[116], Pedro de Alvarado passed through Soconusco with a sizeable force in 1523, en route to conquer Guatemala. [116] But Cortés' allies in Soconusco soon informed him that the Kʼicheʼ and the Kaqchikel were not loyal, and were harassing Spain's allies in the region. [160], In 1531, Pedro de Alvarado finally took up the post of governor of Chiapa. The Northern Maya cities continued to flourish until the Spanish conquest. The new settlement immediately suffered a drop in population. The Spanish conquest of the Maya was a prolonged affair; the Maya kingdoms resisted integration into the Spanish Empire with such tenacity that their defeat took almost two centuries. [29] In the southern portion of the peninsula, a number of polities occupied the Petén Basin. The provisions were soon exhausted and additional food was requisitioned from the local Maya villagers; this too was soon consumed. They wore padded cotton armour to protect themselves. Towards the end of 1534 or the beginning of the next year, Montejo the Elder and his son retreated to Veracruz, taking their remaining soldiers with them. [7] The native population of the northeastern portion of the peninsula was almost completely eliminated within fifty years of the conquest. [217] Aj Canul, the lord of the attacking Maya, surrendered to the Spanish. [248] The Chʼol of the Lacandon Forest were resettled in Huehuetenango, in the Guatemalan Highlands, in the early 18th century. Cochuah was also in the eastern half of the peninsula. Traditional Pacifist Views of the Maya . [267], The leaders of Xocolo and Amatique, backed by the threat of Spanish action, persuaded a community of 190 Toquegua to settle on the Amatique coast in April 1604. [250][nb 4] Paradoxically, it was simultaneously known as Verapaz ("True Peace"). Grijalva put into Havana five months after he had left. From Villa Real, Bartolomé de las Casas and his companions prepared for the evangelisation of all the territory that fell within the Bishopric of Chiapa. [317] With the defeat of the Itza, the last independent and unconquered native kingdom in the Americas fell to the European colonisers. Olid was under direct orders from Her­nando Cortes. The king of the Itza, cited Itza prophecy and said the time was not yet right. [80] Modern estimates of native population decline vary from 75% to 90% mortality. [220] Godoy's attempt to subdue the Maya around Champoton was unsuccessful,[221] so Montejo the Younger sent his cousin to take command; his diplomatic overtures to the Champoton Kowoj were successful and they submitted to Spanish rule. When they did expand, however, it was typically done so without great organization. Our experts can answer your tough homework and study questions. [329] Some indigenous elites such as the Xajil Kaqchikel noble family did manage to maintain a level of status into the colonial period. The Spanish soldiers opened fire with their muskets, and the Itza retreated across the lake with their prisoners, who included the two Franciscans. Who did the Mayans conquer? [343], Franciscan friar Andrés Avendaño y Loyola recorded his own account of his late 17th century journeys to Nojpetén. [252], In 1555 Spanish friar Domingo de Vico offended a local Chʼol ruler and was killed by the Acala Chʼol and their Lakandon allies. [150][nb 2] The Kaqchikel kings provided native soldiers to assist the conquistadors against continuing Kʼicheʼ resistance and to help with the defeat of the neighbouring Tzʼutujil kingdom. Interpretación de un documento de los años un poco después de la conquista de Tayasal", "Reseña Historia del Municipio de San Mateo Ixtatán, Huehuetenango", "Qnaabʼila bʼix Qnaʼbʼila, Our thoughts and our feelings: Maya-Mam women's struggles in San Ildefonso Ixtahuacán", "La ciudadanía del pueblo chuj en México: Una dialéctica negativa de identidades", "Surviving Conquest: The Maya of Guatemala in Historical Perspective", Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, "Segundo Asiento Oficial de la Ciudad según Acta", "Excavaciones arqueológicas en la Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad de Chiquimula de la Sierra: Rescate del nombre y el prestigio de una iglesia olvidada", "Política, evangelización y guerra: Fray Antonio Margil de Jesús y la frontera centroamericana, 1684–1706", A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, History of the Spanish Conquest of Yucatan and of the Itzas, Historia de la Conquista de la Provincia de el Itza, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spanish_conquest_of_the_Maya&oldid=988449002, Articles containing Spanish-language text, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 November 2020, at 07:10. Sometimes there were as many as 30 indigenous warriors for every Spaniard, and the participation of these Mesoamerican allies was decisive. [108] By means of interpreters, Grijalva indicated that he wished to trade and bartered wine and beads in exchange for food and other supplies. [105] The Maya inhabitants of Cozumel fled the Spanish and would not respond to Grijalva's friendly overtures. The ecclesiastical authorities were so worried by this threat to their peaceful efforts at evangelisation that they eventually supported military intervention. This tactic allowed the Spanish to break through the pass and storm the entrance of the city. [207], Although Mazariegos had managed to establish his new provincial capital without armed conflict, excessive Spanish demands for labour and supplies soon provoked the locals into rebellion. 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. Once again, the encomiendas of Chiapa were transferred to new owners. The rebellious eastern Maya were finally defeated in a single battle, in which twenty Spaniards and several hundred allied Maya were killed. [208] The first Spanish expedition against the Lakandon was carried out in 1559;[235] repeated expeditions into the Lacandon Forest succeeded in destroying some villages but did not manage to subdue the inhabitants of the region, nor bring it within the Spanish Empire. They reported that neighbouring groups in Guatemala were attacking them because of their friendly outlook towards the Spanish. [170], At the time of the conquest, the main Mam population was situated in Xinabahul (modern Huehuetenango city), but Zaculeu's fortifications led to its use as a refuge during the conquest. Further north, the vegetation turns to lower forest consisting of dense scrub. She spoke Maya and Nahuatl and became the means by which Cortés was able to communicate with the Aztecs. Montejo's ships arrive in Mexico in 1542 In 1541, Francisco de Montejo led an expedition from Spain with an army of Spanish troops and he set out to conquer the savage Mayans and relieve them of some of their treasures. [326] People in Central America had been nomads who went from place to place to find food and shelter. [47] By August 1521 the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had fallen to the Spanish. [294] By November Tzuktokʼ was garrisoned with 86 soldiers and more at Chuntuki. Aro… Montejo discovered the thriving port city of Chaktumal (modern Chetumal). [69], In Guatemala the Spanish routinely fielded indigenous allies; at first these were Nahua brought from the recently conquered Mexico, later they also included Maya. [21], The Maya had never been unified as a single empire, but by the time the Spanish arrived Maya civilization was thousands of years old and had already seen the rise and fall of great cities. Native resistance to 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 European conquerors. [177], A year after Luis Marín's reconnaissance expedition, Pedro de Alvarado entered Chiapas when he crossed a part of the Lacandon Forest in an attempt to link up with Hernán Cortés' expedition heading for Honduras. [281] He met with armed Kejache resistance, and retreated around the middle of April. At Belma, Montejo gathered the leaders of the nearby Maya towns and instructed them to swear loyalty to the Spanish Crown. [309] Work on the road was redoubled and about a month after the battle at Chʼichʼ the Spanish arrived at the lakeshore, now supported by artillery. They also managed to acquire special privileges from the Crown in order to stabilise the colony, such as an edict that specified that the governor of Chiapa must govern in person and not through a delegated representative. Many local Maya fled into the forest and Spanish raiding parties scoured the surrounding area for food, finding little. Elizabeth Graham, Scott E. Simmons and Christine D. White Abstract The phenomenon of the Spanish Conquest of the Maya region suggests strongly that, in the process of socio-cultural transformation, ‘religion’ has no meaning as a concept with its own particular dynamic. [252] The Land of War described an area that was undergoing conquest; it was a region of dense forest that was difficult for the Spanish to penetrate militarily. [274] Soon after their arrival at the Itza capital, the Itza seized and sacrificed the Spanish party. Their medication was extremely advanced for the time period, laying the foundation for much of medical care today. [203] They first travelled to Jiquipilas to meet up with a delegation from Zinacantan, who had asked for Spanish assistance against rebellious vassals; a small contingent of Spanish cavalry was enough to bring these back into line. [98], After ten more days, the ships spotted an inlet close to Champotón, and a landing party discovered fresh water. [276] Spanish reinforcements arrived too late. Maya warriors fought with flint-tipped spears, bows and arrows, stones, and wooden swords with inset obsidian blades, and wore padded cotton armour to protect themselves. [92] The expedition sailed west from Cuba for three weeks before sighting the northeastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula. [91], In 1517, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba set sail from Cuba with a small fleet. [4] In Mexico, the Maya occupied territory now incorporated into the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Quintana Roo and Yucatán. [198], The support ship eventually arrived from Santo Domingo, and Montejo used it to sail south along the coast, while he sent his second-in-command Alonso d'Avila via land. Iberian Peninsula and South America (1762–63), Banda Oriental and Rio Grande do Sul (1762–63), the fourth voyage of Christopher Columbus, Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España, "Historia y Evolución del Curato de San Pedro Sacatepéquez San Marcos, desde su origen hasta 1848", "Relaciones de Verapaz y las Tierras Bajas Mayas Centrales en el siglo XVII", Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, "El Santo Ángel. [271] In May the expedition advanced to Sakalum, where they waited for reinforcements. The Mayans were not entirely conquered by the Spanish, but by Mexico in the caste war. The lord of the Canul Maya refused to submit and Montejo the Younger sent his cousin against them (also called Francisco de Montejo); Montejo the Younger remained in Campeche awaiting reinforcements. [183], There are no direct sources describing the conquest of the Chajoma by the Spanish but it appears to have been a drawn-out campaign rather than a rapid victory. 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. This region formed a part of the Kʼicheʼ kingdom, and a Kʼicheʼ army tried unsuccessfully to prevent the Spanish from crossing the river. After the conquest, the inhabitants of the kingdom were resettled in San Pedro Sacatepéquez, and San Martín Jilotepeque. It is estimated that 88% of them died during the first ten years of colonial rule owing to a combination of disease and war. Thirteen Spaniards were injured by arrows in the first assault, but the conquistadors regrouped and repulsed the Maya attack. Aguilar and Guerrero managed to escape their captors and fled to a neighbouring lord, who took them prisoner and kept them as slaves. [10] A chain of fourteen lakes runs across the central drainage basin of Petén. The Mayans were not known for conquering nearby groups as they typically remained within the confines of the Yucatan and central Mesoamerica. [40] Hernán Cortés described his expedition to Honduras in the fifth letter of his Cartas de Relación. [32] The Yalain occupied a territory that extended eastwards to Tipuj in Belize. The battle eventually resulted in a Spanish victory, but the rest of the province of Chiapa remained rebellious. [250] As a result, the Dominicans met substantial resistance from the Spanish colonists; this distracted the Dominicans from their efforts to establish peaceful control over the Land of War. [196] Montejo took 125 men and set out on an expedition to explore the north-eastern portion of the Yucatán peninsula. Those who managed to retreat down the neighbouring valley were ambushed by Spanish cavalry who had been posted to block the exit from the cave, the survivors were captured and brought back to the city. But they did not die out. [43], Soconusco was an important communication route between the central Mexican highlands and Central America. [255], Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas arrived in the colony of Guatemala in 1537 and immediately campaigned to replace violent military conquest with peaceful missionary work. Among the Maya, ambush was a favoured tactic; in response to the use of Spanish cavalry, the highland Maya took to digging pits and lining them with wooden stakes. [257], In this way they congregated a group of Christian Indians in the location of what is now the town of Rabinal. [262], In 1540 Montejo the Elder, who was now in his late 60s, turned his royal rights to colonise Yucatán over to his son, Francisco Montejo the Younger. [200] Montejo the Younger founded Salamanca de Xicalango as a base of operations. [178] When the Spanish entered the city they found 1,800 dead Indians, and the survivors eating the corpses. Montejo continued to the eastern Ekab province. Montejo the Younger abandoned Ciudad Real by night, and he and his men fled west, where the Chel, Pech and Xiu provinces remained obedient to Spanish rule. [287] The expedition was joined by two companies of Maya musketeers. Spanish Conquer the Aztecs and Incas Fall of the Aztecs After Columbus discovered the “New World”, the Spanish sent conquistadors across the Atlantic to claim land for Spain. [6] Most of the peninsula is formed by a vast plain with few hills or mountains and a generally low coastline. 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. Kaybʼil Bʼalam finally surrendered the city to the Spanish in the middle of October 1525. 900 AD 2000 AD 2000 BC 1521 AD 14. [239] Governor Enriquez de Guzmán subsequently left San Mateo Ixtatán for Comitán in Chiapas, to enter the Lacandon region via Ocosingo. Zinacantán was the only indigenous settlement that remained loyal to the Spanish. [66] In response to the use of cavalry, the highland Maya took to digging pits on the roads, lining them with fire-hardened stakes and camouflaging them with grass and weeds, a tactic that according to the Kaqchikel killed many horses. [203] Mazariegos issued licences of encomienda covering still unconquered regions in order to encourage colonists to conquer new territory. [195] Montejo arrived at Xelha with only 60 of his party, and found that only 12 of his 40-strong garrison survived, while the entire garrison at Pole had been slaughtered. Cortes began his journey to conquer the Aztecs in Veracruz. The fledgling Spanish colony was moved to nearby Xamanha,[200] modern Playa del Carmen, which Montejo considered to be a better port. [161] The Zinacantecos, true to their pledge of allegiance two years earlier, aided the Spanish against the other indigenous peoples of the region. [187] The first Spanish reconnaissance of this region took place in 1524. They are cut by deep valleys running parallel to the Pacific coast, and feature a complex drainage system that feeds both the Grijalva and the Lacantún River. © copyright 2003-2020 Study.com. [59] Soconusco also suffered catastrophic population collapse, with an estimated 90–95% drop. Montejo the Elder arrived in Mérida from Chiapas in December 1546, with reinforcements gathered from Champoton and Campeche. This detailed the history of Petén from 1525 through to 1699.[346]. This is called the "early pre-classic period" in Mayan history'. 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