Spanish conquest of Yucatán: Encyclopedia II - Spanish conquest of Yucatán - Early contact between the Spanish and the Maya of Yucatán

Spanish conquest of Yucatán - Early contact between the Spanish and the Maya of Yucatán

The first Spanish arrived in Yucatán by accident in 1511 when a small boat with a dozen men was blown there by a severe storm. They were taken captive and several were killed, and the rest imprisoned as slaves, but after learning the language they were given their freedom. They unknowingly brought an epidemic disease, probably smallpox, to the region, which killed a great many people in waves for the next 5 years.

The next contact was not until 1517 when Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba sailed out from Cuba in search of slaves to replace the native Cubans who had been dying off in great numbers. The Spaniards were surprised to see stone cities along the coast of Yucatán. Cordoba landed at several towns; some greeted the Spanish with friendship and offered to trade goods with them (most interesting to the Spaniards they acquired a few pieces of gold ornaments this way), while other towns greeted him with hostility and shot arrows when the Spanish approached close to shore. The expedition returned to Cuba to report on the discovery of this new land. Diego Velázquez, the governor of Cuba, ordered an expedition sent out with four ships and 200 men led by his nephew, Juan de Grijalva. The Grijalva expedition had similar mixed experiences with the native Maya as it sailed along the coasts of Yucatán for months. He was disappointed at gathering very little gold, but came back to Cuba with a tale that a rich empire was further to the west. This prompted the Hernán Cortés expedition in 1519. Cortés spent some time at Cozumel, tried with mixed results to convert the locals to Christianity, and heard stories of other bearded white men living in the area. He sent messengers to these white men, the survivors of the shipwrecked boat from 1511. One, Geronimo de Aguilar, joined Cortés's expedition as a valued translator. Another, Gonzalo de Guerrero, sent a letter back stating that he was happy in the employ of the lord of Chetumal, had a Maya wife and children, and had no desire to return to the company of Spaniards.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Early contact between the Spanish and the Maya of Yucatán", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki