In 1544 Juan de Aguilar was appointed as commanding officer of a company of mounted troops to retake Bacalar and the remaining northern districts of Chetumal Province. After retaking Bacalar and conquering Chanlacan, he marched further south into modern Belize and conquered the area. In 1547 he established the town of Nueva Sevilla somewhere in south-eastern Belize, probably in Stann Creek.[1]
The Dominican Friars were very upset at Aguilar’s bloody conquest and demanded from the Spanish Crown that Aguilar should leave. At the time of the evacuation of Nueva Sevilla somewhere around 1551, it was the second largest town in the Yucatan Peninsula (78 inhabitants versus Mérida’s 80+).[1]