Diego de Landa was not tolerant of the natives in the new world and their slow conversion to Christianity. While in the Yucatan, he started the inquisition in the new world. Diego de Landa ordered the imprisonment of Mayan leaders and torchured them. Sometimes, he also imprisioned women and children. However, the Mayans refuse to convert and commit suicide instead.

The Mayans made their last stand on November 9, 1546 in Chemax. Known by the Mayans as the day 5 Cimi, 19 Xul, the name of the date itself means the "final death." On that day, six Mayan provinces attacked the Spanish. The Mayans cruxcified the captured Spanyards. In some instances, they shot the Spanyards to death with arrows. Also, they roasted Spanish children with copal inceanse. They used the teachings of Christianity against the Spanish. They killed the Spanyards the same way Jesus and Saint Sebastian were killed.

The Mayan rebellion failed at Chemax. For 200 years, torchure of the Mayans would continue. The Maya continued to resist the Spanish using what they had learned from the Christians against them. The crucifix became a very powerful weapon of the Maya to instill fear in the Spanyards.