HISTORY OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST OF YUCATAN AND OF THE ITZAS

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                THE POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND GEOGRAPHICAL
                   FEATURES OF THE ITZA STATE DURING
                        THE PERIOD OF 1445-1697


The Significance of the Itzas. The dates of the Itza dominance over the
region around Tayasal are roughly those given above. Although the
Spaniards became a factor in the lives of the Itzas about 1525, their
presence does not alter the fact that this tribe was so powerful as to
be able to preserve its independence for a long time. The Itzas may be
considered as presenting, in diminished form, all the more important
political and social conditions that had formerly characterized the
great Maya states in the northern part of the peninsula. We will now
study these conditions so as to understand better the problems the
Spanish conquerors were called upon to meet and to solve later on. In
spite of the proximity of the Spaniards, it is doubtful whether the
Itzas changed much during the two hundred and fifty years they occupied