Manche Ch'ol

The Manche Ch'ol were a former Ch’ol-speaking Maya people inhabiting the extreme south of what is now the Petén Department of modern Guatemala, the area around the Lake Izabal (also known as the Golfo Dulce), and southern Belize. The Manche Ch'ol took the name Manche from the name of their main settlement. They were the last group of eastern Cholan-speakers to remain independent and ethnically distinct. It is likely that they were descended from the inhabitants of Classic period (c. 250-900 AD) Maya cities in the southeastern Maya region, such as Nim Li Punit, Copán and Quiriguá.

The first Spanish contact with the Manche Ch'ol was in 1525, when an expedition led by Hernán Cortés crossed their territory. From the early 17th century onwards, Dominican friars attempted their concentration into mission towns and their conversion to Christianity. These attempts alarmed their warlike Itza neighbours to the northwest, who attacked the mission towns and fomented rebellion among the Manche. The Manche Ch'ol in the mission towns were badly affected by disease, which also encouraged them to flee the towns.

Manche

Manche (French pronunciation: ​[mɑ̃ʃ]) is a French department in Normandy (Normandie), named for the English Channel, which is known as La Manche, literally "the sleeve", in French, that borders its north and west shores and part of its east shore.

History

Manche is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Normandie.

The first capital was Coutances until 1796, and it resumed that role after World War II because of the almost complete destruction of Saint-Lô during the battle of Normandy following D-Day. When Saint-Lô was rebuilt, it again became the capital.

Geography

The Department includes the Cotentin Peninsula down to the famous Mont St Michel; though of the off-shore Channel Islands only Chausey forms part of the territory of the department.

Manche borders the Normandy departments of Calvados to the east and Orne to the southeast. Mayenne, a department of the Pays de la Loire, is to the south-east, and Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany is to the south-west.

Manche (disambiguation)

Manche is a French department in Lower Normandy.

Manche or La Manche may also refer to:

See also