Global Information Lookup Global Information

Spanish conquest of Guatemala information


Spanish conquest of Guatemala
Part of the Spanish colonization of the Americas
Painting of Pedro de Alvarado
Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado led the initial efforts to conquer Guatemala.[1]
Date1524–1697
Location
Guatemala
Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Spain Spanish Empire, including Indian auxiliaries Independent indigenous kingdoms and city-states, including those of the Chajoma, Chuj, Itza, Ixil, Kakchiquel, Kejache, Kʼicheʼ, Kowoj, Lakandon Chʼol, Mam, Manche Chʼol, Pipil, Poqomam, Qʼanjobʼal, Qʼeqchiʼ, Tzʼutujil, Xinca, and Yalain
Commanders and leaders
  • Spain Gonzalo de Alvarado y Contreras
  • Spain Pedro de Alvarado
  • Spain Hernán Cortés
  • Spain Martín de Ursúa
  • Belehe Qat
  • Beleheb-Tzy †
  • Cahi Imox
  • Kan Ekʼ
  • Kaybʼil Bʼalam
  • Oxib-Keh †
  • Tecun Uman †

In a protracted conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonisers gradually incorporated the territory that became the modern country of Guatemala into the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. Before the conquest, this territory contained a number of competing Mesoamerican kingdoms, the majority of which were Maya. Many conquistadors viewed the Maya as "infidels" who needed to be forcefully converted and pacified, disregarding the achievements of their civilization.[2] The first contact between the Maya and European explorers came in the early 16th century when a Spanish ship sailing from Panama to Santo Domingo was wrecked on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in 1511.[2] Several Spanish expeditions followed in 1517 and 1519, making landfall on various parts of the Yucatán coast.[3] The Spanish conquest of the Maya was a prolonged affair; the Maya kingdoms resisted integration into the Spanish Empire with such tenacity that their defeat took almost two centuries.[4]

Pedro de Alvarado arrived in Guatemala from the newly conquered Mexico in early 1524, commanding a mixed force of Spanish conquistadors and native allies, mostly from Tlaxcala and Cholula. Geographic features across Guatemala now bear Nahuatl placenames owing to the influence of these Mexican allies, who translated for the Spanish.[5] The Kaqchikel Maya initially allied themselves with the Spanish, but soon rebelled against excessive demands for tribute and did not finally surrender until 1530. In the meantime the other major highland Maya kingdoms had each been defeated in turn by the Spanish and allied warriors from Mexico and already subjugated Maya kingdoms in Guatemala. The Itza Maya and other lowland groups in the Petén Basin were first contacted by Hernán Cortés in 1525, but remained independent and hostile to the encroaching Spanish until 1697, when a concerted Spanish assault led by Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi finally defeated the last independent Maya kingdom.

Spanish and native tactics and technology differed greatly. The Spanish viewed the taking of prisoners as a hindrance to outright victory, whereas the Maya prioritised the capture of live prisoners and of booty. The indigenous peoples of Guatemala lacked key elements of Old World technology such as a functional wheel, horses, iron, steel, and gunpowder; they were also extremely susceptible to Old World diseases, against which they had no resistance. The Maya preferred raiding and ambush to large-scale warfare, using spears, arrows and wooden swords with inset obsidian blades; the Xinca of the southern coastal plain used poison on their arrows. In response to the use of Spanish cavalry, the highland Maya took to digging pits and lining them with wooden stakes.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lovell05p58 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Jones 2000, p. 356.
  3. ^ Jones 2000, pp. 356–358.
  4. ^ Sharer and Traxler 2006, pp. 8, 757.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference SharerTraxler06p764 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

and 22 Related for: Spanish conquest of Guatemala information

Request time (Page generated in 2.478 seconds.)

Spanish conquest of Guatemala

Last Update:

during the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonisers gradually incorporated the territory that became the modern country of Guatemala into the...

Word Count : 17043

Spanish conquest of the Maya

Last Update:

The Spanish conquest of the Maya was a protracted conflict during the Spanish colonisation of the Americas, in which the Spanish conquistadores and their...

Word Count : 21539

Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire

Last Update:

The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the...

Word Count : 6886

Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire

Last Update:

Mexico New Spain Spanish conquest of Chiapas Spanish conquest of Guatemala Spanish conquest of Honduras Spanish conquest of Yucatán Spanish Empire Teoría...

Word Count : 15660

Spanish conquest of El Salvador

Last Update:

The Spanish conquest of El Salvador was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish conquistadores against the Late Postclassic Mesoamerican polities in the...

Word Count : 6240

Spanish immigration to Guatemala

Last Update:

arrival of the Spaniards in Guatemala began in 1524 with the conquest of the Guatemalan Highlands and neighbouring Pacific plain under the command of Pedro...

Word Count : 559

Spanish colonization of the Americas

Last Update:

Spanish conquest of Yucatán, the Spanish conquest of Guatemala, the conquest of the Purépecha of Michoacan, the war of Mexico's west, and the Chichimeca...

Word Count : 16611

Spanish conquest of Honduras

Last Update:

The Spanish conquest of Honduras was a 16th-century conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in which the territory that now comprises...

Word Count : 20404

History of Guatemala

Last Update:

modern history began with the Spanish conquest of Guatemala in 1524. Most of the great Classic-era (250–900 AD) Maya cities of the Petén Basin region, in...

Word Count : 32764

Spanish conquest of Chiapas

Last Update:

The Spanish conquest of Chiapas was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish conquistadores against the Late Postclassic Mesoamerican polities in the territory...

Word Count : 7831

Lienzo de Quauhquechollan

Last Update:

of 1527 to 1529. The Quauhquechollan allies settled in the Guatemalan Highlands and the cloth records their participation in the Spanish conquest of Mexico...

Word Count : 1106

Tlaxcaltec

Last Update:

instrumental in the Spanish conquest of Guatemala, and a significant number of Guatemalan place names, including the name “Guatemala” itself, derive from...

Word Count : 1288

Totonac

Last Update:

people, contributed significantly to the Spanish conquest. Totonacapan became incorporated into the Spanish regime with comparatively little violence...

Word Count : 1744

List of conflicts in Central America

Last Update:

1921 War of Coto (against Panama) 1948 Costa Rican Civil War 1524 — 1697 Spanish conquest of Guatemala 1530 Alvarado enslaves the Mayan kingdoms of Cakchiquel...

Word Count : 396

Pacaya

Last Update:

volcano in Guatemala, which first erupted approximately 23,000 years ago and has erupted at least 23 times since the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. It rises...

Word Count : 959

El Progreso Department

Last Update:

Spanish established themselves in the region by 1551, after the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. El Progreso was declared a department in 1908, but was dissolved...

Word Count : 1633

Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala

Last Update:

— Guatemala The name was first associated with the Kaqchikel Maya capital Iximche, adopted as the Spanish capital soon after the Spanish conquest of Guatemala...

Word Count : 577

Colonial period

Last Update:

colonization of the Americas Colonisation of Africa Western imperialism in Asia Colonial Chile Spanish conquest of Guatemala Viceroyalty of Peru Colonial...

Word Count : 151

Guatemala

Last Update:

century, most of this was conquered by the Spanish and claimed as part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. Guatemala attained independence from Spain and Mexico...

Word Count : 19561

Pedro de Alvarado

Last Update:

de Alvarado (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo ðe alβaˈɾaðo]; c. 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala. He participated...

Word Count : 7983

Indian auxiliaries

Last Update:

during the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. The term was also used for formations composed of indigenous warriors which were used by the Spanish for reconnaissance...

Word Count : 1278

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

Last Update:

time of the Spanish conquest, the entire population in the country of England was just under three million people. This fact speaks to the level of sophistication...

Word Count : 23944
PDF Search Engine © AllGlobal.net