Editing Honduras (section)

=== Spanish conquest (1524–1539) ===
{{main|Spanish conquest of Honduras}}
[[File:Retrato de Hernán Cortés.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Hernán Cortés]], one of the conquerors of Honduras]]
On his fourth and the final voyage to the [[New World]] in 1502, [[Christopher Columbus]] landed near the modern town of [[Trujillo, Honduras|Trujillo]], near Guaimoreto Lagoon, becoming the first European to visit the [[Bay Islands Department|Bay Islands]] on the coast of Honduras.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://honduras.com/history/ |title=Columbus and the History of Honduras |publisher=Office of the Honduras National Chamber of Tourism |access-date=27 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723233247/http://www.honduras.com/history/ |archive-date=23 July 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 30 July 1502, Columbus sent his brother [[Bartholomew Columbus|Bartholomew]] to explore the islands and Bartholomew encountered a Mayan trading vessel from Yucatán, carrying well-dressed Maya and a rich cargo.<ref>{{cite book |author=Perramon, Francesc Ligorred |chapter=Los primeros contactos lingüísticos de los españoles en Yucatán |title=Los mayas de los tiempos tardíos |publisher=Sociedad Española de Estudios Mayas |location=Madrid, Spain |year=1986 |url=http://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/2775333.pdf |page=242 |oclc=16268597 |isbn=9788439871200 |editor1=Miguel Rivera |editor2=Andrés Ciudad |language=es |access-date=23 June 2020 |archive-date=12 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412021428/https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/2775333.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="clendinnen2003">{{cite book|author=Clendinnen, Inga |author-link=Inga Clendinnen |orig-year=1988 |year=2003 |title=Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517–1570 |edition=2nd |isbn=0-521-52731-7 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, UK |url= https://archive.org/details/ambivalentconque00inga |url-access=registration
|oclc=50868309|pages=3–4}}</ref> Bartholomew's men stole the cargo they wanted and kidnapped the ship's elderly captain to serve as an interpreter<ref name="clendinnen2003" /> in the first recorded encounter between the Spanish and the Maya.<ref>{{cite book |ref={{sfnref|Sharer|Traxler|2006}} |author=Sharer, Robert J. |author-link=Robert Sharer |author2=Loa P. Traxler |year=2006 |title=The Ancient Maya |edition=6th |location=Stanford, California |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=0-8047-4817-9 |oclc=57577446 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientmaya0006shar |page=758}}</ref>

In March 1524, [[Gil González Dávila]] became the first Spaniard to enter Honduras as a [[conquistador]].<ref name="Apuntes">{{cite book |title=Apuntes para la Historia de Honduras |editor-last=Vera |editor-first=Robustiano |year=1899 |access-date=9 February 2016 |location=Santiago |trans-title=Notes on the History of Honduras |language=es |url=https://archive.org/details/apuntesparalahis00vera|publisher=Santiago de Chile : Imp. de "El Correo," }}</ref><ref name=Guide>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ar4Zf2QhhxIC&pg=PT19|title=Adventure Guide to Copan & Western Honduras|access-date=29 January 2011|first1=Cindy|last1=Kilgore|first2=Alan|last2=Moore|publisher=Hunter publishing|quote="Spanish conquistadores did not become interested in colonization of Honduras until the 1520s when Cristobal de Olid the first European colony in Triunfo de la Cruz in 1524. A previous expedition headed by Gil Gonzalez Davila ..."|isbn=9781588439222|date=27 May 2014|archive-date=21 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321043129/https://books.google.com/books?id=ar4Zf2QhhxIC&pg=PT19|url-status=live}}</ref> followed by [[Hernán Cortés]], who had brought forces down from Mexico. Much of the conquest took place in the following two decades, first by groups loyal to [[Cristóbal de Olid]], and then by those loyal to [[Francisco de Montejo]] but most particularly by those following Alvarado.{{who|date=December 2017}} In addition to Spanish resources, the conquerors relied heavily on armed forces from Mexico{{snd}}[[Tlaxcalans]] and [[Aztec|Mexica]] armies of thousands who remained garrisoned in the region.

Resistance to conquest was led in particular by [[Lempira (Lenca ruler)|Lempira]]. Many regions in the north of Honduras never fell to the Spanish, notably the [[Mosquito Coast|Miskito Kingdom]]. After the Spanish conquest, Honduras became part of Spain's vast empire in the New World within the [[Captaincy General of Guatemala|Kingdom of Guatemala]]. Trujillo and [[Gracias a Dios Department|Gracias]] were the first city-capitals. The Spanish ruled the region for approximately three centuries.