Itza

The Itza were a Maya people associated with Chichen Itza in northern Yucatán. Their kings bore the title Kan Ek', and the people later established a kingdom on Lake Petén Itzá.

After the fall of Mayapan around 1441–1446, the Itza migrated south and founded the island city of Nojpetén. Cortés crossed the lake in 1525, but the kingdom survived: it expelled Franciscan missions in 1618–1619 and defeated an expedition in 1622. In 1697 Martín de Ursúa stormed Nojpetén and ended its independence.