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34-570: Cuauhtemoc , ruler of Tenochtitlan , capital of the Aztec Empire , was executed by Hernán Cortés while they were stopped in Acalan capital of Itzamkanac (actual El Tigre on the right bank of Rio Candelaria) in 1525. This article related to indigenous Mesoamerican culture is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a location in the Mexican state of Campeche

68-547: A conquistador serving under Cortés who recorded his experiences in his book The True History of the Conquest of New Spain , the supposed plot was revealed by two men, named Tapia and Juan Velásquez. Díaz portrays the executions as unjust and based on no evidence, and he admits to having liked Cuauhtémoc personally. He also records Cuauhtémoc giving the following speech to Cortés through his interpreter Malinche : Oh Malinzin [i.e., Cortés]! Now I understand your false promises and

102-604: A "passionate indigenista ", excavated the bones in 1949, which were discovered shortly after bones of Cortés, found in Mexico City, had been authenticated by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH). Initially, Mexican scholars congratulated Guzmán, but after a similar examination by scholars at INAH, their authenticity as Cuauhtemoc's was rejected, as the bones in the ossuary belonged to several different persons, several of them seemingly women. The finding caused

136-622: A local of Ichcateopan as a way of generating publicity, and that subsequently supported by Mexican nationalists such as Guzman who wished to use the find for political purposes. Cuauhtemoc is the embodiment of indigenist nationalism in Mexico, being the only Aztec emperor who survived the conquest by the Spanish Empire (and their native allies). He is honored by a monument on the Paseo de la Reforma , his face has appeared on Mexican coins, banknotes, and he

170-409: A public uproar. A panel assembled by Guzmán gave support to the initial contention. The Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) had another panel examine the bones, which gave support to INAH's original finding, but did not report on the finding publicly. A scholarly study of the controversy was published in 2011 and argued that the available data suggests that the grave is an elaborate hoax prepared by

204-647: Is a Cuauhtémoc station on Line 1 of the Mexico City metro as well as one for Moctezuma. There is also a metro station in Monterrey named after him. Cuauhtémoc is also one of the few non-Spanish given names for Mexican boys that is perennially popular. Individuals with this name include the politician Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and footballer Cuauhtémoc Blanco . In the Aztec campaign of the PC game Age of Empires II: The Conquerors ,

238-496: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Cuauhtemoc Cuauhtémoc ( Nahuatl pronunciation: [kʷaːʍˈtemoːk] , Spanish pronunciation: [kwawˈtemok] ), also known as Cuauhtemotzín , Guatimozín , or Guatémoc , was the Aztec ruler ( tlatoani ) of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, and the last Aztec Emperor. The name Cuauhtemōc means "one who has descended like an eagle", and

272-588: Is celebrated in paintings, music, and popular culture. Many places in Mexico are named in honour of Cuauhtémoc. These include Ciudad Cuauhtémoc in Chihuahua and the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City . Smaller towns include Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Veracruz and Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chiapas . The Cuauhtémoc is a vessel of the Mexican Navy that serves as a cultural ambassador with frequent visits to world ports. There

306-473: Is commonly rendered in English as "Descending Eagle", as in the moment when an eagle folds its wings and plummets down to strike its prey. This is a name that implies aggressiveness and determination. Cuauhtémoc took power in 1520 as successor of Cuitláhuac and was a cousin of the late emperor Moctezuma II . His young wife, who was later known as Isabel Moctezuma , was one of Moctezuma's daughters. He ascended to

340-534: The Chontal Maya capital of Itzamkanac, known as Acalan in Nahuatl , Cortés had Cuauhtémoc executed for allegedly conspiring to kill him and the other Spaniards. There are a number of discrepancies in the various accounts of the event. According to Cortés himself, on 27 February 1525, he learned from a citizen of Tenochtitlan , Mexicalcingo, that Cuauhtémoc, Coanacoch (the ruler of Texcoco ), and Tetlepanquetzal ,

374-409: The calmecac , the school for elite boys, and then his military service, he was named ruler of Tlatelolco, with the title cuauhtlatoani ("eagle ruler") in 1515. To have reached this position of rulership, Cuauhtemoc had to be a male of high birth and a warrior who had captured enemies for sacrifice. Cuauhtemoc married the Aztec princess who later became known as Isabel Moctezuma . When Cuauhtemoc

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408-452: The prehispanic city-state are centered on the Plaza de las Tres Culturas , a square surrounded on three sides by an excavated Aztec site, a 17th-century church called Templo de Santiago , and the modern office complex of the Mexican foreign ministry . In February 2009, the discovery of a mass grave with 49 human bodies was announced by archaeologists. The grave is considered unusual because

442-518: The Spanish "were astonished at the number of people and the quantity of merchandise that it contained, and at the good order and control that was maintained, for we had never seen such a thing before." During Cortés's siege of Tenochtitlan , the Mexicas would retreat to Tlatelolco, and even achieve a successful ambush against the Spanish conquistadores and their allies, but would ultimately fall along with

476-455: The Spanish, keeping the title of tlatoani, but he was no longer the sovereign ruler. From his surrender until his death, Cuauhtémoc was mostly kept in guarded custody by the Spaniards. In 1525, Cortés took Cuauhtémoc and several other indigenous nobles on his expedition to Honduras , as he feared that Cuauhtémoc could have led an insurrection in his absence. While the expedition was stopped in

510-608: The Spanish. Of all the Nahuas, only Tlatelolcas remained loyal, and the surviving Tenochcas looked for refuge in Tlatelolco , where even women took part in the battle. Cuauhtémoc was captured on August 13, 1521, while fleeing Tenochtitlán by crossing Lake Texcoco with his wife, family, and friends. He surrendered to Hernán Cortés along with the surviving pipiltin (nobles) and, according to Spanish sources, he asked Cortés to take his knife and "strike me dead immediately". According to

544-632: The Tenochca leadership in Tenochtitlan and founded Mexico-Tlatelolco on the northern portion of the island. Tenochtitlan was closely tied with its sister city, which was largely dependent on the market of Tlatelolco, the most important site of commerce in the area. In 1337, thirteen years after the foundation of Tenochtitlan, the Tlatelolca declared themselves independent from the Tenochca and inaugurated their first independent tlatoani (dynastic ruler). Under

578-524: The Tlatelolca conquered the city-state of Ahuilizapan (now Orizaba, Veracruz ), and fought against the people of Chalco along with the Tenochca. The fourth and fifth stages of the Main Pyramid were constructed in this period. The ruler Moquihuix (1460–1473) constructed the sixth stage of the temple, but in 1473, in the Battle of Tlatelolco , he was defeated by the Tenochca tlatoani Axayacatl , and Tlatelolco

612-545: The colonial era, partly because of the foundation there, of the school for elite indigenous men, the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco , which was the first school of higher learning in the Americas. Today its remains are located within Mexico City . In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, archeological excavations have taken place at the Tlatelolco (archaeological site) in what is now part of Mexico City . The excavations of

646-490: The executions in the 17th century partly based on Texcocan oral tradition . According to Ixtlilxóchitl, the three lords were joking cheerfully with one another because of a rumor that Cortés had decided to return the expedition to Mexico, when Cortés asked a spy to tell him what they were talking about. The spy reported honestly, but Cortés invented the plot himself. Cuauhtémoc, Coanacoch, and Tetlepanquetzal were hanged as well as eight others. However, Cortés cut down Coanacoch,

680-444: The kind of death you have had in store for me. For you are killing me unjustly. May God demand justice from you, as it was taken from me when I entrusted myself to you in my city of Mexico! Díaz wrote that afterwards, Cortés suffered from insomnia because of guilt and badly injured himself while he was wandering at night. Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl , a castizo historian and descendant of Coanacoch, wrote an account of

714-497: The king Quaquapitzahuac (1376–1417), the first two stages of the Main Pyramid of Tlatelolco were constructed. Under Tlacateotl (1417–1428), the Tlatelolca assisted the Tenochca in the war against the Tepanec empire, dominated by Azcapotzalco . Shortly thereafter, the first war between the Tenochca and Tlatelolca erupted. Also during Tlacateotl's reign, the third stage of the Main Pyramid was constructed. Under Quauhtlatoa (1428–1460),

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748-492: The last to be hanged, after his brother began rallying his warriors. Coanacoch did not have long to enjoy his reprieve, as Ixtlilxóchitl wrote that he died a few days later. Tlacotzin , Cuauhtémoc's cihuacoatl , was appointed his successor as tlatoani . He died the next year before he could return to Tenochtitlan. The modern-day town of Ixcateopan in the state of Guerrero is home to an ossuary purportedly containing Cuauhtémoc's remains. Archeologist Eulalia Guzmán ,

782-537: The name Guatemoc, is portrayed sympathetically in the adventure novel Montezuma's Daughter , by H. Rider Haggard . First appearing in Chapter XIV, he becomes friends with the protagonist after they save each other's lives. His coronation, torture, and death are described in the novel. Tlatelolco (altepetl) Tlatelolco ( Classical Nahuatl : Mēxihco-Tlatelōlco [tɬateˈloːɬko] , modern Nahuatl pronunciation ) (also called Mexico Tlatelolco )

816-577: The player plays as Cuauhtémoc, despite the name Montezuma for the campaign itself, and Cuauhtémoc narrates the openings and closings to each scenario. In the next installment to the series, Age of Empires 3: The War Chiefs , Cuauhtémoc is the leader of Aztecs. In the 1996 Rage Against the Machine single People of the Sun , lyricist Zack De La Rocha rhymes "When the fifth sun sets get back reclaimed, The spirit of Cuauhtémoc alive and untamed". Cuauhtémoc, in

850-547: The rest of the island to Spain . After the completion of the two-year Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521, the Spanish conquerors established the ruins of Mexico-Tenochtitlan as the Spanish capital of New Spain . The remnants of the indigenous populations of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco following the conquest were administered by indigenous elites in the incorporated Indian towns of Santiago Tlatelolco and San Juan Tenochtitlan. Tlatelolco remained an important location in

884-453: The ruler of Tlacopan , were plotting his death. Cortés interrogated them until each confessed and then had Cuauhtémoc, Tetlepanquetzal, and another lord, Tlacatlec, hanged. Cortés wrote that the other lords would be too frightened to plot against him again, as they believed he had uncovered the plan through magic powers. Cortés's account was accepted by contemporary historian Francisco López de Gómara . According to Bernal Díaz del Castillo ,

918-421: The rulership. Although under Cuitlahuac Tenochtitlan began mounting a defense against the invaders, it was increasingly isolated militarily and largely faced the crisis alone, as the numbers of Spanish allies increased with the desertion of many polities previously under its control. Cuauhtémoc called for reinforcements from the countryside to aid the defense of Tenochtitlán, after eighty days of warfare against

952-419: The same Spanish accounts, Cortés refused the offer and treated his foe magnanimously. "You have defended your capital like a brave warrior," he declared. "A Spaniard knows how to respect valor, even in an enemy." At Cuauhtémoc's request, Cortés also allowed the defeated Mexica to depart the city unmolested. Subsequently, however, when the booty found did not measure up to the Spaniards' expectations, Cuauhtémoc

986-521: The throne when he was around 25 years old, while Tenochtitlan was being besieged by the Spanish and devastated by an epidemic of smallpox brought to the Americas by Spanish conquerors. After the killings in the Great Temple , there were probably few Aztec captains available to take the position. Cuauhtemoc's date of birth is unknown, as he does not enter the historical record until he became emperor. He

1020-633: Was a pre-Columbian altepetl , or city-state, in the Valley of Mexico . Its inhabitants, known as the Tlatelolca , were part of the Mexica , a Nahuatl -speaking people who arrived in what is now central Mexico in the 13th century. The Mexica settled on an island in Lake Texcoco and founded the altepetl of Mexico-Tenochtitlan on the southern portion of the island. In 1337, a group of dissident Mexica broke away from

1054-426: Was elected tlatoani in 1520, Tenochtitlan had already been rocked by the invasion of the Spanish and their indigenous allies, the death of Moctezuma II, and the death of Moctezuma's brother Cuitlahuac , who succeeded him as ruler, but died of smallpox shortly afterwards. In keeping with traditional practice, the most able candidate among the high noblemen was chosen by vote of the highest noblemen, and Cuauhtemoc assumed

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1088-409: Was made subject to Tenochtitlan. Itzcuauhtzin ruled Tlatelolco during a period in which it was almost completely incorporated into Tenochtitlan. In his Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España , conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo made several observations regarding Tlatelolco. He opined that its temple was the greatest in all of Mexico. Regarding its marketplace, he wrote that

1122-487: Was subjected to " torture by fire", whereby the soles of his bare feet were slowly broiled over red-hot coals, in an unsuccessful attempt to discover its whereabouts. On the statue to Cuauhtemoc, on the Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City, there is a bas relief showing the Spaniards' torture of the emperor. Eventually, some gold was recovered but far less than Cortés and his men expected. Cuauhtémoc, now baptized as Fernando Cuauhtémotzín, continued to hold his position under

1156-439: Was the eldest legitimate son of Emperor Ahuitzotl and may well have attended the last New Fire ceremony, marking the beginning of a new 52-year cycle in the Aztec calendar . According to several sources his mother, Tiyacapantzin, was a Tlatelolcan princess. Like the rest of Cuauhtemoc's early biography, that is inferred from knowledge of his age, and the likely events and life path of someone of his rank. Following education in

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