The moment
In July 1562 the Franciscan Diego de Landa staged an auto-da-fé at Maní after finding that the Maya still worshipped their gods. His friars tortured thousands of Maya as idolaters and many died. Landa wrote that he burned all the Maya books he found, because they held only superstition, and that this grieved the Maya deeply. Only four pre-Hispanic Maya books survive.
People: Diego de Landa