page_title: Spanish conquest of Honduras
section_title: First expeditions
hierarchical_section_title: Spanish conquest of Honduras / First expeditions
caption_attribution_description: English: 16th-century Spanish colonial regions and settlements within the modern territorial limits of Honduras. Sources: Newson, Linda (2007) [1986]. El Costo de la Conquista. Tegucigalpa, Honduras: Editorial Guaymuras. ISBN 99926-15-57-5. p37. Chamberlain, Robert S. (1966) [1953] The Conquest and Colonization of Honduras: 1502–1550. New York, US: Octagon Books. OCLC 640057454 Español: Regiones y pueblos coloniales del siglo XVI dentro de los limites modernos de la república de Honduras. Fuentes: Newson, Linda (2007) [1986]. El Costo de la Conquista. Tegucigalpa, Honduras: Editorial Guaymuras. ISBN 99926-15-57-5. p37. Chamberlain, Robert S. (1966) [1953] The Conquest and Colonization of Honduras: 1502–1550. New York, US: Octagon Books. OCLC 640057454
context_page_description: The Spanish conquest of Honduras was a 16th-century conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in which the territory that now comprises the Republic of Honduras, one of the five states of Central America, was incorporated into the Spanish Empire. In 1502, the territory was claimed for the king of Spain by Christopher Columbus on his fourth and final trip to the New World. The territory that now comprises Honduras was inhabited by a mix of indigenous peoples straddling a transitional cultural zone between Mesoamerica to the northwest, and the Intermediate Area to the southeast. Indigenous groups included Maya, Lenca, Pech, Miskito, Sumu, Jicaque, Pipil and Chorotega. Two indigenous leaders are particularly notable for their resistance against the Spanish; the Maya leader Sicumba, and the Lenca ruler referred to as Lempira.
  In March 1524, Gil González Dávila became the first Spaniard to arrive in what is now Honduras with the intention of conquest. He founded the first Spanish port upon the Caribbean coast, Puerto de Caballos, which became an important staging post for later expeditions.
context_section_description: The first four decades of conquest were a turbulent period; domination of Honduras was not achieved until 1539. The initial foci of Spanish settlement were Trujillo, Gracias a Dios, and the areas around Comayagua and San Pedro Sula. Unlike in Mexico, where centralised indigenous power structures assisted swift conquest, there was no unified political organisation to overthrow; this hindered the incorporation of the territory into the Spanish Empire. Sometimes the Spanish would conquer an area and move on, just for it to immediately rise in rebellion, or massacre the Spanish colonisers. Initial Spanish efforts concentrated on establishing a presence along the Caribbean coast, with the founding of settlements such as Buena Esperanza, San Gil de Buena Vista, Triunfo de la Cruz, and Trujillo. Soon after, expeditions began to penetrate inland, against stiff indigenous resistance. In 1522, the natives of the Olancho valley rose up and massacred the occupying Spanish forces.
  Spanish infighting also hindered conquest. In 1522, Gil González Dávila and Andrés Niño set out from Panama along the Pacific coast. During this early expedition, they explored the south coast of what would become Honduras, entering the Gulf of Fonseca.
  Upon their return to Panama, governor of Panama Pedro Arias Dávila (better known by the name of Pedrarias Dávila) decided to claim the territory they had explored. While Gil González Dávila was in Santo Domingo organising a new expedition to Central America, Pedrarias Dávila sent Francisco Hernández de Córdoba to establish his jurisdiction over the region. Spanish settlement in Nicaragua was concentrated along the Pacific coast, and Honduras was seen as a better route to the Caribbean and Spain rather than an inland route across Nicaragua itself. This provoked jurisdictional clashes between the two provinces.
caption: Early settlements and regions of 16th-century Honduras
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