The priest Diego de Landa was a strong evangelizer for the catholic faith in the early years of the Spanish in the Yucatan. He was keen to effectively eradicate the Mayan religion and culture. He led a famous purge through the land to uncover and destroy any Mayan artifact found by the Spanish. During this purge, many valuable Mayan codices (of which there are only 3 remains of still in existence) were burnt and thousands of Maya were tortured.
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