Martín de Ursúa (or Urzúa) y Arizmendi (Spanish pronunciation: [maɾˈtin de wɾˈsu.a j aɾiθˈmendi]; February 22, 1653 – February 4, 1715), Count of Lizárraga and of Castillo,[1] was a Spanish conquistador in Central America during the late colonial period of New Spain.
Born in Olóriz, Navarre,[2] 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.
[5] By 1694 he had been appointed as alcalde ordinario (a Spanish colonial official) of Mexico City.
[4] Ursúa took office in Yucatán four years earlier than planned, becoming acting governor on 17 December 1694.
[6] Martín de Ursúa was from a line of distinguished and successful noblemen that was extremely well connected politically and that intermarried with other influential noble families to form a kinship network that was spread across Europe and the Americas:[7]