Spanish conquest of Yucatán

Sides

Countries today: Guatemala, Mexico, and Spain

What happened

Francisco de Montejo, a veteran of Cortés's campaign in Mexico, received a royal licence to conquer Yucatán and landed on its east coast in 1527. The peninsula had no single ruler: it was divided among rival Maya provinces, and the Spaniards had to deal with each one. Montejo's first attempt failed by 1528. A second campaign from the west, begun in 1531, ended around 1535, after the Cupul drove the Spaniards from Chichén Itzá and many of Montejo's men deserted. His son, Francisco de Montejo the Younger, returned in 1540–41 with the support of the Xiu of Maní and founded Campeche and, in 1542, Mérida. An alliance of eastern provinces rose in November 1546 and was put down in 1547, which ended the conquest of the north. Many Maya moved south to Petén, where the Itza kingdom stayed independent until Martín de Ursúa's forces took its island capital, Nojpetén, in 1697.

Outcome: Northern Yucatán was under Spanish rule by 1547; the last independent Maya kingdom, the Itza of Nojpetén, fell to Spanish forces on 13 March 1697.

Key events

Leaders

• Francisco de Montejo · Adelantado of Yucatán; led the campaigns of 1527–1535 · Spanish forces and their Maya allies
• Francisco de Montejo the Younger · Led the campaign of 1540–1546 · Spanish forces and their Maya allies
• Francisco de Montejo the Nephew · Led campaigns in the north and east, 1541–1547 · Spanish forces and their Maya allies
• Martín de Ursúa · Governor of Yucatán; took Nojpetén in 1697 · Spanish forces and their Maya allies
• Nachi Cocom · Lord of Sotuta; fought the Spaniards in 1542 · Independent Maya polities of Yucatán and Petén

Cultures it ended or changed

• Maya civilization

Meanwhile, elsewhere in 1527 CE