Lake Petén Itzá in the context of "Itza people"

Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi (Spanish pronunciation: [maɾˈtin de wɾˈsu.a j aɾiθˈmendi]; February 22, 1653 – February 4, 1715), Count of Lizárraga and of Castillo, was a Spanish conquistador in Central America during the late colonial period of New Spain. Born in Olóriz, Navarre, he is noted for leading the 1696–97 expeditionary force which resulted in the fall of the last significant independent Maya stronghold, Nojpetén, located on an island in Lake Petén Itzá in the northern Petén Basin region of present-day Guatemala. He served as governor of the Yucatán until 1708, when he was named Governor-General of the Philippines. Around the time that he was named to that post, he was made a knight of the Order of Santiago. He died in Manila in 1715.

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. In 1692 he was appointed to be governor of Yucatán, with his term to begin in 1698. By 1694 he had been appointed as alcalde ordinario (a Spanish colonial official) of Mexico City. Ursúa took office in Yucatán four years earlier than planned, becoming acting governor on 17 December 1694.

Itzaʼ (also known as Itza or Itzaj) is an endangered Mayan language spoken by the Itza people near Lake Peten Itza in north-central Guatemala and neighboring Belize. The language has less than 40 fluent speakers, all older adults.

Itzaʼ was the language of administration across much of the Yucatán Peninsula during the supremacy of Chichen Itza. Later, the Itza people had the last independent Maya nation in Mesoamerica until 1697. During this time, the Itza people resettled their ancestral home in the Petén Basin. The subjugation of the Itza capital by the Spanish forced the Itza people to flee or live amongst the Spaniards, such as in San Jose, Guatemala, where the only modern speakers of the language live.

San José is a municipality in the Petén Department of Guatemala. It contains 3,602 people. It lies on the north shore of Lake Petén Itzá and is located a few kilometers from the Classic Period Maya ruin of Motul de San José. El Zotz is also located in the municipality.

Nojpetén (also spelled Noh Petén, and also known as Tayasal) was the capital city of the Itza Maya kingdom of Petén Itzá. It was located on an island in Lake Petén Itzá in the modern department of Petén in northern Guatemala. The island is now occupied by the modern town of Flores, the capital of the Petén department, and has had uninterrupted occupation since pre-Columbian times. Nojpetén had defensive walls built upon the low ground of the island, which may have been hastily constructed by the Itza at a time when they felt threatened either by the encroaching Spanish or by other Maya groups.