of Mexico was removed from office, and summoned before that tribunal.[1] Martin de Ursúa y Arizmendi, the governor elect, was appointed to replace Soberanis, and at once made preparations to avail himself of the opportunity to carry out his favorite project—the conquest of the Itzas.
Meanwhile, however, Soberanis, acquitted in Mexico, was restored to his government, and from this time to his death on September 25, 1699,[2] made all possible opposition to the schemes of his successor, notwithstanding royal orders to the contrary. Ursúa's second term lasted from 1699 to the end of 1703, when he was deposed by the viceroy of Mexico, on a charge of implication in the murder of an alcalde of Valladolid.[3] Ursúa went to Spain, where he not only justified his conduct, but obtained new distinctions, and was reinstated on June 6, 1706, holding office till the 15th of September 1708, when he was promoted to the presidency of Manila.[4]
The services that he rendered in the expedition against the Itzas in 1697, and which have already been related,[5] were probably the main reason for his preferment, for during that campaign he displayed all the qualities of a cautious and capable leader.[6]
- ↑ An oidor, Francisco Zaraza, sent to Mérida in December 1694 to investigate the matter, returned to Mexico in July 1695, without pronouncing sentence, the bishop having died in February 1695. Robles, Diario, ii. 159-60, 167, 170, 172.
- ↑ Of yellow fever, the first time the disease appeared in the country. Lara, Apuntes Históricos, followed by Castillo, Dicc. Hist. Yuc., 69.
- ↑ A visitador, Cárlos Bermudez, was sent from Mexico and later a governor ad interim appointed, Alvaro de Rivaguda, who punished several of the guilty persons, but failed to discover any evidence of the complicity of Ursúa'. Robles, Diario, 1st ser., ii. 468, 477, 484; Ancona, Hist. Yuc., ii.,316-25.
- ↑ The titles of count de Lizarraga Vengoa, conqueror, perpetual governor, and captain-general of the Itza provinces, were among others given him. Elorza y Rada, Nobil., 211.
- ↑ See Hist. Cent. Amer., ii. 681 et seq., this series.
- ↑ In addition to the authorities already quoted, the reader is referred to Cogollvdo, Hist. Yuc., 220, 385-6, 452-752, passim; Villagvtierre, Hist. Cony. Itza,. 326-40, 410-17, 535-41; Guijo, Diario in Doc. Hist. Mex., 1st ser., i. 223-4, 548; Robles, Diario, i. 81, 140, 312, 343, 355, 358, 375, 399, 452, ii. 155, 183; Calle, Mem. y Not., 84-5, 87-8; Ordenes de la Corona, MS., iii. 64; Barbachano, Mem. Camp., 2-8; Castillo, Dicc. Hist. Yuc., 54, 59-61, 63, 69, 72, 93, 294-5; Juarros, Guat., i. 33; Stephens, Yuc., ii 194; Dicc. Univ., vi. 785-6; viii, 494, x. 763-6.
