various sorts of priests, and some hieroglyphic titles have been suggested to be priestly ones. Amongst these are ajkʼuhuun ('worshipper'), yajaw kʼahk ('master of fire'), ti'sakhuun ('prophet'), and yajaw te' ('master of
6345-451: The Columbus voyages, which were funded by the crown of Castile, were done at the expense of the leader of the expedition and its participants. Although often the participants, conquistadors , are now termed "soldiers", they were not paid soldiers in ranks of an army, but rather soldiers of fortune , who joined an expedition with the expectation of profiting from it. The leader of an expedition,
6480-502: The Comanche in the northern Great Plains and the Mapuche in southern Chile and the pampas of Argentina resisted Spanish conquest. For Spaniards, the fierce Chichimecas barred them for exploiting mining resources in northern Mexico. Spaniards waged a fifty-year war (ca. 1550–1600) to subdue them, but peace was only achieved by Spaniards' making significant donations of food and other commodities
6615-517: The Dominican Republic (Hispaniola), have become important. Dominican friar Antonio de Montesinos denounced Spanish cruelty and abuse in a sermon in 1511, which comes down to us in the writings of Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas . In 1542 Dominican friar Bartolomé de Las Casas wrote a damning account of this demographic catastrophe, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies . It
6750-529: The German Welser and Fugger banking families. To satisfy his debts to the Welsers, he granted them the right to colonize and exploit western Venezuela, with the proviso that they found two towns with 300 settlers each and construct fortifications. They established the colony of Klein-Venedig in 1528. They founded the towns of Coro and Maracaibo . They were aggressive in making their investment pay, alienating
6885-540: The Habsburg dynasty in 1700 saw major administrative reforms in the eighteenth century under the Bourbon monarchy, starting with the first Spanish Bourbon monarch, Philip V (r. 1700–1746) and reaching its apogee under Charles III (r. 1759–1788). The reorganization of administration has been called "a revolution in government." Reforms sought to centralize government control through reorganization of administration, reinvigorate
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#17330847448577020-451: The Indies. From that misperception the Spanish called the indigenous peoples of the Americas , "Indians" ( indios ), lumping a multiplicity of civilizations, groups, and individuals into a single category. The Spanish royal government called its overseas possessions "The Indies" until its empire dissolved in the nineteenth century. In the Caribbean, because there was no integrated indigenous civilization such as found in Mexico and Peru, there
7155-508: The Kaqchikel tribe was against the human sacrifice demanded by Tohil to bring them fire. For this reason they stole the fire from the deity — Kaqchikel means “fire thieves.” This is the principal cause of enmity between the K'iche and Kaqchikel peoples. There is disagreement over the meaning of the name of the deity. It has been interpreted as meaning " obsidian ", as deriving from the word toh ("rain") and as meaning "tribute" or "payment". Tohil
7290-590: The Kʼicheʼ epic Popul Vuh , after the first people were created, they gathered at the mythical Tollan or Tula , the Place of the Seven Caves, to receive their language and their gods . The Kʼicheʼ, and others, there received Tohil. Tohil demanded blood sacrifice from the Kʼicheʼ and so they offered their own blood and also that of sacrificed captives taken in battle. In the Popul Vuh this consumption of blood by Tohil
7425-636: The Late Postclassic, with additional data stemming from the contemporaneous Guatemalan Highlands . The Maya class of the priests is sometimes thought to have emerged from a pre-existing network of shamans as social complexity grew. The classic Siberian shaman is characterised by his intimate relationship with one or several helper spirits, 'ecstatic' voyages into non-human realms, and often operates individually, on behalf of his clients. In 20th-century Maya communities, diviners , and also curers , may show some features of true shamans, particularly vocation through illness or dreams , trance , and communication with
7560-452: The Maya nobility who could not obtain political office. They were trained through an apprentice system, with young adults being selected according to their descent and individual abilities. The high priest of the kingdom ('province') was called ahau can mai or ah kin mai , with mai being either a family name or a functional designation. The position was hereditary, usually passed on to sons or close relatives . The high priest lived from
7695-497: The Mexican Bajío . They also imported cane sugar, which was a high-value crop in early Spanish America. Spaniards also imported citrus trees, establishing orchards of oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit. Other imports were figs, apricots, cherries, pears, and peaches among others. The exchange did not go one way. Important indigenous crops that transformed Europe were the potato and maize , which produced abundant crops that led to
7830-725: The Muslims since 711. On 31 March 1492, the Catholic Monarch ordered the expulsion of the Jews in Spain who refused to convert to Christianity. Having departed from the port of Palos de la Frontera on 3 August 1492, on 12 October 1492, Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus and his crew made landfall in the Western Hemisphere, and in 1493 permanent Spanish settlement of the Americas began. Castile and Aragon were ruled jointly by their respective monarchs, but they remained separate kingdoms. When
7965-469: The North American south and southwest until 1536. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was one of four survivors of that expedition, writing an account of it. The crown later sent him to Asunción , Paraguay to be adelantado there. Expeditions continued to explore territories in hopes of finding another Aztec or Inca empire, with no further success. Francisco de Ibarra led an expedition from Zacatecas in northern New Spain, and founded Durango . Juan de Oñate ,
8100-511: The Seven Cities in 1599–1604. This Mapuche victory laid the foundation for the establishment of a Spanish-Mapuche frontier called La Frontera . Within this frontier the city of Concepción assumed the role of "military capital" of Spanish-ruled Chile. With a hostile indigenous population, no obvious mineral or other exploitable resources, and little strategic value, Chile was a fringe area of colonial Spanish America, hemmed in geographically by
8235-403: The Spaniards had exclusive access to horses in warfare, they had an advantage over indigenous warriors on foot. They were initially a scarce commodity, but horse breeding became an active industry. Horses that escaped Spanish control were captured by indigenous; many indigenous also raided for horses. Mounted indigenous warriors were significant foes for Spaniards. The Chichimeca in northern Mexico,
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#17330847448578370-503: The Spanish empire had a royal treasury controlled by a set of oficiales reales (royal officials). There were also sub-treasuries at important ports and mining districts. The officials of the royal treasury at each level of government typically included two to four positions: a tesorero (treasurer), the senior official who guarded money on hand and made payments; a contador (accountant or comptroller ), who recorded income and payments, maintained records, and interpreted royal instructions;
8505-612: The Spanish in Chile halted after the conquest of Chiloé Archipelago in 1567. This is thought to have been the result of an increasingly harsh climate to the south, and the lack of a populous and sedentary indigenous population to settle among for the Spanish in the fjords and channels of Patagonia . South of the Bío-Bío River the Mapuche successfully reversed colonization with the Destruction of
8640-451: The Spanish settlement in the Caribbean occurred, Spain and Portugal formalized a division of the world between them in the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas . The deeply pious Isabella saw the expansion of Spain's sovereignty inextricably paired with the evangelization of non-Christian peoples, the so-called "spiritual conquest" with the military conquest. Pope Alexander VI in a 4 May 1493 papal decree, Inter caetera , divided rights to lands in
8775-463: The Spanish, to extract mineral wealth or produce another valuable commodity for Spanish enrichment. The labor of dense populations of Taínos were allocated as grants to Spanish settlers in an institution known as the encomienda , where particular indigenous settlements were awarded to individual Spaniards. There was surface gold found in early islands, and holders of encomiendas put the indigenous to work panning for it. For all practical purposes, this
8910-625: The Three Levels, Lord of Rain, Lord of Maize, and Lord of all the Mountains ". This priest blesses deerskins prior them being worn, with head and antlers attached, during the Dance of Martin on November 11 prior to the maize harvest. King Martin is probably a blend of Tohil and his deerskin bundle with the Roman Catholic St Martin of Tours , whose feast falls on the same day. In Rabinal , Tohil
9045-685: The Western Hemisphere between Spain and Portugal on the proviso that they spread Christianity. These formal arrangements between Spain and Portugal and the pope were ignored by other European powers, with the French, the English, and the Dutch seizing territory in the Caribbean and in North America claimed by Spain but not effectively settled. Portugal's claim to part of South America under the Treaty of Tordesillas resulted in
9180-406: The archaeological site of Chitinamit . Jacawitz was overlooked by a shrine to the god placed on a neighbouring peak, this shrine was known as Pa Tohil. Later the Kʼicheʼ built their main temple to Tohil at Qʼumarkaj , their new capital. They made him offerings on the day Toh , one of the days of their 20-day calendar cycle. The Kʼicheʼ performed the Great Dance of Tohil in honour of the deity in
9315-402: The attributes of Late-Postclassic priesthood mentioned in Yucatec sources. Among these Postclassic attributes are long, heavy vestments and 'chasubles'; feather jackets; 'miters'; aspergillums ; and tail-like ribbons hanging down from the jacket. Chief among the patron deities of the Classic priests was the upper god, Itzamna , first priest and first writer, still shown officiating in one of
9450-419: The beginning of Spanish power beyond the Iberian Peninsula . They pursued a policy of joint rule of their kingdoms and created the initial stage of a single Spanish monarchy , completed under the eighteenth-century Bourbon monarchs. The first expansion of territory was the conquest of the Muslim Emirate of Granada on 1 January 1492, the culmination of the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, held by
9585-400: The behavior of Spanish settlers in the Americas, particularly with regards to treatment of native Indians in the institution of the encomienda . They forbade the maltreatment of natives, and endorsed the forced resettlement of indigenous populations with attempts of conversion to Catholicism. Upon their failure to effectively protect the indigenous and following the Spanish conquest of
9720-471: The capital of Paraguay . Exploration from Peru resulted in the foundation of Tucumán in what is now northwest Argentina. Much of what is now the Southern United States was claimed by Spain, some of it at least explored by the Spanish starting in the early 1500s, and some permanent settlements established. Spanish explorers claimed land for the crown in the modern-day states of Alabama, Arizona,
9855-498: The coastal islands of Cubagua and Margarita to exploit the pearl beds. Western Venezuela's history took an atypical direction in 1528, when Spain's first Hapsburg monarch, Charles I granted rights to colonize to the German banking family of the Welsers . Charles sought to be elected Holy Roman Emperor and was willing to pay whatever it took to achieve that. He became deeply indebted to
9990-453: The colonial economy. In Peru, silver was found in a single silver mountain, the Cerro Rico de Potosí , which is still producing silver in the 21st century. Potosí (founded 1545) was in the zone of dense indigenous settlement, so that labor could be mobilized on traditional patterns to extract the ore. An important element for productive mining was mercury for processing high-grade ore. Peru had
10125-409: The conditions in a jurisdiction, the position of factor/veedor was often eliminated, as well. The treasury officials were appointed by the king, and were largely independent of the authority of the viceroy, audiencia president or governor. On the death, unauthorized absence, retirement or removal of a governor, the treasury officials would jointly govern the province until a new governor appointed by
10260-425: The conquest of central Mexico include accounts by the expedition leader Hernán Cortés, Bernal Díaz del Castillo and other Spanish conquistadors, indigenous allies from the city-states altepetl of Tlaxcala, Texcoco , and Huexotzinco. In addition, indigenous accounts were written by the defeated from the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan , a case of history being written by those other than the victors. The capture of
10395-453: The contributions of his town priests and the gifts of the lords . The responsibilities of the ahau can mai included the writing of books ; the teaching of the Maya script and the Maya calendar to the novices; examining and appointing new priests and providing them with books; performing the more important rituals; and advising the other lords. The town priest was called ah kʼin , a word with
10530-522: The conventional sense but were the rulers of a confederation of dozens of city-states and other polities; the status of each varied from harshly subjugated to closely allied. The Spaniards persuaded the leaders of Aztec vassals and Tlaxcala (a city-state never conquered by the Aztecs), to ally with them against the Aztecs. Through such methods, the Spaniards came to accumulate a massive force of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of indigenous warriors. Records of
10665-482: The creation of Portuguese colony of Brazil. Although during the rule of Charles V , the Spanish Empire was the first to be called " The empire on which the sun never sets ", under Philip II the permanent colonization of the Philippine Islands made it demonstrably true. The Spanish expansion has sometimes been succinctly summed up as being motivated by "gold, glory, God", that is, the search for material wealth,
10800-479: The crown put in place laws to protect their newly converted indigenous vassals. Europeans imported enslaved Africans to the early Caribbean settlements to replace indigenous labor and enslaved and free Africans were part of colonial-era populations. A mixed-race casta population came into being during the period of Spanish rule. In the early 19th century, the Spanish American wars of independence resulted in
10935-453: The crown that the region he now controlled held a huge treasure in the form of gold and spices. Spanish settlers initially found relatively dense populations of indigenous peoples, who were agriculturalists living in villages ruled by leaders not part of a larger integrated political system. The Spanish saw these populations as a source of labor, there for their exploitation, to supply their own settlements with foodstuffs, but more importantly for
11070-405: The density of Spanish settlement in the long term. One was the presence or absence of dense, hierarchically organized indigenous populations that could be made to work. The other was the presence or absence of an exploitable resource for the enrichment of settlers. Best was gold, but silver was found in abundance. The two main areas of Spanish settlement after 1550 were Mexico and Peru, the sites of
11205-457: The discovery of large quantities of silver became the motor of the Spanish colonial economy, a major source of income for the Spanish crown, and transformed the international economy. Mining regions in Mexico were remote, outside the zone of indigenous settlement in central and southern Mexico Mesoamerica , but mines in Zacatecas (founded 1548) and Guanajuato (founded 1548) emerged as key hubs in
11340-579: The earliest colonial dictionaries, yet only with the restricted meaning of 'craftsman'. Originally only a maker of all sorts of poultices, the curer- ahmen gradually appears to have become a maker of prayers and sacrifices as well. Naturally, then, priestly ahmenob are not yet mentioned in Landa's account. The literate aspects of the Prehispanic priesthood were partly assumed by local school masters and church singers ( maestros cantores ), who may also have been among
11475-403: The early Caribbean period, particularly Frey Nicolás de Ovando , who was sent to investigate the administration of Francisco de Bobadilla , the governor appointed to succeed Christopher Columbus. Later ecclesiastics served as interim viceroys, general inspectors (visitadores), and other high posts. The crown established control over trade and emigration to the Indies with the 1503 establishment
11610-512: The early Maya priesthood consisted of a hierarchy of professional priests serving as intermediaries between the population and the deities . Their basic skill was the art of reading and writing. The priesthood as a whole was the keeper of knowledge concerning the deities and their cult , including calendrics, astrology , divination, and prophecy. In addition, they were experts in historiography and genealogy . Priests were usually male and could marry. Most of our knowledge concerns Yucatán in
11745-587: The economies of Spain and the Spanish empire through changes in mercantile and fiscal policies, defend Spanish colonies and territorial claims through the establishment of a standing military, undermine the power of the Catholic church, and rein in the power of the American-born elites. The crown relied on ecclesiastics as important councilors and royal officials in the governance of their overseas territories. Archbishop Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca , Isabella's confessor,
11880-442: The enhancement of the conquerors' and the crown's position, and the expansion of Christianity to the exclusion of other religious traditions. In the extension of Spanish sovereignty to its overseas territories, authority for expeditions ( entradas ) of discovery, conquest, and settlement resided in the monarchy. Expeditions required authorization by the crown, which laid out the terms of such expedition. Virtually all expeditions after
12015-700: The expansion of populations in Europe. Chocolate and vanilla were cultivated in Mexico and exported to Europe. Among the foodstuffs that became staples in European cuisine and could be grown there were tomatoes, squashes, bell peppers, cashews , pecans and peanuts . The empire in the Indies was a newly established dependency of the kingdom of Castile alone, so crown power was not impeded by any existing cortes (i.e. parliament), administrative or ecclesiastical institution, or seigneurial group. The crown sought to establish and maintain control over its overseas possessions through
12150-481: The first ancestors as "bloodletters and sacrificers" and as the carriers of their deities , a priestly function. To the Kʼicheʼ kings and highest dignitaries coming after them, the kingship was a sacred institution and the temple service a duty: during certain intervals, they abstained from intercourse , fasted , prayed, and burnt offerings , "pleading for the light and the life of their vassals and servants." Although
12285-530: The following years the conquistadors and indigenous allies extended control over Greater Andes Region. The Viceroyalty of Perú was established in 1542. The last Inca stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572. Peru was the last territory on the continent under Spanish rule, which ended on 9 December 1824 at the Battle of Ayacucho (Spanish rule continued until 1898 in Cuba and Puerto Rico). [Chile] has four months of winter, no more, and in them, except when there
12420-451: The foundation of St. Augustine by six years, marking an important yet often overlooked moment in the history of Spanish colonization. Archaeological evidence from the University of West Florida has confirmed the presence of Luna's expedition, which included 1,500 people and lasted from 1559 to 1561. The artifacts discovered at the site provide a direct link to Spain's early efforts to colonize
12555-439: The governor of Cuba to form an expedition of exploration-only to this far western region. That expedition was to make world history. The Caribbean islands became less central to Spain's overseas colonization, but remained important strategically and economically, especially the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. Smaller islands claimed by Spain were lost to the English and the Dutch, with France taking half of Hispaniola and establishing
12690-420: The governor, it could be joined the military ones, according to military requirements, with the rank of Captain general . The office of captain general involved to be the supreme military chief of the whole territory and he was responsible for recruiting and providing troops, the fortification of the territory, the supply and the shipbuilding. Beginning in 1522 in the newly conquered Mexico, government units in
12825-582: The hall of the dwelling of the petty king, Ajau Kan Ekʼ, was a stone table with twelve seats for the priests. This priestly college is reminiscent of the twelve head priests of the kingdom of Mayapan. The Itzá high priest should perhaps be counted its 13th member. Thirteen priests are also mentioned as part of a classificatory system shared by the Yucatec and the Itzá states, and further comprising 13 katuns , 13 provinces and 13 ambassadors. In Chichen Itza ( Temple of
12960-511: The hierarchies of 'Prayermakers' offer examples of such priests. The Pre-Hispanic religious functionaries described by men like Diego de Landa , Tomás de Torquemada and Bartolomé de las Casas were also priests, not shamans. Among the Mayas, priestly functions were often fulfilled by dignitaries who were not professional priests, but this fact cannot be used to argue the nonexistence of a separate priesthood. The Popol Vuh stereotypically describes
13095-661: The indigenous people, it had to be refounded several times, until Diego Hernández de Serpa 's foundation in 1569. The Spanish founded San Sebastián de Uraba in 1509 but abandoned it within the year. There is indirect evidence that the first permanent Spanish mainland settlement established in the Americas was Santa María la Antigua del Darién . Spaniards spent over 25 years in the Caribbean where their initial high hopes of dazzling wealth gave way to continuing exploitation of disappearing indigenous populations, exhaustion of local gold mines, initiation of cane sugar cultivation as an export product, and forced migration of enslaved Africans as
13230-581: The indigenous peoples. After the end of the period of conquests, it was necessary to manage extensive and different territories with a strong bureaucracy. In the face of the impossibility of the Castilian institutions to take care of the New World affairs, other new institutions were created. As the basic political entity it was the governorate, or province. The governors exercised judicial ordinary functions of first instance, and prerogatives of government legislating by ordinances. To these political functions of
13365-554: The indigenous population. From the Spanish viewpoint, their source of labor and viability of their own settlements was at risk. After the collapse of the Taino population of Hispaniola, Spaniards began raiding indigenous settlements on nearby islands, including Cuba , Puerto Rico , and Jamaica , to enslave those populations, replicating the demographic catastrophe there as well. The names of two indigenous leaders ( caciques ) who rebelled against Spanish colonization, Enriquillo and Hatuey in
13500-399: The indigenous populations and Spaniards alike. Charles revoked the grant in 1545, ending the episode of German colonization . Argentina was not conquered or later exploited in the grand fashion of central Mexico or Peru, since the indigenous population was sparse and there were no precious metals or other valuable resources. Although today Buenos Aires at the mouth of Río de la Plata is
13635-446: The king could take up his duties. Treasury officials were supposed to be paid out of the income from the province, and were normally prohibited from engaging in income-producing activities. The protection of the indigenous populations from enslavement and exploitation by Spanish settlers were established in the Laws of Burgos , 1512–1513. The laws were the first codified set of laws governing
13770-644: The launching point for further expeditions. These were often led by secondary leaders, such as Pedro de Alvarado . Later conquests in Mexico were protracted campaigns with less immediate results than the conquest of the Aztec Empire. The Spanish conquest of Yucatán , the Spanish conquest of Guatemala , the conquest of the Purépecha of Michoacan, the war of Mexico's west , and the Chichimeca War in northern Mexico expanded Spanish control over territory and indigenous populations stretching thousands of miles. Not until
13905-589: The month of Tzʼikin Qʼij , prior to the maize harvest (which takes place in November). This dance took place at Qʼumarkaj and involved a gathering of all the principal lineages subject to the Kʼicheʼ Kingdom of Qʼumarkaj , and as is described in the Kʼicheʼ chronicle Título de Totonicapán , they were expected to bring tribute, slaves and sacrifices. The priests of Tohil were known as Aj Tohil and were selected from
14040-447: The names of two Spaniards are popularly known because they led the conquests of two indigenous empires, Hernán Cortés , leader of the expedition involved in the conquest of the Aztec Empire , and Francisco Pizarro , leader of the conquest of the Inca in Peru. Spanish conquerors took advantage of indigenous rivalries to forge alliances with groups seeing an advantage for their own goals. This
14175-462: The new Bourbon dynasty . The indigenous population plummeted by an estimated 80% in the first century and a half following Columbus's voyages, primarily through the spread of infectious diseases . Practices of forced labor and slavery for resource extraction, and forced resettlement in new villages and later missions were implemented. Alarmed by the precipitous fall in indigenous populations and reports of settlers' exploitation of their labor,
14310-638: The northern Gulf Coast. In the fall of 1528, Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca landed on present day Follet's Island, Texas . In 1565, Spain established a settlement in St. Augustine, Florida , lasting in one way or another until modern times. Permanent Spanish settlements were founded in New Mexico , starting in 1598, with Santa Fe founded in 1610. The spectacular conquests of central Mexico (1519–1521) and Peru (1532) sparked Spaniards' hopes of finding yet another high civilization. Expeditions continued into
14445-434: The officials and elites were closest to the main square. Once on the mainland, where there were dense indigenous populations in urban settlements, the Spanish could build a Spanish settlement on the same site, dating its foundation to when that occurred. Often they erected a church on the site of an indigenous temple. They replicated the existing indigenous network of settlements, but added a port city. The Spanish network needed
14580-423: The participation of indigenous allies, the conquest of central Mexico was protracted and necessitated significant numbers of indigenous allies, who chose to participate in defeating the Aztec Empire for their own purposes. The conquest of the Aztec Empire involved the combined effort of armies from many indigenous allies, spearheaded by a small Spanish force of conquistadors. The Aztecs did not govern over an empire in
14715-550: The pictures of the Late-Postclassic Madrid Codex . Patron deities of writing and calendrical reckoning were of obvious importance to the priesthood, especially the writers among them, and included a Maya maize god and the Howler Monkey Gods . The Howler Monkey God also personified the day sign, suggesting that he may more specifically have been a patron of diviners. The priestly hierarchy disappeared in
14850-430: The protection of the indigenous peoples in her testament in which the Catholic monarch prohibited the enslavement of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Then the first such in 1542; the legal thought behind them was the basis of modern International law . Maya priesthood Until the discovery that Maya stelae depicted kings instead of high priests , the Maya priesthood and their preoccupations had been
14985-503: The rising sun in the east. This form of radial pyramid temple was built by the Maya since the Late Preclassic with examples at many archaeological sites such as Tikal , Copán and Chichen Itza , among others. According to John Lloyd Stephens , who visited the site in the 1830s, the temple base measured 66 feet (20 m) square and it stood 33 feet (10 m) high. At that time the radial stairways were more-or-less intact. The temple
15120-1037: The ruins of the Aztec capital. Their central official and ceremonial area was built on top of Aztec palaces and temples. In Peru, Spaniards founded the city of Lima as their capital and its nearby port of Callao , rather than the high-altitude site of Cuzco , the center of Inca rule. Spaniards established a network of settlements in areas they conquered and controlled. Important ones include Santiago de Guatemala (1524); Puebla (1531); Querétaro (ca. 1531); Guadalajara (1531–42); Valladolid (now Morelia ), (1529–41); Antequera (now Oaxaca (1525–29); Campeche (1541); and Mérida . In southern Central and South America, settlements were founded in Panama (1519); León, Nicaragua (1524); Cartagena (1532); Piura (1532); Quito (1534); Trujillo (1535); Cali (1537) Bogotá (1538); Quito (1534); Cuzco 1534); Lima (1535); Tunja , (1539); Huamanga (1539); Arequipa (1540); Santiago de Chile (1544) and Concepción, Chile (1550). Settled from
15255-402: The ruling Kaweq lineage of Qʼumarkaj. During their ceremonies to Tohil, the Kʼicheʼ would offer quetzal feathers to the god. Writing at the end of the 17th century, Francisco Ximénez described the tradition that upon the temple human sacrifices were tied before the representation of Tohil, where the priest would open the victim's chest and cut out his heart. After sacrifice, the victim's body
15390-417: The same deity under a different name. The Kʼicheʼ themselves claimed in the Popul Vuh that their patron Tohil was the same as Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs . The Temple of Tohil at Qʼumarkaj was the tallest structure in the city. The rubble core of the building still stands but the stone facing has been looted. The temple was originally a pyramid with stairways on all four sides, the summit shrine faced towards
15525-655: The script, textual references to priests may easily pass unnoticed. The existence of a separate Classic priesthood, at the kingdom 's court as well as in its towns and villages, is hardly doubtful; its absence would constitute an anomaly among early civilizations. The main description of a priestly hierarchy as it functioned in the first decades of the 16th century stems from Landa's account of Yucatec society, but isolated terms for priestly offices have also been transmitted from other Maya groups . In Yucatán, priests were sons of priests or second sons of nobles . The priesthood provided high status positions for those children of
15660-644: The secession of most of Spanish America and the establishment of independent nations. Continuing under crown rule were Cuba and Puerto Rico , along with the Philippines , which were all lost to the United States in 1898, following the Spanish–American War , ending its rule in the Americas. The expansion of Spain's territory took place under the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon , whose marriage marked
15795-480: The south were Buenos Aires (1536, 1580); Asunción (1537); Potosí (1545); La Paz, Bolivia (1548); and Tucumán (1553). The Columbian Exchange was as significant as the clash of civilizations. Arguably the most significant introduction was diseases brought to the Americas, which devastated indigenous populations in a series of epidemics. The loss of indigenous population had a direct impact on Spaniards as well, since increasingly they saw those populations as
15930-416: The sugar-producing colony of St-Domingue , as well as also taking other islands. With Spanish expansion into central Mexico under conqueror Hernán Cortés and the conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519-1521)Spanish explorers were able to find wealth on the scale that they had long hoped for. Unlike Spanish contact with indigenous populations in the Caribbean, which involved limited armed combat and sometimes
16065-407: The temples; for the early Choles, no regular priesthood is mentioned, so that one might assume that the chiefs performed the priestly functions themselves. The Yucatec king (or "head chief of a province "), known as the halach uinic ('true man'), is defined both as a ' governor ' and a ' bishop '. Without a grounding in esoteric and ritual knowledge, a ruler could apparently not function. For
16200-455: The territory, the king, as sovereign, and the appointed leader of an expedition ( adelantado ) agreed to an itemized contract ( capitulación ), with the specifics of the conditions of the expedition in a particular territory. The individual leaders of expeditions assumed the expenses of the venture and in return received as reward the grant from the government of the conquered territories; and in addition, they received instructions about treating
16335-494: The text describes the three temples dedicated to the first ancestors' patron deities and names what appear to be the two high priests of the main deities (the Lords Ah Tohil and Ah Cucumatz), it does not discuss, or even mention, local priests. According to some Yucatec sources, too, the rulers and the high nobility carried out priestly tasks. The highest Mayapan nobility, for example, is stated to have served continually in
16470-474: The trade with the Indies. The politics of asserting royal authority to oppose Columbus resulted in the suppression of his privileges and the creation of territorial governance under royal authority. These governorates, also called as provinces, were the basic of the territorial government of the Indies, and arose as the territories were conquered and colonized. To carry out the expedition ( entrada ), which entailed exploration, conquest, and initial settlement of
16605-664: The tree/woods'). Priestly duties included sacrifice and the propitiation of deities, inauguration of kings, writing and interpretation of codices, and of course maintenance of ritual spaces and paraphernalia. Without being permanent ministers, the kings of the Classic Period ( kʼuhul ajaw or "holy lord") regularly officiated ex officio as high priests. Classic art, particularly scenes on vases, depicts characters writing and reading books, aspersing and inaugurating kings, overseeing or performing human sacrifice , and presiding over burial rites, all activities suggestive of priests. These characters, sometimes aged and ascetic, can show some of
16740-472: The wake of the Spanish Conquest . Following the disastrous epidemics of the first colonial decades, the Mesoamerican priestly functions were restructured to fit within the incipient new order. In Yucatán, the village herbalists and curers seem to have become responsible for the rituals of the forest and the fields as well, and thus to have become a sort of village priests. Their name, ahmen , already occurs in
16875-535: The writers and compilers of the Chilam Balam books. In the Guatemalan Highlands, the colonial and modern development was different and eventually resulted in thoroughly organized, indigenous priestly hierarchies, such as that of Momostenango . In this town, a hierarchy of 'mother-fathers' is charged with the priestly tasks of prayer and sacrifice : two of them on behalf of the town as a whole, fourteen for
17010-458: Was a typical tactic of warfare: divide and conquer. But the indigenous allies had much to gain by throwing off Aztec rule. For the Spaniards' Tlaxcalan allies, their crucial support gained them enduring political legacy into the modern era, the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. The conquest of central Mexico sparked further Spanish conquests, following the pattern of conquered and consolidated regions being
17145-546: Was merged with St Paul while still retaining many of his characteristics. Spanish colonization of the Americas The Spanish colonization of the Americas began in 1493 on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) after the initial 1492 voyage of Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus under license from Queen Isabella I of Castile . These overseas territories of
17280-572: Was no large-scale Spanish conquest of indigenous peoples, but there was indigenous resistance to Spanish colonization. Columbus made four voyages to the West Indies as the monarchs granted Columbus vast powers of governance over this unknown part of the world. The crown of Castile financed more of his trans-Atlantic journeys, a pattern they would not repeat elsewhere. Effective Spanish settlement began in 1493, when Columbus brought livestock, seeds, agricultural equipment. The first settlement of La Navidad ,
17415-535: Was one of a trinity of gods worshipped by the Kʼicheʼ elite, together with Awilix and Jacawitz . The concept of a triad of deities was ancient in Maya religion , dating as far back as the Late Preclassic . The triad of Kʼicheʼ gods were sometimes referred to collectively as Tohil. Tohil has been equated with the Classic Period God K . The deity also possesses attributes that suggest a link with Mixcoatl ,
17550-452: Was originally covered in painted stucco , with the decoration including the painted image of a jaguar . Deerskins, the symbol of Tohil, are to this day venerated in many highland Maya communities and are used in dances. In the modern village of Santiago Atitlán in the Guatemalan highlands , a traditional Maya priesthood performs rites to a powerful deity addressed as " King Martin, Lord of
17685-655: Was probably hurled down the front stairway of the temple where his head would be severed to be placed on a skull rack that was located in front of the temple. Equivalents to Tohil were worshipped by other groups closely related to the Kʼicheʼ. These included Belehe Toh of the Kaqchikels and Hun Toh of the Rabinal , this last name meaning "One Rain", a calendrical date. The Kaqchikel and the Rabinal did not merely think their own patrons were equivalent to Tohil, they claimed that they were
17820-466: Was relatively low. Priests giving oracles were known as chilan or chilam , 'oracular priest' (often translated as ' prophet '; an influential role, with the Chilam Balam as a prime example). The chilan may have used mind -altering substances. The last independent Maya state, the 17th-century Itzá kingdom of Nojpetén , was ruled by the king, Kan Ekʼ and the high priest, Ajkʼín Kan Ekʼ. Their priesthood seems to have consisted of 12 priests: In
17955-504: Was slavery. Queen Isabel put an end to formal slavery, declaring the indigenous to be vassals of the crown, but Spaniards' exploitation of indigenous labor continued. The Taíno population on Hispaniola went from hundreds of thousands or millions – the estimates by scholars vary widely – but in the mid-1490s, they were practically wiped out. Disease and overwork, disruption of family life and the agricultural cycle (which caused severe food shortages to Spaniards dependent on them) rapidly decimated
18090-523: Was tasked with reining in Columbus's independence. He strongly influenced the formulation of colonial policy under the Catholic Monarchs, and was instrumental in establishing the Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) (1503), which enabled crown control over trade and immigration. Ovando fitted out Magellan's voyage of circumnavigation, and became the first President of the Council of the Indies in 1524. Ecclesiastics also functioned as administrators overseas in
18225-513: Was translated quickly to English and became the basis for the anti-Spanish writings, collectively known as the Black Legend . Las Casas spent his long life attempting to defend the indigenous populations and to enlist the Spanish crown in establishing protections for them, seen most prominently in the enactment of the New Laws of 1542, restricting Spaniards' inheritance of encomiendas . The first mainland explorations by Spaniards were followed by
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