Editing Spanish conquest of Yucatán (section)

==Hernán Cortés in the Maya lowlands, 1524–25==
In 1524,<ref name="SharerTraxler06p761"/> after the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire]], [[Hernán Cortés]] led an expedition to [[Honduras]] over land, cutting across [[Acalan]] in southern [[Campeche]] and the [[Itza people|Itza]] kingdom in what is now the northern [[Petén Department]] of [[Guatemala]].<ref name="Jones00p358">Jones 2000, p. 358.</ref> His aim was to subdue the rebellious [[Cristóbal de Olid]], whom he had sent to conquer Honduras; Olid had, however, set himself up independently on his arrival in that territory.<ref name="SharerTraxler06p761"/> Cortés left [[Tenochtitlan]] on 12 October 1524 with 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 the captured Aztec emperor [[Cuauhtemoc]],  and [[Coanacoch|Cohuanacox]] and [[Tetlepanquetzal]], the captive Aztec lords of [[Texcoco (altepetl)|Texcoco]] and [[Tlacopan]]. Cortés marched into [[Maya peoples|Maya]] territory in [[Tabasco]]; the army crossed the [[Usumacinta River]] near [[Tenosique]] and crossed into the [[Chontal Maya]] province of Acalan, where he recruited 600 [[Chontal Maya people|Chontal Maya]] carriers. In Acalan, Cortés believed that the captive Aztec lords were plotting against him and he ordered Cuauhtemoc and Tetlepanquetzal to be hanged. Cortés and his army left Acalan on 5 March 1525.<ref name="SharerTraxler06p761762"/>

The expedition passed onwards through [[Kejache]] territory and reported that the Kejache towns were situated in easily defensible locations and were often fortified.<ref>Rice and Rice 2009, p. 12.</ref> One of these was built on a rocky outcrop near a lake and a river that fed into it. The town was fortified with a wooden palisade and was surrounded by a moat. Cortés reported that the town of Tiac was even larger and was fortified with walls, watchtowers and earthworks; the town itself was divided into three individually fortified districts. Tiac was said to have been at war with the unnamed smaller town.<ref>Rice et al. 2009, p. 127.</ref> The Kejache claimed that their towns were fortified against the attacks of their aggressive [[Itza people|Itza]] neighbours.<ref>Rice and Rice 2005, p. 152.</ref>

They arrived at the north shore of [[Lake Petén Itzá]] on 13 March 1525.<ref name="SharerTraxler06p761762">Sharer and Traxler 2006, pp. 761–762.</ref> The [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] priests accompanying the expedition celebrated mass in the presence of [[Kan Ekʼ|Aj Kan Ekʼ]], the king of the [[Itza people|Itza]], who was said to be so impressed that he pledged to worship the cross and to destroy his idols.<ref name="SharerTraxler06p762">Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 762.</ref> Cortés accepted an invitation from Kan Ekʼ to visit [[Nojpetén]] (also known as Tayasal), and crossed to the [[Maya peoples|Maya]] city with 20 Spanish soldiers while the rest of his army continued around the lake to meet him on the south shore.<ref>Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 762.<br>Jones 2000, p. 358.</ref> 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.<ref>Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 773.<br>Jones 2000, p. 358.</ref> 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.<ref name="Jones00p358" />

From the lake, Cortés continued south along the western slopes of the [[Maya Mountains]], a particularly arduous journey that took 12 days to cover {{convert|32|km|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 Department|Gracias a Dios]] rapids, which took two days to cross and cost him more horses.<ref name="SharerTraxler06p762"/>

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.<ref name="SharerTraxler06p762" /> [[Hernán Cortés|Cortés]] found a village on the shore of [[Lake Izabal]], perhaps Xocolo. He crossed the [[Dulce River (Guatemala)|Dulce River]] to the settlement of Nito, somewhere on the [[Amatique Bay]],<ref name="Feldman98p6">Feldman 1998, p. 6.</ref> with about a dozen companions, and waited there for the rest of his army to regroup over the next week.<ref name="SharerTraxler06p762" /> 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|Cristóbal de Olid's]] own officers had already put down his rebellion. Cortés then returned to [[Mexico]] by sea.<ref>Webster 2002, p. 83.</ref>