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The Nahua concept of god is somehow different from the European concept. It would be better to call them spirits, so most scholars prefer to translate the word "teotl" as "lord" instead of "god". Those entities, mixed their attributes with others. Since they had no dogmas, their religion was constantly evolving.
The Nahua concept of god is somehow different from the European concept. It would be better to call them spirits, so most scholars prefer to translate the word "teotl" as "lord" instead of "god". Those entities, mixed their attributes with others. Since they had no dogmas, their religion was constantly evolving.

Another one of their gods is [[Chalmecatl]] which is one of the gods of the realm of the dead.


===Human sacrifice===
===Human sacrifice===

Revision as of 00:20, 14 April 2006

For other uses, see Aztecs (disambiguation).
Sculpture commemorating the moment when Aztecs found the omen from the god Huitzilopochtli signaling the location where their capital city Tenochtitlan should be built. This sculpture is in Mexico City.

The Aztecs, or more properly, the Mexicas, for whom the later Republic of Mexico was named, were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. They were a civilization with a rich mythology and cultural heritage. Their capital was Tenochtitlan, built on raised islets in Lake Texcoco – the site of modern-day Mexico City. The Aztec empire produced the biggest demographic explosion in Mesoamerica: the population grew from an estimated 10 million to 15 million.


Nomenclature

Aztec

Aztec is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl-speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. More particularly, the term refers to the empire of the Mexicas as distinguished from the Mexicas alone. This article deals with the historical Aztec civilization, not with modern-day Nahuatl speakers.

In Nahuatl, the native language of the Mexicas, Azteca means "someone who comes from Aztlán", a place commonly believed to be located in northern Mexico or the Southwest U.S. (though there is great doubt about this, see current debates in Mexica scholarship), so this name was applied to other cultures of the same cultural group. However, the culture we call now Aztec referred to themselves as Mexica (IPA: [meˈʃihkah]) or Tenochca and Tlatelolca according their city of origin. Their use of the word azteca was like the modern use of Latino, or Mediterranean: a broad term that does not refer to a specific culture.

The term "Aztec" is actually a misnomer, an invention of an Englishman (Lord Kinsborough) and a European-American named William H. Prescott. The real names used by the indigenous peoples were "Nahua" or "Mexica." Not even the Spanish called them Aztecs. (Although "Aztec" was not used by the Mexica, it is derived from their language, Nahuatl, and refers to their northern homeland, Aztlan.)

Alexander von Humboldt originated the modern usage of Aztec as a collective term applied to all the people linked by trade, custom, religion , and language to the Mexica state, the Triple Alliance. The term was adopted by Mexican scholars of 19th century, as a way to distance "modern" Mexicans from pre-conquest Mexicans. This has become controversial in more recent years, and consequently, the more proper usage "Mexica" is increasingly applied.

Mexica

Mexica, the origin of the word Mexico, is a term of uncertain origin. Very different etymologies are proposed: the old Nahuatl word for the sun, the name of their leader Mexitli, a type of weed that grows in Lake Texcoco. The most renowned Nahuatl translator, Miguel León-Portilla, suggests that it means "navel of the moon" from Nahuatl metztli (moon) and xictli (navel) or, alternatively, it could mean navel of the maguey (Nahuatl metl).

The origin of the word derives itself from "Mexictli", the name given to Huitzilopochtli "the hummingbird of the south" which led the Mexica to the "lacustre" region in the center of Mexico. The name "Mexictli" is composed of the roots "metl" (maguey, a type of cactus), "xictli" (navel) and the locative "co". Thus the translation of "Mexiictli" would be "the navel of the maguey", which tells us of the mythological meaning that the prehispanic cultures associated with this plant.

Government

The Aztec Empire is not completely analogous to the empires of European history. Like most European empires, it was ethnically very diverse, but unlike most European empires, it was more a system of tribute than a single system of government. Arnold Toynbee in War and Civilization draws an analogy to the Assyrian Empire in this respect.

Although cities under Aztec rule seem to have paid heavy tributes immediatly after they were conquered, archeological excavations in the Aztec-ruled provinces show a steady increase in the welfare of common people. This probably was due to an increase of trade, thanks to better roads and communications, and the tributes were extracted from a broad base. Only the upper classes seem to have suffered economically, and only at first. There appears to have been trade even in things that could be produced locally: love of novelty may have been a factor. There was even trade with cities considered enemies. The Purepechas, the only people who defeated the Aztecs, were the main source of copper axes.

The main contribution of the Aztec rule was a system of communications between the conquered cities. In Mesoamerica, they had no animals for transport, nor wheeled vehicles, so the roads were designed for travel on foot. Usually these roads were part of the tributes, and travelers had places to rest, eat, and even latrines at regular intervals, every 10 or 15 km. They were constantly watched, so even women could travel alone, a fact that amazed the spaniard, because that was not possible in Europe at that time.

Couriers (Paynani) were constantly traveling along those ways, keeping the Aztecs informed of events, and help to wath the integrity of the roads. After the conquest those roads were nor longer subject to maintenaince and eventually were lost.

The most important official of Tenochtitlan government was often called The Aztec Emperor. The Nahuatl title, Huey Tlatoani (plural huey tlatoque), translates roughly as "Great Speaker"; the tlatoque ("speakers") were an upper class. This office gradually took on more power with the rise of Tenochtitlan. By the time of Auitzotl, the title of "Emperor" is an appropriate analogy for this office, although as in the Holy Roman Empire, the title was not hereditary. The title has some resemblance to the Roman Emperor's title during the Principate, "Princeps Senatus", or "First Citizen of the Senate". The title started out as an office of, basically, a glorified "speaker of the house", which later coalesced more power into an "Emperor" type of office.

Religion

The Coat of Arms of Mexico, from Aztec mythology
Main article: Aztec religion.

In Mesoamerican cultures, faith was an important part of their life and death.

Mythology

Main article: Aztec mythology.

It is important to note that the Mexica thought processes and belief system were very different from the European sence of religion. Contrary to belief, the Mexica did not believe in 'gods', but instead honored the many different manifestations of creation around them. The Spanish conquistadors misinterpreted these representations as 'gods', a misunderstanding that has propogated the Mexica history for hundreds of years. The Mexica history and belief system became known as "Aztec mythology" and the myth that the Mexica believed in many gods still persists today.

The main deity in the Mexica belief was their sun god and war god, Huitzilopochtli. He directed the Mexicas to found a city on the site where they would see an eagle, devouring (Not all cronicles agree on what was devouring, one mention it was a precious bird, and while Father Duran indicate it was a snake, this is not mentioned in any prehispanic source) perched on a fruit bearing nopal cactus. According to legend, Huitzilpochtli had to kill his nephew, Cópil and threw his heart on the lake. But, since Cópil was his relative, Huitzilpochtli decided to honour him, and caused cactus to grow over Cópil´s heart which became a sacred place.

Legend has it that this is the site on which the Mexicas built their capital city of Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was built on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco where modern-day Mexico City is located. This legendary vision is pictured on the Coat of Arms of Mexico.

According to their own history, when the Mexicas arrived in the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco, they were considered by the other groups as the least civilized of all. The Mexicas decided to learn, and they took all they could from other peoples, especially from the ancient Toltec (whom they seem to have partially confused with the more ancient civilization of Teotihuacan). To the Mexicas, the Toltecs were the originators of all culture; "Toltecayotl" was a synonym for culture. Mexica legends identify the Toltecs and the cult of Quetzalcoatl with the mythical city of Tollan, which they also identified with the more ancient Teotihuacan.

The Nahua concept of god is somehow different from the European concept. It would be better to call them spirits, so most scholars prefer to translate the word "teotl" as "lord" instead of "god". Those entities, mixed their attributes with others. Since they had no dogmas, their religion was constantly evolving.

Another one of their gods is Chalmecatl which is one of the gods of the realm of the dead.

Human sacrifice

File:Mendoza HumanSacrifice.jpg
Aztec sacrifice
Main article: Human sacrifice in Aztec culture

Similarily to the wide spread misrepresentation of the "Aztec mythology", the subject of human sacrifice has also been described to be widely practiced by the Mexica people. However, no evidence has ever surfaced to prove this allegation. The main source of "evidence" used were the transcripts of the Spanish conquistadors who claimed to have witnessed these sacrifices first hand. However, recent anthropoligists have found many inconsistencies in these writings. It was written that, for millennia, the practice of human sacrifice was widespread in Mesoamerican and South American cultures. It was a theme in the Olmec "religion", which thrived between 1200 BC and 400 BC. Later the Maya were also said to have made human sacrifices, but that the Aztecs practiced it on a particularly large scale.

Since the Spanish were unable to understand the vast culture, belief system and laws of the Aztecs', they proclaimed thier "religious" beliefs were based on a great fear that the universe would cease functioning after each cycle of 52 years if the gods were not strong enough to support another 52 year cycle. They believed that offering human sacrifice they could give strength to their gods (specially Huitzilopochtli, the sun god) to survive another cycle of 52 years. They are reported to have sacrificed thousands of people on special occasions. This belief is thought to have been common throughout Nahuatl people. In reality, the cycle of the 52 years was the begining of a new life cycle. The Mexica believed that at the end of the century the old fire would "die" giving birth to a new one. The concept of "sacrifice" was a metaphorical and poetical manifestation of that belief. This concept was taken out of context and used by the Spanish conquistadors as "proof". Many codices that have depicted these occurances have also been represented as proof, however it is now thought by many scholars that in actuality, these may be representative of public executions, not human sacrifice.

For the reconsecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed about 84,400 prisoners over the course of four days. This report is hardly credible not only because it would mean almost 15 sacrifices per minute for 24 hours a day but also because the city of Tenochtitlan itself had an estimated population of only 80,000 to 120,000 in that time. The rate of 15 sacrifices a minute might have been possible if there had been a team of priests sacrificing the 84,400 but it's even less credible if we credit the report that Ahuitzotl performed the sacrifices himself.

Since the Aztecs reported the number of sacrifices themselves, it's possible they could have inflated the number as a propaganda tool to instil fear in the other Mesoamerican cultures.

Assessment of the practice of human sacrifice

In the book of the "anonymous informants" of Sahagun, an Aztec defends the practice of human sacrifice, asserting that it was not much different from the European way of waging warfare : Europeans killed the warriors in battle, Aztecs killed the warriors after the battle.

While this practice may seem barbaric by modern standards, accounts by the Tlaxcalteca, the main enemy of the Aztecs, show that at least some of them considered it an honour to be sacrificed. In one legend, the warrior Tlahuicole was freed by the Aztecs but eventually returned of his own volition to die in ritual sacrifice.

This penchant for "human sacrifice" proved to be the undoing of the Aztecs. The Spanish used this myth to justify their invasion and eventual slaughter of thousands of people. They insinuated in their writings to Spain that the Aztecs need for a contiual supply of victims drove many neighboring cities to the side of the Spaniards.

The Structure of Aztec Society

Main article: Aztec social structure

Class structure

The society traditionally was divided into two social classes; the macehualli (people) or peasantry and the pilli or nobility. Nobility was not originally hereditary, although the sons of pillis had access to better resources and education, so it was easier for them to become pillis. Eventually, this class system took on the aspects of a hereditary system.

In the later days of the empire, the concept of macehualli also had changed. Eduardo Noguera (Annals of Anthropology, UNAM, Vol. xi, 1974, p. 56) estimates only 20% of the population was dedicated to agriculture and food production. The chinampa system of food production was very efficient; it could provide food for about 190,000 people. Also, a significant amount of food was obtained by trade and tribute. The Aztec were not only conquering warriors, but also skilled artisans and aggressive traders. Eventually, most of the macehuallis were dedicated to arts and crafts. Their works were an important source of income for the city (Sanders, William T., Settlement Patterns in Central Mexico. Handbook of Middle American Indians, 1971, vol. 3, p. 3-44).

Slavery

Slaves or tlacotin (distinct from war captives) also constituted an important class. This slavery was very different from what Europeans of the same period were to establish in their colonies, although it had much in common with the slaves of classical antiquity.

Sahagún questions whether the term "slavery" is appropriate for this Aztec institution. First, slavery was personal, not hereditary: a slave's children were free. A slave could have possessions and even own other slaves. Slaves could buy their liberty, and slaves could be set free if they were able to show they had been mistreated or if they had children with or were married to their masters.

Typically, upon the death of the master, slaves who had performed outstanding services were freed. The rest of the slaves were passed on as part of an inheritance.

An Aztec could be made a slave as a punishment. A murderer sentenced to death could instead, upon the request of the wife of his victim, be given to her as a slave. A father could sell his son into slavery if the son was declared incorrigible by an authority. Those who did not pay their debts could also be sold as slaves.

People could sell themselves as slaves. They could stay free long enough to enjoy the price of their liberty, about twenty blankets, usually enough for a year; after that time they went to their new master. Usually this was the fate of gamblers and of old ahuini (courtesans or prostitutes).

Daily Life

Diet

The Aztec created artificial islands or chinampas on Lake Texcoco, on which they cultivated crops. The Aztec staple foods included maize, beans and squash. Chinampas were a very efficient system and could provide up to seven crops a year, on the basis of current chinampa yields, it has been estimated that 1 hectare of chinampa would feed 20 individuals, with about 9,000 hectares of chinampa, there was food for 180,000 people.

Much has been said about a lack of proteins in the Aztec diet, to support the arguments on the existence of cannibalism (M. Harner, Am. Ethnol. 4, 117 (1977)), but there is little evidence to support it: a combination of maize and beans provides the full quota of essential amino acids, so there is no need for animal proteins. The Aztecs had a great diversity of maize strains, with a wide range of amino acid content; also, they cultivated amaranth for its seeds, which have a high protein content. They cultivated chia, also high in protein. More important is that they had a wider variety of foods. Chilis and tomatoes, prominent to this day, were cultivated. They harvested acocils, a small and abundant shrimp of Lake Texcoco, also spirulina algae, which was made into a sort of cake that was rich in flavonoids, and they ate insects, such as crickets (chapulines), maguey worms, ants, larvae, etc. Insects have a higher protein content than meat, and even now they are considered a delicacy in some parts of Mexico. Aztecs also had domestic animals, like turkey and some dog breeds that provided meat, although usually these were reserved for special occasions. Hunting was also another source of meat—deer, wild hogs, ducks etc.

A study by Montellano (Medicina, nutrición y salud aztecas, 1997) shows a mean life expectancy of 37 (±3) years for the population of Mesoamerica.

Aztecs also used maguey extensively; from it they obtained food, sugar (aguamiel–honey water), drink (pulque), and fibers for ropes and clothing. Use of cotton and jewelry were restricted to the elite. They also kept beehives and harvested honey. Cocoa grains were used as money but also to make a chocolate drink much like beer. Subjugated cities paid annual tribute in form of luxury goods like feathers and adorned suits.

After the Spanish conquest, some foods were outlawed, particularly amaranth because of its central role in religious rituals. There was less diversity of food which led to chronic malnutrition in the general population.

Recreation

Although one could drink pulque, a fermented beverage with an alcoholic content equivalent to beer, getting drunk before the age of 60 was forbidden. First offenses drew relatively light punishment but repeat offenses could be punished by death.

As in modern Mexico, the Aztecs had strong passions over a ball game, but this in their case it was tlachtli, the Aztec variant of the ulama game, the ancient ball game of Mesoamerica. The game was played with a ball of solid rubber, about the size of a human head. The ball was called "olli", whence derives the Spanish word for rubber, "hule". The city had two special buildings for the ball games. The players hit the ball with their hips, knees, and elbows. They had to pass the ball through a stone ring to automatically win. This was difficult, so they could hit markers on the walls to earn points.The fortunate player that could do this had the right to take the blankets of the public, so his victory was followed by general running of the public, with screams and laughter. People used to bet on the results of the game. Poor people could bet their food, pillis could bet their fortunes, tecutlis (lords) could bet their concubines or even their cities, and those who had nothing could bet their freedom and risk becoming slaves.

The Aztecs also enjoyed board games, like "Patolli" and "Totoloque". Bernal Diaz records that Cortés and Moctezuma II played totoloque together.

Arts

Song and poetry were highly regarded; there were presentations and poetry contests at most of the Aztec festivals. Also there was a kind of dramatic presentation that included players, musicians and acrobats.

Poetry was the only occupation worthy of an Aztec warrior in times of peace. A remarkable amount of this poetry survives, having been collected during the era of the conquest. In some cases, we know names of individual authors, such as Netzahualcoyotl, Tolatonai of Texcoco, and Cuacuatzin, Lord of Tepechpan. Miguel León-Portilla, the most renowned translator of Nahuatl, comments that it is in this poetry where we can find the real thought of the Aztecs, independent of "official" Aztec ideology.

In the basement of the Great Temple there was the "house of the eagles", where in peacetime Aztec captains could drink a foaming chocolate, smoke good cigars, and have poetry contests. The poetry was accompanied by percussion instruments (teponaztli). Recurring themes in this poetry are whether life is real or a dream, whether there is an afterlife, and whether we can approach the giver of life.


Zan te te yenelli
aca zan tlahuaco
in ipal nemoani
In cuix nelli ciox amo nelli?
Quen in conitohua
in ma oc on nentlamati
in toyollo....
zan no monenequi
in ipal nemoani
Ma oc on nentlamati
in toyollo
      
Is it you?, are you real?
Some had talked nonsense
oh, you, by whom everything lives,
Is it real?, Is it not real?
This is how they say it
Do not have anguish
in our hearts!
I will make disdainful
oh, you, by whom everything lives,
Do not have anguish
in our hearths!
– Netzahualcoyotl, lord of Texcoco


The most important collection of these poems is Romances de los señores de la Nueva España, collected (Tezcoco 1582), probably by Juan Bautista de Pomar. This volume was later translated into Spanish by Ángel María Garibay K., teacher of León-Portilla. Bautista de Pomar was the great grandson of Netzahualcoyotl. He spoke Nahuatl, but was raised as Christian and wrote in Latin characters.

The Aztec people also enjoyed a type of dramatic presentation, although it could not be called theater. Some were comical with music and acrobats, others were staged dramas of their gods. After the conquest, the first Christian churches had open chapels reserved for these kinds of representations. Plays in Nahuatl, written by converted Indians, were an important instrument for the conversion to Christianity, and are still found today in the form of traditional pastorelas, which are played during Christmas to show the Adoration of Baby Jesus, and other Biblical passages.

Education

File:Educacion azteca.jpg
Representation of Aztec education.

The Mexica, one of the Aztec groups, were the first people in the world to practice mandatory education for nearly all children, regardless of gender, rank, or station. There were two types of schools: the telpochcalli, for practical and military studies, and the calmecac, for advanced learning in writing, astronomy, statesmanship, theology, and other areas.

Until the age of fourteen, the education of children was in the hands of their parents, but supervised by the authorities of their calpulli. Periodically they attended their local temples, to test their progress.

Part of their education involved learning a collection of sayings, called huehuetlatolli ("The sayings of the old"), that embodied the Aztecs' ideals. It included speeches and sayings for every occasion, the words to salute the birth of children, and to say farewell at death. Fathers admonished their daughters to be very clean, but not to use makeup, because they would look like ahuianis. Mothers admonished their daughters to support their husbands, even if they turn out to be humble peasants. Boys were admonished to be humble, obedient and hard workers.

Boys and girls went to school at age 15. Probably this was one of the first societies that required education for all its members, without regard of gender or social status. There were two types of educational institutions: the telpochcalli and the calmecac.

The telpochcalli or House of the Young, taught history, religion, military fighting arts, and a trade or craft (such as agriculture or handicrafts). Some of the telpochcalli students were chosen for the army, but most of them returned to their homes.

The calmecac, attended mostly by the sons of pillis, was focused on turning out leaders (tlatoque), priests, scholars/teachers (tlatimini), healers (tizitl) and codex painters (tlacuilos). They studied rituals, ancient and contemporary history, literacy, calendrics, some elements of geometry, songs (poetry), and, as at the telpochcalli, military arts.

Each calpulli specialized in some handicrafts, and this was an important part of the income of the city. So the teaching of handicraft was highly valued.

Also, the healers or Tizitl had several specialities. Some were trained to just inspect and classify medicinal plants, others were training just in the preparation of medicines that were sold in special places (Tlapalli), more than a hundred preparations are known, including deodorants, remedies for smelly feet, dentifrice paste etc. Also there were Tizitl specialized in surgery, digestive disease, teeth and nose, skin diseases etc.

Aztec teachers or Tlatimine, propounded a spartan regime of education – cold baths in the morning, hard work, physical punishment, bleeding with maguey thorns and endurance tests – with the purpose of forming a stoical people.

There is contradictory information about whether calmecac was reserved for the sons and daughters of the pillis; some accounts said they could choose where to study. It is possible that the common people preferred the telpochcalli, because a warrior could advance more readily by his military abilities; becoming a priest or a tlacuilo was not a way to rise rapidly from a low station.

Girls were educated in the crafts of home and child raising. They were not taught to read or write. Some of them were educated as midwives and received the full training of a healer and they were called also Tizitl. All women were taught to be involved "in the things of god", there are paintings of women presiding over religious ceremonies, but there are no references to female priests.

There were also two other opportunities for those few who had talent. Some were chosen for the house of song and dance, and others were chosen for the ball game. Both occupations had high status.

Tenochtitlan

Main article: Tenochtitlan
México-Tenochtitlan

File:Tenoch2A.jpg

The city plan was based on a symmetrical layout that was divided into four city sections called campans. Each "campan" was divided in 20 towns called "calpulli". Three wide avenues cross the city from one side to the other, these avenues were extended to firm ground. The "calpullis" were divided by canals called "tlaxilcalli". There always was a wide street parallel to these canals. People cross "tlaxilcalli" using wood bridges that were removed at nights.

The canals were useful for transportation with rafts made with "totoras". There were rafts for collecting garbage and other ones to collect excrement that was used for fertilization at "chinampas" (aztec agriculture technology). About one-thousand people were employed for street cleaning. Bernal Díaz del Castillo wrote about how he was surprised at finding latrines in homes, public markets and on the paths.

Tenochitlan was the capital city of the Aztec empire, and the site of modern-day Mexico City. Aztec priests received a vision of the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli, who told them to settle where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus full of fruits (Tenoctli), and eating a bird of precious feathers (Florentine Codex). The priests found this place on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco.

Modern historians estimate the peak population of Tenochtitlan to be between 60,000 to 130,000 inhabitants at its peak. Thus, it was surpassed in population only by Constantinople with about 200,000 inhabitants, Paris with about 250,000, and Venice with about 160,000.

Anthropologist Eduardo Noguera, estimates the population at 200,000 based in the house count and merging the population of Tlatelolco (once an independent city, but later became a suburb of Tenochtitlan). If one includes the surrounding islets and shores surrounding Lake Texcoco, estimates range from 300,000 to 700,000 inhabitants.

History

Rise of the Aztecs

File:Calendário Asteca.jpg
Aztec Sun Stone, often mistakenly called the Aztec Calendar Stone.

There were twelve rulers or tlatoque (singular: tlatoani) of Tenochtitlan:

After the fall of Tula, in the 12th century, in the valley of Mexico and surroundings, there were several city states of Nahua-speaking people: Cholula, Huexotzingo, Tlaxcala, Atzcapotzalco, Chalco, Culhuacan, Xochimilco, Tlacopan, etc. No single one of them was powerful enough to dominate other cities, and they were somewhat united by a common Toltec background. Aztec chronicles describe this time as a golden age, when music was established, people learned arts and crafts from surviving Toltecs, and rulers held poetry contests in place of wars.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, around the Lake Texcoco in the Anahuac Valley, the most powerful of these city states were Culhuacan to the south, and Azcapotzalco to the west. Between them, they controlled the whole Lake Texcoco area.

As a result, when the Mexica arrived to the Anahuac valley as a semi-nomadic tribe, they had nowhere to go. They settled temporarily in Chapultepec, but this was under the rule of Azcapotzalco, the city of the "Tepaneca", and they were soon expelled.

The Mexica then went to the area dominated by Culhuacan and, in 1299, the ruler Cocoxtli gave them permission to settle in the empty barrens of Tizapan. They assimilated to Culhuacan culture: they took and married Culhuacan women, so that those women could teach their children.

In 1323, they asked the new ruler of Culhuacan, Achicometl, for his daughter, in order to make her the goddess Yaocihuatl. Unbeknowest to the king, the Mexica actually planned to sacrifice her. As the story goes, during a festival dinner, a priest came out wearing her flayed skin as part of the ritual. Upon seeing this, the king and the people of Culhuacan were horrified and expelled the Mexica.

Forced to flee, in 1325 they went to a small islet in the center of the lake where they began to build their city "Mexico - Tenochtitlan", eventually creating a large artificial island. After a time, they elected their first tlatoani, Acamapichtli, following customs learned from the Culhuacan. Another Mexica group settled on the north shore: this would become the city of Tlatelolco. Originally, this was an independent Mexica kingdom, but eventually it was taken over by the Tenochca Mexica and treated as a "fifth" quadrant. The famous marketplace described by Cortés and Díaz was actually located in Tlatelolco.

During this period, the islet was under the jurisdiction of Azcapotzalco, and the Mexica had to pay heavy tributes to stay there.

Initially, the Mexica hired themselves out as mercenaries in wars between Nahuas, breaking the balance of power between city states. Eventually they gained enough glory to receive royal marriages. Mexica rulers Acamapichtli, Huitzilihuitl and Chimalpopoca were, in 1372–1427, vassals of Tezozomoc, a lord of the Tepanec nahua.

When Tezozomoc died, his son Maxtla assassinated Chimalpopoca, whose uncle Itzcoatl allied with the ex-ruler of Texcoco, Nezahualcoyotl, and besieged Maxtla's capital Azcapotzalco. Maxtla surrendered after 100 days and went into exile.


The Triple Alliance

Main article: Aztec Triple Alliance

Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan formed a "Triple Alliance" that came to dominate the Valley of Mexico, and then extended its power beyond. Tenochtitlan gradually became the dominant power in the alliance.

Moctezuma I and his successors

Itzcoatl's nephew Moctezuma I inherited the throne in 1449 and expanded the realm. His son Axayacatl (1469) surrounding kingdom of Tlatelolco. His sister was married to the tlatoani of Tlatelolco, but, as a pretext for war, he declared that she was mistreated. He went on to conquer Matlazinca and the cities of Tollocan, Ocuillan, and Mallinalco. He was defeated by the Tarascans in Tzintzuntzan (the first great defeat the Aztecs had ever suffered), but recovered and took control of the Huasteca region, conquering the Mixtecs and Zapotecs.

In 1481 Axayacatl's son Tizoc ruled briefly, but he was considered weak, so he was replaced (possibly through assassination by poisoning) by his younger brother Ahuitzol who had reorganized the army. The empire was at its largest during his reign. His successor was Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin (better known as Moctezuma II), who was tlatoani when the Spaniards arrived in 1519.

Tlacaelel

Most of the Aztec empire was forged by one man, Tlacaelel (Nahuatl for "manly heart"), who lived from 1397 to 1487. Although he was offered the opportunity to be tlatoani, he preferred to stay behind the throne. Nephew of Tlatoani Itzcoatl, and brother of Chimalpopoca and Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, his title was "Cihuacoatl" (in honor of the goddess, roughly equivalent to "counselor"), but as reported in the Ramírez Codex, "what Tlacaellel ordered, was as soon done". He gave the Aztec government a new structure, he ordered the burning of most Aztec books (his explanation being that they were full of lies) and he rewrote their history.

In addition, Tlacaelel reformed Aztec religion, by putting the tribal god Huitzilopochtli at the same level as the old Nahua gods Tlaloc, Tezcatlipoca, and Quetzalcoatl. Tlacaelel thus created a common awareness of history for the Aztecs. He also created the institution of ritual war (the flower wars) as a way to have trained warriors, and created the necessity of constant sacrifices to keep the Sun moving.

Some writers believe upper classes were aware of this forgery, which would explain the later actions of Moctezuma when he met Hernán Cortés (a.k.a. Cortez). But eventually this institution helped to cause the fall of the Aztec empire. The Aztecs spared the people of Tlaxcala from conquest, at the price of their participation in the flower wars. When Cortés learned this, he approached the Tlaxcaltecas and persuaded them to become his allies. The Tlaxcaltecas provided thousands of men to support the few hundred Spaniards. The Aztec strategy of war was based on the capture of prisoners by individual warriors, not on working as a group to kill the enemy in battle. By the time the Aztecs came to understand how Europeans waged war, it was too late.

For further details, see Tlatoani.

Great leaders

  • Acamapichtli - 'Handful of Arrows' 1st ruler. first Aztec ruler early construction of Tenochtitlán and local conquests
  • Itzcoatl - 'Obsidian Serpent' 4th Ruler. Formed a coalition with other lakeside people against the Tepanecs, brought an end to the Tepanec Domination of the basin of Mexico by sacking the city of Azcapotzalco, founded the empire of the Triple Alliance
  • Ahuitzotl - 'Water Beast' 8th ruler. was a fierce warrior, rebuilt the Great Temple, sacrificed 20,000 to 80,000 victims at temple's opening ceremony, empire stretched from coast to coast
  • Montezuma II, Moctezuma II - 'Angry Lord, The Younger' 9th Ruler. was the emperor of the Aztecs during the time of the three Spanish expeditions, the third of which was Cortés’. He was captured by Cortés when the Spaniards, after being greeted into the city, took him hostage because of the fear of an uprising. He was killed by his own people later (stoned to death) when Cortés used him to try to quell the uprising.

Fall of the Aztec Empire

For more on the conquest of Mexico by Spain, see also Hernán Cortés, Spanish Conquest of Mexico and Siege of Tenochtitlan.

The Aztecs were conquered by Spain in 1521, after long battle and a long siege of the capital, Tenochtitlan, where much of the population died from hunger and smallpox, Cuauhtémoc surrendered to Hernán Cortés. Cortés, with his up to 500 Spaniards, did not fight alone but with as many as 150,000 or 200,000 allies from Tlaxcala, and eventually from Texcoco, who were resisting Aztec rule. He defeated Tenochtitlan's forces on August 13, 1521.

After the Fall of the Aztec Empire

The Conquest of Mesoamerica

The fall of Tenochtitlan usually is referred to as the main episode in the process of the conquest of Mesoamerica (Mexico). Accounts of the Spanish conquest of Mexico often stop with the fall of Tenochtitlan and leave the reader to assume that the rest of the conquest was quick and easy.

For this reason, the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire is popularly considered as being equivalent to the Spanish conquest of all Mesoamerican cultures as if the Aztec empire were equivalent to all of Mesoamerican civilization.

However, the process of conquering Mesoamerica was much more complex and took longer than the three years that it took Cortés' to conquer Tenochtitlan. It took almost 60 years of wars for the Spaniards to conquer Mesoamerica (Chichimeca wars), a process that could have taken longer were it not for three separate epidemics that took a heavy toll on the Native American population. The Spanish conquest of Yucatán took almost 170 years.

After the fall of Tenochtitlan, most of the other Mesoamerican cultures were intact. In fact, the conquest of the Aztec empire did not have an immediate impact on other Mesoamerican cultures. If anything, the freedom from Aztec domination was probably considered a positive development by most of the other cultures.

Initially, the Tlaxcalteca were important allies of the Spaniards. Eventually, the Spaniards would break the alliance, but that would not happen until decades later. The fall of the Mesoamerican cultures was a long process. The fall of the Aztec empire was just the first chapter in the process of conquering Mesoamerica, certainly not the final chapter. A combination of factors were involved in the fall of the Mesoamerican cultures. The most significant of these was the deadly toll of the epidemics which decimated the Native American peoples far more than the military power of Spain. This fact has been slowly understood by scholars.

The Fate of the Aztec empire under Spanish rule

It seems that Cortés' intention was to maintain the structure of the Aztec empire, and at first it seemed the Aztec empire could survive. The upper classes at first were considered as noblemen (to this day, the title of Duke of Moctezuma is held by a Spanish noble family). The upper classes learned Spanish, and several learned to write in European characters. Some of their surviving writings are crucial in our knowledge of the Aztecs. Also, the first missionaries tried to learn Nahuatl and some, like Bernardino de Sahagún, decided to learn as much as they could of the Aztec culture.

But soon all that changed. Eventually, the Indians were not only forbidden to learn of their cultures, but also were forbidden to learn to read and write in Spanish, and, under the law, they had the status of minors.

The impact of epidemics on the Aztec Empire

The first epidemic, an outbreak of smallpox (cocoliztli) occurred from 1520-1521 and decimated the population of Tenochtitlan and was decisive in the fall of the city.

The other two epidemics, of smallpox (1545-1548) and typhus (1576-1581) killed up to 75% of the population of Mesoamerica. The population before the time of the conquest is estimated at 15 million; by 1550, the estimated population was 4 million and less than two millions by 1581. Whole towns disappeared, lands were deserted, roads were closed and armies were destroyed. The spaniards, trying to make more of the diminishing population, merge the survivors from small towns into the bigger ones. this not only broke the power of the upper classes and dissolved the coherence of the indigenous society, but also those bigger towns became more suceptible to epidemics.

The "New Spain" of the XVI century was a depopulated country and many Mesoamerican cultures were wiped out. Because of the fall of their social structure, the population had to resort to the spanish to maintain some order.

As a last resource, the spanish began to import black slaves, although most of them eventually merged with the population.

An Aztec lament of the fall of Tenochtitlan

An anonymous Aztec poet wrote:

How can we save our homes, my people
The Aztecs are deserting the city
The city is in flames and all
is darkness and destruction
Weep my people
Know that with these disasters
We have lost the Mexican nation
The water has turned bitter
Our food is bitter
These are the acts of the Giver of Life.
– From the La relación anónima de Tlatelolco, compiled in 1528.

A record of the last tlatimine trying to defend the Aztec way of life

A record survives of a dialog between the last tlatimine or wise men, and the missionaries, where the Aztec try to defend their ways, this reflects the sadness of their defeat:

Lords, respected lords: You have traveled much to get to this land.
Here in front of you,
we contemplate you, we ignorant people...
And now, what are we going to tell you?
What is what we must address to your ears?
Are we something indeed?
We are just vulgar people...
By means of a translator we will answer,
we will return the breath and the word
about the lord of the near and far. (ometeotl /omecihuatl)
It's by his word, that we risk ourselves,
that we put ourselves in danger...
Maybe this is our loss,
maybe is our destruction,
where are we going to be taken?
Where should we go?
We are vulgar people
we are perishable, we are mortal.
Let us die, let us perish,
since our gods are dead.
But there should be peace on your
hearts and your body,
Milords!
we will break a little,
we will show a little,
the secret, the ark of the lord, our God
You said
that we did not know
about the lord of the near and far,
about of one who created earth and sky.
you said
That our gods are not true.
This is a new word,
this that you have spoken.
This is why we are disturbed,
this is why we are annoyed.
Because our ancestors,
the ones that had been,
the ones that had lived on this earth,
they did not speak like that.
They give us the ways of life,
they take by true,
they give cult,
they honored the gods......
they teach us the ways of the cult,
all the ways to honor the gods.
That way we put the mouth on earth,
by them we bleed us,
we accomplished our votes,
we burn copal
and offered sacrifice.

(....)

We know to whom we owe life.
To whom we owe birth,
to whom we owe to be beget
to whom we owe to grow,
and how to invoke...

(....)

Hear milords
do not harm your people.
Do not let disgrace to be carried,
to let it perish...
tranquil, and friendly,
take this account, milords,
of what is needed.

(....)

Here are the ones who rule us,
the ones that take us,
the ones that have the world in charge.
Is it not enough that we are defeated?
that we are taken away?
that we are taken from our rulers?
If in this place we are to stand,
we will be prisoners.
So Do with us what you want,
This is what we have spoken,
what we answered,
to your breath,
to your word,
oh lords!

Legacy

Mexico City was built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, making it one of the oldest living cities of America. Many of its districts and natural landmarks retain their original Nahuatl names. Many other cities and towns in Central Mexico were also originally Mexica towns, also often retaining their original Nahuatl names, or combining them with Spanish.

The modern Mexican flag bears the emblem of the Mexica's migration legend.

The Mexica earth mother goddess Tonantzin lives on in the guise of Mexico's premier religious icon, the Virgen of Guadalupe.

Nahuatl is still spoken by Mexican Indians (who still claim Yo hablo mexicano – "I speak Mexican"), mostly in mountainous areas in the states surrounding Mexico City. Moreover, Nahuatl survives among the entire Mexican population, comprising a significant part of the Mexican Spanish dialect, some of which has even come into American English.

Mexican cuisine continues to be based on and flavored by agricultural products contributed by the Mexicas/Aztecs and MesoAmerica generally, most of which retain some form of their original Nahautl names. The cuisine has also become a popular part of the cuisine of the United States and other countries around the world, typically altered to suit various national tastes.

Many modern Mexicans, most of whom are of mixed Spanish and indigenous ancestry, are descendants of the Mexicas, and/or of the many other indigenous peoples of the Aztec Empire and beyond.

For the 1986 FIFA World Cup Adidas designed the official match ball showing in its "triades" aztecs architect and mural designs and called "Azteca Mexico".[1]

See also

Sources

Each of the sources has its own unique problems. None of the sources is free from bias and thus the facts presented in any one source must be viewed with some skepticism unless cross-checked against other contemporary sources.

Information about Aztecs survives in contemporary sources like Codex Mendoza made by aztec tlacuilos in 1541 under Spanish authorities.

There are only four extant Aztec codices which were made before the conquest. Thus, most extant sources were written after the conquest. The possibility of Spanish influence poses credibility problems with the facts presented in any of the post-conquest codices.

The accounts of the conquistadores are those of men confronted with a new civilization, which they tried to interpret according their own culture. Cortés was the most educated, and his letters are a valuable first-hand account, since he was wrtting in the time and place, unfortunatelly one of the letters is lost and replaced by a posterir text and the others were censored prior their publication. Bernal Diaz del Castillo is more problematic: he wrote decades after the fact, he never learned the native languages, and he didn't take notes. His account is colorful, but the figures he provides are considered erratic and exaggerated. Antropologist W. Arens reports sections that seem to have been taken from a popular book by Hans Stadden.

The accounts of the first priests and schollars, while tainted by their faith and their culture, are important sources. Father Diego Duran, Motolinia and Mendieta wrote with their own religion in mind, Father Duran wrote trying to prove that the Aztec were one of the lost tribes of Israel. Bartolome de las Casas wrote instead from an apologetic point of view. There also authors that tried to make a synthesis of the pre-Hispanic cultures, like "Oviedo y Herrera", Jose de Acosta, and Pedro Mártir de Angleria.

Perhaps the most important source about the Aztec, is the monumental work of Bernardino de Sahagún, who worked with the surviving Aztec wise men, he also taught Aztec tlacuilos to write the original Nahuatl accounts in European writing. Because of fear of the Spanish authorities, he maintained the anonymity of his informants, and wrote a heavily censored version in Spanish. Unfortunatelly the nahuatl original was not fully translated until the XX century, thus realising the extent of the censorship of the Spanish version. The original nahuatl manuscript is known as "The clorentine codex".

Other important sources are the work of Indian and mestizo authors, descendants of the upper classes. These authors include Don Fernando Alvarado Tezozómoc, Chimalpain Cuahutlehuanintzin, Alva Ixtlixochitl, and Juan Bautista de Pomar. There are also some anonymous manuscripts like the Ramirez Codex, probably the work of a Christianized Aztec.

Alva Ixtlixochitl wrote a history of Texcoco, but he was trying to please the catholic priest, and took the bible as a model, so his history of Netzahualcoyolt has a strong resemblance to the story of King Solomon. While not actually changing the history, he exaggerates some parts to this effect.

There is also the work of Muñoz Camargo, a Tlaxcalteca mestizo from the XVI century who wrote the "History of Tlaxcala". Some parts of his work are considered to be biased by most historians, but the point of view of the Tlaxcalteca can not be ignored.

Small communities continued to use Aztec codices for legal purposes for almost a century after the conquest, although they clearly were made by untrained hands.

  • "Book of the Gods and Rites and the ancient calendar" Fray Diego Duran, trans and eds F. Horcasitas and D Heyden. Norman, Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma Press.
  • "The Daily life of the Aztecs" Soustelle, J. (1961). London, WI
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