Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cortés himself probably passed through southern Belize on his epic march from
Veracruz in Mexico to punish a rebellious subordinate in San Gil de Buena Vista, near
the mouth of the Río Dulce on the Bay of Honduras. One hundred and forty Spanish
soldiers and three thousand Indians marched across the Maya heartland, which still
contained many thriving towns and cities. At Tayasal on Lake Petén Itzá, he was
welcomed by Can Ek, chief of the Itzá, who had heard of Cortés's cruelty in
conquering Mexico and decided not to oppose him. At the valley of the Sarstoon River,
the present boundary with Guatemala, Cortés pacified rebels before sailing north to
Mexico, apparently without realizing that Yucatán was not an island.
Attempted conquest and Maya resistance
For the Spanish it proved relatively simple to capture and kill the “living god” leaders
of such highly organized empires as the Aztecs and Incas. However, the Maya provinces
of present-day Yucatán and Belize were not united, and their rulers were accustomed to
dealing with enemies by fighting or by forming temporary alliances - one reason why
the Spanish found this region so di
cult to subdue.
In 1528
Francisco de Montejo
, granted permission by the Spanish Crown to
colonize the “islands” of Cozumel and Yucatán, established a settlement called
Salamanca on the mainland coast south of Cozumel, and his lieutenant,
Alonso
Dávila
, led an expedition south. Neither was successful: both groups encountered
hostile Maya, and Dávila was forced to turn away from Chetumal by Maya under the
command of Gonzalo Guerrero. A second attempt by Dávila in 1531 was marginally
more successful but nevertheless short-lived. On the advice of Guerrero - who
realized they could not defeat the Spanish outright - the Maya abandoned
Chetumal. Dávila occupied the town, renaming it
Villa Real
, but the Maya
continually harassed his troops and they were driven out eighteen months later,
fleeing south along the coast of Belize to Omoa in Honduras. For some years after,
the Maya in Belize remained free from Spanish interference; Chetumal regained its
trading links and became a powerful military ally, sending fifty war canoes to Omoa
in 1542 to assist the local chief fighting the Spanish.
Montejo's vision of ruling a vast province of the Spanish empire comprising Yucatán,
Belize and Honduras was not to be fulfilled, though his son, Montejo the Younger did
complete the conquest of Yucatán, establishing a capital at Mérida in 1542. Late the
following year, however,
Gaspar Pacheco
, his son Melchor and nephew Alonso began
another chapter in the sickeningly familiar tale of Spanish atrocities, advancing on
Chetumal, destroying crops and food stores and ruthlessly slaughtering the inhabitants.
By 1544 the Pachecos had founded a town on Lake Bacalar, and claimed
encomienda
(tribute) from villages surrounding Chetumal. To the south, however, Tipú maintained
alliances with other Maya provinces and continued in armed resistance.
During the second half of the sixteenth century missions were established, including
one at Lamanai in 1570, and the Spanish, with di
culty, strengthened their hold over
northern Belize. In 1618, Spanish priests Fuensalida and Orbita visited
Tipú
, on the
Macal River, and punished the Maya for worshipping “idols”. Resentment was always
present, however, and the Maya burnt the church in defiance, before boiling over into
total rebellion in 1638, which forced Spain to abandon Chetumal and Tipú completely
and more or less permanently.
1531
1543 & 1544
1570
Alonso Dávila makes first
attempt to capture and
settle at Chetumal
Gaspar and Melchor Pacheco
brutally conquer southern
Yucatán and northern Belize
Spanish mission established at
Lamanai; eight others built in
northern Belize
