Spain Takes Nojpetén, the Last Independent Maya Kingdom

On the morning of March 13, 1697, an armed Spanish assault boat rowed out across Lake Peten Itza toward Nojpeten, the island capital of the Itza Maya kingdom. Commanded by Martin de Ursua y Arizmendi, governor of Yucatan, the boat carried well over one hundred armed men, along with priests and Maya intermediaries; accounts of the exact number differ. Ursua had advanced from Yucatan along a freshly cut road to the western lakeside camp of Ch'ich', where his men built an oared vessel for the attack. A large fleet of Itza canoes came out to meet it, and warriors shot arrows at the Spaniards as they approached.

Tensions turned into open combat as the vessel neared the island. After Maya arrows wounded several men on board, an injured soldier discharged his musket, prompting the Spanish officers to lose control of their troops. Spanish gunfire caused heavy casualties among the Itza, though no reliable count survives, and panic spread across the settlement. Many Maya fighters and civilians leaped into the lake and swam for the mainland, and some are reported to have drowned. By the time Ursua's landing party set foot on the shore and planted their standard at the highest point of the town, the defenders had fled into the surrounding forests, abandoning their capital to Spanish occupation.