Chapter 3.23 The Peace of Ixbalanqué 451-506 CE
Chapter 3.23 The Peace of Ixbalanqué 451-506 CE
After the long rule of Ixbalanqué Christians were finally accepted into the Empire after the conquest of Carthage and the acceptance of Jesus into the Mayan Pantheon, this started a period known as “The Peace of Ixbalanqué”, tolerance of another faiths was common and even if the world around the Empire was engulfed in the flames of the Hunnic conquest of Europe the Mayans were more preoccupied about trade and prosperity than about war outside the borders of their lands.
Ixbalanqué was succeeded by his son, who was crowned as Kuhul Ahau Tecun-Uman II, he was a wise young man that was best known for not meeting the beauty standards of the Mayan culture, his head had not been elongated during his childhood so his appearance was strange to the Imperial nobility and because of that he was nicknamed as “the ugly”. He would be remembered for his two most important reforms , the first by dividing the Empire into three viceroyalties; Lusitania, that encompassed most of the Iberian lands of the Empire, Mauria, that encompassed the North African coast of the Empire and Gaetulia, the desertic lands of the south inhabited by the Berber nomadic tribes.
His second reform would be to ban cranial enlargement in the Empire.
He died in 466 CE and was succeeded by his son, who was crowned as Kuhul Ahau Ixbalanqué II
The rule of Ixbalanqué II was peaceful and favored greater integration of the Christian subjects into the Empire, even if he faced some minor Visigothic revolts that were easily subdued.
Even if the Mayans had accepted Christ as one of their demigods during the reign of Ixbalanqué I in they were not Christians in the proper sense, and had continued to worship their many gods, including Buluc Chabtan their god of war that had to be honored with sacrifice and even with the ban on human sacrifice proclaimed more than 30 years ago some Mayans continued with that practice in secret, to most scholars under the tutelage of the Kuhul Ahau seemed that the mixture between the old and the new ways was incompatible and a recipe for continuous religious tension in the Empire and great debates were held all over the Empire about the nature of their religion. After all, the changes made were too great and challenged a celestial order that had existed for millennia, if the Kuhul Ahau was now the biggest religious authority inside the Empire and most priests respected this fact, the lack of coherence between the diverse Imperial and regional beliefs was confusing at best.
That’s why Ixbalanqué II summoned all priests of the Empire to a great council to be held in the Great Temple Complex of New Tikal, soon the Visigothic Fraticelli, Maya Old Icon (Maya-Christians) and Phoenician Nestorian priests and others from the minor faiths came to the Imperial Capital in great numbers and discussed the theological nature of their faiths for many weeks, at the end they agreed in some points for the sake of Imperial unity after the intervention of the Kuhul Ahau as the higher autority:
After the end of the Council there where two major consequences to it:
The Visigothic Fraticelli revolted and they were quickly subdued, their leaders were decapitated instead of Crucified.
The Balearic Islands, the epicenter of the Phoenician culture after the fall of Carthage became a center of learning during this period and many classical books were translated into Mayan, and after the Council they became more and more culturally relevant in the Empire.
The Empire at the end of the Century
Ixbalanqué II reigned without further conflicts for the rest of his life until his death in 501 CE, after 35 years of almost complete peace. He was succeeded by his son, Butz-Chan.
Butz-Chan ruled for 4 years and died from a mysterious illness, we was succeeded by his 6 years old son Ixbalanqué III.
_____________________________
Reign of Ixbalanqué III Q'uk'umatz 505-506 CE
Who was in turn mysteriously murdered in 506, after only one year of rule.
_____________________________
Reign of Pacal-Balam Q'uk'umatz 506- CE
His five years old brother Pacal-Balam was crowned in 506 as the New Kuhul Ahau, but his reign did not lasted even one month and the viceroyalties revolted demanding independence, this time it was not a minor revolt of the southerners or the northerner Visigothic subjects of the Mayans ….instead was almost the entire Empire demanding independence.
With a kid being the Kuhul Ahau and the Council having no other options the demands of the Imperial subjects were accepted and the Empire was shattered.
The peace of Ixbalanqué lasted 55 years. Will the divided Mayan Kingdoms survive enough time until a strong ruler is capable of reunifying the Empire or they will end being conquered by the Huns?
After the long rule of Ixbalanqué Christians were finally accepted into the Empire after the conquest of Carthage and the acceptance of Jesus into the Mayan Pantheon, this started a period known as “The Peace of Ixbalanqué”, tolerance of another faiths was common and even if the world around the Empire was engulfed in the flames of the Hunnic conquest of Europe the Mayans were more preoccupied about trade and prosperity than about war outside the borders of their lands.
Ixbalanqué was succeeded by his son, who was crowned as Kuhul Ahau Tecun-Uman II, he was a wise young man that was best known for not meeting the beauty standards of the Mayan culture, his head had not been elongated during his childhood so his appearance was strange to the Imperial nobility and because of that he was nicknamed as “the ugly”. He would be remembered for his two most important reforms , the first by dividing the Empire into three viceroyalties; Lusitania, that encompassed most of the Iberian lands of the Empire, Mauria, that encompassed the North African coast of the Empire and Gaetulia, the desertic lands of the south inhabited by the Berber nomadic tribes.
His second reform would be to ban cranial enlargement in the Empire.
He died in 466 CE and was succeeded by his son, who was crowned as Kuhul Ahau Ixbalanqué II
_____________________________
Reign of Ixbalanqué II Q'uk'umatz 466- 501 CE
Reign of Ixbalanqué II Q'uk'umatz 466- 501 CE
The rule of Ixbalanqué II was peaceful and favored greater integration of the Christian subjects into the Empire, even if he faced some minor Visigothic revolts that were easily subdued.
The Council of New Tikal 472 CE
Even if the Mayans had accepted Christ as one of their demigods during the reign of Ixbalanqué I in they were not Christians in the proper sense, and had continued to worship their many gods, including Buluc Chabtan their god of war that had to be honored with sacrifice and even with the ban on human sacrifice proclaimed more than 30 years ago some Mayans continued with that practice in secret, to most scholars under the tutelage of the Kuhul Ahau seemed that the mixture between the old and the new ways was incompatible and a recipe for continuous religious tension in the Empire and great debates were held all over the Empire about the nature of their religion. After all, the changes made were too great and challenged a celestial order that had existed for millennia, if the Kuhul Ahau was now the biggest religious authority inside the Empire and most priests respected this fact, the lack of coherence between the diverse Imperial and regional beliefs was confusing at best.
That’s why Ixbalanqué II summoned all priests of the Empire to a great council to be held in the Great Temple Complex of New Tikal, soon the Visigothic Fraticelli, Maya Old Icon (Maya-Christians) and Phoenician Nestorian priests and others from the minor faiths came to the Imperial Capital in great numbers and discussed the theological nature of their faiths for many weeks, at the end they agreed in some points for the sake of Imperial unity after the intervention of the Kuhul Ahau as the higher autority:
- Divine Hierarchy and syncretism:
Only one major God, now unnamed because of an ongoing trend among Christians about not naming their God. Some called him “El” but it was prohibited the use of the old “Itzamná” name because of heretic connotations that caused confusion among the people.
The mother of Christ was worshipped by Nestorians and Fraticelli but they didn’t agreed about the divine nature of her, Mayans had added her cult to their old cult of the Triple Goddess, a compromise was achieved and Ixchel was identified as Mary, this caused concern among the Nestorians and Fraticelli inside the Empire but they saw this as a necessary compromise to expand their influence.
Jesus Christ remained with central role it has in Christianism, with the expanded aspect of being the son of God and his sacrifice being the reason why human sacrifice was no longer necessary in the Celestial order. There was a huge discussion about the nature of Jesus with the Nestorians being supported by the Kuhul Ahau and their vision (Dyophysitism) as the official inside of the borders of the Empire, the Fraticelli protested but as they were the minority they lost the dispute.
The cult of Buluc Chabtan was banned and replaced with the cult of Saint Iacobus Boanerges (Saint James in otl), one of the followers of Jesus that came to New Tikal before the Mayan Invasion and created the first Christian churches in Iberia.
Many other minor Mayan cults were mixed or replaced with Christian Saints. But the Imperial Cult to Kukulkan, the Sky Serpent God related to the Imperial family line continued.
- Church Hierarchy:
The Churches would remain independent with only the contents of the Council being mandatory for all of them; there would be no outside authority on the Churches aside from the Kuhul Ahau.
The mother of Christ was worshipped by Nestorians and Fraticelli but they didn’t agreed about the divine nature of her, Mayans had added her cult to their old cult of the Triple Goddess, a compromise was achieved and Ixchel was identified as Mary, this caused concern among the Nestorians and Fraticelli inside the Empire but they saw this as a necessary compromise to expand their influence.
Jesus Christ remained with central role it has in Christianism, with the expanded aspect of being the son of God and his sacrifice being the reason why human sacrifice was no longer necessary in the Celestial order. There was a huge discussion about the nature of Jesus with the Nestorians being supported by the Kuhul Ahau and their vision (Dyophysitism) as the official inside of the borders of the Empire, the Fraticelli protested but as they were the minority they lost the dispute.
The cult of Buluc Chabtan was banned and replaced with the cult of Saint Iacobus Boanerges (Saint James in otl), one of the followers of Jesus that came to New Tikal before the Mayan Invasion and created the first Christian churches in Iberia.
Many other minor Mayan cults were mixed or replaced with Christian Saints. But the Imperial Cult to Kukulkan, the Sky Serpent God related to the Imperial family line continued.
- Church Hierarchy:
The Churches would remain independent with only the contents of the Council being mandatory for all of them; there would be no outside authority on the Churches aside from the Kuhul Ahau.
After the end of the Council there where two major consequences to it:
The Visigothic Fraticelli revolted and they were quickly subdued, their leaders were decapitated instead of Crucified.
The Balearic Islands, the epicenter of the Phoenician culture after the fall of Carthage became a center of learning during this period and many classical books were translated into Mayan, and after the Council they became more and more culturally relevant in the Empire.
The Empire at the end of the Century
Ixbalanqué II reigned without further conflicts for the rest of his life until his death in 501 CE, after 35 years of almost complete peace. He was succeeded by his son, Butz-Chan.
_____________________________
Reign of But-Chan Q'uk'umatz 501-505 CE
Reign of But-Chan Q'uk'umatz 501-505 CE
Butz-Chan ruled for 4 years and died from a mysterious illness, we was succeeded by his 6 years old son Ixbalanqué III.
_____________________________
Reign of Ixbalanqué III Q'uk'umatz 505-506 CE
Who was in turn mysteriously murdered in 506, after only one year of rule.
_____________________________
Reign of Pacal-Balam Q'uk'umatz 506- CE
His five years old brother Pacal-Balam was crowned in 506 as the New Kuhul Ahau, but his reign did not lasted even one month and the viceroyalties revolted demanding independence, this time it was not a minor revolt of the southerners or the northerner Visigothic subjects of the Mayans ….instead was almost the entire Empire demanding independence.
With a kid being the Kuhul Ahau and the Council having no other options the demands of the Imperial subjects were accepted and the Empire was shattered.
The peace of Ixbalanqué lasted 55 years. Will the divided Mayan Kingdoms survive enough time until a strong ruler is capable of reunifying the Empire or they will end being conquered by the Huns?
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