Translation:True History of the Profound Mexico/15
14 . THE MEXICAS.
The most studied and vilified culture by invaders has been the Mexica. The conquerors had to disproportionately increase the alleged atrocities and the warriors’ ability and the power of the "natives", given that it was them who defeated the Aztecs. These false stories increased the alleged heroic deeds and courage developed to defeat the "powerful mexicas". This was totally untrue, because we know that the conquest war was actually a civil war between native peoples, provoked, encouraged and directed by the spaniards, because they used the prophecies that weighed on the Aztec ruling class and their own internal contradictions. As well as the existing resistance against the Aztec by peoples under their domination. In addition to having the largest smallpox pandemic of the Anahuac history, brought by Europeans.
Then the missionaries arrived, who "investigated" the customs and religion of our ancestors in order to eradicate them, and the few that honestly tried to know them, found many limitations by the language, because 16th century Nahuatl was much richer and profound than the Spanish at the time. In fact, philosophy, religion and the sciences were generally much more advanced than the Europeans despite living at a time of cultural decadence.
There had been centuries of civilization collapse. There was a "cultural depression" in the Anahuac, which eagerly awaited the implementation of the following cycle that repeated every 52 years, with the dreaded end of the Fifth Sun. The principles and values of the Classical period slowly dissolved over time and in the material ambition of the leaders of the recently created "Lordships". These lordships were the organization forms that developed in the Postclassical period. These were not European style monarchies or kingdoms, but possessed a leadership that was not hereditary, although they came from a group of families with lineages. The Tlatócan[1] was the Supreme Council and delegated power on two authorities, one was the Cihuacoátl (female Serpent) engaged in the Administration, and the other in Organization, the Tlatoani[2] (who speaks). These new organizations or "Lordships" faced continuous territorial subjugation and power struggles, making alliances and marriages to consolidate them.
The faceless people.
The peoples of Anahuac were in this "cultural depression", when from the north came the last wild and nomadic people. The mexicas when they reached the Valley of Mexico didn't speak Nahuatl, did not plant corn, weave cotton, in one word they were "Chichimeca", a Nahuatl word which is equal to barbarian in spanish.
"Then, the Aztecs began to come here, were foreign to established peoples ]
they exist, they are painted, [were in a permanent state of war]
they name themselves in aztec language
the places they passed as the mexicas came.
and when the mexicas came,
they certainly walked without direction, [did not have a cultural project]
they came last. [Did not live as a people and culture, during the Preclassical and Classical periods, and were not Toltecáyotl heirs. ]
“When coming
when they followed the path,
they were not welcome anywhere.[were rejected as barbarian and warriors]
Everywhere they were scolded. [Did not know the ancient and complex social forms]
Nobody knew their face. [Were not heirs of the ancient Anahuac cultural development]
Everywhere they told them:
—“Who are you?
—Where do you come from?”
(Matritense Codex Royal History Academy, fol. 180r.)[3]
After pilgrimaging for some time and with many adventures, because nobody wanted them and feared them, they settled in an island of the great lagoon and established their capital towards the year 1325, barely 194 years before the arrival of the Europeans and the destruction of their empire. Professor Séjourné states that the mexicas began their expansion from a primitive cultural background.
"Considering their will as the only possible magic force, the men of this episode seem to want to proudly differentiate themselves from the animal and plant world with which thus far were so closely related, and replaced the sorceress by the warrior chief. This seems to indicate that the aztecs did not know more than the archaic witchcraft laws until they made contact with religious beliefs [basically philosophical A.N.] of the highlands, beliefs they immediately adopted in their rudimentary mentality.”
“My main coming and my work is war... I have to keep and gather all sorts of Nations, and this is not graceful.” (Mexican Chronicler, Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc.)[4]
Such words spoken by Huitzilopochtli, after his victory over Malinalxochitl, to a small group of nude men who departed to conquer the world, mark the beginning of a dramatic human adventure... When they are in contact with other peoples, we shall see them rigorously apply this philosophy of power will.
Late arrivals to the Valley of Mexico, immediately set out to fight for land and political supremacy over tribes that, by virtue of having already taken more civilized customs are surprised by the brutality of the newcomers." (Laurette Séjourné. 1957)
There is a history where supposedly the mexicas left Chicomoztoc, a mythical place of "seven caves" and they were in pilgrimage searching for a promised land, guided by a Messiah born to a virgin mother. The signal was finding an Eagle devouring a snake on top of a cactus.
Must remember that Tlacaelel ordered the destruction of ancient codices and also ordered rewriting history. It is likely that this "origin myth" dates back to very ancient times, probably of the Olmec period and the mexicas, while remaking history, usurped the place of the Anahuac original people, because it is difficult to believe that when they arrived to the Anahuac Valley in very poor cultural conditions, they brought with them such a very complex story which is of universal character, as other cultures of the world also claim such a mythical origin, coming from a place of seven villages, hills or mountains. Coincidentally, they claim that their guide was a being born of a virgin mother and that he would lead them to settle in a promised land.
"They brought an idol they called Huitzilopochtli, carried by four persons that served him, and to whom he very secretly told all events of the itinerary and route, advising them of everything that would happen to them.
And so much was the reverence and fear that they had over this idol, than nobody else dared touch or get close. It was inside an ark of reeds, that until today no one knows or has seen the form of this Idol. These priests made people worship it as god, preaching to them the law that were to follow and comply with, the ceremonies and rites with which they were to provide offerings. And they did this at all places they settled, the same way that the children of Israel used it all the time they spent in the desert." (Fray Diego Durán)
Another important point to consider is the attitude of some missionaries and religious that tried to find in Quetzalcoatl and the first Anahuac settlers, Saint Thomas[5] and the descendants of the people of Israel. This has been, and is very common by foreign researchers, apparently few have come to find the truth to the Anahuac civilization, because the majority of these "scholars" tried to match our civilization to their preconceived ideas of what we were and are. If in the 16th century some said that Quetzalcoatl was St. Thomas, in the 20th century they said he was extra-terrestrial.
"The mexican dynasty origins of are obscure, and this obscurity has become denser by the aztec historians efforts to provide nobility titles to their governing lineage. They tried to demonstrate that their recent dynasty, composed in the final analysis of "conceited" (Par-venus) people, descended from the great legendary Toltec monarchy". (Jacques Soustelle. 1955)
Another aspect worthy of consideration, in the misrepresentation of the "mexica history", was when in the mid-18th century creoles retake "ancient history of Mexico" and make it theirs. In fact, Clavijero[6] incorporates the Anahuac history to the new "ancient history of mexican creoles". Where the mexicas become aztecs and shall gain supreme importance. The spanish creole turned the Aztecs, into the greeks or the romans of the new world they were forming. Many of the supposed aztec deeds were born in the origin myths invented by the creoles of the 18th century.
The ideologist.
Tlacaelel, the longest serving Cihuacoátl, worked for several Tenochtitlan Tlatoanis[7] at the time of its greatest splendor, he was the ideologist and leader of the aztec empire, when he transgreded the laws and regulations of the ancient teaching of Quetzalcoatl, removed the spiritual meaning of life and gave a material sense to existence, both to individuals and society and the State. The mexicas used the ancient cultural structures that were kept as a remote Toltec legacy, but changed its sense and background. It is assumed that during Moctezuma Ilhuicamina and Tlacaelel youth, they attended the Cholula Calmécac, as the last Toltec wisdom representation in the Anahuac of those days. This Calmécac prepared the most able young people with lineage from all villages in the Highlands, transmitting the ancient Toltec knowledge, to form them as leaders. These two personages will be very important in the formation of the so-called Aztec Empire.
Moctezuma Ilhuicamina was the tlatoani that consolidated the defeat of the Azcapotzalco tyrant named Maxtla and started, together with Netzahualcoyotl of Texcoco the triple alliance military expansion. Tlacaelel, was the ideologist of the philosophical, religious, economic and political reform that promoted the Aztecs in a few years, not only as owners of Cem Anahuac; but contravening the ancient prophecy and myths, the Aztecs self-proclaimed themselves as holders of the Fifth Sun, proposing in their reforms preventing the end of the cosmogony era in which they lived and in which they were expanding.
"After the Aztec victory over the Azcapotzalco tecpanecas, the conceited mexicas also subdued the lordship of Xochimilco, Cuitláhuac and Chalco, in the southern region of the Valley of Mexico. Particularly the conquest of Cuitláhuac is extremely significant. Planned by Tlacaelel, after having defeated Xochimilco, it turns into a sort of symbol of what will be the work of the great aztec adviser.
King Itzcóatl, persuaded by Tlacaelel, had sent messengers to Cuitláhuac, demanding from them, at the risk of being invaded, two things: to send their maiden daughters and sisters to come to Tenochtitlan to sing and dance in their pleasure houses, as well as the delivery of various flowers, with experienced gardeners to plant them and cultivate them in the Aztec capital. In a nutshell, the aztecs demanded the flowers of Cuitláhuac and the songs of their maidens. (Perhaps the what mexicas symbolically referred to was to find blood alliances with subjected people and appropriating the Toltec knowledge, inheritance and the Toltecáyotl, and not necessarily their flowers, gardeners and women for pleasure. Author's note.)
Then, recalling the Nahuatl language idiomatic expression -in Xochitl, in cuícatl-, which literally means "flowers and songs", but that in its metaphorical sense connotes the idea "poetry, art and symbolism", could outline the aztec claim and the purpose of obtaining for themselves, even if by war, the flowers and songs, or the cultural message of the other peoples in the Valley of Mexico.
Once defeated the people of Cuitláhuac, Xochimilco, Chalco, before engaging in new conquests, Tlacaelel decided to consolidate the aztec power through an ideological reform. First of all he considered it necessary to forge what today we would call a "historical consciousness", of which the aztecs could be proud. For this, Tlacaelel assembled the mexica lords. By common agreement it was determined to burn the defeated ancient codices and books of paintings of peoples and even the own mexicas. Implicitly they were conceiving history as a domination instrument:
"Their History was kept.
But, by then it was burnt:
when Itzcóatl reigned, in Mexico.
A resolution was taken,
The Mexica lords said:
it is not convenient that people
know the paintings. [the codices]
Those who are subject, [the people]
they shall spoil
and earth shall be crooked
because many lies are kept there
and many in them have been taken as gods."
(Sahagún informers)
"With the old books burnt, the aztecs begin a new historical and religious vision." (Miguel Leon Portilla. 1961)
The philosophical and religious reforms.
The mexicas led by Tlacaelel destroyed the most important and ancient codices, trying to erase Toltec history and philosophy. Thus, the transgression of the Quetzalcoatl rule and change of his religion. This is, the real problem —unsolved to date— that mexicans have had for more than six centuries. The conquest and all the subsequent evils derived from "the absence of the wise Toltec masters and of the philosophical and ideological transgression the mexicas started and later culminated by the Spaniards."
Under the Tlacaelel rule the mexica began a new era in the cultural life of people that had thousands of years of living in the Anahuac Valley and which by that time had almost five centuries of cultural decline after the collapse of the Classical period. With the vigor and the powerful will that characterized the mexicas, the decadent culture was “re—functionalized" and created a new proposal to stimulate the postclassical culture.
"After this party ended, the Lords of the cities went to their provinces and kingdoms and tried to imitate the Mexicans, and thus began to build temples and to sacrifice, in that fashion and means, men, and to have and to elect priests and to make those ceremonies and rituals; to form cavalry orders, and to have armed armies, colleges and schools of singing and dancing and all the exercises the town of Mexico had." (Fray Diego Durán)
The new ideology proposed changing the spirit cult, by the material cult. They maintained that the heart sacrifice was not spiritual, that people had to be sacrificed physically and with their pulsating heart feed the "Fifth Sun" that was threating their existence, according to the ancient prophecies. But the expansion was not only religious and philosophical, defeated peoples were subjected to heavy tax burdens, as never before happened in the Anahuac. The Tlacaelel changes gave the bases of Aztec power and paradoxically also signified their ruin upon the Europeans arrival.
"With the aztecs victorious, Tlacaelel took several measures that transformed the thinking and the life of his people. Tlacaelel never wanted to be king. He preferred to act only as an adviser, first to Itzcóatl and then Moctezuma Ilhuicamina and Axayacatl... The happy Tlacaelel conjunction and these two extraordinary monarchs, Itzcóatl and Moctezuma Ilhuicamina, certainly were the beginning and consolidation of the ancient mexicas. The Tlacaelel figure, as noted the by the famous scientist, apparently of German origin, Henrico Martinez, at the beginning of the 17TH century, that was “to whom the aztecs owed almost all of their empire glory”, requires much more attention than the almost non-existent, thus far granted." (Miguel Leon Portilla. 1961)
Tlacaelel replaced the millennial religious pair of Tlaloc—Quetzalcoatl, the later replaced by Huitzilopochtli, aztec god of war and the material. He replaced the spiritual sacrifice for the material captives sacrifice. In a time of cultural decadency, with the absence of the great masters, the prophecies of the Quetzalcoatl return and the threat that every 52 years would end the Fifth Sun; the Mexica "re—functionalized the system by changing the philosophical and religious premises in favor of material development, warrior, fanatical and of neighboring people exploitation. In other words, the mexicas changed the spiritual meaning of life, by a material sense. The materialistic ideology, warrior mystical became at the same time his greatest achievement and also the origin of their defeat, because when the spaniards arrived in the year that the prophecy predicted the return of Quetzalcoatl, and that Hernán Cortés skillfully exploited, assuming himself as captain of the expected personage. Almost everyone in the Anahuac world turned against those that one hundred years before, had violated millennial humanistic thought. The mexica themselves, many years before the arrival of the conquistadors and under a Tlacaelel initiative, sent messengers to the mythical place of origin, and returned to tell Moctezuma I, that he was threatening the Huitzilopochtli power.
"And of the main complaints that Coatlicue had of her son Huitzilopochtli, and how she expected it and what she said, that after some time, he should be thrown from that land and that he had to return, because by the same order that he had to hold nations, by the same order they would be taken away and removed the domain and lordship he had over them". (Fray Diego Durán)
All paid a very expensive price for their mistakes. The aztecs for transgressors and imperialists, and the people who fought with the spaniards against them; because at the end of the war they realized the spaniards were not Quetzalcoatl envoys and turned out to be more exploitative and sanguinary than the mexicas.
The "famous" aztec empire did not last but 196 years, since the founding of Tenochtitlan in 1325, until its destruction in 1521. The most important ancient Mexico period was the Classical, between 200 BCE and 850 CE; the representative culture was Toltecs and the center of this impressive cultural development was Teotihuacan. The mexicas arrived in the Anahuac Valley in times of decadence, when the Toltec masters had been gone for centuries and Teotihuacan was only a series of mounds covered by dirt, weed and oblivion. The famous "aztec empire" was limited barely had 81 years of power and splendor. It is surprising how official history -from colonial times- has tried to make mexicans lose their historical memory and make them believe that their "distant past", is a culture such as the mexica, which was characterized as: imperialists, centralist, transgressors of philosophy, ideology, religion and ethical and moral standards of our ancient heritage, the Toltecáyotl, that was created from the millenary olmec times.
The Divine Mission.
The mexicas called themselves the "Sun supporting" people. And they self-assigned the divine mission to sustain and conquer the "land surrounded by heavenly waters" through the imposition of their tribal god Huitzilopochtli, in replacement of the millenary Quetzalcoatl. The Tlacaelel reforms changed the spiritual sense of religion and society and gave it a material sense. Tlacaelel used Toltec forms, but definitely changed its essence. It is for this reason that we find the symbolism of mexica religion poetic, in their totally dehumanized practices.
"How can it be accepted that the belief in the Sun tyranny over physical life could have taken roots at the hearts of men? It is more likely to think that only by force they could implant it and that the spirituality of some aspects of the aztec life should come from an ancient tradition, betrayed in it’s his essence for the benefit of a temporary structure dominated by a ruthless will to power". (Laurette Séjourné. 1957)
To carry out this titanic enterprise, society was militarized. Schools no longer had the spiritual mystical character and began forming warrior groups for "material battles". The Telpochcalli was transformed into a military academy for the commoners (macehuales) where troops were formed. The Calmécac went, from being a school for the pililis or noblemen sons, to train officers’ cadres. The Toltec flower war became a war to take prisoners and take them to ritual sacrifices to "feed" the Fifth Sun and prevent its death and the end of the Aztec Empire. The Tlaloc-Quetzalcoatl duality was replaced by that of Tlaloc-Huitzilopochtli.
"To die in combat, or better yet, in the stone of sacrifices, was for them the promise of a happy eternity: because the warrior fallen on the battlefield, or destroyed, had assured himself a place among the "eagle peers", the quauhteca, who accompanied the Sun from its raise on the east through its setting, in a resplendent and joyful procession, to later reincarnate into a hummingbird and forever live among the flowers." (Jacques Soustelle. 1955)
The mexicas changed the millenary people’s organization of independent communities and began to develop from the Triple Alliance, new lordships groups as a powerful military, political and economic force, as was never seen before in the Anahuac. War became "state reason" and small skirmishes, almost symbolic and little bloody, became major military campaigns that moved thousands of warriors to great distances, in neatly organized, armed and equipped armies, as had not happened before in the Anahuac.
"In aztec religion, we are told, men had no other purpose on earth that to feed to the Sun with his blood, without which the star died exhausted. It is this tragic dilemma which imposed upon leaders’ the sad obligation to choose between the killing and the end of the world." (Laurette Séjourné. 1957)
Lordships were subjected and created heavy tax burdens, because the objective of the war was not only to obtain the "divine liquid" to feed the Fifth Sun, but also obtain goods and raw material in large quantities from the subject peoples, that allowed the formidable growth of Tenochtitlan, that in a few years had monumental works, which perhaps could not had been created in that short period of time, only by the effort and work of the mexicas. A vigorous impulse was given to trade, as never before in the Anahuac. The pochtecas or traders came to occupy a high hierarchy in the Tenochtitlan social scale.
The Pochtecas and the Warriors.
The pochtecas came to have great power, not only economic and political, but even military. To the extent that at a point in time they confronted the Tenochtitlan Tlatócan, but were defeated and punished. By the material ideology two activities were strengthened and enhanced than never before were relevant in the Anahuac, war and commerce.
Such was the momentum and growth that merchants and commerce had that, during seven thousand four hundred years of human development in the Anahuac civilization, having reached great advances in science, arts and philosophy; they never needed to create a currency. It was with the mexica strength and expansion and commerce that shortly before the European invasion began creating in the Anahuac the first forms of currency, with cocoa and copper articles. This does not demonstrate ancient inability, what it demonstrates is that ancient grandparents did not base their civilization and human development in trade and consumption, so for thousands of years did not need to invent a currency. However, because of the Aztec ideological changes made to the Toltec wisdom legacy, the millenary spiritual tradition of the Anahuac began to suffer severe changes, such as war, trade, currency and private property.
"During the epoch under study, develops a significant evolution. Although theoretically, private property continues to be collective, in fact, land assigned to a tecuhtli,[8] was inherited to his descendants. Then the land became pillalli, "land of pilli”[9]; that is, as the children of the dignitaries, who by birth were entitled to senior positions, in addition they also benefited from inherited property. A private domain is built at the expense of a public domain. We would stretch the statement, if it would be stated that the emperor and dignitaries were large real estate owners: in fact, the idea remains that the community had the principal rights. But we would be equally wrong to assert that this right was the only recognized in real life.
Mexican society was in full transition and private land appropriation developed, sort of by the minute; prevailing habits and customs gradually shifted more and more from tradition." (Jacques Soustelle. 1955)
This is a very important point, because if we consider what has been said above with regard to weapons, it is noted that the Anahuac civilization expansion and human development was not based in weapons nor trade during the Preclassical and Classical periods, and that the ancient tradition transformation occurred less than a century before the arrival of the spanish invaders.
The western culture is precisely busy in the development of weapons, commerce expansion and private ownership, fundamental reasons to start the conquest of the world. Up to this day, the western culture military technology and business interests continue to subdue other cultures and countries. Their obsession of destroying current and ancient organization forms of the peoples and imposing "parties democracy", are means to fragment and weaken society, open markets, impose free enterprise and the private sector over common wealth, characterized by England in the 19th century and United States in the 20th and 21st centuries. Western culture is supported on weapons, trade and private property.
"They organized and lead porters caravans, from the central Valley, travelled arriving in the distant, demi fabulous provinces of the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean coasts. They sold Mexican products in these countries: fabrics, rabbit skin blankets, luxury dresses, gold jewelry, obsidian and copper ear muffs, obsidian knives, cochineal tinctures, medicinal or perfume herbs; From these places they brought luxury items such as: chalchihuitl,[10] green and transparent jade, emeralds, quetzalittli, marine snails, sea turtle shells used to make spades for cocoa preparation, jaguar and puma furs, amber, parrots, xiuhtototl and quetzal feathers. Hence their trade consisted on exporting manufactured products and importing exotic luxury items." (Jacques Soustelle. 1955)
The mexica warrior was the material basis of the aztec power and the Pochteca its spy and explorer. Men mostly were devoted to war, since the State received through tributes: food, textiles, raw materials, weapons, luxury items, slaves. War allowed the mexica access to wealth and fundamentally honor and growth on the social scale. They never ceased being farmers and craftsmen, but warfare began to occupy most of their time and energy, as well as commerce. Mexica society became a very well-organized militarized society and their markets or Tianguis came to have incredible dimensions. A formidable war army subjected to small and independent Lordships. A powerful trader institution, with military type features, just as the Jaguar or Eagle warriors. The Aztecs despite formidable defeats by the P’urépechas, Tlaxcala, and Cholula, among others, were almost invincible, especially because the organization they had with the other Lordships that were incorporated as "Allies" after having defeated them and the extraordinary intelligence network they had through the pochtecas or merchants.
It is important to highlight that the Anahuac civilization war and weapons, had nothing to do with the European war conception. War in the Anahuac was an activity to "take captives to feed the Fifth Sun". The objective of the war in the Postclassical period was not to kill, destroy or obliterate. The wars were negotiated and agreed through messengers. The date, place and number of warriors were agreed. They usually took place in open fields, and very seldom in cities. This only occurred as "punishment", for example: when an ally joined an enemy. There were truces for holidays or funerals, and at any given time, either party could request the end of the war and armies returned to their cities with their wounded and their captives. Some wars were only made to keep the armies in shape and take captives, such as those that the Aztecs forced Tlaxcala to undertake.
Weapons, as already noted, do not reflect the scientific advance reached by the ancient grandparents in other knowledge fields. What it implies is their lack of historical and cultural interest in war. A cane with encrusted pieces of sharp obsidian crystals, spears with obsidian tips, sticks with heavy stones on the tip as mallets, and bow and arrow, were the offensive weapons. Defensive weapons were a wooden frame shield covered with skin and feathers, costumes made with reinforced fabric and in some cases of animal shell and bones or leather skin stitched to the blanket. This demonstrates that war was for the Anahuac civilization something very different than for Europeans, Chinese, Indians, Egyptian and Mesopotamian. This point has not been analyzed at a greater depth by investigators, because from the times of Columbus and Cortés, this feature of the invaded cultures was taken as a deficiency and lack of "civilization".
The Pochteca organization and their famous "tamemes" or porters, as well as the market or Tianguis system, was used by the spaniards during the three Colonial centuries and two centuries of "independence", and that somehow survive to the present day. Not only in the indigenous and peasant communities, but in large cities with the "urban Tianguis" and street vendors.
The Mexica Face.
Much has been written about the mexicas. From the so-called "sources" and later by the creoles who have tried to validate their "neo colonial country" project, in a vague and remote indigenous origin. The creoles managed the mexicas image, just as europeans have managed the greeks and romans image, as their most ancient and glorious ancestors.
Many lies have been written about the mexicas. Whether to revile them and depict them as powerful wild demoniac idolaters, who swam in blood rivers through the sacrifice of thousands and thousands of human beings. That were heroically defeated by a handful of spanish "soldiers", led by a valiant charismatic leader.
Or to portray them as an evolved culture, creators of all the Anahuac grandeur. Inventors of calendar, mathematics, language, architecture and engineering, as well as religion and social organization forms. Owners of the "red and black ink", creators of the Toltecáyotl.
Neither of the two versions is true. Must not base the decolonization of our nation and the search of our ancient root, in the last peoples which savagely arrived from the North, when there had already been centuries since the collapse of the Anahuac splendor. There cannot be pride over the people that exploited the Anahuac, the people who transgreded the Toltecáyotl. It is not a matter of taking a radical position for or against. It is in fact a matter of establishing the entire civilization dimension and potential of ancient history before the invasion, in order to actually revive our historical memory and dismantle colonizer myths and lies. We must realize that who created the "Aztec Empire" myth, were the colonizers, because in the end, a handful of their ancestors conquered and destroyed the "formidable mexica power".
To maintain the myth of the alleged Aztec power and its inaccurate greatness, is to remain at the mercy of the conquerors cultural heirs, who in this way prevents us from knowing at a greater depth the ancient civilization of which we are living part.
Of course, the mexica formidable ability to break the depressive inertia of the Anahuac culture in the Postclassical must be recognized. Their great will power and temperance to overcome the hegemony consolidation challenges. Their ability to re-functionalize art is an undeniable proof of the reaches and talent that the mexica culture had. These features and virtues cannot go unnoticed, but we cannot vainly exalt the false and negative. We must analyze and understand the reasons why, a handful of criminals, could subjugate millions of native people. Knowing the truth will allow us to initiate the reevaluation path of our ancient civilization and end colonization.
There are seven thousand three hundred years of human development, diverse cultures and periods of incredible splendor, that we must consider for structuring the ancient grandparents cultural and historical heritage and consequently behave as "the sons of the sons of them", in facing the future.
"A deeper study of this society (mexica) would show without a doubt, deep contradictions, which would in turn explain the internal tensions it tried to relieve, occasionally in rituals. And the origin of these contradictions needs to be looked for in the overlay and the mixture of different cultures -the Toltec, transmitted to sedentary inhabitants of the Valley, and of the nomadic tribes which formed part the Aztecs – that contributed to shape the mexican civilization, just as it was at the time of its discovery." (Jacques Soustelle. 1955)
The mexica culture is then a mixture, sometimes harmonious and other discordant, between the ancient Toltec wisdom, full of spiritual and religious symbols, which at the time was in decadence, and the vigorous mexica culture, heirs of the ferrous will of material power, to survive in a semiarid and rugged world. The nomad warriors climbing and the sedentary peaceful peoples in decline. The mixture of mystical peoples and warrior peoples.
The mexica was a culture that could not conclude the syncretism and the mix between the two bequests that gave it life. In reality their time was very short (from 1325 with the founding of Tenochtitlan to 1521 with its fall only lasted 196 years) in relation to the seven and a half thousand years period that covers the Anahuac civilization, since the agriculture invention to the european invasion.
The mexica history can be divided into three very short periods. The first period occurred from their arrival, as nomadic barbarians, to the Anahuac Valley the 12th century and their power seizure with the Itzcóatl Tlatoani in 1424, where Tlacaelel begins his political career while still was very young. The second period covers Tlacaelel as Cihuacoátl, influence and hegemony over several Tlatoanis (Itzcóatl, Moctezuma I (the elder), Axayacatl, Tízoc and Ahuizotl) until his death in 1480. The third period, from Tlacaelel death to the fall of Tenochtitlan.
The mexicas did not have time to reconstitute the Tlacaelel ideology. In the last period, before the spanish invasion, there was a stream of senior civil and religious leaders that proposed returning to an ideology and religion closer to the ancient Toltec. This situation further aggravated the conflict of the ruling class at the time of the arrival of Cortés, because the Tlacaelel thought followers wanted to exterminate the intruders and those who wanted to return to the Toltec ancient Quetzalcoatl doctrine, asked that Cortés was received as Quetzalcoatl’s ambassador.
The truth is that the mexicas lacked time to mature and polish their ideology and religion. In some fields, especially art, the mexicas not only matched the skill of the ancient Toltecs, but as can be seen today, especially in the Mexica Hall of the National Anthropology and History Museum, in some cases they exceed the Toltec masters.
Mexica Tlatoanis Chronology.
There were some known mexica rulers, before Tenochtitlan is founded, under the lordship of Azcapotzalco, since they were Azcapotzalco tributaries, who allowed them to live in the lands of their lordship, upon their arrival to the Mexico valley. These original Tlatoanis were:
Iztacmixcohuatl
Tozcuecuextli, Aztec ruler (1233-1272) probably was born in the year of 1200 (Chimalpain historian mentions that "appears" in this year) in the vicinity of Xaltocan; son of an incipient nobility, was educated in a constructors calpulli (neighborhood).
He was part of a group that would historically transcend, will even be mystified, these are priest Huitziltin and the Tecpatzin Warrior. It is interesting to note they only sought areas with exploitable resources.
In 1225 he married Tlaquilxochitzin a Tzompanco Princess, and procreated the following year Huitzilihuitl I, his successor.
Huēhueh Huītzilihhuitl (Nahuatl "[the] old Hummingbird feather") (1227-1299), is considered the first Aztec tlatoani, but his father already was part of the Xaltocan nobility. It is listed as the eighth Mexica ruler. Was born in Tizayocan in 1227, son of Tozcuecuextli and Tlaquilxochitzin, grandson of Tlahuizcalpotonqui, Tzompanco Lord. Joined his father during their migration and founding of Huixachtitlan in 1240, during the Pantitlan war in 1247 he was already 21 years old and excelled as a warrior next to Tecpactzin.
Ilancuēitl, Aztec female tlatoani (1299-1347), same name of several little known mexican historical personages, both male and female. The Nahuatl name means “old skirt” (cuē (i) - tl 'skirt, dress'; īlām-ah 'old lady'.
The period from 1299 to 1376 is full of loopholes and imprecise data, curiously and despite being the turning point when Mexico was founded, it is necessary to investigate in detail the true Aztec origins. This research the existence of Ilancuēitl (woman) is suggested, she ruled the Aztecs (1299-1347), was the wife of Huēhueh Acamapichtli (Cōlhuahcān tlahtoāni), daughter of Ahcolmiztli Lord of Cōhuatlīnchān and was imposed as ruler on the Mexica by Coxcox, Cōlhuahcān tlahtoāni.
Upon and during the founding Tenochtitlan, according, to some records there were twelve rulers in México-Tenochtitlan. The first of these, Tenoch, is considered by many a figure mythical, but is real and considered the founder and first ruler of Tenochtitlan proper, named as such in his recognition, the City of Tenoch.
It is interesting to note, that the Aztecs original title to their rulers was cuauhtlatoani (Nahuatl: who speaks like Eagle), this is considered equivalent to "head of arms" or "warlord".
Subsequently, their leaders were designated, simply as tlahtoāni, rulers of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan, basically ruling over the Valley of Mexico. Later the prefix of huēyi was added to tlahtoāni, the word huēyi [we.ji] or [we.i] means 'large, long, high'.
The twelve Tlatoanis were as follows:
The first Tlatoani was Tenōch (1299-1363), (The Nahuatl name means 'Stone Tuna'), Aztec leader with whom begins the mexica Huey Tlatoanis (normally called "emperors").
Born in Cuauhmixtitlan in 1299, perhaps after the Chapultepec defeat. The historian Chimalpain also mentions that he shows up in 1285, but perhaps is a mistake, because his father Tlamacazqui is mentioned by Tezozomoc together with Cuauhtlequetzqui, Axolohua and Acocoltzin in 1286, when he was 17 years old, and he had to Tenoch at age 30.
His youth passes calmly, until the age of 19, when participates in the war against Azcapotzalco. When defeated their payable tribute increases; also they must actively cooperate the tepanec wars from 1318 wars to consolidate them as a Hueyi Tlahtocayotl. The Colhuacan kingdom was weakened political and militarily, at the time Acolnahuacatl from Azcapotzalco motivates and supports the mexicas to subdue them; through this political maneuver would control two triple alliance cities existing at that time and could extend to the south, to control the cotton route. Thus, in 1344 Colhuacan becomes the first mexica tributary village and then gradually loses importance until being relegated by Iztapalapa.
The second was Acamapichtli, (1377 to 1395) the translated Nahuatl name means "the one who holds the cane stick"; although more appropriately is 'fist closed with canes' (āca-tl 'cane', māpīch-tli 'clenched fist, bunch of mā-pīqui 'tighten something by hand (mā)-').
During the 13th and early 14th centuries the mexitin were spreading along the western side of Texcoco Lake, the towns of Huixachtitlan, Azcapotzalco and Chapultepec were relevant. The mexicas received permission from the tepanec to settle north of an islet named Cuauhmixtitlan in 1274. In 1366 the tepaneca king Acolnahuacatl, in order to ensure aztecs loyalty, accepts Acamapichtli (culhua prince from Coatlinchan) on the Tenochtitlan throne, thus initiating a new lineage to the latter city, which simultaneously proclaimed heiress of the Toltec tradition and the right to rule as Hueyi tlahtohcayotl replacing Colhuacan, configuring the penultimate Triple Alliance.
Huitzilíhuitl, was the third Tlatoani or mexica governor. The name means "hummingbird feather", ruled from 1391 to 1417, was the fourth son of Acamapichtli, his predecessor on the throne; he was elected according to the chronicles because he was a young man of noble heart, peaceful and good morals.
Once he became Tenochtitlan tlatoani, his first political decision was of the utmost importance, he married the daughter of Tezozomoc, tlatoani of Azcapotzalco, thus managed to reduce taxes to mere symbolic delivery. In return Huitzilíhuitl provided a great service to his father-in-law: the Aztecs conquered several neighboring towns, such as Chalco and Cuautitlán, on behalf of the Azcapotzalco Tepanec, from who, in spite of the royal wedding, remained vassals.
Very brief seemed to the Aztecs the time Hutizilíhuitl ruled, continues the Chronicle, because he died at the age of 35. It is said that when he died he left his Kingdom in order and he issued several laws, formed an army to land and another for water. Huitzilíhuitl was actually the first Warrior tlatoani, initiated his people in the taste for war, military life and conquests.
Thanks to his help, Tezozomoc, his father-in-law, he became the most powerful Lord in the Valley of Mexico.
The fourth Tlatoani was Chimalpopoca, ("Smoking Shield" from Nahuatl "chimalli", "shield" and "popoca", "smokes") (1397 - 1427) tlahtoani of the Aztec-tepaneca nobility of Mexico Tenochtitlan, Huitzilihuitl successor in 1417. As tlahtoani of Tenochtitlan, was vassal -and grandson by mother- of Tezozomoc of Azcapotzalco, Tepaneca Huey tlatoani, and under his rule participated in the tepanec conquests, including Chalco. Upon Tezozomoc death, his son Maxtla succeeded on the Azcapotzalco throne. It was then when an internal revolt broke out in the Tepaneca Empire, because a number of subordinate Lords rose against Azcapotzalco and their acolytes, killing Chimalpopoca among other tepanec Lords, and changing the hegemonic center of the empire, that from Azcapotzalco goes to Mexico-Tenochtitlan. The main leader of those rebels was Itzcóatl, from the tenochca royal dynasty that succeeded Chimalpopoca (his victim) in Tenochtitlan. It was thus beginning the Aztec Empire or Triple Alliance.
The fifth Tlatoani was Itzcóatl or Ītzcóātl (náhuatl language: ītz-cōā-tl, 'serpent armed with flints') (1381-1440), priest and religious reformer who defeated the tepanec. He was the son of Acamapichtli, and the daughter of Tezozomoc, Lord of Azcapotzalco.
During his government the first large expansive aztec stage took place. Before being elected Tlatoani he served as tlacochcálcatl (in Nahuatl head of the House of weapons, which was the highest military post). His rise occurred April 3, 1427. Aided by Tlacaelel, his Cihuacoátl (Vice-Regent), allied with Texcoco and Tlacopan. Mexico-Tenochtitlan at that then did not have the military power to defeat the tepanec, also, the Alliance with Texcoco was due mainly because Maxtla had clear intentions to conquer, and coupled with the personal conflict Netzahualcoyotl had with the Tepaneca King. Years before, Maxtla had killed father, Ixtlilxóchitl, right before his own eyes. Netzahualcoyotl had to go to Mexico-Tenochtitlan to ask his uncle Itzcóatl, political relief since Maxtla pursued him consistently. For many years, Netzahualcoyotl took shelter from the Aztec nobility. Subsequently, Netzahualcoyotl recovered Texcoco from Azcapotzalco. When Itzcóatl makes war against Azcapotzalco, requests Netzahualcoyotl Alliance, recalling the days that the Aztec Kingdom had given him shelter. Thus, Tlacopan, which was a basically Aztec people, formed a triple alliance, whose armies were led personally by Itzcóatl in the battle against the tepanec. 15 days after the start of the battle, Maxtla was defeated by the Triple Alliance, and at the beginning of the 1428 concluded the Tepaneca domain of the Anahuac Valley, and Azcapotzalco burned and sacked and become a slave market.
At that time the Triple Alliance was formed with Texcoco and Tlacopan as independent altépetl and Tenochtitlan maintained military command.
The sixth Tlatoani was Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, his first name, pronounced [moteːkʷˈsoːma] in Classical Nahuatl, means "he who frowns like a lord". It is also written Montezuma, Motecuhzoma, and several other spellings. Ilhuicamina, pronounced [ilwikaˈmiːna], means "he shoots a bolt into the sky". In Aztec writing, he can be indicated by either a diadem representing or an arrow piercing a stylized representation of the sky. Ruled from 1440 to 1469.
As the son of Emperor Huitzilihuitl II, he assumed in 1417command of the army, which would continue during the reigns of his half-brother Chimalpopoca (1417-1427) and his uncle Itzcóatl (1427-1440). On the death of the latter, Moctezuma Ilhuicamina was elected sovereign of the mexica state under which began an expansionist era, with the help of their traditional allies, the small Lordships of Texcoco and Tlacopan. After having defeated Cuauhtlatoa, king of Tlatelolco, who tried to take the government, subdue Atonal, lord of Coixtlahuaca in 1461, and destroy the cities of Chalco and Tepeaca, extended his dominions towards areas of Guerrero, Hidalgo, Puebla, Oaxaca and part of Veracruz, dominating the Anahuac high lands.
The Tlatócan named Axayacatl, as the seventh Tlatoani of 1469 to 1481, the name Axayacatl (Nahuatl: ā-xāyáca-tl, 'Mask of water' ' lacustrine insect from the Tabanidae family from whose eggs ahuahuatli is made) was Moctezuma I successor and father of Moctezuma II.
Under his rule, in 1473 Moquíhuix Tlatelolco tlatoani was accused of ill-treating one of his wives, from the mexica nobility and of having usurped power, so the tenochca declared war on them. The real underlying reason behind the conflict with their neighbor and closest ally was remote trade controlled by the tlaltelolcas.Moquihuix unsuccessfully sought the support of the tenochcas enemies. The event caused autonomy loss of Mexico-Tlatelolco. The tlaltelolcas a few years later the founding of Tenochtitlan separated forming an autonomous altépetl in the Mexico-Tlatelolco islet. A bloody battle ensued, probably provoked by the Mexica to take control of the important market of the city. The tlaltelolcas dug in their Templo Mayor from where Moquihuix, defeated was thrown down the steps. The tlaltelolcas were burdened with high tributes, their land was distributed and a mexica ruler was imposed.
The eight Tlatoani was Tízoc Chālchiuhtlatona (Nahuatl: Tīz-oc Chālchiuh-tlatona, 'Holes made with emeralds')?, (1436-1487) was a Huey tlatoani successor of his brother Axayacatl, specially dedicated to religious life and with little success in military expansion, had a relatively short reign (1481-1486).
He was the eldest son of Moctezuma Ilhuicamina and brother of Ahuizotl and Axayacatl. He was elected tlatoani in 1481 after the latter's death.
His first campaign, the attack on the city of Meztitlan, ended in defeat, and despite fourteen military campaigns that he undertook, could not increase the domains of the Triple Alliance. This moved Tizoc to devote himself more to manage and "educate" the conquered, than to conquer new towns.
This pacifism led to some uprisings, as the Tollocan, which was slightly pacified, if compared with the cruel crushing of the Triple Alliance.
On the other hand, he undertook conquests towards Veracruz and Oaxaca. He ordered the construction of a monolith known as "The stone of Tízoc" in remembrance of the victories of Tamajachco and Miquitlan in Huastec territory, Atezcahuacán, Puebla, and Otlappan, in Guerrero. However, some historians attribute many of his conquests to his predecessors rather than Tízoc.
Upon Tizoc’s death, Ahuizotl [/a-hui-zo-tl/] (River Thorns, - a: atoyatl, river; - hui:-huiztli, thorn; -otl: quality or essence). (April 13, 1486 – September 2, 1502), became the ninth Tlatoani which led the mexicas in relatively short time, to dominate virtually the center and south of Mexico (including Guatemala, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean). The mexica warriors were driven by their Tlatoani figure, a truly warrior ruler who did not hesitate to lead at the forefront of battles.
The Ahuizotl conquests are recorded in the Mendocino Codex. Not only Ahuizotl was a great warrior, but also a strong religious leader, a good diplomat, and even a renowned economist, being that in addition to expanding the empire by force, he knew how to convince and trade with the vanquished people, opening the doors of the empire to more remote villages.
He was an excellent conqueror. He built an aqueduct to bring water from Coyoacán to Tenochtitlan, this caused a flood that accidentally killed him.
The tenth Tlatoani was Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, (in Nahuatl Motēcuhzōma Xōcoyōtzin;) ([moteːkʷ 'soːma ʃoːko' joːtsin]: 'Moctezuma the young') or Moctezuma II (1466 - 29 June 1520) was a mexica Huey tlatoani between 1502 and 1520. Moctezuma spelling is the most common and modern; however, most of sources from the 16th and 17TH centuries refer that his name was Motecuhzoma including by Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, who used a form closer to the Nahuatl: Motecuçoma and Motecuhzomatzin. Due to courtesy reasons and royal respect the suffix "tzin" (small in Nahuatl) was often added. Also called Moteczuma in the work of Salvador de Madariaga "Hernán Cortés". According to the Tlaxcala history of Diego Muñoz Camargo "this name Moctheuzomatzin means both as Given Lord, taking it literally; but in the moral sense means frown, Lord over all Lords and the largest of all, and very severe and serious Lord and man of courage and frowning, that it is suddenly angry with slight occasion." However 16th century Nahuatl language scholars, such as Motolinia, Torquemada, Betancourt, Sigüenza, rejected the sense of given man and deduced that Moctheuzomatzin came from the pronoun mo from teuhtil or tecuhtli, "Lord or Knight" and çoma or çuma, "frown who is angry, have courage, deriving from it, çu ucalli, frowning and full of courage", tzin reverential termination. So its meaning is "frowning man, serious, cautious, serious, that makes other fear and respect".
The ordinal number is currently used to distinguish him from his namesake, also Huey tlatoani, Moctezuma Ilhuicamina (Moctezuma I), to whom the indigenous chroniclers also called Huehuemotecuhzoma or 'Moctezuma the elder'.
He had eight daughters, including Doña Isabel Moctezuma, and eleven sons, among them Chimalpopoca (not to confuse with the prior Huey tlatoani) and Tlaltecatzin.
In 1520, while he was prisoner of the spanish invaders, the Tlatócan removed him from power and appointed Cuitláhuac as his successor. Cuitláhuac (1476 – 1520) was the penultimate and eleventh mexica tlatoani, lord of Iztapalapa y brother of Moctezuma Xocoyotzin.
His name means "(he who) has been commissioned (of the care of someone)". This name was derived by the Malinche, while mentioning the actual name of the Tlatoani that was Cuauhtlahuac = 'Eagle on the water'. She in mocking or scorning called him with the Cuitláhuac name. Hence the spanish took this name as real without knowing the meaning, and I was reflected in history. Bernal Díaz del Castillo named him Coadlabaca in his true history of the conquest of the new Spain.
Son of Axayacatl and thus Moctezuma II Xocoyotzin brother. In June, 1520 was already prisoner of Hernán Cortés by having plotted an uprising against the spaniards. When Cortés returned after having defeated Pánfilo de Narváez in Zempoala, he found that Tenochtitlan had rebelled on the occasion of the slaughter in the Templo Mayor, ordered by Pedro de Alvarado.
Cortes demanded Moctezuma Xocoyotzin that he restored the market and the people returned to peace. Then, at the request of Moctezuma, Cortés released Cuitláhuac so he fixed things. But him, as soon as free, led the uprising and attacked the barracks where they were Spaniards and their allies with such ferocity that Cortés, fearful of being completely wiped out, demanded that Moctezuma went to the roof of the Palace to harangue his mexica subjects and ask them to remain in peace. There is the theory that Moctezuma was wounded on that occasion by a stone and died within two days. However, other historians’ mention that the spaniards had already killed Moctezuma, or killed him at that time.
Cuauhtémoc (Cuāuhtémōc) (Nahuatl: cuāuh-'Eagle' témōhuia 'descend, go down'), (1496 - d. February 28, 1525) was the twelfth and last Mexico-Tenochtitlan mexica tlatoani. He assumed power in 1520, a year before the Tenochtitlan capture by Hernán Cortés and his troops. The name Cuāuhtémōc which literally means 'Eagle which descended (landed)' (Nahuatl cuāuh(-tli) 'Eagle', temō-'descend', - c past). The honorific form of Cuāuhtémōc is Cuāuhtémōctzīn (the suffix - tzīn is used to designate a dignity similar to "Don" or "Lord" in Spanish).
Cuāuhtémōc was Moctezuma Xocoyotzin nephew and as Cuitláhuac, should have been the husband of his daughter Tecuichpo (Nahuatl, 'cotton snowflake') when she became of age. When he assumed power, the conquerors had already been expelled from Tenochtitlan, but the city was devastated by hunger, smallpox, and the lack of fresh water. Cuauhtémoc reached this post having been tlacochcálcatl (head of arms) of resistance to the conquerors, given that since the death of Moctezuma prior to the Sad Night (Noche Triste), he is identified as the mexica military leader.
Finally is taken prisoner and his feet were burned, so he told the spaniards where was the aztec treasure, driven by gold greed: Bernal Díaz del Castillo, in his true history of the new Spain conquest recounts in detail how mistrust spread among the spaniards, while stubbornly denying the reality of their dream wealth. The gold they had obtained altogether (83,200 castellanos) was not sufficient to satisfactorily distribute among all the spanish troops, so assumptions began by commanders get more gold. Some spaniards figured that after the Toltec channel battle, the aztecs had recovered the booty and had dumped it to the lagoon or had been stolen by the Tlaxcalans or by the own spanish soldiers. That is why they were officers of the Royal Treasury, and especially the treasurer Julian de Alderete, and not Cortés, who limited to consent to it, those who ordered -Bernal Díaz and López de Gómara as it is argued- the torment of Cuauhtémoc and Tetlepanquetzaltzin. According to the Díaz del Castillo books, López de Gómara and subsequent accusations by Cortés during his “residence trials” agree in that they were tortured by wetting their feet and hands with oil and burning them. According to Bernal, Cuauhtémoc confessed four days before "they caught him they threw it into the lagoon, the gold, the shots and shotguns that were taken from Cortés, and they went Guatemuz pointed in the houses they used to live", from where the spaniards took out recovered "from a sort of large water pool a gold Sun like the one given by Montezuma".
- ↑ Supreme Council where all decisions took place.
- ↑ Tlatoani (Classical Nahuatl: tlàtoāni pronounced [tɬaʔtoˈaːni]; plural tlàtòquê, [tɬaʔ.ˈtoʔ.keʔ]) is the Nahuatl term for the ruler of an altepetl, a pre-Hispanic state. The word literally means "speaker", but may be translated into English as "king".[1] A cihuātlàtoāni ([si.waː.tɬaʔ.to.ˈaː.ni]) is a female ruler, or queen regnant. The term quauhtlatoani refers to "provisional, interim, or at least non-dynastic rulers". The leaders of the Mexica prior to their settlement are sometimes referred to as quauhtlatoque, as are those colonial rulers who were not descended from the ruling dynasty.
- ↑ Códice Matritense or The Florentine Codex is the common name given to a 16th century ethnographic research project in Mesoamerica by Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Bernardino originally titled it: La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espana (in English: the General History of the Things of New Spain). It is commonly referred to as "The Florentine Codex" after the Italian archive library where the best-preserved manuscript is preserved. In partnership with Aztec men who were formerly his students, Bernardino conducted research, organized evidence, wrote and edited his findings starting in 1545 up until his death in 1590. It consists of 2400 pages organized into twelve books with over 2000 illustrations drawn by native artists providing vivid images of this era. It documents the culture, religious cosmology (worldview) and ritual practices, society, economics, and natural history of the Aztec people. One scholar described The Florentine Codex as “one of the most remarkable accounts of a non-Western culture ever composed.”
- ↑ Fernando or Hernando (de) Alvarado Tezozómoc was a colonial Nahua noble. A son of Diego de Alvarado Huanitzin (governor of Tenochtitlan) and Francisca de Moctezuma (a daughter of Moctezuma II), Tezozómoc worked as an interpreter for the Real Audiencia. Today he is known for the Crónica Mexicayotl, a Nahuatl-language history. Fernando de Alvarado Tezozomoc was also a chronicler of some note, pertaining to a group of mestizo chroniclers with Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc, Diego Muñoz Camargo and Domingo San Anton y Muñon Chimalpaín.
- ↑ It was never known where the apostle preached. Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus (meaning "Twin") was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for disbelieving Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in John 20:28. He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel. He is also believed to have crossed the largest area, which includes the Parthian Empire and India.
- ↑ Francisco Javier Clavijero. “Ancient México History”.
- ↑ Tlacaelel (1397[1] – 1487) was the principal architect of the Aztec Triple Alliance and hence the Mexica (Aztec) empire. He was the son of Huitzilíhuitl, nephew of Itzcóatl, and brother of Moctezuma Ilhuicamina, the last two being respectively the first and second Mexica emperors. He served as Cihuacoátl for Itzcóatl, Moctezuma I, and Axayácatl. After there were: Tízoc, Ahuizotl y Moctezuma II, up to the invaders arrival.
- ↑ A teuctocaitl (Nahuatl for "lordly name"; pronounced [teːkʷtoːˈkaːitɬ]) was a special title, usually ending in the word teuctli "lord", borne by Nahua rulers. Each position of rulership had its own title associated with it, although a teuctocaitl could be borne by multiple rulers.
- ↑ The Pipiltin (sg. pilli) were the noble social class in the Mexica Empire. These people were members of the hereditary nobility and occupied the top positions in the government, the army and the priesthood. Pipitlin helped increase social stresses which attributed to internal weaknesses of the Aztec Empire's downfall.
- ↑ Chalchihuitl – a Nahuatl word, the name means “precious Stone”