aztec emperor moctezuma ii was the leader of the aztecs when the spanish soldiers invaded their land.
aztec emperor moctezuma ii was the leader of the aztecs when the spanish soldiers invaded their land.
who was the leader of the aztecs when the spanish soldiers invaded their land?
aztec emperor moctezuma ii
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in march 1622, governor of yucatán diego de cardenas ordered captain francisco de mirones lezcano to launch an assault upon the itza; he set out from yucatán with 20 spanish soldiers and 80 mayas from yucatán. his expedition was later joined by franciscan friar diego delgado. the expedition first camped at ixpimienta; in may they moved to sakalum, southwest of bacalar, where there was a lengthy delay while they waited for reinforcements. en route to nojpetén, delgado believed that the soldiers' treatment of the maya was excessively cruel, and he left the expedition to make his own way to nojpetén with eighty christianised maya from tipuj in belize. in the meantime the itza had learnt of the approaching military expedition and had become hardened against further spanish missionary attempts. when mirones learnt of delgado's departure, he sent 13 soldiers to persuade him to return or continue as his escort should he refuse. the soldiers caught up with him just before tipuj, but he was determined to reach nojpetén. from tipuj, delgado sent a messenger to kan ekʼ, asking permission to travel to nojpetén; the itza king replied with a promise of safe passage for the missionary and his companions. the party was initially received in peace at the itza capital, but as soon as the spanish soldiers let their guard down, the itza seized and bound the new arrivals. the soldiers were sacrificed to the maya gods, with their hearts cut from their chests and their heads impaled on stakes around the town. after the sacrifice of the spanish soldiers, the itza took delgado, cut his heart out and dismembered him; they displayed his head on a stake with the others. the fate of the leader of delgado's maya companions was no better. with no word from delgado's escort, mirones sent two spanish soldiers with bernardino ek, a maya scout, to learn their fate. when they arrived upon the shore of lake petén itzá, the itza took them across to their island capital and imprisoned them. they escaped to a canoe by the lakeshore but the two spanish, slowed by their bonds, were soon recaptured. ek escaped and returned to mirones with the news.
spanish conquest of petén