[11][n 5] The first Spanish residents of Yucatán were Gonzalo Guerrero, Jerónimo de Aguilar, and their stranded colleagues, who in 1511 had been swept towards the Peninsula from their shipwreck at the Pedro Bank, southwest of Jamaica, and thereafter impressed or enslaved by a batab or mayor of the Ekab Province.

[12] Hispano-Mayan hostilities broke out on 5 March 1517, when the Hernández de Córdoba expedition were ambushed by the military or militia of the Ekab Province near that state's eponymous capital.

[18][n 9] In 1546, state and local officers, and priests, of the (recently defeated) pre-Columbian province of Kupul began organising a coalition force for a swift military strike on Mérida, Valladolid, and Bacalar.

[26][n 12] The Captaincy General of Yucatán was created in 1617 to provide more autonomy for the Peninsula, previously ruled directly by a simple governor under the jurisdiction of Audiencia of Mexico.

Its creation was part of the, ultimately futile, Habsburg attempt in the late 16th century to prevent incursion into the Caribbean by foreign powers, which also involved the establishment of Captaincies General in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and neighboring Guatemala.

With the addition of the title of captain general to the governor of Yucatán, the province gained greater autonomy in administration and military matters.

Unlike in most areas of Spanish America, no formal corregidores were used in Yucatán, and instead the governor-captain general relied on other subordinate officials to handle the oversight of local districts.

The Captaincy General remained part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, with the viceroy retaining the right to oversee the province's governance, when it was deemed necessary, and the Audiencia of Mexico taking judicial cases in appeal.

The province and captaincy general covered the territory that today are the States of Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Yucatán, and nominally the northern areas of Petén and Belize.

[29] The letters patent of 8 December 1526, granted to Francisco de Montejo for the conquest of the Yucatán Peninsula, incorporated various provisions designed to ensure the successful conversion of Mayan residents to (Roman Catholic) Christianity.

[38][n 19] Directly subordinate was the adelantado, governor, captain general, and alguacil mayor of Yucatán, who was afforded executive, legislative and judicial authority over the province.