Spanish conquest of Honduras
| Spanish conquest of Honduras | |||||||||
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| Part of the Spanish colonization of the Americas | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Spanish Empire, including Indian auxiliaries
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Indigenous peoples of Honduras, including: |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Indigenous peoples of Honduras, including:
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 (a title meaning "Lord of the Mountain").
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. The early decades of the Spanish conquest of Honduras were beset by jurisdictional disputes between different Spanish colonies attempting to invade the territory, which resulted in conflict between rival expeditions launched from Mexico, Hispaniola, and Panama. The Spanish territory was reorganised as Higueras in the west, and Honduras in the east. As the Spanish became established throughout Central America, the colony of Honduras-Higueras became involved in territorial disputes with neighbouring colonies in Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador.
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