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148-603: Prior to the Spanish conquest the territory included in the modern department formed a part of the Kʼicheʼ Kingdom of Qʼumarkaj . The kingdom was defeated by the Spanish under Pedro de Alvarado in a number of decisive battles fought near the city of Quetzaltenango, then known as Xelaju. In the 19th century the territory of the modern department was included in the short-lived Central American state of Los Altos . The department

296-496: A hypocenter or focus , the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. The primary purpose of a seismometer is to locate the initiating points of earthquake epicenters. The secondary purpose, of determining the 'size' or magnitude must be calculated after the precise location is known. The earliest seismographs were designed to give a sense of the direction of the first motions from an earthquake. The Chinese frog seismograph would have dropped its ball in

444-453: A Maya city named Quezalli by his Nahuatl-speaking allies with a force of fifty Spaniards; his Mexican allies also referred to the city by the name Sacatepequez. De León renamed the city as San Pedro Sacatepéquez in honour of his friar, Pedro de Angulo. The Spanish founded a village nearby at Candacuchex in April that year, renaming it as San Marcos. On 14 April 1524, soon after the defeat of

592-702: A highly critical account of the Spanish conquest of the Americas and included accounts of some incidents in Guatemala. The Brevísima Relación de la Destrucción de las Indias ("Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies") was first published in 1552 in Seville . The Tlaxcalan allies of the Spanish who accompanied them in their invasion of Guatemala wrote their own accounts of the conquest; these included

740-527: A letter to the Spanish king protesting at their poor treatment once the campaign was over. Other accounts were in the form of questionnaires answered before colonial magistrates to protest and register a claim for recompense. Two pictorial accounts painted in the stylised indigenous pictographic tradition have survived; these are the Lienzo de Quauhquechollan , which was probably painted in Ciudad Vieja in

888-487: A macroseismic epicenter can be given. The word is derived from the Neo-Latin noun epicentrum , the latinisation of the ancient Greek adjective ἐπίκεντρος ( epikentros ), "occupying a cardinal point, situated on a centre", from ἐπί ( epi ) "on, upon, at" and κέντρον ( kentron ) " centre ". The term was coined by Irish seismologist Robert Mallet . It is also used to mean "center of activity", as in "Travel

1036-505: A makeshift roof; this site was chosen to build the first church in Guatemala, which was dedicated to Concepción La Conquistadora. Tzakahá was renamed as San Luis Salcajá. The first Easter mass held in Guatemala was celebrated in the new church, during which high-ranking natives were baptised. In March 1524 Pedro de Alvarado entered Qʼumarkaj at the invitation of the remaining lords of the Kʼicheʼ after their catastrophic defeat, fearing that he

1184-413: A minimum of three seismometers. Most likely, there are many, forming a seismic array. The emphasis is on precision since much can be learned about the fault mechanics and seismic hazard , if the locations can be determined to be within a kilometer or two, for small earthquakes. For this, computer programs use an iterative process, involving a 'guess and correction' algorithm. As well, a very good model of

1332-456: A number of mountainsides and burying coffee plantations under several metres of lava. The department of Quetzaltenango is situated in the western highlands of Guatemala and covers an area of approximately 1,951 square kilometres (753 sq mi), approximately 1.8% of the total area of the Republic of Guatemala. The department is bordered on the west by the department of San Marcos , by

1480-772: 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 initial incursion into Guatemala was led by Pedro de Alvarado , who earned the military title of Adelantado in 1527; he answered to the Spanish crown via Hernán Cortés in Mexico. Other early conquistadors included Pedro de Alvarado's brothers Gómez de Alvarado , Jorge de Alvarado and Gonzalo de Alvarado y Contreras ; and his cousins Gonzalo de Alvarado y Chávez , Hernando de Alvarado and Diego de Alvarado. Pedro de Portocarrero

1628-423: A single empire, but by the time the Spanish arrived Maya civilization was thousands of years old and had already seen the rise and fall of great cities . On the eve of the conquest the highlands of Guatemala were dominated by several powerful Maya states. In the centuries preceding the arrival of the Spanish the Kʼicheʼ had carved out a small empire covering a large part of the western Guatemalan Highlands and

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1776-673: A state of hostilities existed between the Mam and the Kʼicheʼ of Qʼumarkaj after the rebellion of the Kaqchikel against their former Kʼicheʼ allies prior to European contact, when the conquistadors arrived there was a shift in the political landscape. Pedro de Alvarado described how the Mam king Kaybʼil Bʼalam was received with great honour in Qʼumarkaj while he was there. The expedition against Zaculeu

1924-404: A way that increased the Spanish advantage. In Guatemala the Spanish routinely fielded indigenous allies; at first these were Nahuas brought from the recently conquered Mexico, later they also included Mayas . It is estimated that for every Spaniard on the field of battle, there were at least 10 native auxiliaries. Sometimes there were as many as 30 indigenous warriors for every Spaniard, and it

2072-432: Is a lower altitude zone characterised by corozo palms and conacaste ( Enterolobium cyclocarpum ). The latter is higher altitude featuring pine , cypress and sycamore . The 2018 census recorded the department's population at 799,101 inhabitants. The inhabitants are divided between three principal ethnicities; Ladino , Kʼicheʼ Maya and Mam Maya . Three languages are spoken in the department, broadly corresponding to

2220-620: Is another small site on a hilltop in Cantel municipality, dated to the Early Postclassic period (c. 950-1200 AD). The departmental government is headed by the Governor of Quetzaltenango, who is appointed directly by the president of Guatemala. Aldo Herrera Scheel was appointed as departmental governor in 2024 by president Bernardo Arévalo . Former presidents of Guatemala Manuel Estrada Cabrera and Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán were from

2368-582: Is estimated that 88% of them died during the first ten years of colonial rule owing to a combination of disease and war. The conquest of the highlands was made difficult by the many independent polities in the region, rather than one powerful enemy to be defeated as was the case in central Mexico. After the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan fell to the Spanish in 1521, the Kaqchikel Maya of Iximche sent envoys to Hernán Cortés to declare their allegiance to

2516-517: Is restricted in the Chinese province thought to be the epicentre of the SARS outbreak." Garner's Modern American Usage gives several examples of use in which "epicenter" is used to mean "center". Garner also refers to a William Safire article in which Safire quotes a geophysicist as attributing the use of the term to "spurious erudition on the part of writers combined with scientific illiteracy on

2664-503: Is the main producer of vegetables, both for the national market and for export, principally to Mexico and countries in Central America . Salcajá is known for its production of a fruit liquor called caldo de frutas ("fruit wine"). Other products of the department include woolen textiles, cotton, silk, ceramics, alcoholic beverages and flour. Poorer high altitude areas of the department experience seasonal migration of workers to

2812-438: Is wide variation due to the great difference in altitude in various parts of the department. On the lower Pacific slopes the temperature can reach as high as 35 °C (95 °F), while temperatures as low as −7 °C (19 °F) have been recorded at higher altitudes. Average annual rainfall is 2,000 millimetres (79 in) in the municipality of Almolonga, and parts of the department at higher altitudes experience frost in

2960-538: The Luna de Xelajú waltz . Guatemalan historian Adrián Inés Chávez, who produced a Spanish translation of the Popul Vuh , was also from the department. Spanish conquest of Guatemala In a protracted conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas , Spanish colonisers gradually incorporated the territory that became the modern country of Guatemala into the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain . Before

3108-858: The Chinamita , the Kejache , the Icaiche, the Lakandon Chʼol , the Mopan , the Manche Chʼol and the Yalain . The Kejache occupied an area north of the lake on the route to Campeche , while the Mopan and the Chinamita had their polities in the southeastern Petén. The Manche territory was to the southwest of the Mopan. The Yalain had their territory immediately to the east of Lake Petén Itzá. Maya warfare

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3256-551: The Isthmus of Tehuantepec . The newly conquered territory became New Spain , headed by a viceroy who answered to the king of Spain via the Council of the Indies . Hernán Cortés received reports of rich, populated lands to the south and dispatched Pedro de Alvarado to investigate the region. In the run-up to the announcement that an invasion force was to be sent to Guatemala, 10,000 Nahua warriors had already been assembled by

3404-493: The Kaqchikel capital of Iximche , and the city of Qʼumarkaj , capital of the Kʼicheʼ , may also have suffered from the same epidemic. It is likely that the same combination of smallpox and a pulmonary plague swept across the entire Guatemalan Highlands . Modern knowledge of the impact of these diseases on populations with no prior exposure suggests that 33–50% of the population of the highlands perished. Population levels in

3552-470: The Kaqchikels , souring the friendship between the two peoples. He demanded that their kings deliver 1000 gold leaves, each worth 15 pesos . A Kaqchikel priest foretold that the Kaqchikel gods would destroy the Spanish, causing the Kaqchikel people to abandon their city and flee to the forests and hills on 28 August 1524 ( 7 Ahmak in the Kaqchikel calendar). Ten days later the Spanish declared war on

3700-489: The Kʼicheʼ , the Spanish were invited into Iximche and were well received by the lords Belehe Qat and Cahi Imox. The Kaqchikel kings provided native soldiers to assist the conquistadors against continuing Kʼicheʼ resistance and to help with the defeat of the neighbouring Tzʼutuhil kingdom. The Spanish only stayed briefly in Iximche before continuing through Atitlán , Escuintla and Cuscatlán . The Spanish returned to

3848-627: The Kʼicheʼ Kingdom of Qʼumarkaj . Pedro de Alvarado had initially advanced with his army along the Pacific coast without opposition until they reached the Samalá River ; this region formed a part of the Kʼicheʼ kingdom. Alvarado then turned to head upriver into the Sierra Madre mountains towards the Kʼicheʼ heartlands, crossing the pass into the fertile valley of Quetzaltenango . On 12 February 1524 Alvarado's Mexican allies were ambushed in

3996-620: The Pipil . All were Maya groups except for the Pipil, who were a Nahua group related to the Aztecs ; the Pipil had a number of small city-states along the Pacific coastal plain of southern Guatemala and El Salvador . The Pipil of Guatemala had their capital at Itzcuintepec. The Xinca were another non-Maya group occupying the southeastern Pacific coastal area. The Maya had never been unified as

4144-607: The Richter scale . The broken terrain of the department includes a number of wide valleys, including those occupied by the city of Quetzaltenango and the towns of San Juan Ostuncalco and Concepción Chiquirichapa. The varied terrain of the department also includes plains, canyons and high cliffs. The most important river in the department is the Samalá River , flowing through the municipalities of Cantel , El Palmar , San Carlos Sija , Quetzaltenango , San Juan Ostuncalco and Zunil . The river flows into Quetzaltenango department from

4292-448: The S wave . Knowing the relative 'velocities of propagation', it was a simple matter to calculate the distance of the earthquake. One seismograph would give the distance, but that could be plotted as a circle, with an infinite number of possibilities. Two seismographs would give two intersecting circles, with two possible locations. Only with a third seismograph would there be a precise location. Modern earthquake location still requires

4440-493: The Samalá River in western Guatemala. This region formed a part of the Kʼicheʼ kingdom , and a Kʼicheʼ army tried unsuccessfully to prevent the Spanish from crossing the river. Once across, the conquistadors ransacked nearby settlements in an effort to terrorise the Kʼicheʼ. On 8 February 1524 Alvarado's army fought a battle at Xetulul, called Zapotitlán by his Mexican allies (modern San Francisco Zapotitlán ). Although suffering many injuries inflicted by defending Kʼicheʼ archers,

4588-463: The Xinca of the southern coastal plain used poison on their arrows. In response to the use of Spanish cavalry, the highland Maya took to digging pits and lining them with wooden stakes. The sources describing the Spanish conquest of Guatemala include those written by the Spanish themselves, among them two of four letters written by conquistador Pedro de Alvarado to Hernán Cortés in 1524, describing

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4736-669: The Zapotec and Mixtec provinces, with the addition of more Nahuas from the Aztec garrison in Soconusco . In the early 16th century the territory that now makes up Guatemala was divided into various competing polities, each locked in continual struggle with its neighbours. The most important were the Kʼicheʼ , the Kaqchikel , the Tzʼutujil , the Chajoma , the Mam , the Poqomam and

4884-409: The displacements were plotted on a moving graph, driven by a clock mechanism. This was the first seismogram , which allowed precise timing of the first ground motion , and an accurate plot of subsequent motions. From the first seismograms, as seen in the figure, it was noticed that the trace was divided into two major portions. The first seismic wave to arrive was the P wave , followed closely by

5032-466: The newly conquered Mexico in early 1524, commanding a mixed force of Spanish conquistadors and native allies, mostly from Tlaxcala and Cholula . Geographic features across Guatemala now bear Nahuatl placenames owing to the influence of these Mexican allies, who translated for the Spanish. The Kaqchikel Maya initially allied themselves with the Spanish, but soon rebelled against excessive demands for tribute and did not finally surrender until 1530. In

5180-663: The 1530s, and the Lienzo de Tlaxcala , painted in Tlaxcala. Accounts of the conquest as seen from the point of view of the defeated highland Maya kingdoms are included in a number of indigenous documents, including the Annals of the Kaqchikels , which includes the Xajil Chronicle describing the history of the Kaqchikel from their mythical creation down through the Spanish conquest and continuing to 1619. A letter from

5328-585: The Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc to accompany the Spanish expedition. Warriors were ordered to be gathered from each of the Mexica and Tlaxcaltec towns. The native warriors supplied their weapons, including swords, clubs and bows and arrows. Alvarado's army left Tenochtitlan at the beginning of the dry season, sometime between the second half of November and December 1523. As Alvarado left the Aztec capital, he led about 400 Spanish and approximately 200 Tlaxcalan and Cholulan warriors and 100 Mexica , meeting up with

5476-547: The Conquest of New Spain"); his account of the conquest of Guatemala generally agrees with that of the Alvarados. His account was finished around 1568, some 40 years after the campaigns it describes. Hernán Cortés described his expedition to Honduras in the fifth letter of his Cartas de Relación , in which he details his crossing of what is now Guatemala's Petén Department . Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas wrote

5624-652: The Cuchumatanes is estimated to have been 260,000 before European contact. By the time the Spanish physically arrived in the region this had collapsed to 150,000 because of the effects of the Old World diseases that had run ahead of them. After the western portion of the Cuchumatanes fell to the Spanish, the Ixil and Uspantek Maya were sufficiently isolated to evade immediate Spanish attention. The Uspantek and

5772-584: The Guatemalan Highlands did not recover to their pre-conquest levels until the middle of the 20th century. In 1666 pestilence or murine typhus swept through what is now the department of Huehuetenango . Smallpox was reported in San Pedro Saloma , in 1795. At the time of the fall of Nojpetén in 1697, there are estimated to have been 60,000 Mayas living around Lake Petén Itzá , including a large number of refugees from other areas. It

5920-470: The Ixil towns of Chajul and Nebaj . The Spanish army then marched east toward Uspantán itself; Arias then received notice that the acting governor of Guatemala, Francisco de Orduña , had deposed him as magistrate. Arias handed command over to the inexperienced Pedro de Olmos and returned to confront de Orduña. Although his officers advised against it, Olmos launched a disastrous full-scale frontal assault on

6068-517: The Ixil were allies and in 1529, four years after the conquest of Huehuetenango , Uspantek warriors were harassing Spanish forces and Uspantán was trying to foment rebellion among the Kʼicheʼ . Uspantek activity became sufficiently troublesome that the Spanish decided that military action was necessary. Gaspar Arias , magistrate of Guatemala, penetrated the eastern Cuchumatanes with 60 Spanish infantry and 300 allied indigenous warriors. By early September he had imposed temporary Spanish authority over

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6216-557: The Kaqchikel capital on 23 July 1524 and on 27 July ( 1 Qʼat in the Kaqchikel calendar) Pedro de Alvarado declared Iximche as the first capital of Guatemala, Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala ("St. James of the Knights of Guatemala"). Iximche was called Guatemala by the Spanish, from the Nahuatl Quauhtemallan meaning "forested land". Since the Spanish conquistadors founded their first capital at Iximche, they took

6364-410: The Kaqchikel recorded that they sent only 400. With the capitulation of the Kʼicheʼ kingdom, various non-Kʼicheʼ peoples under Kʼicheʼ dominion also submitted to the Spanish. This included the Mam inhabitants of the area now within the modern department of San (. Quetzaltenango and San Marcos were placed under the command of Juan de León y Cardona, who began the reduction of indigenous populations and

6512-529: The Kaqchikel. Two years later, on 9 February 1526, a group of sixteen Spanish deserters burnt the palace of the Ahpo Xahil , sacked the temples and kidnapped a priest, acts that the Kaqchikel blamed on Pedro de Alvarado. Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo recounted how in 1526 he returned to Iximche and spent the night in the "old city of Guatemala" together with Luis Marín and other members of Hernán Cortés's expedition to Honduras . He reported that

6660-621: The Kaqchikels The Spanish founded a new town at nearby Tecpán Guatemala ; Tecpán is Nahuatl for "palace", thus the name of the new town translated as "the palace among the trees". The Spanish abandoned Tecpán in 1527, because of the continuous Kaqchikel attacks, and moved to the Almolonga Valley to the east, refounding their capital on the site of today's San Miguel Escobar district of Ciudad Vieja , near Antigua Guatemala . The Nahua and Oaxacan allies of

6808-471: The Kʼicheʼ and the Kaqchikel were not loyal, and were instead harassing Spain's allies in the region. Cortés decided to despatch Pedro de Alvarado with 180 cavalry, 300 infantry, crossbows, muskets, 4 cannons, large amounts of ammunition and gunpowder, and thousands of allied Mexican warriors from Tlaxcala , Cholula and other cities in central Mexico; they arrived in Soconusco in 1523. Pedro de Alvarado

6956-520: The Mexican coast. By August 1521 the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had fallen to the Spanish and their allies . A single soldier arriving in Mexico in 1520 was carrying smallpox and thus initiated the devastating plagues that swept through the native populations of the Americas. Within three years of the fall of Tenochtitlan the Spanish had conquered a large part of Mexico, extending as far south as

7104-530: The Pacific lowlands in order to work on coffee, sugarcane and cotton plantations. Quetzaltenango city is the main tourist hub for the department and is a centre for cultural tourism. Most hotels are located in Quetzaltenango city and Coatepeque, with 495 registered hotels in 2006. Quetzaltenango city is also a centre for tourists studying Spanish as a second language, with 35 Spanish schools in 2006. Tourist attractions outside Quetzaltenango city include

7252-532: The Santa María volcano. This was followed by a major eruption of the volcano from 24 to 26 October of the same year. The volcano emitted a massive column of ash, provoking a fierce lightning storm. The explosions emitted by the volcano were audible up to 160 kilometres (99 mi) away. The government of Manuel Estrada Cabrera initially denied that the eruption had taken place in Guatemala, instead claiming that it had occurred in neighbouring Mexico . Although

7400-541: The Spaniards' indigenous allies and managed to kill one of the Spanish soldiers. At this point Alvarado decided to have the captured Kʼicheʼ lords burnt to death, and then proceeded to burn the entire city. After the destruction of Qʼumarkaj and the execution of its rulers, Pedro de Alvarado sent messages to Iximche , capital of the Kaqchikel , proposing an alliance against the remaining Kʼicheʼ resistance. Alvarado wrote that they sent 4,000 warriors to assist him, although

7548-525: The Spanish Crown in the form of cacao, textiles, gold, silver and slaves. Within a few decades taxes were instead paid in beans, cotton and maize. Acasaguastlán was first given in encomienda to conquistador Diego Salvatierra in 1526. Chiquimula de la Sierra ("Chiquimula in the Highlands"), occupying the area of the modern department of Chiquimula to the east of the Poqomam and Chajoma ,

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7696-473: The Spanish Crown to conquer the newly discovered lands in return for tax revenues and the power to rule. In the first decades after the discovery of the new lands, the Spanish colonised the Caribbean and established a centre of operations on the island of Cuba . They heard rumours of the rich empire of the Aztecs on the mainland to the west and, in 1519, Hernán Cortés set sail with eleven ships to explore

7844-527: The Spanish accounts are clear that at least one and possibly two of the lords of Qʼumarkaj died in the fierce battles upon the initial approach to Quetzaltenango. The death of Tecun Uman is said to have taken place in the battle of El Pinar, and local tradition has his death taking place upon the Llanos de Urbina (Plains of Urbina), upon the approach to Quetzaltenango near the modern village of Cantel . Pedro de Alvardo, in his 3rd letter to Hernán Cortés, describes

7992-468: The Spanish and the indigenous conquistadors were treated in a similar manner to the conquered natives. The Spanish engaged in a strategy of concentrating native populations in newly founded colonial towns, or reducciones (also known as congregaciones ). Native resistance to the new nucleated settlements took the form of the flight of the indigenous inhabitants into inaccessible regions such as mountains and forests. Epidemics accidentally introduced by

8140-401: The Spanish and their allies stormed the town and set up camp in the marketplace. Alvarado then turned to head upriver into the Sierra Madre mountains towards the Kʼicheʼ heartlands, crossing the pass into the fertile valley of Quetzaltenango . On 12 February 1524 Alvarado's Mexican allies were ambushed in the pass and driven back by Kʼicheʼ warriors but the Spanish cavalry charge that followed

8288-422: The Spanish as soon as news of the battle reached them. The Spanish continued east towards Uspantán to find it defended by 10,000 warriors, including forces from Cotzal , Cunén , Sacapulas and Verapaz . The Spaniards were barely able to organise a defence before the defending army attacked. Although heavily outnumbered, the deployment of Spanish cavalry and the firearms of the Spanish infantry eventually decided

8436-540: The Spanish camp at Tecpán Guatemala in July 1525 and marched to the town of Totonicapán , which he used as a supply base. From Totonicapán the expedition headed north to Momostenango , although it was delayed by heavy rains. Momostenango quickly fell to the Spanish after a four-hour battle. The following day Gonzalo de Alvarado marched on Huehuetenango and was confronted by a Mam army of 5,000 warriors from nearby Malacatán (modern Malacatancito ). The Mam army advanced across

8584-468: The Spanish garrison at Qʼumarkaj . A year later Francisco de Castellanos set out from Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (by now relocated to Ciudad Vieja ) on another expedition against the Ixil and Uspantek, leading 8 corporals, 32 cavalry, 40 Spanish infantry and several hundred allied indigenous warriors. The expedition rested at Chichicastenango and recruited further forces before marching seven leagues northwards to Sacapulas and climbed

8732-424: The Spanish in 1526, fighting a battle at Ukubʼil, an unidentified site somewhere near the modern towns of San Juan Sacatepéquez and San Pedro Sacatepéquez . In the colonial period, most of the surviving Chajoma were forcibly settled in the towns of San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Pedro Sacatepéquez and San Martín Jilotepeque as a result of the Spanish policy of congregaciones ; the people were moved to whichever of

8880-430: The Spanish included smallpox , measles and influenza . These diseases, together with typhus and yellow fever , had a major impact on Maya populations. The Old World diseases brought with the Spanish and against which the indigenous New World peoples had no resistance were a deciding factor in the conquest; the diseases crippled armies and decimated populations before battles were even fought. Their introduction

9028-424: The Spanish settled in what is now central Ciudad Vieja, then known as Almolonga (not to be confused with Almolonga near Quetzaltenango ); Zapotec and Mixtec allies also settled San Gaspar Vivar about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northeast of Almolonga, which they founded in 1530. The Kaqchikel kept up resistance against the Spanish for a number of years, but on 9 May 1530, exhausted by the warfare that had seen

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9176-450: The Spanish use of crossbows , firearms (including muskets and cannon ), war dogs and war horses . Among Mesoamerican peoples the capture of prisoners was a priority, while to the Spanish such taking of prisoners was a hindrance to outright victory. The inhabitants of Guatemala, for all their sophistication, lacked key elements of Old World technology, such as the use of iron and steel and functional wheels. The use of steel swords

9324-479: The Spanish with spears, stakes and poisoned arrows. Maya warriors wore body armour in the form of quilted cotton that had been soaked in salt water to toughen it; the resulting armour compared favourably to the steel armour worn by the Spanish. The Maya had historically employed ambush and raiding as their preferred tactic, and its employment against the Spanish proved troublesome for the Europeans. In response to

9472-431: The approach to Quetzaltenango. The letter was dated 11 April 1524 and was written during his stay at Qʼumarkaj. Almost a week later, on 18 February 1524, a Kʼicheʼ army confronted the Spanish army in the Quetzaltenango valley and were comprehensively defeated; many Kʼicheʼ nobles were among the dead. Such were the numbers of Kʼicheʼ dead that Olintepeque was given the name Xequiquel , roughly meaning "bathed in blood". In

9620-458: The battle. The Spanish overran Uspantán and again branded all surviving warriors as slaves. The surrounding towns also surrendered, and December 1530 marked the end of the military stage of the conquest of the Cuchumatanes. Epicentre The epicenter ( / ˈ ɛ p ɪ ˌ s ɛ n t ər / ), epicentre , or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth 's surface directly above

9768-479: The centre of the city and sent out scouts to find the enemy. They managed to catch some locals and used them to send messages to the Tzʼutujil lords, ordering them to submit to the king of Spain. The Tzʼutujil leaders responded by surrendering to Pedro de Alvarado and swearing loyalty to Spain, at which point Alvarado considered them pacified and returned to Iximche. Three days after Pedro de Alvarado returned to Iximche,

9916-522: The city of Quetzaltenango functioning as its capital. The state was crushed in 1840 by general Rafael Carrera Turcios , at that time between periods in office as Guatemalan president . Quetzaltenango was declared a department by decree of the Asamblea Nacional Constituyente on 16 September 1845. In 1902 Quetzaltenango suffered a number of serious earthquakes. An earthquake struck on 18 April 1902, with its epicentre within

10064-415: The city, and were hunted down by the victorious conquistadors and their allies. Those who managed to retreat down the neighbouring valley were ambushed by Spanish cavalry who had been posted to block the exit from the cave, the survivors were captured and brought back to the city. The siege had lasted more than a month and because of the defensive strength of the city, Alvarado ordered it to be burned and moved

10212-467: The city. As soon as the Spanish began their assault they were ambushed from the rear by more than 2,000 Uspantek warriors. The Spanish forces were routed with heavy losses; many of their indigenous allies were slain, and many more were captured alive by the Uspantek warriors only to be sacrificed on the altar of their deity Exbalamquen . The survivors who managed to evade capture fought their way back to

10360-415: The conquest, the inhabitants of the eastern part of the kingdom were relocated by the conquerors to San Pedro Sacatepéquez , including some of the inhabitants of the archaeological site now known as Mixco Viejo (Jilotepeque Viejo). The rest of the population of Mixco Viejo, together with the inhabitants of the western part of the kingdom, were moved to San Martín Jilotepeque . The Chajoma rebelled against

10508-485: The conquest, this territory contained a number of competing Mesoamerican kingdoms, the majority of which were Maya . Many conquistadors viewed the Maya as " infidels " who needed to be forcefully converted and pacified, disregarding the achievements of their civilization . The first contact between the Maya and European explorers came in the early 16th century when a Spanish ship sailing from Panama to Santo Domingo

10656-410: The continuing conquest, including the later assault on the Poqomam capital. The Kaqchikel appear to have entered into an alliance with the Spanish to defeat their enemies, the Tzʼutujil , whose capital was Tecpan Atitlan. Pedro de Alvarado sent two Kaqchikel messengers to Tecpan Atitlan at the request of the Kaqchikel lords, both of whom were killed by the Tzʼutujil. When news of the killing of

10804-421: The corpses of the dead. After the fall of Zaculeu, a Spanish garrison was established at Huehuetenango under the command of Gonzalo de Solís ; Gonzalo de Alvarado returned to Tecpán Guatemala to report his victory to his brother. In 1525 Pedro de Alvarado sent a small company to conquer Mixco Viejo (Chinautla Viejo), the capital of the Poqomam . At the Spanish approach, the inhabitants remained enclosed in

10952-482: The day but was finally decided by the Spanish cavalry, forcing the Poqomam reinforcements to withdraw. The leaders of the reinforcements surrendered to the Spanish three days after their retreat and revealed that the city had a secret entrance in the form of a cave leading up from a nearby river, allowing the inhabitants to come and go. Armed with the knowledge gained from their prisoners, Alvarado sent 40 men to cover

11100-417: The death of one of the four lords of Qʼumarkaj upon the approach to Quetzaltenango. The letter was dated 11 April 1524 and was written during his stay at Qʼumarkaj. Almost a week later, on 18 February 1524, a Kʼicheʼ army confronted the Spanish army in the Quetzaltenango valley where they were comprehensively defeated, with many Kʼicheʼ nobles among the dead. Such were the numbers of Kʼicheʼ dead that Olintepeque

11248-452: The deaths of their best warriors and the enforced abandonment of their crops, the two kings of the most important clans returned from the wilds. A day later they were joined by many nobles and their families and many more people; they then surrendered at the new Spanish capital at Ciudad Vieja. The former inhabitants of Iximche were dispersed; some were moved to Tecpán , the rest to Sololá and other towns around Lake Atitlán . Although

11396-399: The defeated Tzʼutujil Maya nobility of Santiago Atitlán to the Spanish king written in 1571 details the exploitation of the subjugated peoples. Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán was a colonial Guatemalan historian of Spanish descent who wrote La Recordación Florida , also called Historia de Guatemala ( History of Guatemala ). The book was written in 1690 and is regarded as one of

11544-410: The department allows for the production of a variety of agricultural products, including temperate fruits, vegetables and cereals in the highlands, as well as coffee on the lower slopes. Quetzaltenango department has produced a number of high-profile Guatemalans, including several presidents as well as a number of musicians. The department takes its name from the city of Quetzaltenango, which serves as

11692-493: The department of Quetzaltenango. Manuel Estrada was born in the city of Quetzaltenango on 21 November 1857, Jacobo Árbenz was born in the same city on 14 September 1913. Quetzaltenango Department also produced the musicians Jesús Castillo , writer of the Quiché Winak opera, and his brother Ricardo Castillo , as well as the classical musician Mariano Valverde. Another notable musician was Francisco "Paco" Pérez , who wrote

11840-557: The department of Zacapa. Chimalapa, Gualán and Usumatlán were all satellite settlements of Acasaguastlán. San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán and the surrounding area were reduced into colonial settlements by friars of the Dominican Order ; at the time of the conquest the area was inhabited by Poqomchiʼ Maya and by the Nahuatl-speaking Pipil . In the 1520s, immediately after conquest, the inhabitants paid taxes to

11988-637: The departmental capital. Although the original Kʼicheʼ inhabitants knew the city by the name Xelaju , the Nahuatl -speaking allies of the Spanish Conquistadors named it Quetzaltenango in their own language, meaning "land of the quetzal birds". The territory that came to be included within the modern department of Quetzaltenango was the scene of several decisive battles in February 1524 between Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado and

12136-559: The departments of Retalhuleu and Suchitepéquez to the south, by Huehuetenango Department to the north and by the departments of Totonicapán and Sololá to the east. The department is mountainous in nature and includes a wide range of altitudes, from 350 metres (1,150 ft) in Génova to 2,800 metres (9,200 ft) in Sibilia . The average altitude is 2,333 metres (7,654 ft) above mean sea level. The principal mountains include

12284-447: The early 17th century, the grandson of the Kʼicheʼ king informed the alcalde mayor (the highest colonial official at the time) that the Kʼicheʼ army that had marched out of Qʼumarkaj to confront the invaders numbered 30,000 warriors, a claim that is considered credible by modern scholars. This battle exhausted the Kʼicheʼ militarily and they asked for peace and offered tribute, inviting Pedro de Alvarado into their capital Qʼumarkaj, which

12432-414: The elderly. Messengers from the community's leaders arrived from the hills and offered their unconditional surrender, which was accepted by Alvarado. The Spanish army rested for a few days, then continued onwards to Huehuetenango only to find it deserted. Kaybʼil Bʼalam had received news of the Spanish advance and had withdrawn to his fortress at Zaculeu. Alvarado sent a message to Zaculeu proposing terms for

12580-654: The entire rupture zone. As an example, in the magnitude 7.9 Denali earthquake of 2002 in Alaska , the epicenter was at the western end of the rupture, but the greatest damage was about 330 km (210 mi) away at the eastern end. Focal depths of earthquakes occurring in continental crust mostly range from 2 to 20 kilometers (1.2 to 12.4 mi). Continental earthquakes below 20 km (12 mi) are rare whereas in subduction zone earthquakes can originate at depths deeper than 600 km (370 mi). During an earthquake, seismic waves propagates in all directions from

12728-590: The eruption caused great loss of life in western Guatemala, the Guatemalan government downplayed its severity. The activity of the volcano continued until 1906, followed be a period of calm that lasted until 1922. A new series of eruptions took place from 1922 through to 1929, and formed a new side crater, the Santiaguito volcano. On the night of 11 November 1929, a lava flow descended from the volcano towards El Palmar, killing hundreds of people, setting fire to

12876-428: The ethnic groups; Spanish , Kʼicheʼ and Mam . In 2004, 40.4% of the population was listed as non-indigenous (i.e. Ladino) and 59.6% as indigenous (mainly Kʼicheʼ and Mam). In 1999, average life expectancy was calculated as 63.7 years. In the same year, 63.7% of dwellings had electricity, 70.1% had drinking water and 92.5% had sanitation. Each municipality is known for its different traditional indigenous dress, with

13024-557: The exceptions of Coatepeque, Colomba, Flores Costa Cuca and San Carlos Sija, where traditional clothing is not worn by the indigenous inhabitants. These trajes are manufactured by the local inhabitants themselves. The wide climatic variation within the department resulting from differences in altitude gives rise to a diverse range of agricultural products. These include apples , beetroot , cabbages , carrots , high quality coffee , common beans , maize , onions , peaches , plums , potatoes , radishes , turnips and wheat . Almolonga

13172-424: The exit from the cave and launched another assault along the ravine from the west, in single file owing to its narrowness, with crossbowmen alternating with soldiers bearing muskets, each with a companion sheltering him from arrows and stones with a shield. This tactic allowed the Spanish to break through the pass and storm the entrance of the city. The Poqomam warriors fell back in disorder in a chaotic retreat through

13320-431: The fierce battles upon the initial approach to Quetzaltenango. The death of Tecun Uman is said to have taken place in the battle of El Pinar, and local tradition has his death taking place on the Llanos de Urbina (Plains of Urbina), upon the approach to Quetzaltenango near the modern village of Cantel . Pedro de Alvarado, in his third letter to Hernán Cortés , describes the death of one of the four lords of Qʼumarkaj upon

13468-416: The focus and then expands along the fault surface. The rupture stops where the stresses become insufficient to continue breaking the fault (because the rocks are stronger) or where the rupture enters ductile material. The magnitude of an earthquake is related to the total area of its fault rupture. Most earthquakes are small, with rupture dimensions less than the depth of the focus so the rupture doesn't break

13616-406: The fortified city. The Spanish attempted an approach from the west through a narrow pass but were forced back with heavy losses. Alvarado himself launched the second assault with 200 Tlaxcalan allies but was also beaten back. The Poqomam then received reinforcements, possibly from Chinautla , and the two armies clashed on open ground outside of the city. The battle was chaotic and lasted for most of

13764-516: The foundation of Spanish towns. The towns of San Marcos and San Pedro Sacatepéquez were founded soon after the conquest of western Guatemala. In 1533 Pedro de Alvarado ordered de León y Cardona to explore and conquer the area around the Tacaná , Tajumulco , Lacandón and San Antonio volcanoes; in colonial times this area was referred to as the Province of Tecusitlán and Lacandón. De León marched to

13912-515: The gathered reinforcements on the way. When the army left the Basin of Mexico , it may have included as many as 20,000 native warriors from various kingdoms, although the exact numbers are disputed. By the time the army crossed the Isthmus of Tehuantepec , the massed native warriors included 800 from Tlaxcala , 400 from Huejotzingo , 1,600 from Tepeaca plus many more from other former Aztec territories. Further Mesoamerican warriors were recruited from

14060-400: The general compass direction of the earthquake, assuming a strong positive pulse. We now know that first motions can be in almost any direction depending on the type of initiating rupture ( focal mechanism ). The first refinement that allowed a more precise determination of the location was the use of a time scale. Instead of merely noting, or recording, the absolute motions of a pendulum ,

14208-434: The highlands. ... we waited until they came close enough to shoot their arrows, and then we smashed into them; as they had never seen horses, they grew very fearful, and we made a good advance ... and many of them died. Pedro de Alvarado describing the approach to Quetzaltenango in his 3rd letter to Hernán Cortés Pedro de Alvarado and his army advanced along the Pacific coast unopposed until they reached

14356-441: The houses of the city were still in excellent condition; his account was the last description of the city while it was still inhabitable. The Kaqchikel began to fight the Spanish. They opened shafts and pits for the horses and put sharp stakes in them to kill them ... Many Spanish and their horses died in the horse traps. Many Kʼicheʼ and Tzʼutujil also died; in this way the Kaqchikel destroyed all these peoples. Annals of

14504-505: The hypocenter. Seismic shadowing occurs on the opposite side of the Earth from the earthquake epicenter because the planet's liquid outer core refracts the longitudinal or compressional ( P waves ) while it absorbs the transverse or shear waves ( S waves ). Outside the seismic shadow zone, both types of wave can be detected, but because of their different velocities and paths through the Earth, they arrive at different times. By measuring

14652-475: The inhabitants could break the bridges. The rest of Alvarado's army soon reinforced his party and they successfully stormed the island. The surviving Tzʼutujil fled into the lake and swam to safety on another island. The Spanish could not pursue the survivors further because 300 canoes sent by the Kaqchikels had not yet arrived. This battle took place on 18 April. The following day the Spanish entered Tecpan Atitlan but found it deserted. Pedro de Alvarado camped in

14800-466: The inhabitants to the new colonial village of Mixco . There are no direct sources describing the conquest of the Chajoma by the Spanish but it appears to have been a drawn-out campaign rather than a rapid victory. The only description of the conquest of the Chajoma is a secondary account appearing in the work of Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán in the 17th century, long after the event. After

14948-479: The initial campaign to subjugate the Guatemalan Highlands . These letters were despatched to Tenochtitlan , addressed to Cortés but with a royal audience in mind; two of these letters are now lost. Gonzalo de Alvarado y Chávez was Pedro de Alvarado's cousin; he accompanied him on his first campaign in Guatemala and in 1525 he became the chief constable of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala ,

15096-401: The lack of resistance, Alvarado rode ahead with 30 cavalry along the lakeshore. Opposite a populated island the Spanish at last encountered hostile Tzʼutujil warriors and charged among them, scattering and pursuing them to a narrow causeway across which the surviving Tzʼutujil fled. The causeway was too narrow for the horses, therefore the conquistadors dismounted and crossed to the island before

15244-631: The last independent Maya kingdom. Spanish and native tactics and technology differed greatly. The Spanish viewed the taking of prisoners as a hindrance to outright victory, whereas the Maya prioritised the capture of live prisoners and of booty. The indigenous peoples of Guatemala lacked key elements of Old World technology such as a functional wheel , horses, iron, steel, and gunpowder ; they were also extremely susceptible to Old World diseases, against which they had no resistance. The Maya preferred raiding and ambush to large-scale warfare , using spears, arrows and wooden swords with inset obsidian blades;

15392-496: The local crustal velocity structure is required: seismic velocities vary with the local geology. For P waves, the relation between velocity and bulk density of the medium has been quantified in Gardner's relation . Before the instrumental period of earthquake observation, the epicenter was thought to be the location where the greatest damage occurred, but the subsurface fault rupture may be long and spread surface damage across

15540-563: The lords of the Tzʼutujil arrived there to pledge their loyalty and offer tribute to the conquistadors. A short time afterwards a number of lords arrived from the Pacific lowlands to swear allegiance to the king of Spain, although Alvarado did not name them in his letters; they confirmed Kaqchikel reports that further out on the Pacific plain was the kingdom called Izcuintepeque in Nahuatl , or Panatacat in Kaqchikel , whose inhabitants were warlike and hostile towards their neighbours. Pedro de Alvarado rapidly began to demand gold in tribute from

15688-479: The main Mam population was situated in Xinabahul (also spelled Chinabjul ), now the city of Huehuetenango , but Zaculeu's fortifications led to its use as a refuge during the conquest. The refuge was attacked by Gonzalo de Alvarado y Contreras , brother of conquistador Pedro de Alvarado, in 1525, with 40 Spanish cavalry and 80 Spanish infantry, and some 2,000 Mexican and Kʼicheʼ allies. Gonzalo de Alvarado left

15836-513: The meantime the other major highland Maya kingdoms had each been defeated in turn by the Spanish and allied warriors from Mexico and already subjugated Maya kingdoms in Guatemala. The Itza Maya and other lowland groups in the Petén Basin were first contacted by Hernán Cortés in 1525, but remained independent and hostile to the encroaching Spanish until 1697, when a concerted Spanish assault led by Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi finally defeated

15984-408: The messengers reached the Spanish at Iximche , the conquistadors marched against the Tzʼutujil with their Kaqchikel allies. Pedro de Alvarado left Iximche just 5 days after he had arrived there, with 60 cavalry, 150 Spanish infantry and an unspecified number of Kaqchikel warriors. The Spanish and their allies arrived at the lakeshore after a day's hard march, without encountering any opposition. Seeing

16132-618: The months from November through to March. The municipality of Cantel receives an average annual rainfall that varies between 2,000 and 4,000 millimetres (79 and 157 in); in Huitán it varies between 1,800 and 3,500 millimetres (71 and 138 in). The year is divided into wet and dry seasons, with most rain falling in July and September. The driest months of the year are December through to February. The department falls within two principal biomes , classified as subtropical moist forest and tropical and subtropical coniferous forest . The former

16280-510: The most important works of Guatemalan history, and is the first such book to have been written by a criollo author. Field investigation has tended to support the estimates of indigenous population and army sizes given by Fuentes y Guzmán. Christopher Columbus discovered the New World for the Kingdom of Castile and León in 1492. Private adventurers thereafter entered into contracts with

16428-450: The name of the city used by their Nahuatl-speaking Mexican allies and applied it to the new Spanish city and, by extension, to the kingdom . From this comes the modern name of the country. When Pedro de Alvarado moved his army to Iximche, he left the defeated Kʼicheʼ kingdom under the command of Juan de León y Cardona. Although de León y Cardona was given command of the western reaches of the new colony, he continued to take an active role in

16576-405: The neighbouring Pacific coastal plain. However, in the late 15th century the Kaqchikel rebelled against their former Kʼicheʼ allies and founded a new kingdom to the southeast with Iximche as its capital. In the decades before the Spanish invasion the Kaqchikel kingdom had been steadily eroding the kingdom of the Kʼicheʼ. Other highland groups included the Tzʼutujil around Lake Atitlán , the Mam in

16724-660: The neighbouring department of Totonicapán and flows southwards into the department of Retalhuleu. Other notable rivers in the department include the Tumalá River in the municipality of Cajolá, the El Naranjo River in the municipality of San Carlos Sija, and the Las Palomas and Xocal Rivers in the municipality of Concepción Chiquirichapa. The average temperature in the department of Quetzaltenango varies between 15 and 24 °C (59 and 75 °F), however there

16872-458: The new ruler of Mexico, and the Kʼicheʼ Maya of Qʼumarkaj may also have sent a delegation. In 1522 Cortés sent Mexican allies to scout the Soconusco region of lowland Chiapas , where they met new delegations from Iximche and Qʼumarkaj at Tuxpán ; both of the powerful highland Maya kingdoms declared their loyalty to the king of Spain . But Cortés' allies in Soconusco soon informed him that

17020-513: The newly founded Spanish capital. Gonzalo wrote an account that mostly supports that of Pedro de Alvarado. Pedro de Alvarado's brother Jorge wrote another account to the king of Spain that explained it was his own campaign of 1527–1529 that established the Spanish colony. Bernal Díaz del Castillo wrote a lengthy account of the conquest of Mexico and neighbouring regions, the Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España ("True History of

17168-406: The pass and driven back by the Kʼicheʼ warriors but the Spanish cavalry charge that followed was a shock for the Kʼicheʼ who had never seen horses before. The cavalry scattered the Kʼicheʼ and the army crossed to the city of Xelaju, modern Quetzaltenango, to find it deserted by its inhabitants. Although the common view is that the Kʼicheʼ prince Tecun Uman died in the later battle near Olintepeque ,

17316-410: The peaceful surrender of the Mam king, who chose not to answer. Zaculeu was defended by Kaybʼil Bʼalam commanding some 6,000 warriors gathered from Huehuetenango , Zaculeu , Cuilco and Ixtahuacán . The fortress was surrounded on three sides by deep ravines and defended by a formidable system of walls and ditches. Gonzalo de Alvarado, although outnumbered two to one, decided to launch an assault on

17464-410: The plain in battle formation and was met by a Spanish cavalry charge that threw them into disarray, with the infantry mopping up those Mam that survived the cavalry. Gonzalo de Alvarado slew the Mam leader Canil Acab with his lance, at which point the Mam army's resistance was broken, and the surviving warriors fled to the hills. Alvarado entered Malacatán unopposed to find it occupied only by the sick and

17612-425: The range of 2,000−10,000 km. Once distances from the epicenter have been calculated from at least three seismographic measuring stations, the point can be located, using trilateration . Epicentral distance is also used in calculating seismic magnitudes as developed by Richter and Gutenberg . The point at which fault slipping begins is referred to as the focus of the earthquake. The fault rupture begins at

17760-445: The rebellion was quickly put down in April 1530. However, the region was not considered fully conquered until a campaign by Jorge de Bocanegra in 1531–1532 that also took in parts of Jalapa . The afflictions of Old World diseases, war and overwork in the mines and encomiendas took a heavy toll on the inhabitants of eastern Guatemala, to the extent that indigenous population levels never recovered to their pre-conquest levels. In

17908-402: The steep southern slopes of the Cuchumatanes . On the upper slopes they clashed with a force of 4,000-5,000 Ixil warriors from Nebaj and nearby settlements. A lengthy battle followed during which the Spanish cavalry managed to outflank the Ixil army and forced them to retreat to their mountaintop fortress at Nebaj. The Spanish force besieged the city, and their indigenous allies managed to scale

18056-704: The surface, but in high magnitude, destructive earthquakes, surface breaks are common. Fault ruptures in large earthquakes can extend for more than 100 km (62 mi). When a fault ruptures unilaterally (with the epicenter at or near the end of the fault break) the waves are stronger in one direction along the fault. The macroseismic epicenter is the best estimate of the location of the epicenter derived without instrumental data. This may be estimated using intensity data, information about foreshocks and aftershocks, knowledge of local fault systems or extrapolations from data regarding similar earthquakes. For historical earthquakes that have not been instrumentally recorded, only

18204-565: The ten years after the fall of Zaculeu various Spanish expeditions crossed into the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes and engaged in the gradual and complex conquest of the Chuj and Qʼanjobʼal . The Spanish were attracted to the region in the hope of extracting gold, silver and other riches from the mountains but their remoteness, the difficult terrain and relatively low population made their conquest and exploitation extremely difficult. The population of

18352-553: The thermal baths located around the Cerro Quemado volcano, including the thermal baths of Almolonga, Aguas Amargas ("Bitter Waters") and Fuentes Georginas, which has become a tourist attraction of some importance. In 2010, seasonal rains uncovered the small Kʼicheʼ archaeological site of Chojolom in the municipality of Cantel. It has been tentatively dated to the Postclassic Period (c. 950-1521 AD). Cerro Quiac

18500-573: The three towns was closest to their pre-conquest land holdings. Some Iximche Kaqchikels seem also to have been relocated to the same towns. After their relocation some of the Chajoma drifted back to their pre-conquest centres, creating informal settlements and provoking hostilities with the Poqomam of Mixco and Chinautla along the former border between the pre-Columbian kingdoms. Some of these settlements eventually received official recognition, such as San Raimundo near Sacul . The Spanish colonial corregimiento of San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán

18648-406: The time difference on any seismograph and the distance on a travel-time graph on which the P wave and S wave have the same separation, geologists can calculate the distance to the quake's epicenter. This distance is called the epicentral distance , commonly measured in ° (degrees) and denoted as Δ (delta) in seismology. The Láska's empirical rule provides an approximation of epicentral distance in

18796-471: The use of cavalry, the highland Maya took to digging pits on the roads, lining them with fire-hardened stakes and camouflaging them with grass and weeds, a tactic that according to the Kaqchikel killed many horses. We came here to serve God and the King, and also to get rich. Bernal Díaz del Castillo The conquistadors were all volunteers, the majority of whom did not receive a fixed salary but instead

18944-414: The volcanoes Cerro Quemado , Chicabal , Lacandon , Santa María , Santiaguito , Santo Tomás (also known as Picul) and Siete Orejas , as well as Zunil peak, often erroneously referred to as a volcano. Cerro Quemado produces a number of thermal springs, several of which have been converted into baths . The area covered by the department is seismically active, with earthquakes measuring from 4.5 to 5.2 on

19092-407: The walls, penetrate the stronghold and set it on fire. Many defending Ixil warriors withdrew to fight the fire, which allowed the Spanish to storm the entrance and break the defences. The victorious Spanish rounded up the surviving defenders and the next day Castellanos ordered them all to be branded as slaves as punishment for their resistance. The inhabitants of Chajul immediately capitulated to

19240-427: The walls. As Alvarado dug in and laid siege to the fortress, an army of approximately 8,000 Mam warriors descended on Zaculeu from the Cuchumatanes mountains to the north, drawn from those towns allied with the city. Alvarado left Antonio de Salazar to supervise the siege and marched north to confront the Mam army. The Mam army was disorganised, and although it was a match for the Spanish and allied foot soldiers, it

19388-463: The weaker northern entrance. Mam warriors initially held the northern approaches against the Spanish infantry but fell back before repeated cavalry charges. The Mam defence was reinforced by an estimated 2,000 warriors from within Zaculeu but was unable to push the Spanish back. Kaybʼil Bʼalam, seeing that outright victory on an open battlefield was impossible, withdrew his army back within the safety of

19536-849: The western highlands and the Poqomam in the eastern highlands. The kingdom of the Itza was the most powerful polity in the Petén lowlands of northern Guatemala, centred on their capital Nojpetén , on an island in Lake Petén Itzá . The second polity in importance was that of their hostile neighbours, the Kowoj . The Kowoj were located to the east of the Itza, around the eastern lakes: Lake Salpetén, Lake Macanché, Lake Yaxhá and Lake Sacnab. Other groups are less well known and their precise territorial extent and political makeup remains obscure; among them were

19684-447: Was a nobleman who joined the initial invasion. Bernal Díaz del Castillo was a petty nobleman who accompanied Hernán Cortés when he crossed the northern lowlands, and Pedro de Alvarado on his invasion of the highlands. In addition to Spaniards, the invasion force probably included dozens of armed African slaves and freedmen . Spanish weaponry and tactics differed greatly from that of the indigenous peoples of Guatemala. This included

19832-404: Was a shock for the Kʼicheʼ, who had never before seen horses. The cavalry scattered the Kʼicheʼ and the army crossed to the city of Xelaju (modern Quetzaltenango) only to find it deserted. Although the common view is that the Kʼicheʼ prince Tecun Uman died in the later battle near Olintepeque , the Spanish accounts are clear that at least one and possibly two of the lords of Qʼumarkaj died in

19980-400: Was apparently initiated after Kʼicheʼ bitterness at their failure to contain the Spanish at Qʼumarkaj, with the plan to trap the conquistadors in the city having been suggested to them by the Mam king, Kaybʼil Bʼalam; the resulting execution of the Kʼicheʼ kings was viewed as unjust. The Kʼicheʼ suggestion of marching on the Mam was quickly taken up by the Spanish. At the time of the conquest,

20128-467: Was catastrophic in the Americas; it is estimated that 90% of the indigenous population had been eliminated by disease within the first century of European contact. In 1519 and 1520, before the arrival of the Spanish in the region, a number of epidemics swept through southern Guatemala. At the same time as the Spanish were occupied with the overthrow of the Aztec Empire , a devastating plague struck

20276-403: Was created by decree in 1845, five years after the fledgling state was crushed by Rafael Carrera . The department has wide variations in local climate, due largely to marked differences in altitude in different areas. The year is divided into wet and dry seasons, with the wet season lasting from July to September and the dry season running from December to February. The wide climatic variation in

20424-564: Was entering a trap. He encamped on the plain outside the city rather than accepting lodgings inside. Fearing the great number of Kʼicheʼ warriors gathered outside the city and that his cavalry would not be able to manoeuvre in the narrow streets of Qʼumarkaj, he invited the leading lords of the city, Oxib-Keh (the ajpop , or king) and Beleheb-Tzy (the ajpop kʼamha , or king elect) to visit him in his camp. As soon as they did so, he seized them and kept them as prisoners in his camp. The Kʼicheʼ warriors, seeing their lords taken prisoner, attacked

20572-642: Was established in 1551 with its seat in the town of that name, now in the eastern portion of the modern department of El Progreso . Acasaguastlán was one of few pre-conquest centres of population in the middle Motagua River drainage, due to the arid climate. It covered a broad area that included Cubulco , Rabinal , and Salamá (all in Baja Verapaz ), San Agustín de la Real Corona (modern San Agustín Acasaguastlán ) and La Magdalena in El Progreso, and Chimalapa , Gualán , Usumatlán and Zacapa , all in

20720-432: Was given the new name Xequiquel , roughly meaning "bathed in blood". This battle exhausted the Kʼicheʼ militarily and they asked for peace and offered tribute, inviting Pedro de Alvarado into their capital Qʼumarkaj. On 2 February 1838, Quetzaltenango joined together with Huehuetenango, El Quiché, Retalhuleu, San Marcos, Sololá, Suchitepéquez and Totonicapán to form the short-lived Central American state of Los Altos , with

20868-539: Was infamous for the massacre of Aztec nobles in Tenochtitlan and, according to Bartolomé de las Casas , he committed further atrocities in the conquest of the Maya kingdoms in Guatemala. Some groups remained loyal to the Spanish once they had submitted to the conquest, such as the Tzʼutujil and the Kʼicheʼ of Quetzaltenango , and provided them with warriors to assist further conquest. Other groups soon rebelled however, and by 1526 numerous rebellions had engulfed

21016-495: Was inhabited by Chʼortiʼ Maya at the time of the conquest. The first Spanish reconnaissance of this region took place in 1524 by an expedition that included Hernando de Chávez , Juan Durán, Bartolomé Becerra and Cristóbal Salvatierra , amongst others. In 1526 three Spanish captains, Juan Pérez Dardón , Sancho de Barahona and Bartolomé Becerra , invaded Chiquimula on the orders of Pedro de Alvarado . The indigenous population soon rebelled against excessive Spanish demands, but

21164-469: Was known as Tecpan Utatlan to the Nahuatl-speaking allies of the Spanish. Alvarado was deeply suspicious of the Kʼicheʼ intentions but accepted the offer and marched to Qʼumarkaj with his army. The day after the battle of Olintepeque, the Spanish army arrived at Tzakahá , which submitted peacefully. There the Spanish chaplains Juan Godínez and Juan Díaz conducted a Roman Catholic mass under

21312-481: Was not so much aimed at destruction of the enemy as the seizure of captives and plunder. The Spanish described the weapons of war of the Petén Maya as bows and arrows, fire-sharpened poles, flint-headed spears and two-handed swords crafted from strong wood with the blade fashioned from inset obsidian , similar to the Aztec macuahuitl . Pedro de Alvarado described how the Xinca of the Pacific coast attacked

21460-468: Was perhaps the greatest technological advantage held by the Spanish, although the deployment of cavalry helped them to rout indigenous armies on occasion. The Spanish were sufficiently impressed by the quilted cotton armour of their Maya enemies that they adopted it in preference to their own steel armour. The conquistadors applied a more effective military organisation and strategic awareness than their opponents, allowing them to deploy troops and supplies in

21608-466: Was the participation of these Mesoamerican allies that was particularly decisive. In at least one case, encomienda rights were granted to one of the Tlaxcalan leaders who came as allies, and land grants and exemption from being given in encomienda were given to the Mexican allies as rewards for their participation in the conquest. In practice, such privileges were easily removed or sidestepped by

21756-409: Was vulnerable to the repeated charges of the experienced Spanish cavalry. The relief army was broken and annihilated, allowing Alvarado to return to reinforce the siege. After several months the Mam were reduced to starvation. Kaybʼil Bʼalam finally surrendered the city to the Spanish in the middle of October 1525. When the Spanish entered the city they found 1,800 dead Indians, and the survivors eating

21904-597: Was wrecked on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in 1511. Several Spanish expeditions followed in 1517 and 1519, making landfall on various parts of the Yucatán coast. The Spanish conquest of the Maya was a prolonged affair; the Maya kingdoms resisted integration into the Spanish Empire with such tenacity that their defeat took almost two centuries. Pedro de Alvarado arrived in Guatemala from

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