page_title: Spanish conquest of Honduras
section_title: Setbacks in the 17th century
hierarchical_section_title: Spanish conquest of Honduras / Setbacks in the 17th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Fortress of Santa Barbara in Trujillo, Honduras
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: San Pedro de Puerto Caballos (modern San Pedro Sula) was connected to Puerto de Caballos by a well-established royal road (camino real). By the end of the 16th century, pirates were plaguing the Caribbean coastline. In 1595, they attacked Puerto de Caballos, and followed the road southwards to burn San Pedro as well. Soon after 1600, Puerto de Caballos was all but abandoned by the Spanish, and a new port was established at Santo Tomás de Castilla on the  Amatique Bay, in Guatemala. By the middle of the 17th century, both San Pedro and Puerto de Caballos were in serious decline, with the sea under pirate control, and the near-extinction of the indigenous workforce.
caption: Fortress of Santa Barbara.
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