THE CONQUEST
In “The Fair God” General Lew Wallace has given a somewhat fanciful but
in the main faithful description of the conquest of Montezuma and the
Aztecs by Cortes and his Spanish knights and men-at-arms.
The conquest of the Mayas is a similar story of blood and plunder in
which the Mayas, although far outnumbering the Spaniards, were no
match for the superior knowledge and weapons of the white men. And, as
always, where the flag of Spain went the church followed close behind
and consolidated and held the conquered as arms alone never could have
done.
Bishop Landa says that Gerónimo de Aguilar with some companions was
the first to try his luck in Yucatan. He and his men took part in the
destruction of the city of Darien in 1511. He accompanied another
leader, Valdivia, in a caravel from Santo Domingo. They ran aground at
a place called Viboras, on the coast of Jamaica, and the ship was lost
with all but twenty men. Aguilar and Valdivia with the few survivors
set out in a small boat without sails and without food and were
thirteen days at sea, before, by chance, they reached Yucatan. In that
time half of the little band died of starvation.
Upon reaching land they fell into the hands of a bad Maya chief; he
immediately sacrificed Valdivia and four others to the native gods, and
the people feasted upon their bodies. Aguilar, his chief lieutenant,
Guerrero, and four or five others were left to fatten for a subsequent
sacrifice, but they escaped and reached another tribe which was at war
with the bad chief. Here they were kept as slaves, and though they were
mercifully treated, nearly all of them died of disease except Aguilar
and Guerrero. The former was a good Christian, according to Bishop
Landa’s account, and kept his prayer-book, and in 1517 he returned
to Spain with Hernan Cortes. Guerrero, however, appears to have been
less pious; he allied himself with a native chief and together they
conquered many native tribes. Guerrero taught the natives how to fight
and how to build fortifications. He conducted himself like an Indian,
painting his body, letting his hair grow long, and wearing ear-rings,
and married the daughter of a chief. It is thought he became an
idolator.
In 1517 Francisco Hernandez de Córdoba set sail from Santiago de Cuba
with three ships, for the purpose, some say, of obtaining new slaves
for the mines. Others say he went to discover new land. He arrived at
length at the island of Mujeres (women), which name he gave it because
of the native goddesses of the island—Aixchel, Ixche-beliax, Ixhunie,
and Ixhunieta. The Spaniards were surprised to find the women fully
clothed and to see buildings of stone and articles of gold. The latter
they took with them. Sailing into the bay of Campeche, they landed upon
the coast of Yucatan on the Sunday of Lazarus and called the place of
their arrival Lazarus. They were well received by the natives, who were
struck with awe and wonderingly touched the beards and persons of the
strangers.
Near the sea the Spaniards beheld a square stone monument with steps
leading up to it on all four sides. On the summit was a stone idol,
with the figures of two wild animals gnawing at his flanks, and a huge
stone serpent in the act of swallowing a leopard. All were smeared
with blood from frequent sacrifices. A little way inland was the city
of Champoton, which the chief would not permit the Spaniards to enter,
bringing forth his warriors against them. This saddened Francisco
Hernandez, but he put his forces in order and caused the artillery of
his ships to be fired.
The natives, however, did not cease their attack, although the noise
and smoke and fire of cannon must have been terrifying to them who had
never seen nor heard such things before. The bloodshed was terrible,
for the natives died in hundreds, but still they pressed on, driving
the Spaniards back to their ships. Of the Spaniards, twenty were
killed, fifty wounded, and two taken alive who were later sacrificed.
Hernandez himself received thirty-three wounds.
Returning to Cuba, he told Diego Velasquez, the governor, of the
richness of the land and of the abundance of gold, and Velasquez
despatched his nephew, Juan de Grijalva, with four ships and two
hundred men, on May 1, 1518, to undertake the conquest of Yucatan. One
of the ships was commanded by Francisco de Montejo. They cruised along
the whole coast and finally attempted to besiege the city of Champoton
again, but with no better fortune than their predecessors. One Spaniard
was killed and fifty wounded, among them Grijalva.
When the Spaniards returned to Cuba Hernan Cortes became greatly
excited upon hearing the news of so much land and such riches and
determined to conquer the country in the name of God and his king. He
outfitted eleven ships, the largest being of one hundred tons. Among
their captains was Francisco de Montejo. There were five hundred men in
the expedition, horses, war-gear, and goods for trading or ransom.
On the voyage one ship was thought to be lost, and with the ten
remaining vessels an attack was made on the city of Cotoch, which was
captured and plundered. Later the ship that was thought to be lost
rejoined the rest. Cruising down the coast from northern Yucatan, the
fleet came to the inhabited island of Cuzmil.
The natives, seeing so many ships and so many soldiers, abandoned the
place and fled inland. After despoiling the city, the Spaniards made a
foray into the hinterland and came upon the wife of the chief and her
children. They conversed with her by the aid of a native interpreter
and treated her kindly. Many gifts were bestowed upon her and her
children and she was induced to send word to the chief and bring him
before them. When he came, he too was well treated and presented with
gifts.
The chief ordered all the dwellers to return to their homes and all
of the loot that the Spaniards had taken was restored to its owners
and confidence and friendship were established. The natives became
converted to Christianity and the image of the Virgin was set up to
replace the old stone idols. From the Indians Cortes learned that some
white men were near by, in the power of a barbarous native chief. The
friendly Indians were afraid to venture into the domain of the chief,
but Cortes finally induced them to deliver the following letter by
stealth to the white men:
NOBLE SIRS:
I left Cuba with eleven armed ships and five hundred Spaniards
and arrived here at Cuzmil, from where I write you this letter.
Those of this island have assured me that there are on this
land five or six cruel men and in all very similar to us. I do
not know how to give or say other descriptions, but by these
I guess and am sure you are Spaniards. I and these nobles who
came with me to discover and populate these lands, request
you that within six days after receiving this you come to us
without other delay or excuse. If you come we shall all know
one another and we shall reward the good work that from you
this fleet receives. I send a brig in which to come and two
ships for security.
This letter was carried by the natives, concealed in their hair, and
it reached Aguilar, of whom I have previously spoken. He was not able,
however, to make connection with the ships Cortes had sent and after
six days the brig and its convoy ships returned to Cuzmil and Cortes
immediately set sail with his whole fleet. Soon after embarking, one
of the ships was damaged and the whole fleet returned to Cuzmil while
repairs were made. The following day Aguilar arrived, having crossed
the sea between Cuzmil and the mainland in a canoe. He cried for joy at
finding his countrymen and knelt down and thanked God. He was taken,
naked as he came, to Cortes, who clothed him and received him kindly.
He told of his privations and of Guerrero, but it was not possible to
reach the latter, who was then eighty leagues inland.
With Aguilar, who was an excellent interpreter, Cortes again preached
the worship of the Cross and made a great impression upon the
inhabitants of Cuzmil. The fleet upon its return voyage touched at
Campeche and at Tabasco, where the inhabitants gave to Cortes an Indian
woman who was afterward called Marina. She came from Jalisco, was the
daughter of noble parents, and had been stolen when small and sold as a
slave in Tabasco and later in other cities. Thus she knew the language
and much of the condition of the country.
After his arrival in Cuba, Cortes and the governor determined to send
Montejo to the Spanish court, to carry to the king his fifth of the
treasure resulting from the expedition and to secure a grant for the
conquest and settlement of Yucatan. When Montejo reached Spain, Bishop
Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca was prime minister, with full power over
New Spain. The reports rendered to the minister by Diego Velasquez,
governor of Cuba, were by no means in praise of Cortes, and as a result
Montejo, his emissary, found himself in a most unfavorable position.
It was only after seven years of what must have been heartbreaking
delay that he persuaded the president of the council and Pope Adrian
to approve the mission. The king had been long absent in Flanders, but
now an audience with his Majesty was granted and Montejo succeeded
in clearing Cortes and in getting the king’s grant for the conquest
of Yucatan, and with it the title for himself of governor of the new
province.
As soon as possible he outfitted three ships and sailed with five
hundred men. His destination was the island of Cuzmil, which was safely
reached and where he was well received by the Christianized natives.
After a brief time he went to the mainland, where his first act was
to plant the flag of Spain with the words, “In the name of God, I take
possession of this land for God and the King of Castile.” He then
sailed down the coast to the city of Conil. The natives were greatly
alarmed and sent word throughout the country of the advent of the
Spanish. All of the chiefs for some distance about were persuaded to
visit Montejo, who received them with honor and respect. But one chief
of great strength was accompanied by a negro servant, who carried,
concealed, a cutlass, and at a favorable moment the chief seized the
weapon and tried to assassinate Montejo, who defended himself while his
men disarmed the native.
This event was disquieting; Montejo realized that in spite of his
conference with the natives, they were unfriendly and that it would be
unwise to risk his little army against their combined strength. And
so he weighed anchor and proceeded farther down the coast, seeking
the largest sea-coast city, which proved to be Tecoh. Here, either by
friendly overtures or by threats, he gained permission to establish
a city which he intended to make the capital of his new dominion.
Traveling about the country, he came upon Chi-chen Itza, which seemed
to him an ideal location, probably because of its stone buildings and
its plentiful water-supply. He at once set about the task of making
it habitable. Houses of wood with thatched roofs were put up and with
the assistance of friendly natives he began the task of subduing
surrounding tribes, placing some one or another of his men in charge of
the villages as they were conquered, until he had two or three thousand
natives in his power.
By this time the natives awoke to the fact that they were fast becoming
slaves to the Spaniards, and rebellion set in everywhere. For a time
Montejo with his men was able, by cruel and bloody treatment, to keep
the people in subjection; but at last they forced him to draw in all
his forces to Chi-chen Itza, where they besieged him. Each day the
armed and mailed Spaniards took heavy toll of their besiegers; and each
day the Indians were reinforced, while the Spaniards counted every
victory a defeat which lost them even a few in killed or wounded. And
the food-supply was nearly exhausted.
Finally Montejo perceived that he and his men must escape and return to
the island of Cuzmil or they would all be slain. Through the day they
wearied the native besiegers with skirmish and sortie and that night
they tied a famished dog to a rope attached to a bell and just out of
reach placed some food. All night the dog tried in vain to reach the
food and all night the natives heard the sound of the bell and thought
the Spaniards were preparing a night attack. But the wily Montejo and
his followers had escaped from the rear of the ancient “Nunnery” and it
was several hours before the besiegers discovered what had happened.
Not knowing which road the fleeing enemy had taken, the Indians set
out at once by all the roads to the sea-coast. Some of them actually
caught up with the retreating forces, but were too few in number to
attack successfully. The Spaniards reached safely the town of Zilan and
the Christianized tribe of the Cheles (Bluebirds) and from there they
easily made their way to Ticoh, where they were secure for some months.
Montejo saw that conquest to the southward was blocked, and, with the
aid of the friendly Cheles and taking the chief of the town of Zilan
and two young nobles, the sons of a still greater chief, he traveled
with his force up the coast, the young natives of his escort obtaining
safe conduct for him through the various tribes. Thus he reached
Mexico, which was held by the iron hand of Cortes.
Montejo was next sent to Honduras as viceroy, but the project of
subduing Yucatan seems always to have been his dream. Some years later
he went to the city of Chiapa and from there despatched his son, at the
head of an expedition, to Yucatan, in a further effort to conquer it.
The younger Montejo had in the meantime traveled through Mexico and
even into lower California and had been made viceroy of Tabasco.
In the years since the attempt of the elder Montejo to subdue the
Mayas, Yucatan had suffered greatly, first from internecine strife
and then from a famine, so that the younger Montejo found almost no
organized resistance. The city of Champoton, where the Spaniards had
twice suffered defeat under Hernandez de Córdoba and under Grijalva,
and where the first Montejo had not dared to risk a conflict, now
offered no battle at all. From there the younger Montejo went to
Campeche and established friendly relations, so that with the aid of
Champoton and Campeche, gained by promises of rich rewards, he reached
the city of Tiho, meeting with almost no resistance.
Here he established his capital, renaming the city Mérida, and so
it has remained to the present time as the seat of government of
Yucatan. The army of a few hundred men was quartered in Mérida and the
subjugation of the country was carried on from there. Captains were
sent to different towns as local governors. The young Montejo sent
his cousin of the same name to Valladolid, to govern that important
city and subdue the surrounding territory. When things had pretty
well settled down, the elder Montejo came from Chiapa, first taking
up residence in Campeche, which he renamed San Francisco in honor of
himself. A little later he moved on to Mérida and became governor in
fact, as well as in name, of the land of Yucatan.
The rule of the Spaniards was exceedingly brutal for some years, but
it is believed that most of their cruelties were committed without
the knowledge of Montejo and certainly not at his command. There
is the well-worn excuse that the conquerors were few in number and
the conquered numerous, and that diabolical treatment was sometimes
necessary, to hold the masses in check. Rebels were burned alive and
hanged in great numbers. The important people in the town of Yobain
were gathered together in a large house and locked in stocks, then the
house was set on fire, so that all perished horribly.
Diego de Landa himself saw a tree upon which were hanging many Indian
women from whose feet their little children had been hanged. In another
city two Indian women, one a maid, the other newly married, were hanged
for no other reason than that they were beautiful and the Spanish
captain feared that his men might seek their favor and thereby stir up
trouble with the natives.
Perhaps the greatest cruelty of all was the deportation of the natives
of the thickly populated provinces of Cochua and Chectemal. Hands and
arms and legs were lopped off. Women had their breasts severed and,
with gourds tied to their feet, were thrown into the lagoons. Children
were stabbed because they could not walk as fast as their captors, and
men, women, and children were slain without excuse.
Because of this treatment the native population decreased very rapidly
and the towns and cities were abandoned. A serious outbreak occurred in
Valladolid, where the natives slew seventeen Spaniards and four hundred
natives who were servants of the Spanish. Hands and feet of the slain
were sent through the country as a signal for a general uprising, but
none took place.
Evidently the priesthood complained to the king regarding the
atrocities that were being committed and of the making of servants
or virtually slaves of many of the natives. An edict from the king
deprived all governors of native servants. Montejo was impeached and
sent to Mexico for a hearing, and from there to the royal council at
Madrid. And there he died, as Landa says, “full of days and work.”
The younger Montejo left the imposing gubernatorial mansion which his
father had built in Mérida and resided for some time in the city merely
as a private citizen, much respected by all. After a time he went to
Guatemala and then returned to Spain, where he eventually died after a
prolonged illness.
As has been said, the church followed close upon the heels of the
conquerors and there seems to have been little love lost between the
priests and the soldiery, both jealous of power and wealth. With the
forces of the elder Montejo was only one cleric, Francisco Hernandez,
chaplain of the expedition, who later attributed the failure of the
venture to the lack of priests. Before the real conquest by Montejo
the younger, it became necessary for Antonio de Mendoza, who was
viceroy of all New Spain, to carry out the orders he had long before
received from Queen Juana to the effect that priests should be sent to
Yucatan—one of the conditions upon which the province had been granted
to Montejo.
Mendoza had no choice but to send priests from other Spanish
possessions under his command, as there were none in Yucatan. For this
duty Fray Jacobo de Testera, who held a high clerical office in Mexico,
volunteered. In 1531 he and three other priests arrived at Champoton
and, having asked leave of the Indians to enter the country, made an
auspicious beginning. But they soon lost the good-will of the natives
because they insisted on burning the idols, and, on finding they were
making no progress, became disgruntled and returned to Mexico. In 1536
another band of friars essayed the task of Christianizing Yucatan, but
after proselyting for two years they returned to more settled Spanish
dominions.
The conquest actually effected, after the founding of Valladolid in
1541 and Mérida in 1542, a church was built in the latter city and in
1544 Bishop Bartolomé de las Casas and his Dominican friars came to
Yucatan and gradually spread the creed of the Cross throughout the
land. But while we speak of the conquest as becoming an accomplished
fact with the founding of the two principal cities of Valladolid and
Mérida, it was not until more than eighty years later that the whole
country was pacified, and during this time the Itzas in the southern
part of the country remained unconquered and un-Christianized. These
eighty years constitute a long period of guerilla warfare and sporadic
attempts on the part of the Spaniards to conquer the stubborn Itzas
and efforts of the priests to convert them, and, throughout, showed a
lack of concord between the military and the church. At one time two
native Christians set up claims as pope and bishop respectively and
gained a considerable following.
As has been mentioned earlier in this work, some of the Maya
tribes never were conquered; they do not, to this day, pay taxes
to or otherwise concern themselves with the Government of Mexico.
Catholicism, generously mixed with the old paganism, has, however,
permeated their villages.
Whatever we may think now of the means and methods followed by the
old padres in bringing the heathen to the Christian faith, we can
but admire and reverence their motives, for no earthly reward could
possibly compensate for the incredible hardships despite which these
zealots persevered. Only a stanch, all-abiding faith, supreme over
mundane things, could have carried on.