The Spanish conquest of Honduras was a 16th-century conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in which the territory that now comprises the Republic of Honduras, one of the seven states of Central America, was incorporated into the Spanish Empire. In 1502, the territory was claimed for the king of Spain by Christopher Columbus on his fourth and final trip to the New World. The territory that now comprises Honduras was inhabited by a mix of indigenous peoples straddling a transitional cultural zone between Mesoamerica to the northwest, and the Intermediate Area to the southeast. Indigenous groups included Maya, Lenca, Pech, Miskitu, Mayangna (Sumu), Jicaque, Pipil and Chorotega. Two indigenous leaders are particularly notable for their resistance against the Spanish; the Maya leader Cicumba, and the Lenca ruler referred to as Lempira (a title meaning "Lord of the Mountain").
In March 1524, Gil González Dávila became the first Spaniard to arrive in what is now Honduras with the intention of conquest. He founded the first Spanish port upon the Caribbean coast, Puerto de Caballos, which became an important staging post for later expeditions. The early decades of the Spanish conquest of Honduras were beset by jurisdictional disputes between different Spanish colonies attempting to invade the territory, which resulted in conflict between rival expeditions launched from Mexico, Hispaniola, and Panama. The Spanish territory was reorganised as Higueras in the west, and Honduras in the east. As the Spanish became established throughout Central America, the colony of Honduras-Higueras became involved in territorial disputes with neighbouring colonies in Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.
From 1530, the colonists became the arbiters of power, installing and deposing governors. Spanish government in Honduras was riven by factionalism. As a response to the growing anarchy, the colonists requested that Pedro de Alvarado intervene. Alvarado arrived in 1536, put an end to the political infighting, and gained an important victory over Cicumba, a Maya leader in the Ulúa Valley. Alvarado founded two towns that later became important, San Pedro de Puerto Caballos (later to become San Pedro Sula) and Gracias a Dios.
In 1537, Francisco de Montejo was appointed governor. As soon as he arrived in Honduras, he cancelled the land distribution carried out by Alvarado. In that year, a great native uprising spread throughout Honduras, led by the Lenca ruler Lempira. Lempira held out for six months at his formidable stronghold at the Peñol de Cerquín ("Rock of Cerquín") before he was killed, during which time the uprising across Honduras threatened the existence of the Spanish colony. After Lempira's death, Montejo and his captain Alonso de Cáceres rapidly imposed Spanish dominion across most of Honduras; the main phase of the Spanish conquest was complete by 1539, although Olancho and the east were not brought within the Spanish Empire for some decades to come.
The Spanish conquest of Honduras was a 16th-century conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in which the territory that now comprises the Republic of Honduras, one of the seven states of Central America, was incorporated into the Spanish Empire. In 1502, the territory was claimed for the king of Spain by Christopher Columbus on his fourth and final trip to the New World. The territory that now comprises Honduras was inhabited by a mix of indigenous peoples straddling a transitional cultural zone between Mesoamerica to the northwest, and the Intermediate Area to the southeast. Indigenous groups included Maya, Lenca, Pech, Miskitu, Mayangna (Sumu), Jicaque, Pipil and Chorotega. Two indigenous leaders are particularly notable for their resistance against the Spanish; the Maya leader Cicumba, and the Lenca ruler referred to as Lempira (a title meaning "Lord of the Mountain").
In March 1524, Gil González Dávila became the first Spaniard to arrive in what is now Honduras with the intention of conquest. He founded the first Spanish port upon the Caribbean coast, Puerto de Caballos, which became an important staging post for later expeditions. The early decades of the Spanish conquest of Honduras were beset by jurisdictional disputes between different Spanish colonies attempting to invade the territory, which resulted in conflict between rival expeditions launched from Mexico, Hispaniola, and Panama. The Spanish territory was reorganised as Higueras in the west, and Honduras in the east. As the Spanish became established throughout Central America, the colony of Honduras-Higueras became involved in territorial disputes with neighbouring colonies in Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.
From 1530, the colonists became the arbiters of power, installing and deposing governors. Spanish government in Honduras was riven by factionalism. As a response to the growing anarchy, the colonists requested that Pedro de Alvarado intervene. Alvarado arrived in 1536, put an end to the political infighting, and gained an important victory over Cicumba, a Maya leader in the Ulúa Valley. Alvarado founded two towns that later became important, San Pedro de Puerto Caballos (later to become San Pedro Sula) and Gracias a Dios.
In 1537, Francisco de Montejo was appointed governor. As soon as he arrived in Honduras, he cancelled the land distribution carried out by Alvarado. In that year, a great native uprising spread throughout Honduras, led by the Lenca ruler Lempira. Lempira held out for six months at his formidable stronghold at the Peñol de Cerquín ("Rock of Cerquín") before he was killed, during which time the uprising across Honduras threatened the existence of the Spanish colony. After Lempira's death, Montejo and his captain Alonso de Cáceres rapidly imposed Spanish dominion across most of Honduras; the main phase of the Spanish conquest was complete by 1539, although Olancho and the east were not brought within the Spanish Empire for some decades to come.
Geography
The modern republic of Honduras lies in the heart of Central America; it covers an area of 112,090 square kilometres (43,280 sq mi) and is the second-largest country in Central America. The interior is mostly mountainous. It is bordered to the north by the Caribbean Sea, to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, and to the southeast by Nicaragua. In the extreme south, Honduras has a portion of coastline on the Gulf of Fonseca, providing access to the Pacific Ocean. The Caribbean coast extends for 820 kilometres (510 mi), while the Pacific coast of the Gulf of Fonseca extends for 153 km (95 mi).
The country possesses four principal geographic regions, the largest of which consists of the mountainous highlands which cover approximately two-thirds of its territory. The highest mountain range in the highlands is the Sierra del Merendón; it runs from the southwest to the northeast and reaches a maximum altitude of 2,850 metres (9,350 ft) above mean sea level at Cerro Las Minas. The Nombre de Dios mountain range runs south of the Caribbean coast; it is less rugged and has a maximum altitude of 2,435 m (7,989 ft). The Entre Ríos mountains lay along a section of the Nicaraguan border. The highlands are punctuated by a number of fertile flat-floored valleys, lying at an altitude of between 300 and 900 m (980 and 2,950 ft). The Sula Valley runs from the Caribbean to the Pacific, offering a route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; it contains Honduras' most important river, the Ulúa River, which flows 400 km (250 mi) northeast into the Gulf of Honduras.
The Mosquito Coast is located in the east, near the Nicaraguan border, and consists of dense rainforest. The Caribbean lowlands form a thin strip along the coast. The central portion of the Caribbean lowlands is only a few kilometers in width, but in the east and west they form wide coastal plains. A smaller lowland region exists in the south around the Gulf of Fonseca, extending along a 25-kilometre (16 mi) wide strip on its north coast. The Bay Islands lie off the Caribbean coast. The three large islands are Roatán, Utila, and Guanaja. Minor islands include Barbareta, Cayos Cochinos, Helene and Morat. There are also over 60 minor islets.
Climate
Honduras has a tropical climate, divided into wet and dry seasons. Most rainfall occurs between May and September. The warmest month is April, and the coolest is January. In the highland valleys such as at Tegucigalpa, temperature varies between a minimum of 23 °C (73 °F) and a maximum of 30 °C (86 °F). Frost sometimes forms at altitudes of over 2,000 m (6,600 ft).
Honduras before the conquest
When the Spanish first arrived in what is now Honduras, most of the estimated population of 800,000 lived in the western and central regions. Honduras was a frontier region between Mesoamerica and the less complex societies to the south and southeast that were outside the direct Mesoamerican sphere of influence, although at times contact was direct and intense. Much of Honduras belonged to the so-called Intermediate Area, generally viewed as a region of lesser cultural development located between Mesoamerica and the Andean civilizations of South America. Cultural developments were closely related to those taking place in what is now El Salvador and Nicaragua, but also reflected cultural contacts with the Maya civilization and other Mesoamerican cultures such as those of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and the central highlands of Mexico. The Pech people (formerly known as the Paya) occupied territory in the northeast of Honduras, possibly since antiquity. A similar scenario is proposed for those groups speaking Misumalpan languages, such as the Miskito and Mayangna peoples. The Pech, Miskito and Mayangna had cultural affinities to the south and east. The Lenca people occupied territories in central and southwestern Honduras, and although there were linguistically related groups further southeast, they had strong cultural links to Mesoamerica.
The Jicaque people also occupied lands in the region, in an area along the Atlantic coast from the Ulúa River east to an area between the Leán and Cuero rivers, and extending to the Nombre de Dios mountains. The Chorotega and the Pipil were both peoples belonging to the Mesoamerican cultural zone and fully partaking in it; the Pipil were found along the northern limits of Honduras, while the Chorotega occupied territory in the south, around the Gulf of Fonseca. Lenca and Nahuas inhabited the islands of the Gulf of Fonseca. Early colonial documents suggest that the important settlements of Naco and Quimistan, in the northwest, were multiethnic, inhabited by Pipil and Lenca or Maya, or all three. Naco in particular was a large town and an important centre for commerce that became an early focus for Spanish expeditions. Those groups in the northeast of Honduras were relatively isolated culturally, and not fully integrated into the exchange networks of either Mesoamerica or the Intermediate Area. The western fringe of Honduras was occupied by Maya peoples, the Ch'ol and the Ch'orti'. The Ch'ol occupied the region around the Amatique Bay and along the lower Chamelecón River. The Ch'orti' inhabited the upper reaches of the Chamelecón River and the Sensenti Valley.
Background to the conquest
Christopher Columbus discovered the New World for the Kingdom of Castile and Leon in 1492. Private adventurers thereafter entered into contracts with the Spanish Crown to conquer the newly discovered lands in return for tax revenues and the power to rule. The Spanish founded Santo Domingo on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola in the 1490s. In the first decades after their discovery of the new lands, the Spanish colonised the Caribbean and established a centre of operations on the island of Cuba. After the discovery of Honduras by Columbus in 1502, no concerted effort to conquer the territory took place until 1524.
In the first two decades of the 16th century, the Spanish established their domination over the islands of the Caribbean Sea, and used these as a staging point to launch their campaigns of conquest on the continental mainland of the Americas. From Hispaniola, the Spanish launched expeditions and campaigns of conquest, reaching Puerto Rico in 1508, Jamaica in 1509, Cuba in 1511, and Florida in 1513. The Spanish heard rumours of the rich empire of the Aztecs on the mainland to the west of their Caribbean island settlements and, in 1519, Hernán Cortés set sail to explore the Mexican coast. By August 1521 the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had fallen to the Spanish. The Spanish conquered a large part of Mexico within three years, extending as far south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The newly conquered territory became New Spain, headed by a viceroy who answered to the Spanish Crown via the Council of the Indies. The conquest of Central America that followed was effectively an extension of the campaign that overthrew the Aztec Empire; Cortés himself took an active part in the conquest of Honduras in 1524–1525. In the two-decade gap between the discovery of Honduras and attempts at colonisation, the Spanish also established themselves in Castilla del Oro. From there, various expeditions were launched northwards involving notable conquistadors such as Pedrarias Dávila, Gil González Dávila, and Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (not to be confused with the conquistador of the same name involved in the Spanish conquest of Yucatán).
In 1508, the Caribbean coast of Honduras was superficially explored by Spanish navigators Juan Díaz de Solís and Vicente Yáñez, but the focus of their expeditions lay further to the north. In the 1510s, expeditions from the Spanish settlements on Cuba and Hispaniola reported that the Bay Islands were inhabited. The first efforts to conquer Honduras were launched from several different areas of the Spanish Indies, including Hispaniola, Mexico, and Panama. This resulted in jurisdictional disputes over the territory that delayed the progress of the conquest.
Conquistadors
The conquistadors were all volunteers, the majority of whom did not receive a fixed salary but instead a portion of the spoils of victory, in the form of precious metals, land grants and provision of native labour. Many of the Spanish were already experienced soldiers who had previously campaigned in Europe. The 16th-century Spanish conquistadors were armed with broadswords, rapiers, crossbows, matchlocks and light artillery. Mounted conquistadors were armed with a 3.7-metre (12 ft) lance, that also served as a pike for infantrymen. A variety of halberds and bills were also employed. As well as the one-handed broadsword, a 1.7-metre (5.5 ft) long two-handed version was also used. Crossbows had 0.61-metre (2 ft) arms stiffened with hardwoods, horn, bone and cane, and supplied with a stirrup to facilitate drawing the string with a crank and pulley. Crossbows were easier to maintain than matchlocks, especially in the humid tropical climate of the Caribbean region.
Metal armour was of limited use in the hot, wet tropical climate. It was heavy and had to be constantly cleaned to prevent rusting; in direct sunlight, metal armour became unbearably hot. Conquistadores often went without metal armour, or only donned it immediately prior to battle. They were quick to adopt quilted cotton armour based upon that used by their native opponents, and commonly combined this with the use of a simple metal war hat. Shields were considered essential by both infantry and cavalry; generally this was a circular target shield, convex in form and fashioned from iron or wood. Rings secured it to the arm and hand.
Encomienda
Honduras was a relatively poor province and did not attract the most distinguished conquistadors. Most conquistadors and colonists who ventured to Honduras wanted to return quickly to Spain with new wealth and social status, immediate enrichment. The conquest was based on the distribution of encomienda rights and land concessions. Encomienda gave the encomendero (holder of the encomienda) the right to receive tribute and labour from the indigenous inhabitants of a defined area. Up until the middle of the 16th century, the encomendero could assign his own level of tribute and labour to be provided by the natives within his encomienda, which gave rise to much abuse.
The encomiendas established in Honduras were small, and did not generate rapid income. Social advancement was gained by overlordship of natives within the encomienda system. In Honduras, the conquistadors gained immediate income by selling natives into slavery on the Caribbean Islands and in Panama, and by mining activities. This in turn resulted in a reduction of indigenous population levels in Honduras, with a rapid drop in economic production during the first half of the 16th century. On the whole, the Spanish colonists were unwilling to invest time and resources into the long-term development of the agricultural production of their encomiendas in Honduras.
The Spanish established colonial settlements to extend their power over the surrounding territory, and to serve as administrative centres. They preferred to locate these towns in areas with dense native populations, or close to easily exploitable mineral wealth. Many Spanish towns were founded close to pre-Columbian centres of population. Trujillo was founded near the native settlement of Guaimura, and Comayagua was founded upon a pre-existing town of the same name.