The Age of Conquest: Spain’s Expansion into Mesoamerica

When Hernán Cortés toppled the Aztec Empire in 1521, he ignited Spain’s relentless push into uncharted Mesoamerican territories. Just three years later, in 1524, Cortés faced a crisis that would lead to one of history’s most extraordinary military expeditions—a 500-mile jungle trek to Honduras to suppress the rebellion of his own captain, Cristóbal de Olid. This journey would take Cortés through the heart of the Maya world, marking the first European encounter with the Itza civilization in Petén, Guatemala.

The 16th-century Spanish conquests were driven by gold, glory, and gospel. Cortés, already legendary for defeating the Aztecs, now sought to consolidate control over Central America. His decision to bring the deposed Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc as a hostage on this expedition would have tragic consequences, revealing the brutal pragmatism of colonial expansion.

Cortés’ Impossible March: A Test of Human Endurance

In October 1524, Cortés departed Tenochtitlán with 140 Spanish soldiers (including 93 cavalry), 3,000 Indigenous allies, and 150 horses. Their route through Tabasco’s swamps and the Maya lowlands became a nightmare of logistics:

– Geography as the Enemy: The expedition faced flooded rivers, vertical limestone cliffs, and the Mirador Basin’s dense rainforest—terrain so harsh it claimed two-thirds of their horses.
– The Cuauhtémoc Controversy: At Acalán, Cortés executed the Aztec emperor based on rumors of rebellion, breaking his earlier promise of protection. Newly discovered 1612 documents from Seville’s General Archive of the Indies later corroborated Indigenous accounts of a planned uprising.
– First Contact with the Itza: By March 1525, Cortés reached Lake Petén Itzá, where Itza ruler Kan Ek’ received him with apparent hospitality. A lame horse left behind by Cortés would later become an unexpected object of worship.

This six-month ordeal demonstrated Cortés’ leadership but also exposed the fragility of Spanish control in the region.

The Itza Resistance: 175 Years of Defiance

While most Maya groups fell to Spanish rule by 1546, the Itza maintained independence through isolation and strategic diplomacy:

– Geographical Advantage: Their island capital Tayasal (modern Flores, Guatemala) lay 180 miles from Spanish strongholds, protected by dense jungles.
– Failed Missions: Franciscan friars Bartolomé de Fuensalida and Juan de Orbita attempted peaceful conversion in 1618-1619. Orbita famously smashed the “Thunder Horse” idol—a stone representation of Cortés’ abandoned steed—nearly causing their execution.
– The 1624 Massacre: A Spanish military expedition ended in disaster when Itza warriors killed over 80 Christian converts and friar Diego Delgado, displaying their continued resistance to foreign influence.

The Final Campaign: Spain’s 1697 Victory

The Itza’s independence finally collapsed under Governor Martín de Ursúa’s systematic campaign:

1. Infrastructure Warfare: From 1695, Ursúa ordered a road cut through the jungle from Campeche to Lake Petén Itzá—a 120-mile engineering project that took two years.
2. Diplomatic Failures: Friar Andrés de Avendaño’s 1696 peace mission failed when Kan Ek’ cited ancient prophecies about “waiting for the right time” to convert.
3. Naval Assault: On March 13, 1697, Ursúa launched a 90-foot attack brigantine across the lake. Despite being outnumbered 20-to-1, Spanish firearms routed the Itza defenders in under three hours.

Avendaño’s accidental discovery of Tikal’s ruins during his retreat (February 1696) added irony—Europeans encountered Maya greatness even as they destroyed its last independent polity.

Legacy: The End of an Era

The fall of Tayasal marked more than military conquest:

– Cultural Transformation: Ursúa immediately destroyed 21 temples and hundreds of idols, repurposing the main pyramid as a Catholic shrine.
– Historical Significance: This concluded 175 years of Indigenous resistance—the longest in the Americas. Modern Q’eqchi’ Maya still preserve oral traditions of these events.
– Archaeological Rediscovery: The very expeditions meant to subjugate the Maya inadvertently documented cities like Tikal and Yaxchilán, later key to understanding Maya civilization.

Cortés’ march and Ursúa’s campaign reveal colonialism’s paradox: brutal conquests that accidentally preserved knowledge of the cultures they sought to erase. Today, Petén’s jungles guard both the ruins of the Maya and the memory of their extraordinary resistance.