Hernández de Córdoba expedition
Disastrous 1517 voyage that first contacted the Maya civilization.
In 1517, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba led a Spanish sea expedition to the Yucatán Peninsula. The mission turned catastrophic after a clash with the Maya city-state of Chakán Putum; half the Spanish force died and the rest were wounded. While often called the first European encounter with the Maya and discovery of the peninsula, scholars challenge both claims.
Quick Facts
- Part of
- Spanish colonization of the Americas
- Date
- March 1, 1517 - April 30, 1517
- Location
- West coast of Yucatán Peninsula
- Result
- Chakán Putum victory
Facts from the source article.
Prelude
By the mid-1510s, Spanish settlements in the New World were limited to a few Antilles and some mainland coast in the southern Caribbean. Conquistadors had not found the promised western passage to the East Indies, Amerindians for encomienda or enslavement, or abundant gold; the people they enslaved were being decimated by cruelty and European diseases like smallpox. In 1516, three wealthy Cuban settlers—Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, Cristóbal Morante, and Lope Ochoa de Caicedo—organized an expedition to the Lucayan archipelago to capture slaves. Each contributed between 1,500 and 2,000 castellanos, and Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar contributed a brig and authorization. Hernández de Córdoba was named captain, and the organizers enlisted a veedor, chaplain, notary, three pilots, two ships, Spanish sailors and soldiers, native Cuban servants, and provisions.
Expedition
Few historical sources precisely date the fleet's departure from Cuba. Most sources date it to 1517; only Bartolomé de las Casas and Bernal Díaz del Castillo give February 1517, and only Castillo fixes a day, 8 February, from Havana. After hugging the Cuban coast for twelve days to Cape San Antón, the fleet put to sea on 20–21 February. Sources differ on the route: some say it was fixed, others not; some claim a storm or strong currents blew the ships off course, while others state the ships were intentionally steered off course upon a change of plans. The crossing time of the Yucatán Channel is given as four, six, 21, or 40 days. Castillo claims a 21-day crossing, implying arrival on 13–14 March, but also gives 4 March as the day Maya canoes approached, implying arrival on 3–4 March. Historian Fernando Tola de Habich favors arrival in the first days of March 1517.
Aftermath
Córdoba died in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, soon after returning, reportedly from wounds got on the expedition. His surviving men recovered slowly; only a handful later joined trips west. In Santiago, Velázquez, stirred by reports of lands richer and more advanced than anything yet seen in the New World, quickly organized the 1518 Grijalva expedition, which brought back word of the gold-rich Aztec Empire. He also claimed credit for the discovery, securing the title of adelantado of Yucatán on 13 November 1518 in Zaragoza, which let him conquer and settle the peninsula. Around the time of Córdoba’s voyage, a terrible disease—likely smallpox—ravaged the Yucatán lowlands, possibly introduced by the expedition, though records offer no clear evidence.
Legacy
The quasi-first-hand account by Bernal Díaz del Castillo and the second-hand account by Bartolomé de las Casas have become influential sources, though some historians question their accuracy; Fernando Tola de Habich recently called them the most outlandish accounts of the expedition. Nevertheless, the Castillo chronicle remains influential, followed to some extent by Tola de Habich, Jorge Victoria Ojeda, and Inga Clendinnen. Several details have been questioned. The fleet's earliest point of arrival is commonly regarded as Isla Mujeres, but Tola de Habich argues that sources indicate a cape on the mainland, possibly Punta Mujeres or Cape Catoche; Victoria Ojeda, following Marshall H Saville, rejects Isla Mujeres and deems Cape Catoche likelier. The expedition's objective is variously reported as kidnapping people for enslavement in the Lucayan archipelago or Bay Islands, or discovering new lands; Tola de Habich deems the former most probable and supported by evidence, but concedes the aim may have been both.
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