Lempira (Lenca ruler) Honduran historian Mario Felipe Martínez Castillo discovered a very different account of Lempira in a document entitled "Méritos y Servicios: Rodrigo Ruiz, Nueva España", written in 1558 in Mexico City. The manuscript is located in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, Spain. That document, Patronato 69 R.5, tells the story of Rodrigo Ruiz and his service in the conquest of Honduras under Francisco Montejo. It includes his account of killing Lempira. The document is in the form of a series of questions, answered by witnesses to the services which Rodrigo Ruiz gave to the Spanish King. It is his
Lempira (Lenca ruler) Governor, Francisco de Montejo, attacked Lempira at the Peñol de Cerquín, near Gracias Department. According to Herrera, Lempira retreated to a fortified hill top where he resisted the Spaniards for many months. Finally, the Spaniards lured him out to talk, and a concealed Spanish soldier with an arquebus shot and killed him. On seeing this, Herrera reports, the Lenca surrendered. This is essentially the official version that is taught to Honduran children in school. The Spanish then ate his corpse in disrespect, many of lempiras men fought the Spanish and taking a victory for their leader. In the 1980s, the