{{use dmy dates, date=August 2021 {{Use British English, date=August 2021 {{Infobox former country , native_name = ''u kuchkabal Chetumal'' (

Yucatecan Mayan The Yucatecan languages are a branch of the Mayan family of Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. Languages The Mayan languages in the Yucatecan branch are: *Mopan–Itza: Itzaʼ, Mopan *Yucatec–Lacandon: Maya (Yukatek), Lakantun (Lacandon) All ...

) , conventional_long_name = Province of Chetumal , common_name = Chetumal Province , iso3166code = omit , era =

Postclassic In Human history, world history, post-classical history refers to the period from about 500 AD to 1500, roughly corresponding to the European Middle Ages. The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and develop ...

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

, status = Empire , status_text = Dissolved , empire = , government_type =

Theocratic Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs. Etymology The word theocracy originates fro ...

absolute monarchy Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constitut ...

, event_start = Chichen Itza rule , date_start = , year_start = ca. 950 , event_end = Founding of Salamanca de Bacalar , date_end = 4 March , year_end = 1544 , year_exile_start = , year_exile_end = , event1 = Mayapan rule , date_event1 = ca. 1250 , event2 =

, date_event2 = 1527–1544 , event3 = , date_event3 = , event4 = , date_event4 = , event5 = , date_event5 = , event6 = , date_event6 = , event_pre = , date_pre = , event_post = , date_post = , p1 = Lamanai , flag_p1 = , image_p1 = , p2 = Altun Ha , flag_p2 = , image_p2 =

, p3 = , flag_p3 = , p4 = , flag_p4 = , p5 = , flag_p5 = , s1 = Viceroyalty of New Spain , flag_s1 = Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg , image_s1 = , s2 = , flag_s2 = , s3 = , flag_s3 = , s4 = , flag_s4 = , s5 = , flag_s5 = , image_flag = , flag_alt = , image_flag2 = , flag_alt2 = , flag = , flag2 = , flag_type = , flag2_type = , image_coat = XJYms101.svg , coa_size = 200px , coat_alt = Emblem glyph of Altun Ha , symbol_type = Emblem glyph of Altun Ha , symbol_type_article = , image_map = Yucatan-Peninsula-1822 Map

, image_map_alt = Map of the Yucatan Peninsula in 1822 , image_map_caption = Map of Yucatan showing Salamanca de Bacalar , image_map2 = , image_map2_alt = , image_map2_caption = , capital =

Chichen Itza Chichen Itza , es, Chichén Itzá , often with the emphasis reversed in English to ; from yua, Chiʼchʼèen Ìitshaʼ () "at the mouth of the well of the Itza people" was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Terminal ...

;

Mayapan Mayapan (Màayapáan in Modern Maya; in Spanish Mayapán) is a Pre-Columbian Maya site a couple of kilometers south of the town of Telchaquillo in Municipality of Tecoh, approximately 40 km south-east of Mérida and 100 km west of ...

;

Chetumal Chetumal (, , ; yua, label=Yucatec Maya, Chactemàal , ) is a city on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It is the capital of the state of Quintana Roo and the municipal seat of the Municipality of Othón P. Blanco. In 2020 i ...

, capital_exile = , national_motto = , national_anthem = , common_languages =

, religion = Mayan polytheism; Cult of

Kukulkan K’uk’ulkan, also spelled Kukulkan, ( "''Plumed Serpent''", "''Amazing Serpent''") is the name of a Mesoamerican serpent deity that was worshipped by the Yucatec Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula before the Spanish conquest of Yucatán. ...

, demonym = , currency = , leader1 =

Ah Xiu Xupan Ah Xiu Xupan (Maya glyphs ) was the last known ruler of the Mayan chiefdom of Tutul-Xiu when it was part of the League of Mayapan. In 1441, Ah Xiu Xupan, who was the great ruler of Uxmal at that time, was given the task of starting a w ...

(''last'') , leader2 = , leader3 = , leader4 = , leader21 = , year_leader1 = ca. 1441-1446 , year_leader2 = , year_leader3 = , year_leader4 = , year_leader21 = , title_leader = King , representative1 = Nachan Kan (''last'') , representative2 = , representative3 = , representative4 = , representative5 = , year_representative1 = ca. 1514–1544 , year_representative2 = , year_representative3 = , year_representative4 = , year_representative5 = , title_representative =

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, deputy1 = , deputy2 = , deputy3 = , deputy4 = , year_deputy1 = , year_deputy2 = , year_deputy3 = , year_deputy4 = , title_deputy = , legislature = , house1 = , type_house1 = , house2 = , type_house2 = , stat_year1 = , stat_area1 = , stat_pop1 = , stat_year2 = , stat_area2 = , stat_pop2 = , stat_year3 = , stat_area3 = , stat_pop3 = , stat_year4 = , stat_area4 = , stat_pop4 = , stat_year5 = , stat_area5 = , stat_pop5 = , today =

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

;

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, footnote_a = , footnote_b = , footnote_h = , footnotes = Chetumal, or the Province of Chetumal ({{IPAc-en, ˌ, tS, E, t, U, ˈ, m, A:, l {{respell, che, tuu, MAHL; yua, u kuchkabal Chetumal {{IPA-myn, u kutʃkaˈbal tʃetuˈmal) was a Postclassic Mayan state in the Yucatan Peninsula.{{sfn, Oxford University Press, 2021 {{sfn, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, 1980, pp=91, 344 The Yucatecan Mayan orthography in this article follows that of {{harvnb, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, Dzul Góngora, Dzul Poot, 1980, pp=41a–44a . At least two other orthographic systems exist {{harv, Lehmann, 2018, loc=sec. 2.1, 3 , neither of which is used in this article. Accordingly, ''kuchkabal'', and ''Chetumal'' and its synonym ''Chakte'mal'' are preferred over several variations thereof, per {{harvnb, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, Dzul Góngora, Dzul Poot, 1980, pp=91, 344 .Various dates for periods of the

Mesoamerican chronology Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian, prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BC ...

have been given. This article uses those provided by {{harvnb, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=98 — * Lithic – 8000 BC and prior dates, * Archaic – 8000 to 2000 BC, * Preclassic – 2000 BC to 250 AD, * Classic – 250 to 900 AD, and * Postclassic – 900 AD and posterior dates. Furthermore, dates prior to 12 October 1492 constitute the

pre-Columbian era In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the Migration to the New World, original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization of the Americas, European colonization, w ...

, and all others the Columbian era. The Chetumal Province has been called a ''chiefdom'' by some authors. A distinction has been made, however, between ''chiefdoms'' and ''states'', the latter being characterised by more complex forms of sociopolitical organisation than the former ({{harvnb, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=73 , {{harvnb, Rice, 2004, pp=4–7 ). Accordingly, the province is herein designated a state, and not a chiefdom.

History

Pre-Columbian

Prior to Classic collapse

The first settlements in Chetumal were established by Palaeo-indians before 8000 BC, during the Lithic Period of Mesoamerica.As of 2016, evidence of Palaeo-indian presence in Chetumal include— (i) an undated, fishtail

projectile point In North American archaeological terminology, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a javelin, dart, or arrow. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have be ...

recovered near present-day

Orange Walk Orange marches are a series of parades by members of the Orange Order and other Protestant fraternal societies, held during the summer months in various Commonwealth nations, most notably Ulster. The parades typically build up to 12 July ce ...

{{harv, Stemp, Awe, Helmke, 2016, pp=71–72 , (ii) an undated, lanceolate projectile point recovered from August Pine Ridge {{harv, Stemp, Awe, Helmke, 2016, pp=71–72 . The first ''permanent'' settlements in Chetumal are believed to have been established by Mayan farmers from the Guatemalan highlands by 2000 BC, during the Archaic period of Mesoamerica.{{Citation needed, date=August 2021, reason=Doesn't seem controversial but best have a source for this claim The first state or province encompassing Mayan settlements in Chetumal is presumed to have been formed by 100 AD, during the Late Preclassic period of Mesoamerica.{{Citation needed, date=August 2021, reason=Doesn't seem controversial but best have a source for this claim

Proximal to Classic collapse

{{Main, Classic Maya collapse The completion of the Classic Mayan collapse in Yucatan saw both the formation of Mayan provinces and the imperial expansion of

over these provinces, or their constituent cities.{{sfn, Roys, 1957, p=3 {{sfn, Rice, 2004, p=24 {{sfn, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=569 {{sfn, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, pp=531–533, 537–542 It is not clear whether Chichen Itza's expansion across Yucatan came before, during, or after the formation of Postclassic Mayan provinces {{harv, Roys, 1957, p=3 . The collapse does not seem to have been catastrophic in the (future) territory of Chetumal.{{sfn, Aimers, 2007, pp=342–343 {{sfn, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, pp=367, 371–372 At least twenty-five settlements in the area are known to have survived, most likely by reorienting economic activity towards the Chichen Itza-driven coasting trade.{{sfn, Aimers, 2007, p=343 {{sfn, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, pp=371–372 Namely– # on New River –

Cerros Cerros is an Eastern Lowland Maya archaeological site in northern Belize that functioned from the Late Preclassic to the Postclassic period. The site reached its apogee during the Mesoamerican Late Preclassic and at its peak, it held a populati ...

, Aventura,

Lamanai Lamanai (from ''Lama'anayin'', "submerged crocodile" in Yucatec Maya) is a Mesoamerican archaeological site, and was once a major city of the Maya civilization, located in the north of Belize, in Orange Walk District. The site's name is pre-Columb ...

, San Estevan, Chau Hiix, and one unnamed site ({{harvnb, Aimers, 2007, p=343 , {{harvnb, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, pp=378, 402 ), # on Hondo River – Nohmul, Consejo, Chan Chen, San Antonio {{harv, Aimers, 2007, p=343 , # on

Corozal Bay Corozal Bay is an inlet of Chetumal Bay, indenting northern Belize. Several resort areas are located on the coast of the bay, most notably Corozal Town. The New River (Belize) flows north into the bay. The town of Consejo is located north-northea ...

– Santa Rita ({{harvnb, Aimers, 2007, p=343 , {{harvnb, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, p=378 ), # inland – Altun Ha, Colha, Honey Camp Lagoon / Laguna de On, Kichpanha ({{harvnb, Aimers, 2007, p=343 , {{harvnb, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, p=378 ), # on

Ambergris Caye Ambergris Caye ( ; Spanish: Cayo Ambergris), is the largest island of Belize, located northeast of the country's mainland, in the Caribbean Sea. It is about long from north to south, and about wide. Where it has not been modified by humans, it ...

–

Marco Gonzalez Marco Gonzalez is a Maya archaeological site located near the southern tip of Ambergris Caye off the coast of Belize. It was first recorded in 1984 by Drs. Elizabeth Graham and David M. Pendergast, and was named by them after their local guide. ...

, San Juan, Chac Balam {{harv, Aimers, 2007, p=343 , # on

Northern River Lagoon Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

– Cabbage Ridge / Saktunja {{harv, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, p=368 , # on Progresso Lagoon – Caye Coco, and five unnamed sites {{harv, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, pp=368–370 . There is, nonetheless, evidence of limited social upheaval.Namely– # Colha is thought to have been attacked and thereafter settled by northern polities, (patterns in its Postclassic material culture have been described as "totally different from those of the Classic period") ({{harvnb, Aimers, 2007, pp=343–344 , {{harvnb, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, pp=375, 378 ), # Nohmul is thought to have been attacked and thereafter settled by northern polities ({{harvnb, Aimers, 2007, p=344 , {{harvnb, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, p=390 ), # mass executions of the local aristocracy have been suggested {{harv, Aimers, 2007, p=344 .

, established by

Itza Itza may refer to: * Itza people, an ethnic group of Guatemala * Itzaʼ language, a Mayan language * Itza Kingdom (disambiguation) * Itza, Navarre, a town in Spain See also * Chichen Itza Chichen Itza , es, Chichén Itzá , often with ...

settlers in circa 750–800 AD, was the most powerful city-state in the Yucatan peninsula until circa 1050–1100 AD.{{sfn, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, pp=559, 568 {{sfn, Aimers, 2007, p=339 {{sfn, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, pp=520–521, 561–562 The city is known to have been conquered or sacked towards circa 1050–1100 AD {{harv, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, pp=591–592 . Later Columbian-period accounts hold that Hunak Ke'el, ruler of Mayapan, conquered Chichen Itza, thereby cementing his city's rule over the latter's dominions ({{harvnb, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=592 , {{harvnb, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, Dzul Góngora, Dzul Poot, 1980, p=247 ). At least three other dates proximal to the 1050–1100 AD date have been suggested for the end of Chichen Itza's dominance over the Yucatan peninsula– # 1000–1050 AD {{harv, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, p=520 , # 1100–1200 AD {{harv, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, p=520 , # 1200–1250 AD {{harv, Roys, 1957, p=3 . It appears to have started a sustained, and successful, programme of conquest in circa 900 AD, resulting in the formation of various provinces, possibly or likely including Chetumal.{{sfn, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=569 {{sfn, Roys, 1957, p=3 {{sfn, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, pp=531–533, 537–542 Said conquest most likely extended at least throughout central Yucatan {{harv, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=568. It has been further suggested that the city-state established direct rule, whether by conquest or the threat thereof, over key ports in the coasting trade which circumnavigated Yucatan, from the

Chontalpa Chontalpa is an area in the Mexican state of Tabasco, which consists of four municipalities in the northwest of the state. Although the name refers to the state's Chontal Maya population, modern Chontalpa is a subregion of the Grijalva Region, a ...

region to the

Bay Islands Bay Islands may refer to: * Bay Islands Department, Honduras * Southern Moreton Bay Islands, Queensland, Australia See also * Bay of Islands * Bay of Isles * Island Bay, Wellington * Little Bay Islands Little Bay Islands is a vacant town in ...

{{harv, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, pp=567, 570 . One of these may have been Nohmul in Chetumal, where a colonnaded courtyard building, apparently styled after those of Chichen Itza, has been excavated {{harv, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=579 .

Posterior to Classic collapse

succeeded Chichen Itza as the most powerful city-state in Yucatan during ''k'atun 8 ahaw'', equivalent either to 1080–1104 AD, or to 1185–1204 AD. Its rule lasted thirteen ''k'atuno'ob'', thereby ending either during 1392–1416 AD, or 1441–1461 AD.{{sfn, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, pp=595–598, 603 Various Columbian-period accounts detail Mayapan's history during these thirteen ''k'atuno'ob''. However, two ''k'atuno'ob'' were in use then— (i) the Classical ''k'atun'' of 7,200 days (circa 19.713

tropical year A tropical year or solar year (or tropical period) is the time that the Sun takes to return to the same position in the sky of a celestial body of the Solar System such as the Earth, completing a full cycle of seasons; for example, the time fro ...

s), and (ii) a later ''ahaw k'atun'' of circa 24 tropical years. This has resulted in much uncertainty regarding Mayapan's chronology {{harv, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, pp=596–597 . It has been suggested the rise of Mayapan was preceded by a breakdown of the peninsular coasting trade {{harv, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, p=375 . During circa 1450 to 1500 AD, Pachimalahix I, fifth ruler of the Acalan, led a military force to the Chetumal capital, and exacted tribute.{{sfn, Roys, 1957, p=162 {{sfn, Scholes, Roys, 1968, pp=79, 82, 85 The Acalan were an ostracised group from Cozumel who settled the Tenosique valley on the

Usumacinta River The Usumacinta River (; named after the howler monkey) is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz (Guatemala), Sierra de Santa Cruz ...

. This event is tentatively dated to during 1350 to 1375 by {{harvnb, Scholes, Roys, 1968, p=79 , upon the following calculus— (i) a six-generation pedigree of Acalan rulers ranging from the date of their expulsion from Cozumel to the death of their sixth ruler in circa 1526, (ii) a 30-year period-in-office per ruler {{harv, Scholes, Roys, 1968, p=89 . This places the fifth ruler's time in office during circa 1465 to 1496. Further details on this event remain obscure, though given the reputed commercial pre-eminence of the provincial capital at the time, it has been suggested that Pachimalahix I rather raided the city to settle trade-related damages, rather than actually having exacted tribute.{{sfn, Scholes, Roys, 1968, pp=82, 85

Columbian

{{main, Spanish conquest of Yucatán

First contacts with Spaniards

The first Spaniard known to have arrived in Chetumal was

Gonzalo Guerrero Gonzalo Guerrero (also known as Gonzalo Marinero, Gonzalo de Aroca and Gonzalo de Aroza) was a sailor from Palos, in Spain who was shipwrecked along the Yucatán Peninsula and was taken as a slave by the local Maya. Earning his freedom, Gue ...

, a sailor from Palos de la Frontera, Spain. In 1514, Guerrero entered the civil or military service in Chetumal. He was likely gifted to Gov. Kan as a slave by a ''batab'' or mayor from the Ekab Province.{{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=27 The Ekab Province seems to have lacked a ''halach winik'' or governor, and was likely rather organised as a confederation of towns. It has been suggested that the Pat ''ch'ibal'' or noble house were the most influential in the province {{harv, Roys, 1957, p=143 . By 1519, Guerrero had fully assimilated to Mayan culture, having married Gov. Kan's daughter and fathered three children with her. Guerrero would thereafter devise or at least contribute to the military strategy of Chetumal and other Mayan states against at least three Spanish entradas.{{sfn, González Hernández, 2018, loc=para. 1, 5–9 Three events pre-dating the 1514 arrival of Guerrero to Chetumal have been proposed as marking the first contact by residents of Chetumal with Spaniards: * The 1511 arrival of Guerrero and his marooned shipmates to

Cozumel Cozumel (; yua, Kùutsmil) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucatán ...

{{sfn, González Hernández, 2018, loc=para. 4–5{{harvnb, Jones, 1989, p=27 gives their arrival date as 1512. * The 1508 voyage of

Juan Díaz de Solís Juan Díaz de Solís ( – 20 January 1516) was a 16th-century navigator and explorer. He is also said to be the first European to land on what is now modern day Uruguay. Biography His origins are disputed. One document records him as a Portuguese ...

and

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón Vicente Yáñez Pinzón () (c. 1462 – after 1514) was a Spanish navigator and explorer, the youngest of the Pinzón brothers. Along with his older brother, Martín Alonso Pinzón (''c.'' 1441 – ''c.'' 1493), who captained the '' Pinta'', he s ...

Lake Izabal Lake Izabal (), also known as the Golfo Dulce, is the largest lake in Guatemala with a surface area of 589.6 km² (145,693 acres or 227.6 sq mi) and a maximum depth is 18 m (59 ft). The Polochic River is the largest river that dra ...

{{sfn, Varela Marcos, 2018a, loc=para. 8–16{{sfn, Varela Marcos, 2018b, loc=para. 33–41{{sfn, Arranz Márquez, 2018, loc=para. 12–20 * The 1502 voyage by Christopher Columbus to

Guanaja Guanaja is one of the Bay Islands of Honduras and is in the Caribbean. It is about off the north coast of Honduras, and from the island of Roatan. One of the cays off Guanaja, also called Guanaja or Bonacca or Low Cay (or just simply, The C ...

Mayan settlements near Cozumel, Lake Izabal, and Guanaja are known to have been part of the riverine and coastal trading networks of merchants in Chetumal. Any knowledge of non-Indian people obtained by the former is thus presumed to have been passed on to the latter. It has further been suggested that the Ekab Province may have been allied with Chetumal.{{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=27

Cuban expeditions to Yucatan

Hispano-Mayan hostilities commenced on 5 March 1517 in

Cape Catoche Cabo Catoche or Cape Catoche, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, is the northernmost point on the Yucatán Peninsula. It lies in the municipality of Isla Mujeres, about north of the city of Cancún. According to the International Hydrograph ...

, when an expeditionary force led by

Francisco Hernández de Córdoba Francisco Hernández de Córdoba may refer to: * Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (Yucatán conquistador) (died 1517) * Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (founder of Nicaragua) (died 1526) {{hndis, name=Hernandez de Cordoba, Francisco ...

was ambushed by the military or militia of the Ekab Province, near that state's eponymous capital. The Hernández expedition were similarly received by neighbouring Mayan polities, thereby foiling the expedition's pecuniary aims. {{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=11–12 Antón de Alamilla, chief pilot of the flotilla of 3 ships and over 100 men, seems to have convinced Hernández de Córdoba to sail directly westwards of Cuba, thereby taking them to the Ekab Province. (The expedition's initial destination was apparently either the Bahamas or the Bay Islands.) Alamilla had sailed with Christopher Columbus on his fourth voyage of 1502–1504 {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=11 . The expeditionaries' reports of grand Mayan cities would nonetheless spur further Cuban expeditions to Yucatan, including a 1518 trading and reconnoitering voyage by

Juan de Grijalva Juan de Grijalva (; born c. 1490 in Cuéllar, Crown of Castile – 21 January 1527 in Honduras) was a Spanish conquistador, and a relative of Diego Velázquez.Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, He went to Hispa ...

and another in 1519 by

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...

, the latter of which quickly morphed into the 1519–1521

Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...

and the 1519–1521 smallpox epidemic.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=13–15 The Grijalva expedition, of 4 ships and 250–300 men, and the Cortés one, of 10 ships and circa 400 men, were piloted by Antón de Alamilla, and included

Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; c. 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of the Yucatá ...

, Alonso Dávila, and

Francisco de Montejo Francisco de Montejo (; 1479 – 1553) was a Spanish conquistador in Mexico and Central America. Early years Francisco de Montejo was born about 1473 to a family of lesser Spanish nobility in Salamanca, Spain. He never documented his parentage ...

as principal subordinates. The former's survey of

Laguna de Términos Laguna de Términos is the largest tidal lagoon by volume located entirely on the Gulf of Mexico, as well as one of the most biodiverse. Exchanging water with several rivers and lagoons, the Laguna is part of the most important hydrographic riv ...

led to a mistaken belief that Yucatan was an island {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=13–15 . The epidemic is presumed to have affected Chetumal severely. The reports likewise prompted the

Governor of Cuba This is a list of colonial heads of Cuba. Dates in italics indicate ''de facto'' continuation of office. For continuation after independence ''see'' List of presidents of Cuba. See also * List of governors of Provincia de Santiago de Cuba *Ti ...

, who had commissioned the Hernández expedition, to petition and be granted letter patent authorising his conquest of the Mayan states on behalf of the

Charles I of Spain Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fro ...

. The newly-minted

adelantado ''Adelantado'' (, , ; meaning "advanced") was a title held by Spanish nobles in service of their respective kings during the Middle Ages. It was later used as a military title held by some Spain, Spanish ''conquistadores'' of the 15th, 16th and 17 ...

, however, did not proceed with the conquest of Yucatan.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=16

Montejo entrada, 1527–1528

On 8 December 1526, the

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

n conquistador

, who had participated in the Grijalva and Cortés expeditions from Cuba, was granted letters patent for the conquest of Yucatan and Cozumel by Charles I of Spain. Unlike Gov. Velázquez, former holder of the patent, Montejo promptly undertook the called-for conquest.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=19 {{sfn, García Bernal, 2018, loc=para. 13–14 The petition was formally made on 16 November 1526, and supported

Pánfilo de Narváez Pánfilo de Narváez (; 147?–1528) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and soldier in the Americas. Born in Spain, he first embarked to Jamaica in 1510 as a soldier. He came to participate in the conquest of Cuba and led an expedition to Camagüey ...

and Antonio de Sedeño. His letters patent required that the conquest begin within a year {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=19–20, 22 . The adelantado named his close colleague,

Alonso Dávila Alonso is a Spanish name of Germanic origin that is a Castilian variant of ''Adalfuns''. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 36.6% of all known bearers of the surname ''Alonso'' were residents of Spain (frequency 1:222), 26.1% of Mexico (1:83 ...

, likewise a participant in the Grijalva and Cortés expeditions from Cuba, the principal lieutenant for his entrada.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=30 They engaged 4 ships and over 250 men in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, from where they embarked in late June 1527, landing in

in late September 1527.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=31–35 {{sfn, García Bernal, 2018, loc=para. 15 The ships were— (i) the ''San Jerónimo'', Miguel Ferrer master, (ii) ''Nicolasa'', Ochoa master, (iii) ''La Gavarra'', master not named, and (iv) a fourth unnamed ship, master likewise not named. The adelantado’s principal subordinates were Alonso Dávila, Antón Sánchez Calabrés, Pedro de los Ríos, Pedro de Añasco, Pedro de Lugones, Pedro González, Hernando Palomino, Pedro Gaitán, and possibly Andrés de Calleja and Roberto Alemán. Crown representatives Pedro de Luna and Hernando de Cueto accompanied the expedition, as did frays Juan Rodríguez de Caraveo, Pedro Fernández, and Gregorio de San Martín. The flotilla was thoroughly refitted at

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

{{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=31–35 .

= Northern campaign, autumn 1527 – summer 1528

= They watered in Cozumel for a few days, upon their warm reception by residents and Naum Pat, an influential ''batab'' or mayor in Cozumel, and thereafter proceeded to the mainland.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=35–36 It has been suggested that the Pat ''ch'ibal'' or noble house were the most influential house in the Ekab Province, which is thought to have encompassed Cozumel {{harv, Roys, 1957, p=143 . At least two towns are known to have existed in Cozumel prior to the Spanish conquest. These were later known as San Miguel Xamancab and Santa María Oycib. A third town, possibly Tantun, has been suggested {{harv, Roys, 1957, p=155 . They explored the immediate area, being well received by the nearby towns of

Xelha Xelha (, Spanish: Xelhá; sometimes pronounced "chel-ha"; Yucatec Maya: Xel-Há) is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization from pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, located on the eastern coastline of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the present- ...

and Zama, and founded a settlement, christened ''Salamanca'', in October 1527.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=36 Their substantial demands for foodstuffs soon grew irksome to locals, upon which Salamanca saw their supplies dwindle.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=39–40 In late 1527 or early 1528, after a trying period of near-famine and disease, the Spanish moved northwards.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=40–41 With Naum Pat’s intercession, they were well received throughout the Ekab Province.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=45–47 The Spanish chanced upon Naum Pat at Xamanha, and readily accepted his offer of diplomatic aid {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=45–46 . Good will was further maintained by the fluency in Yucatecan Mayan of some officers and friars, fine displays of horsemanship, and strict discipline. Note that horses inspired awe and terror in the locals, the latter being unaccustomed to the former {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=46–48 . They entered Chauaka, capital of the Chikinchel Province, in spring of 1528.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=49–51 A battle ensued, which Montejo won, thereby forcing Chikinchel to sue for peace.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=52–53 They next headed to

Ake Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It's located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The name ...

, where the Battle of Ake was likewise won by Montejo, after which they headed back to Salamanca, reaching it mid- or late summer 1528.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=54–58 Their traverse may have involved engagements with the military or militia of the

Sotuta Sotuta is a small town and municipality of the Mexican state of Yucatán, and also was the name of a Mayan chiefdom of the northern central Yucatán Peninsula, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century. See also * A ...

and Kupul Provinces {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=58 . Here, they were provisioned from

, whereupon they embarked on a combined entrada by land and sea southwards.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=59–60

= Southern campaign, summer 1528

= Montejo was to hug the coast with eight to ten men aboard the brigantine or caravel ''La Gavarra''. Dávila was to take a parallel route by land, with the majority of the soldiers.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=60 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=26 A small contingent of twenty men stayed at Salamanca, under Alonso de Luján. They were to build a small craft and follow Montejo post haste {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=60 . It is not immediately clear how many men constituted the Dávila party. The ''La Gavarra'', which provisioned the men from Santo Domingo, is thought to have found seventy to seventy-five men at Salamanca, suggesting a party of fifty to fifty-five men accompanied Dávila southwards {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=59–60 . On the other hand, {{harvnb, Jones, 1989, p=26 gives the number as circa forty soldiers in the Dávila party. The provincial capital of Chetumal, which had been set as the parties’ rendezvous point, was first reached by Montejo.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=60 The details of their crossing the

barrier reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

, and of their navigating its inner waters, are not clear, though this was apparently accomplished with their brig, the ‘’La Guevarra’’, rather than with a much smaller craft of lower draught {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=60–61, 63 . Unsure of the reception awaiting them, Montejo and his men kidnapped three or four residents under the cover of darkness to gather intelligence. Upon learning of

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

, now the ''nakom'' or commander-in-chief of the capital’s forces, Montejo dispatched one of the captives to the former, inviting the commander to break ranks and join the Spanish conquest. This being summarily spurned, the capital was prepared for battle.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=61–63 The commander’s strategy was apparently to keep the Dávila and Montejo parties separated.Chetumal seems to have known of the Dávila party in advance, though it is not clear that they similarly knew of the Montejo party until the adelantado’s note to Guerrero. Dávila was at present thirty leagues north of the capital {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=62–63 . Guides were or had been sent, under pretence of alliance, to lead Dávila west of the capital, and thereafter inform him that the Montejo party had been lost. {{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=63–64 The greater threat thus despatched, the capital turned towards Montejo. Feigning good will, residents ministered to Montejo and his men, and further informed the adelantado that the Dávila party had all perished. This bluff likewise worked, and the adelantado promptly set sail south towards

Ulua River Ulua may refer to: * Ulúa River * San Juan de Ulúa, a complex located on an island of the same name in the Gulf of Mexico * USS ''Ulua'' (SS-428), a submarine of the United States Navy * ''Ulua'' (fish), a genus of fishes in the family Carangid ...

, and then back north towards Salamanca.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=64–65 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=28 Montejo soon discovered the ruse, and determined to gather reinforcements at

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

for a renewed offensive on Chetumal.Salamanca had been removed north towards Xamanha by Dávila and Lujan. The Chetumal capital seems to have been determined as the immediate target due to its exceedingly good harbour {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=64–65 . He most likely set sail for that city in summer 1528.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=65 By December 1528, Montejo and his ''alférez mayor'', Gonzalo Nieto, had engaged sufficient men, provisions, and two large vessels in Veracruz and Mexico City for a renewed campaign {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=69–70 . These plans were abruptly upset, however, when the adelantado received the Real Audiencia of Mexico's authorisation to conquer the

Tabasco Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It is located in ...

and

Acalan Acalan (Chontal Maya: ''Tamactun'', Nahuatl: ''Acallan'') was a Chontal Maya region in what is now southern Campeche, Mexico. Its capital was Itzamkanac. The people of Acalan were called ''Mactun'' in the Chontal Maya language. Cuauhtemoc, ru ...

regions of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

{{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=71–72 .

Davila entrada, 1531–1533

In early 1531, the adelantado, having brought the Chakan,

Can Pech Can Pech (also Cun Pech, Kaan Pech, or Kaan Peech) was the name of a Maya chiefdom of the southwestern Yucatán Peninsula, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century. Can Pech was south of Ah Canul and north of Cha ...

, and Ah Canul Provinces under Spanish authority, promptly set about planning a renewed campaign towards Chetumal.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=97–99 Alonso Dávila was appointed to lead the expedition of circa fifty men.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=99 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=30 Dávila's men included the adelantado's fifteen-year-old nephew,

, and thirteen cavalry. In addition, two Yucatecan Mayan interpreters, a mining expert (Francisco Vázquez), and possibly a friar accompanied them {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=100 .

= Waymil–Chetumal campaign, summer 1531

= Dávila set out from the provincial capital of

in mid-1531.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=100 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=30 They marched through the

Mani Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshi ...

and

Cochuah Cochuah (also Kock Wah) (in the Mayan language: toponymic; ''K-'': our + ''Och'': food + ''Wah'': bread. "Our food of bread"?) is the name of one of the sixteen Mayan provinces into which the central Yucatán Peninsula was divided at the time of ...

Provinces unopposed, shortly thereafter reaching Chable, a town in the Waymil Province.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=100–101 Pre-eminent individuals in town promptly offered assistance, and were despatched to the provincial capital of

Bacalar Bacalar () is the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality (until 2011 a part of Othón P. Blanco Municipality) in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, about north of Chetumal, at 18° 40' 37" N, 88° 23' 43" W. In the 2010 census ...

to summon the ''batab'' or mayor.It has been suggested that this assistance was compelled by force of arms, rather than freely proffered {{harv, Jones, 1989, p=30 . The summons being rebuffed, Dávila marched on, leaving half of his men in Chable.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=101–102 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, pp=30–31 The ''batab'' or mayor of Bacalar was apparently under the authority of the Governor of Chetumal, Nachan Kan. (The Waymil Province seems to have lacked a ''halach winik'' or governor, and was likely rather organised as a confederation of towns, per {{harvnb, Jones, 1989, p=40 .) Notably, his reply to Dávila's summons declared that Waymil or Chetumal would give his men " ribute offowls in the form of their he locals'lances and maize in the form of their arrows" {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=101–102 . This reply is rather attributed to Gov. Kan by {{harvnb, Jones, 1989, pp=30–31 , who quotes the governor as stating that he would not come meet Dávila "but would rather declare war, giving

hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...

the chickens on spears and the maize on arrows." {{harvnb, Jones, 1989, pp=30–31 asserts that mediators from Chable were rather despatched to the capital of Chetumal, to summon Gov. Kan, and not the Waymil capital of Bacalar, since the former held authority over the latter, thereby making him the more suitable person for Dávila to deal with. The Chable messengers would have nonetheless passed Bacalar en route to Chetumal {{harv, Jones, 1989, p=31 . They next reached Maçanahau, a large town close to

Lake Bacalar Lake Bacalar (or Laguna Bacalar) is a long, narrow lake in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico near Mexico's border with Belize. It is approximately 42 km long measured from north to south, and less than 2 km at its widest. The lake is r ...

. Being well received, Dávila and his men stayed here for three weeks, during which time the diplomatic aid of leading individuals from various provincial towns seems to have convinced the ''batab'' or mayor of Bacalar to not oppose the entrada.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=102 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=31 Leading residents of Chable, who had previously proffered assistance upon Dávila's arrival, had accompanied the reduced expedition to Maçanahau. Dávila had further received offers of mediation from respected residents of Maçanahau and Yuyumpeten, a nearby town {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=102 . Consequently, the party continued their march to

unopposed. An overland march to Chetumal, Dávila soon found out, was not possible. Sea transport on several large canoes was thus arranged.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=103 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, pp=31–32 They disembarked at Chetumal unopposed, as the capital had been deserted. Nevertheless, per his instructions, Dávila decided to found a town in Chetumal. The rest of the party, who had been left in Chable, were called for, and the new settlement at Chetumal christened ''Villa Real''.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=103 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, pp=32–33 The adelantado had instructed Dávila to establish a Spanish settlement wherever Dávila thought best. The new town would apparently serve to administer the Cochuah, Waymil and Chetumal Provinces, once these were all under Spanish rule. One of the founding ''regidores'' or councilmen of ''Villa Real'' was Montejo, the young nephew of the eponymous adelantado {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=103 . The ''alcaldes'' or mayors were Martín de Villarubia and Francisco Vázquez, and the remaining ''regidores'' were Cristóbal Cisneros, Blas Maldonado, and Alonso de Arévalo {{harv, Jones, 1989, p=38 .

= Settlement and siege of ''Villa Real'', summer 1531 – autumn 1532

= In the next two months, the Governor of Chetumal, Nachan Kan, rallied the provincial forces at Chequitaquil, a coastal town four leagues north of the capital. On learning this, Dávila ordered a pre-emptive strike. A unit of circa twenty-five soldiers took the encampment by surprise. The assault was a partial success, resulting in the death of many of the provinces men, imprisonment of over sixty, and dispersal of all others. The principal target, Gov. Kan, had nonetheless made his escape.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=104 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=33 The assault yielded over sixty prisoners and loot worth circa 600 to 1,000 pesos. The capital's commander-in-chief, Gonzalo Guerrero, is presumed to have been with Gov. Kan at Chequitaquil, and to have likewise escaped. The captives, however, informed Dávila that Guerrero had previously died ({{harvnb, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=104–105 , {{harvnb, Jones, 1989, p=33 ). Now safely ensconced at the Chetumal capital (now ''Villa Real''), Dávila set out with twenty men on a survey of the newly-Spanish territory towards Maçanahau. Upon reaching Bacalar, Dávila, to his great surprise, was informed that residents of Maçanahau and other provincial towns of Waymil had resolved to oppose him. The towns and their access roads had been barricaded. The opposition, though, was soon routed.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=105–106 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=34 First at Maçanahau, then at Chable {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=105–106 . In the meantime, the recently-conquered Cochuah Province had revolted. Dávila resupplied at Villa Real and set off with twenty-two men to suppress the revolt.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=107–108 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, pp=34–36 Leaving some twenty-odd men at Villa Real. At Bacalar, some 600 locals from the various towns of Waymil, including many provincial or municipal officers, accompanied Dávila to Cochuah {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=107–108 . Some to most of the Waymil allies would later desert Dávila to join the Cochuah revolt {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=109–110 . It has been suggested that the Governor of Chetumal, Nachan Kan, and his commander-in-chief, Gonzalo Guerrero, played a part in spreading the revolt {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=116 . Unlike the limited rebellion in Waymil, the Cochuah revolt proved serious and widespread, forcing Dávila to retreat to Villa Real.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=112–113, 116 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, pp=36–38 The Spanish settlement was now under heavy siege. With only some thirty men fit for combat, five horses, and depleting stores, their situation was precarious.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=116–117 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=33 Eleven of the fifty-odd men who had set out from the Can Pech capital in mid-1531 had died, leaving some forty men at Villa Real, of whom ten were reportedly maimed {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=116–117 . Dávila soon learnt of a sizeable convoy preparing to set sail near Villa Real for trade towards the

. He had the merchants and their articles seized.By a small party, led by Martín de Villarubia ({{harvnb, Chamberlain, 1948, p=117 , {{harvnb, Jones, 1989, p=38 ). Since his prisoners included the son of the ''batab'' or mayor of Tapaen, a provincial town in Waymil, Dávila kept the son hostage and despatched two merchants to summon the mayor, who promptly called. The mayor was given a month to secure communication with the adelantado in the capital of the

Province, and promised his son in return. Believing his son would be released regardless, the mayor dallied. Upon learning of the mayor's ill faith, Dávila had him and his retinue tortured.The mayor had been summoned to Villa Real upon the expiration of the month he had been given {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=117 . To prove "whether the son had more love for the father, than the father had for the son," Dávila now despatched the mayor's son to the adelantado in Can Pech, keeping the mayor hostage.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=117 This arrangement also faltered.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=117–118 The mayor's son had also been given a month to secure the adelantado's reply. When said time was up, Dávila had led a detachment to Tapaen, where he was informed by captives that the mayor's son had made no attempt to reach the Can Pech capital {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=118 .

= Retreat from ''Villa Real'', autumn 1532 – spring 1533

= The siege wore on for months, as it became increasingly clear to the men that the situation was untenable.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=118 In autumn 1532, Dávila and the ''cabildo'' or town council resolved to retreat to Trujillo by sea.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=119–120 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, pp=38–39 ''Villa Real'' was to be re-established somewhere south of the Chetumal capital, if possible {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=119–120 . They reached

Puerto Caballos Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, O ...

in spring 1533, after an arduous journey of seven months.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=120–124 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=39 The retreat, aboard thirty-two canoes, was led by (captive) local merchants. Though swift and surreptitious, locals learnt of the retreat, and unsuccessfully pursued the Spanish for a day {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=120–121 . Dávila and his men, despite the able guidance of their captive merchants, sailed only six to seven leagues each day, constantly fighting a treacherous sea. Raids on riverine settlements, and craft and goods seized from travelling merchants, supplemented the Spaniards' stores {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=122–124 .

Pacheco entrada, 1543–1544

{{main article, 1543–1544 Pachecos entrada In April 1543, the Adelantado commissioned Gaspar Pacheco to conquer Chetumal and Waymil. Pacheco enlisted twenty-five to thirty men in Merida, and named Melchor Pacheco his principal subordinate, and Alonso Pacheco third in command.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=232 The date is given as 3 January 1543 in {{harvnb, Jones, 1989, p=41 . The expedition set out in late 1543 or early 1544.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=232–233 Pacheco and his men first reached the Spanish-controlled Cochuah Province. Their demands on the war-stricken residents here proved impossible to meet. The party nonetheless impressed men and women as servants, and seized so much food as to reduce the province to famine.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=233 At this point, having fallen ill, Gaspar Pacheco tasked Melchor Pacheco, his second-in-command, with the conquest of Waymil and Chetumal.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=233 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, p=42 Gaspar Pacheco returned to Merida to recuperate. Alonso Pacheco was now Melchor Pacheco's principal subordinate {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=233 . Marching onwards to Waymil and Chetumal, the Pachecos soon discovered that residents had burnt their crops and fled to the woods, determined on guerrilla warfare to oppose them.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=233–234 Exasperated, the Pachecos now resorted to wanton acts of cruelty, including: * clubbing captives to death, * drowning captives, * sicking dogs on unarmed civilians, and allowing the dogs to maul them to death, and * mutilating captives.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=234 It has been suggested that Melchor Pacheco's second-in-command, Alonso Pacheco, was the officer most responsible for these acts {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=234 . The lack of clergymen in the expedition has further been cited as a contributing factor {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=234 . The Pacheco entrada is now commonly described as one of, if not the, bloodiest and cruelest campaigns in the Spanish conquest of Yucatan ({{harvnb, Chamberlain, 1948, p=233 , {{harvnb, Jones, 1989, p=42 ). On 10 February 1548, Franciscan Fray Lorenzo de Bienvenida described it to

thus–

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
was not more cruel than this man lonso Pacheco He passed forward rom the Cochuah Provinceand reached a province called Chetumal, which was at peace. Even though the natives did not make war, he robbed the province and consumed the foodstuffs of the natives, who fled into the bush in fear of the Spaniards, since as soon as . Pachecocaptured any of them, he set the dogs on them. And the Indians fled from all this and did not sow their crops, and all died of hunger. I say all, because there were towns n Chetumalof five hundred and one thousand houses, and now 0 Feb. 1548one which has one hundred is large. This province f Chetumalwas also rich in cacao. This captain . Pacheco with his own hands committed outrages: he killed many with the ''garrote'', saying, "This is a good rod with which to punish these people," and, after he had killed them, he said, "Oh how well I finished them off." Tying them to stakes, he cut the breasts off many women, and hands, noses, and ears off the men, and he tied squashes to the feet of women and threw them in the lakes to drown merely to amuse himself. He committed other great cruelties which I shall not mention for lack of space. He destroyed the entire province. hen the Spaniardsfounded a town of eight ''
vecino 'Vecino' means either "neighbour" or resident in modern Spanish. Historically in the Spanish Empire it referred instead to a householder of considerable social position in a town or a city, and was similar to "freeman" or "freeholder." Histori ...
s'', which is called
Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...
, a halting town which has neither a cleric nor a church, nor do the Spaniards there confess, since the town is sixty leagues from this city f Merida If he Chetumal Provincehad not been destroyed it would have supported town ofthirty men 'vecinos'' And for his cruelties they he ''cabildo'' of Meridareturned this captain . Pachecoto the province which he destroyed and gave him its best Indians, and in doing this they did not give him something which was of small value. Such is the justice rendered in this land. {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=235 .

(Fray Bienvenida established a mission in Bacalar in circa 1546, and may have stayed there for about a year {{harv, Jones, 1989, pp=42–43.) In circa 1566 in

Relación de las cosas de Yucatán ''Relación de las cosas de Yucatán'' was written by Diego de Landa around 1566, shortly after his return from Yucatán to Spain. In it, de Landa catalogues Mayan words and phrases as well as a small number of Maya hieroglyphs. The hieroglyphs, ...

Bishop Diego de Landa Diego de Landa Calderón, O.F.M. (12 November 1524 – 29 April 1579) was a Spanish Franciscan bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán. Many historians criticize his campaign against idolatry. In particular, he burned almost al ...

similarly reported–

The Indians of the provinces of Cochua and Chetuma revolted, the Spaniards pacified them in such a way, that these provinces which were formerly the thickest settled and the most populous, remained the most desolate of all the country; committing upon them unheard-of cruelties, cutting off noses, arms and legs, and the breasts of women; throwing them into deep lagoons with gourds tied to their feet; stabbing the little children because they did not walk as fast as their mothers; and if those whom they drove along, chained together around the neck, fell sick or did not move along as fast as the others they cut off their heads between the others, so as not to stop and untie them. With like inhuman treatment as this did they drag along in their train for their service a large number of male and female captives. And it is said the Don Francisco de Montejo did not commit any of these barbarities nor was he present at them. On the contrary they seemed very evil to him, but he could do nothing more. {{harv, Jones, 1989, pp=43, 301

Criminal charges were brought against the Pachecos for cruelties committed during their entrada. The Spanish Crown further commissioned an enquiry {{harv, Chamberlain, 1948, p=236 . The ''Adelantado'', Francisco de Montejo, was ultimately held responsible for these and other alleged crimes ({{harvnb, Jones, 1989, p=301, loc=no. 23 , {{harvnb, García Bernal, 2018, loc=para. 24 ). The Spanish thus avoided a war of attrition. By early 1544, local opposition was so inconsequential as to convince the Pachecos to establish a town, christened ''Salamanca'', in the ruins of Bacalar.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, p=234 The date of the founding of ''Salamanca'' is broadly given as prior to the end of 1544 in {{harvnb, Jones, 1989, p=43 . Its founding ''alcaldes'' or mayors were Alonso and Melchor Pacheco. Its ''regidores'' or councilmen then were Pedro de Avila, Alonso Hernández, and Juan Farfán {{harv, Jones, 1989, p=44 . The victory proved pyrrhic, as the entrada resulted in very significant depopulation of the Waymil and Chetumal Provinces, thereby ensuring the permanent poverty of ''Salamanca''.{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=235–236 {{sfn, Jones, 1989, pp=5–6, 45

Society

Religion

Chichen Itza is known to have (coercively) sponsored the pre-eminent worship of K'uk'ulkan.{{sfn, Aimers, 2007, pp=339–340 Though the god's introduction to the Mayan pantheon likely preceded the arrival of the Itza to Yucatan, via pre-existing trade links with the

Aztec civilisation The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl l ...

{{harv, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, pp=582–583. The Cult of K'uk'ulkan is thought to have been the first state religion to transcend linguistic and ethnic differences in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

.{{sfn, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, pp=582–583 The Cult is believed to have strengthened or been strengthened by the peninsular coasting trade.{{sfn, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, p=377 It has been suggested that the province was home to a cult of

Itzamna Itzamna () is, in Maya mythology, an upper god and creator deity thought to reside in the sky. Itzamna is one of the most important gods in the Classic and Postclassic Maya pantheon. Although little is known about him, scattered references are pre ...

which focussed on the god's connection to large ocean creatures.{{sfn, Nielsen, Andersen, 2004, pp=84, 89–92Classical Mayan mythology is believed to have held that (i) Earth lay on the back of a large ocean creature, (ii) during the moment of creation, Itzamna set up one of three cosmic hearth stones {{harv, Nielsen, Andersen, 2004, p=90, loc=fn. 7. He has featured prominently in material finds from Chetumal which, unusually, frequently depict him emerging from the jaws of sea creatures.{{sfn, Nielsen, Andersen, 2004, pp=89, 91The material culture unearthed includes (i) late Postclassic polychrome murals formerly in Santa Rita (not extant, though reasonably complete reproductions survive in {{harvnb, Powell, 1900, pp=655–692), (ii) at least eight effigy censers recovered from Santa Rita {{harv, Nielsen, Andersen, 2004, pp=91–92. Significantly, Santa Rita has variously been proposed as the likeliest location of the eponymous capital of the Chetumal Province {{harv, Nielsen, Andersen, 2004, p=86.

Government

Pre-Columbian

Chichen Itza is believed to have been governed either by a ''multepal'' or council of lords, or by a king and a privy council.{{sfn, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, pp=580–581 {{sfn, Aimers, 2007, p=339 That is, the city-state was likely not ruled solely by a king. Despite this, one of Chichen Itza's known rulers, K'ak' u Pakal, may have been a divine king ({{harvnb, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=581 , {{harvnb, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, Dzul Góngora, Dzul Poot, 1980, p=367 ). Furthermore, it has been proposed that ''K'uk'ulkan'' or Feathered Serpent was a title for Chichen Itza's (non-divine) kings ({{harvnb, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=581 , {{harvnb, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, Dzul Góngora, Dzul Poot, 1980, p=420 . In the case of rule by a king and privy council, it has been further suggested that the balance of power lay with the council during the city's earlier history, and thereafter lay with the king {{harv, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=581 . It has been suggested that the city-state's realm was administered as a confederacy of provinces.{{sf, Milbrath, Peraza Lope, 2003, p=31 Mayapan is commonly held to have been ruled by a ''multepal'' or council of lords, composed of members from the Canul, Chel, Cocom, Cupul, and Xiu ''ch'ibalo'ob'' or noble houses.{{sfn, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=601 {{sfn, Milbrath, Peraza Lope, 2003, p=31 {{sfn, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, 1980, p=540 {{sfn, Aimers, 2007, p=338 It has been suggested that, of these five houses, the Xius were initially the pre-eminent one, followed sometime thereafter by the Cocoms {{harv, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=602 . On the other hand, this Xiu–Cocom pre-eminence may have been at least a ''de facto'' monarchy {{harv, Milbrath, Peraza Lope, 2003, pp=31–32 . Its realm is believed to have been organised as a confederation of provinces, called the League of Mayapan, each of which was overseen by a ''kalwak'' or governor.{{sfn, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=602 Governors, though, were apparently required to reside in Mayapan, so it is unclear who exactly delegated for them in provincial capitals {{harv, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=602 . Later Columbian-period accounts commonly hold the League of Mayapan to have been ruled jointly by Mayapan, Chichen Itza, and Uxmal. Archaeological evidence, however, indicates that the latter cities were virtually deserted during Mayapan's rule {{harv, Sharer, Traxler, 2006, p=602

Columbian

Civil organisation of Postclassic Mayan state

Chetumal's form of government as a sovereign province is presumed to have (i) remained significantly the same throughout its sovereign period, and (ii) not been significantly different from that of nearby provinces with a ''halach winik'' or governor, like

Ceh Pech Ceh Pech (pronounced ''Keh Pech'', 'Ceh (deer): patronymic, perhaps Ah Ceh; Pech (tick), perhaps also a patronymic composed of the union of two family names') is the name of a post-classic Maya ruling family and a province, or ''kuchkabal'' of th ...

, and

.{{sfn, Roys, 1957, pp=6–7

State offices

Chetumal's head of state and government was the ''halach winik'' or governor, who would also have been the ''batab'' or mayor of the province's eponymous capital.{{sfn, Roys, 1957, pp=6–7 His office and title ( ''Ahaw'' or Lord) were hereditary, and his rule considered a divine right.The office passed from father to first-born son (ie

primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

). In cases when the office passed on to an infant, the former governor's brothers would exercise the office's powers in regency {{harv, Roys, 1957, p=6. The office's powers and duties included— # exacting

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

from cities, towns or hamlets, # conscripting men for military service in times of war, # conducting war, # sitting as the highest tribunal for inter-municipal conflicts, # officiating religious ceremonies of state.{{sfn, Roys, 1957, pp=6–7 At least one of Chetumal's later governors is known to have held authority over at least part of a neighbouring province ( Waymil).The Waymil Province is not known to have had a ''halach winik'' or governor. It may rather have been a confederation of towns, with Maçanahau, Yuyumpeten, and Bacalar being the largest known ({{harvnb, Roys, 1957, pp=157–159 , {{harvnb, Jones, 1989, pp=32, 40 ). This was likely effected through the threat of force, rather than diplomacy, as said authority was only reluctantly acceded to.{{sfn, Roys, 1957, p=157{{sfn, Chamberlain, 1948, pp=101–102

Local offices

Immediately subject to the governor were the ''batabo'ob'' or mayors of the cities, towns and hamlets of the province.In some neighbouring provinces, a ''hol pop'' (lit. "head of the mat") would sometimes be mayor, acting mayor, or mayor ''ad interim''. This office is not well understood. Prof. Roys suggests the patriarch of the pre-eminent ''ch'ibal'' or noble house in town held the office. Its Columbian-period duties were purely social or ceremonial {{harv, Roys, 1957, p=7. This office was likewise hereditary.Inherited via primogeniture. Some mayors are known to have been appointed by the governor in neighbouring provinces, so this may have also been possible in Chetumal {{harv, Roys, 1957, p=7. The office's powers and duties included– # having a town farm kept for his pecuniary benefit, # keeping houses and farms in order, # sitting as a tribunal of original civil and criminal jurisdiction, # maintaining the military or militia in times of peace.{{sfn, Roys, 1957, pp=6–7 The constitution of local government has not been fully elucidated. The following offices were nonetheless known to have been involved in at least some cities, towns or hamlets— # ''nakomo'ob'' or commanders-in-chief, who exercised municipal military authority in the mayor's stead in times of war, # ''kuch kabo'ob'' or aldermen, who severally exercised at least executive authority over ''kuchteelo'ob'' or wards, and who jointly, in court or council assembled, exercised veto power over at least some of the mayor's executive, judicial, or military decisionsThe court or council's full range of powers and duties, and its form of decision-making, are not understood. Its pre-Columbian Yucatecan Mayan name is not clear. A Spanish ''cabildo'' was called a ''molay'', ''mulkan'', ''tankab kabil'' or ''tan kah'' {{harv, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, Dzul Poot, 1980, p=60. The Columbian-period term for aldermen was ''chun t'ano'ob'', per {{harvnb, Roys, 1957, p=7 and {{harvnb, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, Dzul Poot, 1980, pp=116–117. # ''kulelo'ob'' or town officers, who carried out the mayor's orders.Town officers ranked below aldermen, but it is not clear whether the officers also deputised for the aldermen. Local government were also responsible for administering the

commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...

, which included all municipal land, as private land ownership either did not exist or was forbidden.Though lands were held in common, improvements thereon, like orchards and buildings, were not. It is not immediately clear whether or how administration of the commons was divided among local offices, though it is known that local government were responsible for apportioning it, and that the ''almeheno'ob'' or local aristocracy or upper class were preferred in such matters {{harv, Roys, 1957, pp=8–10. It is not clear whether non-municipal land within the province was likewise held in common.{{sfn, Roys, 1957, pp=8–10

Economy

Capital

At least since circa 1450, the provincial capital was a major port of call for the peninsular coasting trade from the

or the

to the Ekab Province.{{sfn, Scholes, Roys, 1968, p=83{{sfn, Nielsen, Andersen, 2004, p=86 It was, at least towards the Columbian period, a large town of circa 2,000 houses, abutted by sapodilla and cacao orchards, maize fields, and apiaries of stingless bees.{{sfn, Roys, 1957, pp=161–162 Its merchant class fully occupied one-fourths of Nito, an out-of-province port of call on Dulce River.{{sfn, Scholes, Roys, 1968, p=86 It traded the province's cacao, honey, wax, and marine products for obsidian, jade, turquoise, copper, and gold.{{sfn, Nielsen, Andersen, 2004, p=86

Provincial

The province was the only significant cacao-producer in Yucatan.{{sfn, Scholes, Roys, 1968, p=83 It provided the capital's merchants with cacao, honey, wax, and marine products.{{sfn, Nielsen, Andersen, 2004, p=86 Articles for local consumption are thought to have included– # pottery from

and settlements on Honey Camp Lagoon,{{sfn, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, pp=376, 412, 420–421 # salt and salted fish from settlements on the

.{{sfn, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, pp=372, 379 This activity is known to have declined by circa 1000–1100 AD, likely due to being outcompeted by salt from the northern Yucatan coast {{harv, Demarest, Rice, Rice, 2004, pp=372, 381 .

Legacy

Scholarly

None of Chetumal's records are extant.These are presumed to have been copious, given known pre-Columbian record-keeping practice in other Mayan states of the Yucatan peninsula. Most were likely burnt or otherwise destroyed during the Spanish conquest and ensuing proselytising efforts. Any which may have survived are presumed to have decayed past recognition, Chetumal's

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) or higher in the cool ...

being notoriously unforgiving to bark paper. Consequently, all scholarship on the province has relied on later Hispano-Mayan records and modern archaeology. Archaeological work in Chetumal was begun in early 1894 by

Thomas Gann Thomas William Francis Gann (13 May 1867 – 24 February 1938) was a medical doctor by profession, but is best remembered for his work as an amateur archaeologist exploring ruins of the Maya civilization. Personal history Thomas Gann was ...

, a medical officer of colonial Belize, in the ruins of

Santa Rita, Corozal Santa Rita is a Maya civilization, Maya Maya ruins of Belize, ruin and an List of protected areas of Belize#Archaeological reserves, archaeological reserve on the outskirts of Corozal Town, Corozal, Belize. Historical evidence suggests that it w ...

.{{sfn, Thompson, 1975, p=742 {{sfn, Wallace, 2011, p=24 {{sfn, Hammond, 2004, loc=para. 2 {{sfn, Shaw, Mathews, 2005, p=184 Dr. Gann's offices in colonial Belize included District Commissioner, District Medical Officer, Principal Medical Officer, JP, and MP {{harv, Hammond, 2004, loc=para. 1 .Notably, Dr. Gann uncovered very rare Postclassic polychrome stucco murals on Structure 1 (Str. 1) of Santa Rita. One of these included an extremely rare and substantial hieroglyphic inscription. With no tracing paper to be had in nearby Corozal, Dr. Gann was only able to reproduce half of said mural on oiled paper before locals repurposed its plaster for medicine. He managed to copy the remaining murals before they degraded. The surviving stencils were published in {{harvnb, Powell, 1900, pp=655–692 {{harv, Thompson, 1975, p=743 .Dr. Matthias Levy, Danish consul to colonial Belize during 1860–1869, collected a number of Postclassic effigy censers from Santa Rita and

in 1860–1865. It is unclear how the censers came to be in his possession, though he is not known to have conducted archaeological work in the area. His collection was donated to

National Museum of Denmark The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from Strøget ...

and an unspecified museum in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

{{harv, Nielsen, Andersen, 2004, pp=84–85 . A flint implement, recovered by a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer some years prior to 1871, and then exhibited by

Augustus Pitt Rivers Lieutenant General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (14 April 18274 May 1900) was an English officer in the British Army, ethnologist, and archaeologist. He was noted for innovations in archaeological methodology, and in the museum display o ...

for the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

on 2 March 1872, may likewise have come from Chetumal {{harv, Society of Antiquaries of London, 1870–1873, pp=93–95 , though {{harvnb, Franks, 1877 suggested otherwise. His copious work spurred further explorations and excavations in Belize and Mexico by the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

Carnegie Institution The Carnegie Institution of Washington (the organization's legal name), known also for public purposes as the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS), is an organization in the United States established to fund and perform scientific research. Th ...

, Field Museum, Sir J. E. S. Thompson, and

Sylvanus Morley Sylvanus Griswold Morley (June 7, 1883September 2, 1948) was an American archaeology, archaeologist and epigraphy, epigrapher who studied the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the early 20th century. Morley led extensive excavations of the Ma ...

.{{sfn, Pendergast, 1993, pp=4–6 {{sfn, Hammond, 2004, loc=para. 3 {{sfn, Wallace, 2011, pp=26–28 {{sfn, Shaw, Mathews, 2005, pp=15–17 Dr. Gann's work on Chetumal was published in {{harvnb, Gann, 1897 , {{harvnb, Powell, 1900, pp=655–692 , {{harvnb, Gann, 1905 , {{harvnb, Gann, 1912 , {{harvnb, Gann, 1914–1916 , {{harvnb, Gann, 1918 , and {{harvnb, Gann, 1924 , per {{harvnb, Hammond, 2004, loc=para. 4 , {{harvnb, Thompson, 1975, p=743 , {{harvnb, Wallace, 2011, p=35 . He collaborated with Sir Thompson on {{harvnb, Gann, Thompson, 1931 , the first panoptic survey of Mayan history for the general public.{{sfn, Hammond, 2004, loc=para. 5 His collections of Mayan artefacts remain in the

George Gustav Heye Center The National Museum of the American Indian–New York, the George Gustav Heye Center, is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, New York City. The museum is part of the Smi ...

National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The museum is a non ...

, and

Middle American Research Institute The Middle American Research Institute was established at Tulane University in 1924. Mission The Middle American Research Institute seeks to study and safeguard the culture and history of the areas of Mesoamerica and lower Central America. The Ins ...

, with the British Museum receiving the first known collection of Mayan jades.{{sfn, Hammond, 2004, loc=para. 6 {{sfn, Thompson, 1975, p=743 {{sfn, Wallace, 2011, pp=26, 32 The collection now housed in constituent museums of

, and formerly housed in the Public Museum of Liverpool, was damaged during the

Liverpool Blitz The Liverpool Blitz was the heavy and sustained bombing of the English city of Liverpool and its surrounding area, during the Second World War by the German ''Luftwaffe''. Liverpool was the most heavily bombed area of the country, outside Lo ...

in 1941. As of 2011, the extent of this damage had not been assessed {{harv, Wallace, 2011, p=26 . Dr. Gann also donated artefacts to the former Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, which were subsequently dispersed upon the Museum's permanent closure. The number and destination of the Gann–Wellcome artefacts is not clear. At least one of them is now housed in Oxford's

Pitt Rivers Museum Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford in England. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and can only be accessed t ...

{{harv, Wallace, 2011, p=32 . It has been suggested that his work prompted the first legislative protections for antiquities in colonial Belize in 1894, and their subsequent strengthening in 1897, 1924, and 1927.{{sfn, Wallace, 2011, p=25 {{sfn, Hammond, 1983, p=22 Dr. Gann's work, spanning his 1894–1936 career, has been described as "more destructive than protective of evidence from beginning to end" by {{harvnb, Pendergast, 1993, p=4 . However, it has also been pointed out that his work, if judged by archaeological standards of his time, rather than by modern ones, would not be so harshly judged—though it would still be found wanting {{harv, Wallace, 2011, pp=24–26 . After Dr. Gann, archaeological work in Chetumal languished until the 1964–1970 Altun Ha Expedition of the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

.{{sfn, Pendergast, 1993, pp=4, 8 {{sfn, Shaw, Mathews, 2005, p=3 Though brief, sporadic work occurred, including— # Rev. Francis de Paula Castells briefly examined a Spanish mission church in

in September 1902. Rev. Castells unfortunately mistook the church for a pre-Columbian Mayan structure, thereby confounding archaeological work for nearly 80 years ({{harvnb, Castells, 1904 , {{harvnb, Pendergast, 1993, p=4 ). # The ''Expedición Científica Mexicana de 1937'' (lit. Mexican Scientific Expedition of 1937), led by Luis Rosado Vega, examined at least nine sites in Chetumal in June–December 1937 ({{harvnb, Shaw, Mathews, 2005, pp=19, 185 , {{harvnb, González Vázquez, 2018, pp=1, 133 , {{harvnb, Escalona Ramos, 1946 ). # A. H. Anderson, then a government librarian in colonial Belize, conducted unpublished salvage work in 1937–1938 in

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

. In 1952, as First Assistant Secretary to the Governor of colonial Belize, he was given responsibility for archaeology, the first civil servant so charged. And in January 1957, he was appointed the country's first Commissioner of Archaeology ({{harvnb, Pendergast, 1968, pp=90–91 , {{harvnb, Anderson, 1963, p=80 ). # Dr. Wolfgang Haberland, of the Museum am Rothenbaum, and A. H. Anderson, briefly examined some artefacts and a structure at

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

on 27 October 1954. They had been discovered by a local resident, Luis F. Ramirez, and were subsequently destroyed by

Hurricane Janet Hurricane Janet was the most powerful tropical cyclone of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season and one of the strongest North Atlantic tropical cyclone, Atlantic hurricanes on record. Janet was also the first named storm to have 1,000 deaths and th ...

on 27 September 1955 ({{harvnb, Haberland, 1958, pp=128–129 , {{harvnb, Pendergast, 1993, p=7 ). #

William T. Sanders William Timothy Sanders (1926–2008) was an American anthropologist who specialized in the archaeology of Mesoamerica.Jeremy PearceWilliam T. Sanders, 82, Anthropologist, Is Dead ''The New York Times'', July 16, 2008. Early life and education San ...

, then a PhD candidate at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, examined at least two sites in Chetumal in 1955 ({{harvnb, Shaw, Mathews, 2005, p=185 , {{harvnb, Sanders, 1960 ). # Michel Peissel explored some coastal sites near Chetumal in 1961 ({{harvnb, Peissel, 1963 , {{harvnb, Shaw, Mathews, 2005, p=19 ). # The

, led by William R. Bullard, Jr., conducted excavations in San Estevan in 1962, as part of their broader archaeological project in colonial Belize ({{harvnb, Bullard, 1965 , {{harvnb, Pendergast, 1993, p=8 ). The project's work is detailed in {{harvnb, Pendergast, 1979 , {{harvnb, Pendergast, 1982 , {{harvnb, Pendergast, 1990 , and in various journals {{harv, Pendergast, 1993, pp=8, 30–31 . The project was pushed for by the Archaeological Commissioner of colonial Belize, A. H. Anderson, and led by

David M. Pendergast David Michael Pendergast, (born 1934) is an American Archaeologist, and is most famous for his work at Altun Ha and Lamanai, Belize. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology in 1955 from the University of California, Berkeley, and earned his ...

.{{sfn, Pendergast, 1993, p=8 The substantial corpus generated quickly prompted a renaissance of archaeological work in Chetumal, which has continued to the present day.{{sfn, Pendergast, 1993, pp=9–10 Historical work on the Postclassic Mayan states was first published by the Merida-based polymath Juan Francisco Molina Solís in 1896.{{sfn, Andrews, 1984, p=590 As part of a survey of the history of Yucatan in {{harvnb, Molina Solís, 1896, pp=ix–lx, 175–337. The states' existence had been known to non-Mayans since Columbian times, but previous attempts at their exposition had been cursory {{harv, Andrews, 1984, pp=589–590. This was followed by the 1943 and 1957 publications of the Carnegie

Mayanist A Mayanist ( es, mayista) is a scholar specialising in research and study of the Mesoamerican pre-Columbian Maya civilisation. This discipline should not be confused with Mayanism, a collection of New Age beliefs about the ancient Maya. Mayan ...

Ralph L. Roys Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

.{{sfn, Andrews, 1984, p=590 Namely, {{harvnb, Roys, 1943 and {{harvnb, Roys, 1957. These were both preceded by a

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

PhD thesis, {{harvnb, Jakeman, 1938. The latter may have been preceded by a critical edition of the 1688 Historia de Yucathan in {{harvnb, López de Cogolludo, 1957, loc=pt. 2, whose commentary by Jorge Ignacio Rubio Mañé, a colleague of Prof. Roys, took up the topic of Postclassic Mayan states {{harv, Andrews, 1984, p=590. The latter of these has become the authoritative text on the subject, and is most commonly cited as the first of its kind, being significantly more rigorous and complete than preceding works.{{sfn, Graham, 2011, p=29 {{sfn, Andrews, 1984, pp=589–590, 595 Prof. Roys proposed sixteen geographically-delimited sovereign provinces, namely, the Provinces of Ah Canul, Chakan, Cehpech, Hocaba, Mani, Ah Kin Chel, Sotuta, Chikinchel, Tases, Cupul, Cochua, Ecab, Uaymil, Chetumal, Chanputun, Canpech {{harv, Roys, 1957, p=iii, herein spelled Kanul, Chak'an, Kehpech, Hokaba', Mani, K'in Ch'el, Sotuta, Chik'in Che'el, Tases, Kupul, Koch Wah, Ekab, Waymil, Chetumal, Chanputun, Kanpech, per {{harvnb, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, Dzul Góngora, Dzul Poot, 1980, pp=81, 84, 91, 99, 149, 220, 299, 309, 326, 354, 403, 497, 738, 917. Entries for "Tases" and "Kanpech" are missing in {{harvnb, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, Dzul Góngora, Dzul Poot, 1980, pp=291–299, 777–778, but are elsewhere used and spelled as herein rendered, as in {{harvnb, Barrera Vásquez, Bastarrachea Manzano, Brito Sansores, Vermont Salas, Dzul Góngora, Dzul Poot, 1980, pp=19, 84, 99, 231, 233, 708. Despite this progress, Chetumal remained one of the least elucidated provinces until a seminal 1989 publication by Grant D. Jones, then a Professor at

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

.{{sfn, Andrews, 1984, p=592 {{sfn, Jones, 1989

Social

In Mexico

The modern city of

, established 5 May 1898 by Vice-Admiral Othón P. Blanco, was named in honour of the eponymous Postclassic capital of the Chetumal Province.{{sfn, Romero Mayo, Benítez López, 2014, pp=126–127 The Guerrero–Kan family are widely believed to have been the first

Mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...

family in the Americas.{{sfn, González Hernández, 2018, loc=para. 6, 15 Various public works of art depicting them have been installed in Yucatan and

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 mu ...

. These include: * an untitled sculpture by Raúl Ayala Arellano, installed in

Akumal Akumal is a small beach-front tourist resort community in Mexico, located south of Cancún, between the towns of Playa del Carmen and Tulum. It is located on Akumal Bay and Half Moon Bay on the site of a former coconut plantation in Tulum Munic ...

in January 1975{{sfn, García Cruzado, 2011, pp=174–175 * at least 25 replicas or near-replicas of the aforementioned Ayala Arellano sculpture, including one inaugurated on 16 November 1980 by the 58th President of Mexico,

José López Portillo José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco (; 16 June 1920 – 17 February 2004) was a Mexican writer, lawyer and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 58th president of Mexico from 1976 t ...

, in Merida{{sfn, García Cruzado, 2011, pp=175–176 * ''Nacimiento de la raza mestiza'' (lit. Birth of the Mestizo Race) by Nereo de la Peña, a mural for the ''Palacio de Gobierno'' in Chetumal in 1979{{sfn, García Cruzado, 2011, pp=177–178 * ''Forma, color e historia de Quintana Roo'' (lit. Form, Colour and History of Quintana Roo) by Elio Carmichael Jiménez, a mural inaugurated in Chetumal in 1981 by former Mexican President José López Portillo{{sfn, García Cruzado, 2011, p=178 * ''Alegoría del mestizaje'' (lit. Allegory of Miscegenation) by Carlos Terrés, a sculpture inaugurated in Chetumal on 1 April 1981, by the 1st Governor of Quintana Roo, Jesús Martínez Ross{{sfn, García Cruzado, 2011, pp=176–177 * ''Cuna del mestizaje'' (lit. Trade of Miscegenation) by Rosa María Ponzanelly and Sergio Trejo, a sculpture inaugurated in Chetumal on 25 October 1996 by the 61st President of Mexico,

Ernesto Zedillo Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (; born 27 December 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He was 61st president of Mexico from 1 December 1994 to 30 November 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted 71-year line of Mexican presidents from t ...

{{sfn, García Cruzado, 2011, p=177 * ''La cuna del mestizaje'' by Rodrigo Siller, a mural installed 17 November 2007 in the Museum of Mayan Culture, Chetumal{{sfn, García Cruzado, 2011, p=178 * ''Gonzalo Guerrero'' by Fernando Castro Pacheco, an oil painting for the ''Palacio de Gobierno'' in Merida{{sfn, García Cruzado, 2011, p=178 Cancun's residents, upon the arrival of

Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

and

Queen Sofía of Spain Sofía of Greece and Denmark ( el, Σοφία; born 2 November 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who was List of Spanish royal consorts, Queen of Spain from 1975 to 2014 as the wife of King Juan Carlos I. She is the first child of ...

on 16 November 1978, gifted the monarchs a turtleshell statuette of Gonzalo Guerrero.{{sfn, García Cruzado, 2011, p=158{{sfn, Sebastian, 1978, loc=para. 2 Quintana Roo's state anthem, introduced 14 January 1986, celebrates the Guerrero–Kan family.{{sfn, García Cruzado, 2011, p=173, loc=fn. 26{{sfn, XVI Congreso de Quintana Roo, 2015, p=4, loc=stanza III Othon P. Blanco's highest civic honour, introduced 29 September 1997, was named after Guerrero.{{sfn, García Cruzado, 2011, pp=172–174

In Belize

On 20 December 2012, the National Institute of Culture and History and the Belize Tourism Industry Association held a public re-enactment of the Guerrero-Kan wedding at

.{{sfn, Nunez, 2012a, loc=para. 1{{sfn, Nunez, 2012b Public re-enactments have been held on 22 March 2014, 5 February 2015, 20 February 2016, 6 July 2017, 19 May 2018, and 29 March 2019.{{sfn, Moody, 2015, loc=para. 1{{sfn, Moody, 2016, loc=para. 1, 3{{sfn, Wilson, 2019, loc=para. 2–7

Notes

{{reflist, group=note

Citations

{{reflist

References

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