MOVING VALLADOLID TO SACI

The fertile lowlands of Chouac-Ha, floods in the rain causing illness and deaths of the Spanish. And the Maya who are forced to live where the city of Valladolid was built are often the victims of floods when the lagoon leaves its banks. Without a doubt although it is not written the illness of the Spanish was given to the Maya servants and slaves. 

To escape the illness and the intense humidity the ranchers went to live on ranches in places away from the lagoons. You could see that the majority of the inhabitants were Maya and they too lived away from the lagoon. Also, Gutiérrez Picón wrote in his relations of 1579- "there was an epidemic from a sick European which entered the Maya population. It was a virus of some kind and could have been tuberculosis. On top of all that in the communities near Chouac-Ha the people rose up and demonstrated and protested the treatment of the despots citing discrimination and slavery against the Maya."

Sací was the objective. Dryer land, fertile and with large cenotes guaranteeing lots of water like the lagoon. In March of 1545 with agreement from all of the spokesman and neighbors of

Valladolid de Chouac-Ha, they insisted that Montejo the Nephew move the location of Valladolid to Saci. They also wanted him to take responsibility for all of the deaths and illness that had occurred. They threatened to go directly to the Captain General who at that time was the head of the government in Honduras-Higuera.

The Nephew was opposed and said he was following orders to place Valladolid at the site of Chouac-Ha. The battle between the factions was great, however, the Nephew finally accepted but wanted to move to Conil. The arguments of the ranchers in the south were useless, however, and Valladolid was moved to the fertile and healthy Zaci.

It was finally decided on the 19th of March, 1545 by Montejo, The Senior, to put the question to the King of Spain about moving the town to Sací. Therefore on the 24th of March in the year 1545 the decision was made to move Valladolid from Chohuac-Ha to Sací, the heart of the Cupules territory and leave the beautiful but unlivable area where the lowlands meet the eastern coasts.

The Nephew was the head of the 39 neighbors. The changes were made immediately to the new site and construction began immediately.  While the Spanish started building the concentration of Caciques and Maya priests near Pixtemax or Chemax immediately began to plan to take vengeance for the move. The Cupules were not to be subjugated and would not remain passive. The fight for freedom and justice has no time limits. This Maya village, in all of its history, remained patient, condescending and were never conquered.

THE REBELLION OF 1546 IN CHEMAX

For different historians it was impossible to write about the actual events of the conquest because of religión and customs. The war tactics of the Spanish were learned by the Maya, the huge impact of the past like Chichén, Chectemal, Uaymil, etc.- when they were pushed back by superior numbers of Maya warriors. In 1545 founding the cities of Valladolid in Sací and Mérida were the first steps to success for the Spanish since it was nearly impossible to expel them from cities. But the Maya tried with incredible determination to protect their liberty and one testimony is that they never, ever were brought to their knees in front of the Spanish as has been depicted in various written material.

Without a doubt no one could stand up against an invader who is so powerfully armed and with unlimited resources which made their might incredible. Such is the wheel of history, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

The limited military might of the Maya combined with the Franciscans performing a vast amount of evangelism brought about a weakening of the bonds holding the Maya together, but with all of that the awfulness and abuses of the Conquistadors chose violence, discrimination and exploitation as a means to an end. In so doing they ignited a spark among the leaders and priests of the Maya who vowed to continue the battle to the end, to fight for freedom and to keep their way of life and customs.

To reign yourself in, in the face of those more powerful is not the same as giving up or acceptance. And the Maya never gave in to the abusive rule of the Spanish.

Chemax or Pixtemax (which means either tree or monkey, "site of protection for Maax" or the name of a chief ) was a place where a great number of Cupules and Cochuajes were concentrated to take back Sací, the new home of Valladolid.

In many Spanish documents this area is called 'the center of badness' where the Maya refused to buckle under the pressure of the Spanish. This is the place where they made new plans for freedom with ample leaders coming often from other parts of the peninsula. Chemax was a hotbed of native agitation and clandestine activity using all of the wiles of the Maya to make trouble for the Spanish and trying to protect Valladolid a real problem.

This rebellion is documented in writings of  Sebastián Vázquez de Andrade, in 1548, "Relations of Valladolid of 1579", by Francisco Niño de Villagómez en 1547, among others. Residence de Montejo in the Yucatán, 1549-1550, and in the words of the Captain General concerning his success in Chemax in 1546, he says:

"...they told me they couldn't live with bad treatment, and some of the Chilames have called the Gods to enter into the frey. They plan to go to the ranches and kill everyone because God told them that all of the Spanish had to die and none could be left on the earth. The main chief said he was from God and he is called Chilam Anbal (Balam?) and in his speaking he confessed many ugly things that even the devil himself couldn't understand."

FIVE CIMI; NINETEEN XUL

In the Autumn of 1546,  Francisco de Montejo decided to return to the Yucatán by way of Campeche accompanied by his wife Beatriz de Herrera.

Going to San Francisco in Campeche to greet him were his son and nephew. They traveled in a caravan of many persons and with Spanish troops and guards. The left a hole in the authority of the Spanish, especially in Merida and Valladolid. After a long absence many ranchers at least the majority of them would meet with the heads to pay tribute.

No one imagined what the Maya had planned to do until the day came for the uprising which would liberate the east from the hands of the invaders. The Maya in the east communicated with the Maya in the other provinces and arranged for the uprising to start on the full moon on the 8th or 9th of November in 1546 in Chemax. This date corresponds to 5 cimi and 19 xul (final death)

in the Maya calendar.

Due to the various recorded information the dates are now described as: Juan de Urrutia,

common Mayor of Valladolid said "it was at night on the 8th of November". Martín Ruiz of Valladolid stated: "The uprising started at night on the 8th of November in 1546". Alvaro Osorio stated "the rebellion started Tuesday at night on the 9th of November of 1546". The

Chronicle of Chacxulub Chen or Chicxulub, reported that "On the 9th of November Juliano, in the year of 1546, there was an uprising in the Yucatán, to kick out the Spanish".  Some of the descriptions mention that there was a full moon the night of the uprising. The Christian calendar used by the Spanish had a major error of 10 days for some time and was adjusted by Pope Gregorio XIII, in the year 1582 setting the calendar ahead by those 10 days (Juan Martínez Hernández, June 24th, 1936).

In his writing in the Corona, Montejo the Junior, relates that the Maya united with a fury before unseen from the provinces of the Cupul, Cochuá, Sotuta, Tazes, Uaymil, Chetumal and Chikinchel, including chiefs from the area of Mérida did these things "for an unknown reason".

The movement of Chemax reached Valladolid. Some 15 ranchers and their families were attacked and trapped in the rebellion and some were executed. One of the dead was Capitán Bernaldino de Villagómez, Mayor of Valladolid.

To understand the writings on the side of the Spanish, the details of which produced a major impact on the spirit of any society. They talk about torture and human sacrifice or children cooked in pots of burning copal. And when they refer to the reaction of the conquistadors there is a part that says:  "...some of the Spanish perished singing songs of salvation". It is understandable, not only the time period and you can't hide the real reasons for the rebellion like abuses and the humiliating treatment of the Maya. The bad feeling between the two parties was real, the Spanish tried to convince the Maya that their Gods were not real and imposed the catholic religion and images on the masses, they committed offenses against sacred things and places, they made the Maya slaves and tried to systematically exterminate them. But, in the final analysis they underestimated the will of the Maya.  For the Maya felt he was capable of beating his captors. It was his land the treasure of the conquest.

THE CANSINO BROTHERS

History will remember the name of Villagómez as one of the persons executed in the rebellion of

Chemax, and those of the brothers Juan and Diego Cansino who it is said were crucified in Chemax and shot with arrows. For the history of Valladolid and for clarity in the "Summary of the Relations of the things of the New Spain" by Dorantes Carranza they pay particular interest to the case of the brothers Cansino, where they say that Juan and Diego were cruelly assassinated during the rebellion of Chemax in 1546. The two sons of Juan, as well, died at 8 and 9 years old. Juan Cansino arrived with little ideas about Valladolid, when the town was moved to Sací, he had been exiled from the capital of New Spain by the same Hernán Cortés. He had some fame, because Juan Cansino was the guard of the Governor Diego Velázquez, of Cuba, who had placed Hernán Cortés to slow his plan of rebellion or disobedience to go to the conquest of Tabasco and Tenochtitlán, from Cozumel, in 1519.

But Cansino turned on Velázquez and helped Cortés to start his trip to the conquest, starting a chain of events. In México, looking for favors from Cortés, Culhuá, a beautiful daughter of an important Aztec chief.  Cansino, with a red hot nail made a tattoo of an S, on the girl, which was the sign of a slave. Cortés was angry about this unnecessary action and abuse, he pardoned Cansino saving his life but exiled him to the Yucatan where he arrived as  Valladolid was moved from Chouachá to Sací.

What they did to the Cansino's in Chemax or Valladolid!, they were among the first to fall into the hands of the rebels, they were left naked on crosses with arrows in their bodies. They cut off their heads and sent them to Valladolid. Obviously they learned how to take vengeance on the most notorious keepers and slavers. The rebellion spread to Aké and Pisté. Killed were notably: Fernando de Aguilar Gaitiano, Juan de Villanueva, Pedro Durán and Capitán de Villagómez.

The Spanish reaction came 24 hours later. From Izamal came the first help to Valladolid in the form of the Mayor Francisco Tamayo Pacheco who arrived with 40 cavalry. Hours later Valladolid was full of soldiers arriving from all points of the Yucatan. The Montejo's rapidly returned from Campeche and the Nephew went directly to Valladolid. He put in action the tactics of Montejo, The Junior: talk to the Chiefs, try to relieve the tension and pressure, make changes to aid the situation and keep the peace. The tensions lasted until April of the year 1547.

The situation was not easy to control because the town of Valladolid was completely under the control of the rebels as was much of the east. They had to send troops to Sotuta, Izamal, Pisté,  Uaymil, Chetumal, etc.; because the area of the rebellion was quite large. Montejo the Senior, sent his son in law Andrea del Castillo, to Campeche after the first of the year in 1547 with extra troops available to aid the Yucatan if need be. After the major thrust of the crisis the Old conquistador went to Merida to assume the command. There were already three Montejo's in the Yucatan, trying to take control over the Maya, and in fact to accomplish it could be considered a RECONQUEST.

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