2 Word Count (Don’t Read)

My sister Arisu Sakayanagi is a yandere

I was reincarnated into COTE and my sister is none other than Arisu Sakayanagi. Unlike other normal siblings, we have already done plenty of sex before we even go to Advanced Nurturing High School, the school where canon events take place.

My sister is sweet, smart, and flirtatiously cute, but when I introduced another girl into my life whom I saved from a bullying incident, she changed. And it was also the time when hell began to break loose.

Chapter 1: Banging my sister (R-18)

"You are dead." The drumming voice echoed through my ears as I saw the ball of light standing before me, unsure whether it was The God or The Devil. Either way, it seemed like this place sounded like the afterlife.

We faced each other in the void. Because The God took the form of a ball of light, I couldn't see his expression or judge what he wanted from me.

"So, what's next?" I asked.

"You have three choices. The first choice: you will hand over your soul to me and believe in God. Then the gate of heaven will open for you. Or you can choose the second choice and hand over all of your karma, whether it is good or bad. You will be given a chance at reincarnation. Or choose the third choice: you will go to hell." The ball of light explained with a diplomatic tone mixed with a hint of threat in his voice. I could clearly see the blatant threat too. If I refused the first and second choices, I would be thrown into hell.

Is he really God?

"I choose the second choice." With no other option, I could only opt for the second choice. Compared to handing over my soul to the mercy of others or believing in their mercy like a sheep, I preferred to pave my own path. Reincarnation was the only choice.

"Good then. I like you for not wasting my time with too many questions." The ball of light spoke menacingly. Probably, many people had asked too many questions, which made him hate it, to the point that he remembered it and talked about it with me.

I thought so.

Then, with a bang, the roulette appeared in front of us.

"For that, I will give you the choice to choose your world based on your luck rather than being chosen by my own whim."

With that, the roulette began to show the worlds of Game of Thrones, Guilty Crown, COTE, Fate, Code Geass, and Akame ga Kill. I was given a choice of six worlds based on my luck and where my luck would head toward in that world.

Without wasting time or pointless talk with God, I rolled the roulette. It landed between Game of Thrones, Guilty Crown, and COTE. When it landed on COTE, I sighed in relief. I had no need to go to a dark world like GOT or Guilty Crown. Moreover, the danger in COTE was not as much, as long as I didn't go to the White Room or provoke someone I shouldn't, everything would be easy.

"Well, it's boring." The God yawned when he saw that the world was easy and had no challenge for me. I thought so based on his yawning and words.

Then his light seemed to brighten as if he was thinking of something.

"Yeah, lad, enjoy your next life. I hope you don't die, hahaha." The twisted laughter of God echoed through the void as he lifted up my soul and threw me into the black hole.

...

"Fufufu... You're hard at your own sister's body, brother," she chuckled as Arisu continued to grind her creamy thigh against my rock-hard cock.

Our current location was in the bathtub where she was sitting in my lap, my erect cock hard at the sight of my own naked sister.

I mean, she was cute. There was nothing I could do except give her a lot of love, right?

Her thighs, constantly shifting, weren't making it any easier.

We were all wrapped up in each other, naked as the day we were born. I squeezed her thigh and slid my cock between her wet pussy lips, rubbing them with my shaft.

Fuck, this is awesome.

I have to thank The God who reincarnated me into having such a great sister who is cute and sexy at the same time.

My cock kept grinding her pussy lips, getting closer and closer to release, while she moaned my name over and over again.

"Yes, Genji... Ahhhhhhh... Keep doing that."

"Argh... I'm cumming, sister." I groaned, my body trembling as I released my seed into her milky thigh, some spilling into the water.

She shivered in pleasure, her knees weak as she leaned against my chest, panting heavily.

Seems like my sister's weak point is indeed her pussy.

After that, we kissed each other intently.

Our tongues intertwined while her hand got antsy at my cock.

Then, she put her mouth to the tip of my cock and kissed it.

"Do you want my help, brother?" She teased me, sticking out her tongue at the tip of my cock.

"Fuck yeah." I eagerly nodded.

She then changed her position to be farther away from me and lifted her foot onto my cock.

With that, her slippery foot began to service my cock.

...

Arisu Sakayanagi's POV

After our night bath, we did many things that lovers are supposed to do, yet our relationship never meant to cross that line despite having had sex many times.

Society indeed didn't allow it. That's why we kept it a secret and only did it in the bathtub in the middle of the night, where our servants were already sound asleep and no one would bother our bonding time.

Occasionally, we would get out of control and couldn't control our lust, doing it quickly after we got back from school or in the morning. We did it a lot after I moved into my brother's bed every morning.

My brother was very happy when he found his morning wood being taken care of by my foot, as much as he expected me to use my mouth. But I was repulsed to do such a degenerate act, only using it occasionally and very rarely.

Despite our active sexual relationship, it never reached the point of degeneration by using blowjobs or anal. I didn't like them, and I forbade him to cum inside me or on my face. That's why he would either cum on my stomach, chest, thigh, or foot when I gave him a footjob.

The taboo of our relationship was never discovered by anyone, despite occasionally engaging in risky sex in the living room. Although we don't know why we were never discovered, the whole reason probably lies with our father.

Our father never seemed suspicious about it, or perhaps he knew but decided to ignore it. We don't know. Nonetheless, so far, no one has interrupted us, giving us the courage to sneak into the bathroom in the middle of the night for sex. The soundproofing of the bathroom and our bedroom was enough for us to go wild.

We hugged each other and sought each other's warmth under the blanket. The reason why I fell for my brother, I don't know. Probably because he was cool, probably because only he could match my intellect, or probably because only he could keep up with the rhythm of our conversation without losing his ground.

Despite that, his lack of morality, his menacing personality, and his antisocial disorder were never his bright spots despite being genius, witty, and handsome. Every boy and girl tended to avoid my brother because he was sensitive to insults or someone he perceived as overstepping him. Even if it was just joking, when they did, he would resort to violence, and everyone became afraid of him.

Contrary to them, I'm glad that my brother is antisocial and dislikes forming relationships or befriending others. He seems repulsive when talking to them and deems it as childish. He was too mature for his own age, but he never felt repulsed when talking to me. Just like me, he only communicated with me because I matched everything that was supposed to be his.

And because of that, I never worried that he would be taken away from me.

That's why I had no intention to help him integrate with a group or fix his antisocial disorder.

The more dependent he was on me, the better.

My brother is mine, and no one could take him away from me.

I hugged him tighter and refused to let him go.

...

Arisu Sakayanagi's POV

After our night bath, we did many things that lovers are supposed to do, yet our relationship never meant to cross that line despite having had sex many times.

And because of that, I never worried that he would be taken away from me.

That's why I had no intention to help him integrate with a group or fix his antisocial disorder.

The more dependent he was on me, the better.

My brother is mine, and no one could take him away from me.

I hugged him tighter and refused to let him go.

...

Chapter 1: Banging my sister (R-18)

We faced each other in the void. Because The God took the form of a ball of light, I couldn't see his expression or judge what he wanted from me.

"So, what's next?" I asked.

Is he really God?

I thought so.

Then, with a bang, the roulette appeared in front of us.

"For that, I will give you the choice to choose your world based on your luck rather than being chosen by my own whim."

"Well, it's boring." The God yawned when he saw that the world was easy and had no challenge for me. I thought so based on his yawning and words.

Then his light seemed to brighten as if he was thinking of something.

"Yeah, lad, enjoy your next life. I hope you don't die, hahaha." The twisted laughter of God echoed through the void as he lifted up my soul and threw me into the black hole.

...

"Fufufu... You're hard at your own sister's body, brother," she chuckled as Arisu continued to grind her creamy thigh against my rock-hard cock.

Our current location was in the bathtub where she was sitting in my lap, my erect cock hard at the sight of my own naked sister.

I mean, she was cute. There was nothing I could do except give her a lot of love, right?

Her thighs, constantly shifting, weren't making it any easier.

We were all wrapped up in each other, naked as the day we were born. I squeezed her thigh and slid my cock between her wet pussy lips, rubbing them with my shaft.

Fuck, this is awesome.

I have to thank The God who reincarnated me into having such a great sister who is cute and sexy at the same time.

My cock kept grinding her pussy lips, getting closer and closer to release, while she moaned my name over and over again.

"Yes, Genji... Ahhhhhhh... Keep doing that."

"Argh... I'm cumming, sister." I groaned, my body trembling as I released my seed into her milky thigh, some spilling into the water.

She shivered in pleasure, her knees weak as she leaned against my chest, panting heavily.

Seems like my sister's weak point is indeed her pussy.

After that, we kissed each other intently.

Our tongues intertwined while her hand got antsy at my cock.

Then, she put her mouth to the tip of my cock and kissed it.

"Do you want my help, brother?" She teased me, sticking out her tongue at the tip of my cock.

"Fuck yeah." I eagerly nodded.

She then changed her position to be farther away from me and lifted her foot onto my cock.

With that, her slippery foot began to service my cock.

...

Arisu Sakayanagi's POV

After our night bath, we did many things that lovers are supposed to do, yet our relationship never meant to cross that line despite having had sex many times.

And because of that, I never worried that he would be taken away from me.

That's why I had no intention to help him integrate with a group or fix his antisocial disorder.

The more dependent he was on me, the better.

My brother is mine, and no one could take him away from me.

I hugged him tighter and refused to let him go.

...

Chapter 1: Banging my sister (R-18)

We faced each other in the void. Because The God took the form of a ball of light, I couldn't see his expression or judge what he wanted from me.

"So, what's next?" I asked.

Is he really God?

I thought so.

Then, with a bang, the roulette appeared in front of us.

"For that, I will give you the choice to choose your world based on your luck rather than being chosen by my own whim."

"Well, it's boring." The God yawned when he saw that the world was easy and had no challenge for me. I thought so based on his yawning and words.

Then his light seemed to brighten as if he was thinking of something.

"Yeah, lad, enjoy your next life. I hope you don't die, hahaha." The twisted laughter of God echoed through the void as he lifted up my soul and threw me into the black hole.

...

"Fufufu... You're hard at your own sister's body, brother," she chuckled as Arisu continued to grind her creamy thigh against my rock-hard cock.

Our current location was in the bathtub where she was sitting in my lap, my erect cock hard at the sight of my own naked sister.

I mean, she was cute. There was nothing I could do except give her a lot of love, right?

Her thighs, constantly shifting, weren't making it any easier.

We were all wrapped up in each other, naked as the day we were born. I squeezed her thigh and slid my cock between her wet pussy lips, rubbing them with my shaft.

Fuck, this is awesome.

I have to thank The God who reincarnated me into having such a great sister who is cute and sexy at the same time.

My cock kept grinding her pussy lips, getting closer and closer to release, while she moaned my name over and over again.

"Yes, Genji... Ahhhhhhh... Keep doing that."

"Argh... I'm cumming, sister." I groaned, my body trembling as I released my seed into her milky thigh, some spilling into the water.

She shivered in pleasure, her knees weak as she leaned against my chest, panting heavily.

Seems like my sister's weak point is indeed her pussy.

After that, we kissed each other intently.

Our tongues intertwined while her hand got antsy at my cock.

Then, she put her mouth to the tip of my cock and kissed it.

"Do you want my help, brother?" She teased me, sticking out her tongue at the tip of my cock.

"Fuck yeah." I eagerly nodded.

She then changed her position to be farther away from me and lifted her foot onto my cock.

With that, her slippery foot began to service my cock.

...

Arisu Sakayanagi's POV

After our night bath, we did many things that lovers are supposed to do, yet our relationship never meant to cross that line despite having had sex many times.

And because of that, I never worried that he would be taken away from me.

That's why I had no intention to help him integrate with a group or fix his antisocial disorder.

The more dependent he was on me, the better.

My brother is mine, and no one could take him away from me.

I hugged him tighter and refused to let him go.

...

The Spanish conquest of Petén was the last stage of the conquest of Guatemala, a prolonged conflict during the Spanish colonisation of the Americas. A wide lowland plain covered with dense rainforest, Petén contains a central drainage basin with a series of lakes and areas of savannah. It is crossed by several ranges of low karstic hills and rises to the south as it nears the Guatemalan Highlands. The conquest of Petén, a region now incorporated into the modern republic of Guatemala, climaxed in 1697 with the capture of Nojpetén, the island capital of the Itza kingdom, by Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi. With the defeat of the Itza, the last independent and unconquered native kingdom in the Americas fell to European colonisers.

Sizeable Maya populations existed in Petén before the conquest, particularly around the central lakes and along the rivers. Petén was divided into different Maya polities engaged in a complex web of alliances and enmities. The most important groups around the central lakes were the Itza, the Yalain and the Kowoj. Other groups with territories in Petén included the Kejache, the Acala, the Lakandon Chʼol, the Xocmo, the Chinamita, the Icaiche and the Manche Chʼol.

Petén was first penetrated by Hernán Cortés with a sizeable expedition that crossed the territory from north to south in 1525. In the first half of the 16th century, Spain established neighbouring colonies in Yucatán to the north and Guatemala to the south. Spanish missionaries laid the groundwork for the extension of colonial administration in the extreme south of Petén from 1596 onwards, but no further Spanish entry of central Petén took place until 1618 and 1619 when missionaries arrived at the Itza capital, having travelled from the Spanish town of Mérida in Yucatán.

In 1622 a military expedition set out from Yucatán led by Captain Francisco de Mirones and accompanied by Franciscan friar Diego Delgado; this expedition was a disaster, and the Spanish were massacred by the Itza. In 1628 the Manche Chʼol of the south were placed under the administration of the colonial governor of Verapaz within the Captaincy General of Guatemala. The Manche Chʼol unsuccessfully rebelled against Spanish control in 1633. In 1695 a military expedition tried to reach Lake Petén Itzá from Guatemala; this was followed in 1696 by missionaries from Mérida and in 1697 by Martín de Ursúa's expedition from Yucatán that resulted in the final defeat of the independent kingdoms of central Petén and their incorporation into the Spanish Empire.

Contents

1Geography

1.1Climate

2Petén before the conquest

3Background to the conquest

4Impact of Old World diseases

5Weaponry and armour

5.1Native weaponry

6Strategies and tactics

7Cortés in Petén

8Prelude to conquest

8.1Missions in southern Petén

9Conquest of the central lakes

9.1Early 17th century

9.1.1Spanish setbacks in the 1620s

9.2Late 17th century

9.2.1Spanish–Itza diplomatic contacts, 1695

9.2.2García de Paredes' entry from Yucatán, March–April 1695

9.2.3Díaz de Velasco and Cano's entry from Verapaz, March–April 1695

9.2.4García de Paredes' entry from Yucatán, May 1695

9.2.5Avendaño's entry from Yucatán, June 1695

9.2.6San Buenaventura among the Kejache, September–November 1695

9.2.7Avendaño's entry from Yucatán, December 1695 – January 1696

9.2.8Battle at Chʼichʼ, 2 February 1696

9.2.9Amésqueta's entry from Verapaz, February–March 1696

9.3Fall of Nojpetén

9.3.1Final preparations

9.3.2Assault on Nojpetén

9.3.3Aftermath

10Final years of conquest

10.1Reductions around Lake Petén Itzá

11Legacy of the conquest

12Historical sources

13Archaeology

14Notes

15Citations

16References

17Further reading

Geography[edit]

Main article: Geography of GuatemalaPetén savannah

The modern department of Petén is located in northern Guatemala. It is bordered on the west by the Mexican state of Chiapas; this border largely follows the course of the Usumacinta River. On the north side Petén is bordered by the Mexican state of Campeche and on the northwest by the Mexican state of Tabasco; Petén is bordered on the east by Belize[1] and on the south side by the Guatemalan departments of Alta Verapaz and Izabal.[2]

The Petén lowlands are formed by a densely forested low-lying limestone plain featuring karstic topography.[3] The area is crossed by low east–west oriented ridges of Cenozoic limestone and is characterised by a variety of forest and soil types; water sources include generally small rivers and low-lying seasonal swamps known as bajos.[4] A chain of fourteen lakes runs across the central drainage basin of Petén; during the rainy season some of these lakes become interconnected. This drainage area measures approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) east–west by 30 kilometres (19 mi) north–south.[5] The largest lake is Lake Petén Itzá, near the centre of the drainage basin; it measures 32 by 5 kilometres (19.9 by 3.1 mi). A broad savannah extends south of the central lakes; it has an average altitude of 150 metres (490 ft) above mean sea level with karstic ridges reaching an average altitude of 300 metres (980 ft). The savannah features a compact red clay soil that is too poor to support heavy cultivation, which resulted in a relatively low level of pre-Columbian occupation. It is surrounded by hills with unusually steep southern slopes and gentler northern approaches; the hills are covered with dense tropical forest. To the north of the lakes region bajos become more frequent, interspersed with forest. In the far north of Petén the Mirador Basin forms another interior drainage region.[6] To the south Petén reaches an altitude of approximately 500 metres (1,600 ft) as it rises towards the Guatemalan Highlands and meets Paleozoic metamorphic rocks.[7]

Climate[edit]

The climate of Petén is divided into wet and dry seasons, with the rainy season lasting from June to December,[8] although these seasons are not clearly defined in the south.[9] The climate varies from tropical in the south to semitropical in the north; temperature varies between 12 and 40 °C (54 and 104 °F), although it does not usually drop beneath 18 °C (64 °F).[8] Mean temperature varies from 24.3 °C (75.7 °F) in the southeast around Poptún to 26.9 °C (80.4 °F) around Uaxactún in the northeast. Highest temperatures are reached from April to June, and January is the coldest month; all Petén experiences a hot dry period in late August. Annual precipitation is high, varying from a mean of 1,198 millimetres (47.2 in) in the northeast to 2,007 millimetres (79.0 in) in central Petén around Flores (Nojpetén). The extreme southeast of Petén experiences the largest variations in temperature and rainfall, with precipitation reaching as much as 3,000 millimetres (120 in) in a year.[9]

Petén before the conquest[edit]

The first large Maya cities developed in Petén as far back as the Middle Preclassic (c. 600–350 BC),[10] and Petén formed the heartland of the ancient Maya civilization during the Classic period (c. AD 250–900).[11] The great cities that dominated Petén had fallen into ruin by the beginning of the 10th century AD with the onset of the Classic Maya collapse.[12] A significant Maya presence remained into the Postclassic period after the abandonment of the major Classic period cities; the population was particularly concentrated near permanent water sources.[13]

Map of the northern lowlands of Guatemala at the time of Spanish contact

Although there is insufficient data to accurately estimate population sizes at the time of contact with the Spanish, early Spanish reports suggest that sizeable Maya populations existed in Petén, particularly around the central lakes and along the rivers.[14] Before their defeat in 1697 the Itza controlled or influenced much of Petén and parts of Belize. The Itza were warlike, and their martial prowess impressed both neighbouring Maya kingdoms and their Spanish enemies. Their capital was Nojpetén, an island city upon Lake Petén Itzá; it has developed into the modern town of Flores, which is the capital of the Petén department of Guatemala.[15] The Itza spoke a variety of Yucatecan Maya.[16]

The Kowoj were the second in importance, and they were hostile towards their Itza neighbours. The Kowoj were located to the east of the Itza, around the eastern lakes: Lake Salpetén, Lake Macanché, Lake Yaxhá and Lake Sacnab.[17] Other groups are less well known, and their precise territorial extent and political makeup remains obscure; among them were the Chinamita, the Kejache, the Icaiche, the Lakandon Chʼol, the Mopan, the Manche Chʼol and the Yalain.[18]

The Yalain appear to have been one of the three dominant polities in Postclassic central Petén, alongside the Itza and the Kowoj. The Yalain territory had its maximum extension from the east shore of Lake Petén Itzá eastwards to Tipuj in Belize.[19] In the 17th century the Yalain capital was located at the site of that name on the north shore of Lake Macanché.[20] At the time of Spanish contact the Yalain were allied with the Itza, an alliance cemented by intermarriage between the elites of both groups.[19] In the late 17th century Spanish colonial records document hostilities between Maya groups in the lakes region, with the incursion of the Kowoj into former Yalain sites including Zacpeten on Lake Macanché and Ixlu on Lake Salpetén.[21]

The Kejache occupied a territory to the north of the Itza, between the lakes and what is now Campeche. To the west of them was Acalan, inhabited by a Chontal Maya-speaking group with their capital in the south of what is now Campeche state. The Chʼolan Maya-speaking Lakandon (not to be confused with the modern inhabitants of Chiapas by that name) controlled territory along the tributaries of the Usumacinta River spanning southwestern Petén in Guatemala and eastern Chiapas.[15] The Lakandon had a fierce reputation among the Spanish.[22] The Xocmo were another Chʼolan-speaking group; they occupied the remote forest somewhere to the east of the Lakandon.[15] Never conquered, the Xocmo escaped repeated Spanish attempts to locate them and their eventual fate is unknown; they may be ancestors of the modern Lacandon people.[23] The Manche Chʼol held territory in the extreme south of what is now the Petén department.[15] The Mopan and the Chinamita had their polities in the southeastern Petén.[24] The Manche territory was to the southwest of the Mopan.[25]

Background to the conquest[edit]

Main article: Spanish colonization of the Americas

Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas for the Kingdom of Castile and León in 1492. By 1580 this had unified with neighbouring kingdoms to form one Spanish kingdom. Private adventurers thereafter entered into contracts with the Spanish Crown to conquer the newly discovered lands in return for tax revenues and the power to rule.[26] In the first decades after the discovery, the Spanish colonised the Caribbean and established a centre of operations on the island of Cuba. They heard rumours of the rich empire of the Aztecs on the mainland to the west and, in 1519, Hernán Cortés set sail with eleven ships to explore the Mexican coast.[27] By August 1521 the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had fallen to the Spanish.[28] Within three years of the fall of Tenochtitlan the Spanish had conquered a large part of Mexico, extending as far south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The newly conquered territory became New Spain, headed by a viceroy who answered to the Spanish Crown via the Council of the Indies.[29] Cortés despatched Pedro de Alvarado with an army to conquer the Mesoamerican kingdoms of the Guatemalan Sierra Madre and neighbouring Pacific plain; the military phase of the establishment of the Spanish colony of Guatemala lasted from 1524 to 1541.[30] The Captaincy General of Guatemala had its capital at Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala and covered a wide territory that also included the Mexican state of Chiapas as well as El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica.[31] The Spanish imposed colonial rule over Yucatán between 1527 and 1546, and over Verapaz from the 16th to the 17th centuries, leaving the area between – essentially Petén and much of Belize – independent long after surrounding peoples had been subjugated.[32]

Impact of Old World diseases[edit]

Illustration depicting smallpox victims in the 16th century Florentine Codex

A single soldier arriving in Mexico in 1520 was carrying smallpox and thus initiated the devastating plagues that swept through the native populations of the Americas.[33] The European diseases that ravaged the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas also severely affected the various Maya groups of Petén. It is estimated that there were approximately 30,000 Chʼol and Chʼoltiʼ Maya in western Petén at the start of the 16th century. Between 1559 and 1721 they were devastated by a combination of disease, war and enforced relocations.[34]

When Nojpetén fell in 1697 there were approximately 60,000 Maya living around Lake Petén Itzá, including a considerable number of refugees from other areas. It is estimated that 88% of the inhabitants died during the first decade of colonial rule because of disease and war.[35] Although disease was responsible for the majority of deaths, internecine warfare between rival Maya groups and Spanish expeditions also took their toll.[36]

Weaponry and armour[edit]

17th-century Spanish cannon17th-century French musket

Conquistadors often wore steel armour that included chainmail and helmets.[37] The Spanish were sufficiently impressed by the quilted cotton armour of their Maya enemies that they adopted it in preference to their own steel armour.[38] Maya weaponry was not sufficiently powerful to justify the discomfort of wearing European armour. Quilted cotton armour, although still uncomfortably hot, was flexible and weighed much less. The Maya armour was adapted by the Spanish, who used knee-length quilted cotton tunics and Spanish-style caps. Horsemen wore long quilted cotton leg protectors; their horses were also protected with padded cotton armour.[39] After the final push to the Petén lakes in early 1697, the Spanish recorded that they left with their garrison over 50 Dutch- and French-made muskets, three 1-pound (0.45 kg) calibre light cannons (piezas) cast from iron and mounted on carriages, four iron and two bronze pedreros (2-chambered stone-launchers) and six of at least eight bronze light cannons (known as esmiriles).[40]

Native weaponry[edit]

... The two [Itza] Captains bore their Lances with points of Flint, like ours, which differ from them only in being of Steel, and at the heads of them are many Plumes of divers and beautiful colors like the Ribbons our Standard-bearers use on their darts; and the points are as much as a quarter of a vara long and have two cutting-edges, and the point is like a very sharp Dagger. The other Itzaex Indians bore their Bows and Arrows with which they always march when they come forth from their Island ... in case they meet the Chinamitas, a Nation for whom they have always had enmity, and continual wars; for they hold themselves as brave warriors like the Itzas themselves.[41] — Juan de Villagutierre Soto-Mayor, 1701 Book II, Chapter II, p. 92.

The Spanish described the weapons of war of the Petén Maya as bows and arrows, fire-sharpened poles, flint-headed spears and two-handed swords known as hadzab that were crafted from strong wood with the blade fashioned from inset obsidian;[42] these were similar to the Aztec macuahuitl. They had a thin, wide wooden shaft with obsidian or flint blades set into channels in the wood. The shaft was up to 80 centimetres (31 in) long and was crafted from the hard, dark wood of a flowering tree (Apoplanesia paniculata) called chulul by the Maya. The bows used by the Maya were described as almost as high as a man and were made from the same chulul wood as the hadzab, with the bowstring fashioned from henequen fibre; the bow was called a chuhul.[43] Arrows were made from reeds with flint, bone or fishtooth arrowheads and flights crafted from feathers.[44] In hand-to-hand combat the Maya used daggers with obsidian or flint blades set into a chulul-wood handle, they were about 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long. Maya spears were referred to as nabte; sometimes the tip was fire-hardened, sometimes they were set with a stone blade. Spears were mainly used to thrust and slash but they could also be thrown as a javelin. The Maya used several different sizes of spear with the smaller spears probably employed as a missile; the longer spears were a similar size as those used by the Spanish.[45]

Distinguished Maya warriors entered battle wearing armour. The upper body was covered by a short jacket that was filled with rock salt, and the forearms and legs were protected with tight bindings of cloth or leather. The salt-packed cotton armour was tough enough that even arrows could not penetrate it. Armour could be decorated and was often adorned with feathers. Commoners did not wear armour in battle, usually only wearing a loincloth and warpaint. Warriors carried shields made from two right-angled wooden bars with deerskin stretched across them.[46]

Strategies and tactics[edit]

The Spanish were aware that the Itza Maya had become the centre of anti-Spanish resistance and engaged in a policy of encircling their kingdom and cutting their trade routes over the course of almost two hundred years. The Itza resisted this steady encroachment by recruiting their neighbours as allies against the Spanish advance.[47] The Spanish engaged in a strategy of concentrating native populations in newly founded colonial towns, or reducciones (also known as congregaciones).[48] Native resistance to the new nucleated settlements took the form of the flight of the indigenous inhabitants into inaccessible regions such as the forest or joining neighbouring Maya groups that had not yet submitted to the Spanish.[49] Those that remained behind in the reducciones often fell victim to contagious diseases.[50]

In addition to military expeditions, a contract for conquest was issued to the Dominican Order, which engaged missionaries for the peaceful pacification of native populations so they would accept Roman Catholicism and submit to Spanish rule. This tactic worked in the neighbouring mountains of Verapaz to the south, although their success there was aided by the threat of Spanish garrisons stationed within striking distance. In the lowland Petén this approach was not so successful, since the Maya could disappear easily into the rainforest leaving the Spanish with deserted settlements.[26] Likewise, the Franciscan Order engaged in generally peaceful attempts to incorporate the Maya into the Spanish Empire via the attempted Christian conversion of native leaders.[51] The Franciscan Order routinely embraced the practice of missionary violence, including corporal punishment and the defence of the idea of "holy war" against non-Christians.[52] In many cases the Maya remained Christian only while the missionaries were present, and they would immediately become apostate as soon as the friars left.[50] In Guatemala in the late 17th century, the Franciscan friar Francisco de Asís Vázquez de Herrera argued that war against apostate Indians was obligatory.[52] Missionary penetration of Petén was not risk-free, and many missionaries were killed in the region.[50]

Independent Maya frequently attacked Christianised Maya settlements and encouraged such settlements to abandon their new religion and resist the Spanish.[50] As Spanish military expeditions were launched against the Maya with increasing frequency, independent Maya communities began to request the presence of missionaries to avoid armed conflict.[53] The Itza attempted to use neighbouring Maya groups, such as the Yalain, as a buffer against Spanish encroachment;[19] they may also have instigated rebellions by neighbouring groups that were already undergoing incorporation into the Spanish Empire.[54] With Spanish attempts to penetrate the region divided between mutually independent colonial authorities in Yucatán and Guatemala, at times the Itza would be making peaceful overtures on one front while fighting on the other.[55]

Cortés in Petén[edit]

Hernán Cortés, conqueror of the Aztecs, travelled across Petén in the early 16th century.

In 1525, after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Hernán Cortés led an expedition to Honduras over land, cutting across the Itza kingdom in what is now the northern Petén Department of Guatemala.[56] His aim was to subdue the rebellious Cristóbal de Olid, whom he had sent to conquer Honduras; Olid had set himself up independently on his arrival in that territory.[57] Cortés had 140 Spanish soldiers, 93 of them mounted, 3,000 Mexican warriors, 150 horses, a herd of pigs, artillery, munitions and other supplies. He also had with him 600 Chontal Maya carriers from Acalan. They arrived at the north shore of Lake Petén Itzá on 13 March 1525.[58]

The Roman Catholic priests accompanying the expedition celebrated mass in the presence of Aj Kan Ekʼ, the king of the Itza, who was said to be so impressed that he pledged to worship the cross and to destroy his idols.[59] Cortés accepted an invitation from Kan Ekʼ to visit Nojpetén (also known as Tayasal), and crossed to the Maya city with 20 Spanish soldiers while the rest of his army continued around the lake to meet him on the south shore.[60] On his departure from Nojpetén, Cortés left behind a cross and a lame horse that the Itza treated as a deity, attempting to feed it poultry, meat and flowers, but the animal soon died.[61] The Spanish did not officially contact the Itza again until the arrival of Franciscan priests in 1618, when Cortés' cross was said to still be standing at Nojpetén.[56]

From the lake, Cortés continued south along the western slopes of the Maya Mountains, a particularly arduous journey that took 12 days to cover 32 kilometres (20 mi), during which he lost more than two-thirds of his horses. When he came to a river swollen with the constant torrential rains that had been falling during the expedition, Cortés turned upstream to the Gracias a Dios rapids, which took two days to cross and cost him more horses.[59]

On 15 April 1525 the expedition arrived at the Maya village of Tenciz. With local guides they headed into the hills north of Lake Izabal, where their guides abandoned them to their fate. The expedition became lost in the hills and came close to starvation before they captured a Maya boy who led them to safety.[59] Cortés found a village on the shore of Lake Izabal, perhaps Xocolo. He crossed the Dulce River to the settlement of Nito, somewhere on the Amatique Bay,[62] with about a dozen companions, and waited there for the rest of his army to regroup over the next week.[59] By this time the remnants of the expedition had been reduced to a few hundred; Cortés succeeded in contacting the Spaniards he was searching for, only to find that Cristóbal de Olid's own officers had already put down his rebellion. Cortés then returned to Mexico by sea.[63]

Prelude to conquest[edit]

From 1527 onwards the Spanish were increasingly active in the Yucatán Peninsula, establishing several colonies and towns by 1544, including Campeche and Valladolid in what is now Mexico.[64] The Spanish impact on the northern Maya, encompassing invasion, epidemic diseases and the export of up to 50,000 Maya slaves, caused many Maya to flee southwards to join the Itza around Lake Petén Itzá, within the modern borders of Guatemala.[65]

Dominican missionaries were active in Verapaz and the southern Petén from the late 16th century through the 17th century, attempting non-violent conversion with limited success. In the 17th century, the Franciscans came to the conclusion that the pacification and Christian conversion of the Maya would not be possible as long as the Itza held out at Lake Petén Itzá. The constant flow of escapees fleeing the Spanish-held territories to find refuge with the Itza was a drain on the workforce managed by the encomienda system.[47]

Missions in southern Petén[edit]

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The first Catholic missionaries entered southern Petén in 1596 to convert the Manche Chʼol and the Mopan.[54] The Qʼeqchiʼ of Verapaz long had close ties with the Manche Chʼol.[66] The colonial Maya towns of Cobán and Cahabón, in Alta Verapaz, traded quetzal feathers, copal, chile, cotton, salt and Spanish-produced iron tools with their lowland Lakandon and Manche Chʼol neighbours, receiving cacao and achiote in exchange.[67] Many Qʼeqchiʼ from Verapaz fled Spanish control to settle among the Lakandón and Manche Chʼol. These fugitives strengthened the existing ties between the independent Chʼol and the Spanish-controlled Maya of Verapaz;[68] the constant flow of Maya between colonial Verapaz and independent Petén led to religious syncretism that the Spanish religious authorities were unable to prevent.[69] This relationship did not hinder the Spanish from using the Qʼeqchiʼ to help conquer and reduce the Manche Chʼol.[66]

From the middle of the 16th century the Dominican Order had been tasked with the peaceful conversion of the Chʼol of Verapaz and southern Petén, and their concentration into new colonial towns.[70] The Itza became fearful that the newly converted Manche Chʼol would lead the Spanish to Nojpetén.[54] In 1628 the towns of the Manche Chʼol were placed under the administration of the governor of Verapaz, with Dominican friar Francisco Morán as their ecclesiastical head.[71] Morán favoured a more robust approach to the conversion of the Manche and moved Spanish soldiers into the region to protect against raids from the Itza to the north.[72] The new Spanish garrison in an area that had not previously seen a heavy Spanish military presence provoked the Manche to revolt, which was followed by abandonment of the indigenous settlements.[72] The Itza, worried about the southern approaches to their territory, may have instigated a Manche rebellion that took place in Lent 1633.[54]

Towards the end of the 17th century Spanish priorities changed, and the failure of the peaceful efforts of the Dominicans to convert the Chʼol combined with the increasing British presence in the Caribbean led the colonial authorities to end the Dominican monopoly and allow the Franciscans and other orders to enter the region;[73] military options were also viewed more favourably.[74] Between 1685 and 1689, the Qʼeqchiʼ of Cobán and Cahabón were forced to assist the Spanish in their armed expeditions against the Manche Chʼol and in forcibly relocating them to Verapaz. These actions depopulated the southern Petén and led to the breakdown of the trade routes linking colonial Guatemala with the independent Maya of Petén.[75] From 1692 to 1694, Franciscan friars Antonio Margil and Melchor López were active among the Manche and Lakandon Chʼol. They were eventually expelled by the Chʼol;[76] upon their return to Santiago de Guatemala they proposed three invasion routes into southern Petén and neighbouring Chiapas.[77] Throughout the 17th century, Spanish missionaries encountered considerable reticence among the Manche, until the Spanish finally decided to move them to an area where they could be more easily controlled. At the time of contact there were perhaps 10,000 Manche; these were devastated by war and disease, with the survivors relocated to Rabinal in the modern department of Baja Verapaz. After 1700 the Manche Chʼol ceased to play any part in the history of Petén.[54]

The Mopan population has been estimated at between 10,000 and 20,000 people at the time of contact. In 1692 the Council of the Indies ordered that the Manche Chʼol and the Mopan be dealt with decisively. The population suffered the effects of war and disease, and the few survivors were moved into Spanish reducciones in southeastern Petén, before being moved to colonial settlements in other parts of Petén.[54] In 1695 the colonial authorities decided to act upon a plan to connect the province of Guatemala with Yucatán, and soldiers commanded by Jacinto de Barrios Leal, president of the Royal Audiencia of Guatemala,[78] conquered several Chʼol communities.[79] The most important of these was Sakbʼajlan on the Lacantún River in eastern Chiapas, now in Mexico, which was renamed as Nuestra Señora de Dolores, or Dolores del Lakandon, in April 1695.[80] This was one part of a three-pronged attack against the independent inhabitants of Petén and neighbouring Chiapas; a second group joined up with Barrios Leal having marched from Huehuetenango. The third group, under Juan Díaz de Velasco, marched from Verapaz against the Itza.[22] Barrios Leal was accompanied by Franciscan friar Antonio Margil who served as an advisor as well as his personal confessor and chaplain to his troops.[81] The Spanish built a fort and garrisoned it with 30 Spanish soldiers. Mercederian friar Diego de Rivas was based at Dolores del Lakandon, and he and his fellow Mercederians baptised several hundred Lakandon Chʼols in the following months and established contacts with neighbouring Chʼol communities.[82]

Resistance against the Spanish continued, and hostile Chʼol killed several newly baptised Christian Indians.[81] In early March 1696 such was the success of the friars that captain Jacobo de Alzayaga and the Mercederians decided to try to reach Lake Petén Itzá. They headed eastwards towards the Pasión River with 150 heavily armed soldiers plus native guides, travelling in five large canoes. They got as far as the savannah to the southeast of the lake before turning back for unknown reasons.[83] Antonio Margil remained in Dolores del Lakandon until 1697.[81] The Chʼol of the Lacandon Jungle were resettled in Huehuetenango in the early 18th century.[84]

Conquest of the central lakes[edit]

Lake Yaxha is surrounded by dense forest.

Nojpetén fell to a Spanish assault on 13 March 1697, more than 150 years after the conquest of the rest of the Yucatán Peninsula and more than 160 years after the conquest of the Guatemalan Highlands.[85] The lengthy delay in conquering the Petén region was due to a combination of its geographical remoteness and inhospitality and the fierce reputation of its Maya inhabitants.[86] During this time the Itza used the Yalain as an eastern buffer against Spanish approach from Belize.[19] The lengthy indirect contact between the Itza and the Spanish invaders allowed the Itza to develop an understanding of Spanish strategy and tactics that was honed over the period of almost two centuries that the Itza were surrounded by European-dominated territories. This understanding distinguished the conquest of Petén from the 16th-century conquests of the Aztecs, Maya and Incas. In contrast, the Spanish had a very poor understanding of the Itza and their neighbours and viewed them as ignorant savages whose kingdom was protected by Satan from the Christianising efforts of the Spanish Empire and the Roman Catholic Church.[87] From the time that Hernán Cortés crossed Petén in the early 16th century, the Spanish mistakenly believed the king of the Itza (the Aj Kan Ek') was the overlord of the entire central Petén region.[20]

Early 17th century[edit]

17th-century European pikeman

Following Cortés' visit, no Spanish attempted to visit the warlike Itza inhabitants of Nojpetén for almost a hundred years. In 1618 two Franciscan friars set out from Mérida in Yucatán on a mission to attempt the peaceful conversion of the still pagan Itza in central Petén. Bartolomé de Fuensalida and Juan de Orbita were accompanied by some Christianised Maya.[88] Andrés Carrillo de Pernía, a Criollo who was the alcalde of Bacalar (a colonial official),[nb 1] joined the party at Bacalar and escorted them upriver as far as Tipuj, returning to Bacalar once he was certain of the friars receiving a good welcome there.[90] After an arduous six-month journey the travellers were well received by the current Kan Ekʼ. They stayed at Nojpetén for some days in an attempt to evangelise the Itza, but the Aj Kan Ekʼ refused to renounce his Maya religion, although he showed interest in the masses held by the Catholic missionaries. Kan Ekʼ informed them that according to ancient Itza prophecy it was not yet time for them to convert. In the time since Cortés had visited Nojpetén, the Itza had made a statue of the deified horse. Juan de Orbita was outraged when he saw the idol and he immediately smashed it into pieces. Fuensalida was able to save the lives of the visitors from the infuriated natives by means of a particularly eloquent sermon that resulted in them being forgiven. Attempts to convert the Itza failed, and the friars left Nojpetén on friendly terms with Kan Ekʼ.[88]

The friars returned in 1619, arriving in October and staying for eighteen days. Again Kan Ekʼ welcomed them in a friendly manner, but this time the Maya priesthood were hostile and jealous of the missionaries' influence upon the king. They persuaded Kan Ek's wife to convince him to expel the unwelcome visitors. The missionaries' lodgings were surrounded by armed warriors, and the friars and their accompanying servants were escorted to a waiting canoe and instructed to leave and never return.[88] Juan de Orbita attempted to resist and was rendered unconscious by an Itza warrior. The missionaries were expelled without food or water but survived the journey back to Mérida.[91]

Before the early 17th century, the western Petén had been heavily populated by Chʼol and Chʼoltiʼ Maya and was an important trade route for the Itza. By the mid-17th century, these populations had been devastated by war, disease and the enforced movement of the inhabitants into colonial settlements, negating the economic importance of the region for the Itza.[34] At the same time the Kejache were becoming important intermediaries between the Itza and Yucatán. The Putun Acalan subgroup of the Kejache had previously traded directly with the Itza but had been relocated by the Spanish. The remaining Kejache, devastated by disease and subject to the intense attentions of Spanish missionaries, were no longer able to supply the Itza directly and became middlemen instead.[92]

Spanish setbacks in the 1620s[edit]

In March 1622, governor of Yucatán Diego de Cardenas ordered captain Francisco de Mirones Lezcano to launch an assault upon the Itza; he set out from Yucatán with 20 Spanish soldiers and 80 Mayas from Yucatán.[93] His expedition was later joined by Franciscan friar Diego Delgado.[91] The expedition first camped at IxPimienta;[nb 2] in May they moved to Sakalum, southwest of Bacalar, where there was a lengthy delay while they waited for reinforcements.[95] En route to Nojpetén, Delgado believed that the soldiers' treatment of the Maya was excessively cruel, and he left the expedition to make his own way to Nojpetén with eighty Christianised Maya from Tipuj in Belize.[91] In the meantime the Itza had learnt of the approaching military expedition and had become hardened against further Spanish missionary attempts.[96] When Mirones learnt of Delgado's departure, he sent 13 soldiers to persuade him to return or continue as his escort should he refuse. The soldiers caught up with him just before Tipuj, but he was determined to reach Nojpetén.[97] From Tipuj, Delgado sent a messenger to Kan Ekʼ, asking permission to travel to Nojpetén; the Itza king replied with a promise of safe passage for the missionary and his companions. The party was initially received in peace at the Itza capital,[98] but as soon as the Spanish soldiers let their guard down, the Itza seized and bound the new arrivals.[99] The soldiers were sacrificed to the Maya gods, with their hearts cut from their chests and their heads impaled on stakes around the town.[100] After the sacrifice of the Spanish soldiers, the Itza took Delgado, cut his heart out and dismembered him; they displayed his head on a stake with the others.[101] The fate of the leader of Delgado's Maya companions was no better. With no word from Delgado's escort, Mirones sent two Spanish soldiers with Bernardino Ek, a Maya scout, to learn their fate. When they arrived upon the shore of Lake Petén Itzá, the Itza took them across to their island capital and imprisoned them. They escaped to a canoe by the lakeshore but the two Spanish, slowed by their bonds, were soon recaptured. Ek escaped and returned to Mirones with the news.[99]

Soon afterwards, on 27 January 1624, an Itza war party led by AjKʼin Pʼol caught Mirones and his soldiers off guard and unarmed in the church at Sakalum[102] and slaughtered them.[91] Spanish reinforcements led by Juan Bernardo Casanova arrived too late;[103] the Spanish soldiers had been sacrificed, hanged and beheaded, with their corpses burned and impaled on stakes at the entrance to the village; Mirones and the Franciscan priest had been bound to the church posts and then sacrificed with their hearts cut out.[104] A number of local Maya men and women had also been hanged but not decapitated, and the attackers had burned the town.[103]

Following these massacres, Spanish garrisons were stationed in several towns in southern Yucatán, and rewards were offered for the whereabouts of AjKʼin Pʼol. The Maya governor of Oxkutzcab, Fernando Kamal, set out with 150 Maya archers to track the warleader down; they succeeded in capturing the Itza captain and his followers, together with silverware from the looted Sakalum church and items belonging to Mirones. The prisoners were taken back to the Spanish captain Antonio Méndez de Canzo, interrogated under torture, tried, and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered. They were decapitated, and the heads were displayed in the plazas of towns throughout the colonial Partido de la Sierra in what is now Mexico's Yucatán state.[105] These events ended all Spanish attempts to contact the Itza until 1695.[91] In the 1640s internal strife in Spain distracted the government from attempts to conquer unknown lands; the Spanish Crown lacked the time, money or interest in such colonial adventures for the next four decades.[106]

Late 17th century[edit]

What matters it that the time has come when we are to become Christians, if this slender point of my flint lance has not been worn out? — Words of Aj Kowoj to Andrés de Avendaño[107]

In 1692 Basque nobleman Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi proposed to the Spanish king the construction of a road from Mérida southwards to link with the Guatemalan colony, in the process "reducing" any independent native populations into colonial congregaciones; this was part of a greater plan to subjugate the Lakandon and Manche Chʼol of southern Petén and the upper reaches of the Usumacinta River. The original plan was for the province of Yucatán to build the northern section and for Guatemala to build the southern portion, with both meeting somewhere in Chʼol territory; the plan was later modified to pass further east, through the kingdom of the Itza.[108]

Spanish–Itza diplomatic contacts, 1695[edit]

In December 1695 the Spanish colonial authorities in Mérida received a diplomatic visit sent by the Aj Kan Ekʼ.[109] The diplomatic contact had been negotiated by Spanish captain Francisco Hariza y Arruyo, alcalde of Bacalar-at-Chunjujubʼ. Hariza had sent a Christian Maya ambassador to Nojpetén from Tipuj in April 1695,[110] who arrived around the same time that the Itza were preparing to defend themselves against a Spanish party entering from Guatemala; nonetheless the emissary was received in peace and despatched back to Hariza with promises of submission to Spain.[55] In August Hariza travelled to Mérida in the company of a group of seven Tipuj natives offering submission to Spain.[111] Four members of this party were not from Tipuj at all, but were Itza diplomats sent incognito from Yalain to discuss possible peaceful contacts with the colonial authorities.[112] The leader of the Itza delegation was AjChan,[113] a nephew of the Itza king.[114] When friar Avendaño was in Mérida in September 1695 between attempts to reach Nojpetén, he met with the Itza–Yalain delegation and was able to give an account of them when he travelled through Yalain after visiting Nojpetén in January 1696.[115] AjChan and his companions returned to Nojpetén in November but did not stay long before leaving for Mérida again.[116]

English-language reproduction of Avendaño's 1696 map of Lake Petén Itzá[117]

In December, Kan Ekʼ despatched AjChan to negotiate peace with Spain,[118] with three Itza companions. They were accompanied to Mérida by a small number of Mopans from the Tipuj region.[116] AjChan, through family ties and marriage, had a key role as a middleman between the Itza, Yalain and Kowoj; he also had family ties with the semi-Christianised Maya at Tipuj, and his mother was from Chichen Itza in the northern Yucatán. His marriage to a Kowoj woman had been an attempt, ultimately unsuccessful, to defuse Itza–Kowoj hostility. Kan Ekʼ sent AjChan to Mérida with a message of peaceful submission to the Spanish Empire in an attempt to solidify his own position as sole ruler of the Itza, even if this meant sacrificing Itza independence from Spain.[114] The Itza king's uncle and the Kowoj were fundamentally opposed to any negotiations with the Spanish and viewed AjChan's embassy as treachery.[118] The Spanish were unaware of the tensions between different Maya factions in central Petén, which by now had escalated into a state of inter-Maya warfare. AjChan was baptised as Martín Francisco on 31 December 1695, with Martín de Ursúa, governor of Yucatán, acting as his godfather.[109]

The arrival of AjChan and his subsequent baptism was an important diplomatic coup for Ursúa, who used the visit for his own political advancement, promoting the embassy as the peaceful final submission of the Itza kingdom to the Spanish Crown.[109] This formal submission of the Itza kingdom to Spain was a critical turning point, since from a Spanish legal viewpoint the Itza were now subjects and the royal prohibition on military conquest could be sidestepped.[119] AjChan left Mérida with his companions and a Spanish escort in the middle of January 1696 and arrived back at Tipuj around the end of the month. After a few days at Tipuj he learnt of violent events unfolding around Lake Petén Itzá including the battle at Chʼichʼ and the subsequent killing of two Franciscans. Fearing the response of his Spanish escort, he abandoned them and fled back to Yalain.[120]

García de Paredes' entry from Yucatán, March–April 1695[edit]

The governor of Yucatán, Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi, began to build the road from Campeche south towards Petén.[91] At the beginning of March 1695, Ursúa ordered captain Alonso García de Paredes to explore this road; García led a group of 50 Spanish soldiers, accompanied by native guides, muleteers and labourers. García had previous experience from military expeditions around Sajkabʼchen (near modern Xcabacab in southern Campeche state)[121] The expedition advanced some way south of Sajkabʼchen into Kejache territory, which began at Chunpich, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of the modern border between Mexico and Guatemala.[121] He rounded up some natives to be moved into colonial settlements, but met with armed Kejache resistance. A skirmish ensued at a Kejache village, resulting in the deaths of eight Kejache warriors. Prisoners taken during the skirmish informed García that many independent Maya lived in the area, both Kejache and others. García decided to retreat around the middle of April, probably to escort captured Kejache back to Sajkabʼchen to be put to work on García's encomienda. Captain García reported back to Ursúa on 21 April 1695.[122]

Díaz de Velasco and Cano's entry from Verapaz, March–April 1695[edit]

The modern town of San Luis, founded upon the Mopan capital

In March 1695, captain Juan Díaz de Velasco set out from Cahabón in Alta Verapaz with 70 Spanish soldiers, accompanied by a large number of Maya archers from Verapaz, and native muleteers; four Dominican friars led by Criollo friar Agustín Cano accompanied the expedition.[123] Theoretically the Spanish soldiers were provided solely as an escort for the Dominicans.[124] The Guatemalan expedition, under orders of President Jacinto de Barrios Leal, were secretly trying to reach the Itzas before Martín de Ursúa could reach them from Yucatán; the existence of the expedition was carefully concealed during all communications between Guatemala and the governor of Yucatán.[125] It formed a part of a three-pronged attack against the independent inhabitants of Petén and neighbouring Chiapas; the other two expeditions were launched against the Lakandon.[22]

The expedition proceeded northwards through Chʼol territory and into Mopan territory; there they camped at Mopan town (modern San Luis). Due to their fear of their warlike Itza neighbours, both the Chʼol and the Mopans claimed not to know of any paths to Lake Petén Itzá.[126] The Spanish were held up at Mopan for several days by supply problems and desertions among their native carriers. The Dominicans took advantage of the delay to proselytise the Mopans and Cano wrote that he had converted four caciques (native chiefs) there, although Taxim Chan, king of the Mopans, had fled with many of the local inhabitants. Cano believed that the Mopans were ruled by the king of the Itzas.[127]

First skirmish[edit]

The Spanish believed that by pressing ahead to Lake Petén Itzá they would link up with a simultaneous expedition headed by President Barrios himself, unaware that Barrios had not reached the region. Díaz de Velasco sent out a scouting party of 50 musketeers accompanied by native archers on 6 April. They soon found evidence of recent Itza camps in the area, estimated to be a month old. The scouts found a clear road heading north to the Itza kingdom, and the army set off along it. The main force camped about ten leagues[nb 3] (26 miles or 42 km) south of the lake, while a smaller scouting party was sent off ahead; this consisted of two Spanish soldiers, two archers and two muleteers from Verapaz, with two Chʼol-speaking native interpreters. The scouting party advanced to the savannah just to the south of Lake Petén Itzá, where they encountered about 30 Itza hunters armed with spears, shields and bows, accompanied by hunting dogs. The hunters drew their weapons and prepared to fight, but the Mopan interpreter was instructed to explain that the Spanish party were traders who came in peace, accompanied by missionaries.[127] The Spanish began to suspect that the interpreter was plotting against them with the Itza hunters, and one of the Verapaz archers dragged him out from among the hunters.[129] The encounter degenerated into a scuffle, and the Itzas once again drew weapons. The Spanish fired their muskets, fatally wounding two hunters, and a Verapaz Indian charged the Itzas with a machete. The hunters fled, leaving the scouting party in possession of the food and arrows at the hunting camp.[130]

Second skirmish[edit]

Five days after this skirmish,[130] Antonio Machuca led a party of 12 musketeers, 25 archers and 13 muleteers to try to find President Barrios, to scout a river route to the lake and to capture another interpreter, the previous one no longer being trusted. The main party arrived on the savannah near the lake. The following night one of the advance party came back into camp with an Itza prisoner, captured after a fierce struggle with the scouts. Interrogation of the prisoner revealed that he was from a high-ranking Itza lineage, and that he had been sent out to find the Spanish party and to see if they came as traders or invaders.[131] The rest of Machuca's scouting party soon returned to the main camp, reporting that they had camped four leagues (approximately 10.4 miles or 16.7 km) from the lake, where they encountered another hunting party of about "a dozen" Itzas. The Spanish tried to use their interpreter to talk to them but the Itzas responded with a volley of arrows. The Spanish musketeers tried to respond with musketfire, but found their gunpowder too wet to fire properly. The Itza warriors charged upon them with spears, axes and machetes, and the ensuing hand-to-hand battle lasted an hour, during which six of the Itzas were killed; the rest finally retreated. Thanks to their padded cotton armour, the Spanish party received no injuries from the skirmish. The Spanish pursued the fleeing Itzas and another fierce skirmish ensued, lasting another hour during which most of the remaining Itzas were killed.[132] Three Itzas escaped, and their leader was rendered unconscious with machete blows to the head; he was taken prisoner and later made a full recovery.[133] Machuca's party reached the lakeshore and could see Nojpetén across the water, but saw such a large force of Itzas that they retreated south, back to the main camp.[124]

An Itza account of this encounter reached the colonial authorities in Yucatán via Tipuj. The Itza reported that the Guatemalan party approached on horseback to within sight of Nojpetén, and about thirty curious Itzas gathered to talk to the intruders, whereupon they were attacked by the Spanish, resulting in the deaths of thirty Itzas, the capture of one and yet more wounded. A Christian Maya emissary from Bacalar-at-Chunjujubʼ, Yucatán, was in Nojpetén around this time, and reported that the Itza gathered 3,000–4,000 warriors ready to repulse Díaz de Velasco's party.[55]

Retreat to Guatemala[edit]

On 24 April, the first prisoner escaped from the main camp; the same day that the injured second prisoner was taken in by Machuca and his men.[134] Interrogation of the new prisoner, who turned out to be an Itza nobleman, revealed that the Itza kingdom was in a state of high alert to repel the Spanish.[135] Friar Cano met with his fellow Dominicans to discuss what should be done, having had information from both Machuca and his prisoner that the Itza were ready for war. The Dominicans were highly critical of the Spanish soldiers' readiness to open fire on poorly armed natives who offered no real threat to them, and suspected that President Barrios was nowhere near the lake; furthermore the Spanish were beginning to succumb to sickness,[124] and the Verapaz Indian recruits were deserting daily. Díaz agreed with the Dominicans; two muleteers had already died from sickness, and he recognised that the size of his expedition was not sufficient for a full confrontation with the Itza nation. The expedition almost immediately withdrew back to Cahabón.[136] The new prisoner, AjKʼixaw was later taken back to Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, where the Dominicans questioned him in detail.[135] In Guatemala AjKʼixaw learnt Spanish and returned to Petén in 1696 as a guide and interpreter for another expedition, before turning on his captors.[134] After the Spanish retreated to Guatemala, rumours ran rife among the Itza and Kowoj that they would return to engage in wholesale slaughter of the Maya population; large tracts of territory were abandoned in response, including many towns in an area stretching from Lake Petén Itzá eastwards to Tipuj and southwards to Mopán.[137]

García de Paredes' entry from Yucatán, May 1695[edit]

17th-century entry routes to Petén from Yucatán and Guatemala, with some of the placenames mentioned in the text

When captain García de Paredes unexpectedly returned to Campeche in early May 1695, governor Martín de Ursúa was already preparing reinforcements for his expedition. With García's arrival, he was immediately allocated the extra soldiers.[136] On 11 May Ursúa ordered García to begin a second expedition southwards and was allotted 100 salaried Maya to accompany him. These workers were to be paid three pesos per month and received a suspension of their obligations to supply encomienda work and tribute.[138] García paid for additional Spanish soldiers from his own funds, as did José Fernández de Estenos, a Campeche resident who was to serve as second-in-command.[139] The final force numbered 115 Spanish soldiers and 150 Maya musketeers, plus Maya labourers and muleteers; the final tally was more than 400 people, which was regarded as a considerable army in the impoverished Yucatán province.[138] Ursúa also ordered two companies of Maya musketeers from Tekʼax and Oxkʼutzkabʼ to join the expedition at Bʼolonchʼen Kawich, some 60 kilometres (37 mi) southeast of the city of Campeche.[140] Bonifacio Us was captain of the Tekʼax company; Diego Uk was that of the Oxkʼutzkabʼ company. Marcos Pot was overall "cacique captain" of these two Maya companies; all three officers were Maya. A Maya company from Sajkabʼchen served as elite musketeers charged with rounding up forest Maya into the reducciones; this company was excused from heavy labour duties. Non-Maya soldiers were a mix of Spanish, mestizos (mixed race Spanish and native) and mulattos (mixed race Spanish and black).[141]

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