Martin de Ursua Conquers Nojpeten, the Last Independent Maya Kingdom
More than 170 years after Tenochtitlan's fall, Spanish forces finally take the island capital of the Itza on Lake Peten Itza
Quick facts
- City
- Nojpeten (Tayasal), Lake Peten Itza, Guatemala
- Spanish commander
- Martin de Ursua y Arismendi
- Fall of the city
- 13 March 1697
- Years after Tenochtitlan's fall
- More than 170
What happened
Nojpeten, also called Tayasal, was the island capital of the Itza Maya kingdom of Peten Itza, built on Lake Peten Itza in what is now northern Guatemala. Protected by dense jungle that hindered Spanish military expeditions and by Itza control of all canoe traffic on the lake, the kingdom maintained a policy of controlled neutrality for more than 170 years after the fall of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, permitting occasional trade or missionary contact while refusing permanent Spanish settlement or conversion. In February 1697, Martin de Ursua y Arismendi arrived at the western shore of the lake with 235 Spanish soldiers and 120 native laborers, and on 10 March launched an assault using a large oar-powered attack boat; the resulting bombardment caused heavy casualties among the Itza defenders, who abandoned the city on 13 March 1697. Its fall is generally treated as the end of independent Maya political rule.
Why it matters
Nojpeten's fall closes the political history of the Maya as independent, self-governing kingdoms, nearly two centuries after Spain first made contact with the Yucatan in 1517, showing how much longer and more contested the Spanish conquest of the Maya was compared to the rapid collapse of the Aztec and Inca empires. Maya communities and languages, of course, continued and continue into the present.
How we know
The conquest is documented in Spanish colonial military and administrative records describing Ursua's campaign, troop numbers, and the assault itself.
Sources
- Yucatan Magazine. Nojpeten, Tayasal, and the Fall of the Last Great Maya City · General sourceyucatanmagazine.com · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- The Ancient Maya Ruins of Central America (mayaruins.com / themayanruinswebsite.com). Nakbe · Unclassified sourcethemayanruinswebsite.com · Cited as a "website" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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Related timelines
- The Aztec Empire → · Nojpeten held out for more than 170 years after Tenochtitlan fell to Cortes in 1521, showing how much longer Maya political independence survived compared to the rapid Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.