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The Conquest of Yucatán: Montejo's Long Struggle
Description
When Francisco de Montejo first attempted to conquer the Maya of Yucatán in 1527, he faced a fragmented but fiercely resistant network of city-states. Unlike the Aztec or Inca empires, the Maya had no central ruler to topple, and the dense jungle, disease, and guerrilla warfare turned the campaign into a grueling 20-year ordeal. This episode follows the Montejo family's three attempts to subdue the peninsula, the bitter infighting among Maya groups like the Xiu and Cocom, and the eventual establishment of Mérida on the ruins of the Maya city of T'Hó. We explore how the Spanish eventually succeeded by exploiting Maya rivalries and the devastating effect of European diseases, which killed up to 90% of the population. We also touch on the legacy of this conquest, including the long-running Caste War of Yucatán that would erupt centuries later. This is the story of a conquest that was anything but swift or glorious.