Home › Timeline › The Releases, and the Enclosure That Follows Each › Landa burns the Maya books
In July 1562 the Franciscan Diego de Landa held an auto-da-fé at Maní in Yucatán that destroyed about 5,000 Maya images and precious Maya books; tried in Spain for his methods, he wrote an account of Maya culture and language (1566) and later returned as bishop. Only four Maya books are known to have survived the Spanish clergy's burnings: the Dresden, Madrid, Paris and Grolier codices.
The mechanism
CUSTODY OF THE WORD
How it was checked
- EvidenceT5 INDEPENDENT SECULAR; Status: ADDED 2026-09-19
- Letter eraTHE RELEASES, AND THE ENCLOSURE THAT FOLLOWS EACH 1382 to 1694
- SourcesRECORD — Britannica, 'Diego de Landa'; Britannica, 'Dresden Codex' · checked 19 September: Britannica (read in a browser; WebFetch is refused by the site), 'Diego de Landa'; Britannica (read in a browser; WebFetch is refused by the site), 'Dresden Codex'
The whole timelineThe Releases, and the Enclosure That Follows EachThe historical recordAll eras