Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi (Spanish pronunciation:[maɾˈtindewɾˈsu.ajaɾiθˈmendi]; February 22, 1653 – February 4, 1715), Count ofLizárraga and ofCastillo,[1] was a Spanishconquistador inCentral America during the late colonial period ofNew Spain. Born inOlóriz,Navarre,[2] he is noted for leading the1696–97 expeditionary force which resulted in the fall of the last significant independentMaya stronghold,Nojpetén, located on an island inLake Petén Itzá in the northernPetén Basin region of present-dayGuatemala. He served asgovernor of the Yucatán until 1708, when he was namedGovernor-General of the Philippines.[2] Around the time that he was named to that post, he was made a knight of theOrder of Santiago.[2] He died inManila in 1715.[3]
Ursúa arrived to Mexico around 1680 and initially served as a lawyer in Mexico City until 1692. He used this period to cement relationships with colonial officials in Yucatán.[4] In 1692 he was appointed to be governor of Yucatán, with his term to begin in 1698.[5] By 1694 he had been appointed asalcalde ordinario (a Spanish colonial official) of Mexico City.[4] Ursúa took office in Yucatán four years earlier than planned, becoming acting governor on 17 December 1694.[6]
Martín de Ursúa was from a line of distinguished and successful noblemen that was extremely well connected politically and that intermarried with other influential noble families to form a kinship network that was spread across Europe and the Americas:[7]
| General Pedro de Ursúa y Arizmendi | ? | Diego Egües y Beaumont Governor and Captain General ofNueva Granada | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pedro de Ursúa y Arizmendi de Egües Count of Gerena | ? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pedro de Ursúa, Abbot ofPamplona | Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi | Juana Bolio y Ojeda (criolla) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Governor General of the Philippines 1708–1715 | Succeeded by |
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