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105-694: During the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , Tlaxcala allied with the Spaniards against the Aztecs , being eager to see their longtime flower war enemies overthrown. Texcocan nobleman Ixtlilxochitl gives the "fullest early statement concerning the origin as well as the initial rationale" of the flower war. From 1450 to 1454, the Aztecs had suffered from crop failure and severe drought ; this led to famine and many deaths in

210-504: A hummingbird or as an anthropomorphic figure with just the feathers of such on his head and left leg, a black face, and holding a scepter shaped like a snake and a mirror. According to the Florentine Codex, Huitzilopochtli's body was painted blue. In the great temple his statue was decorated with cloth, feathers, gold, and jewels, and was hidden behind a curtain to give it more reverence and veneration. Another variation lists him having

315-412: A counterattack. Cortés realized that the defeat was imminent and decided to escape yet, the Aztecs attacked. The Massacre is most known as La Noche Triste (the sorrowful night) about "400 Spaniards, 4000 native allies and many horses [were killed] before reaching the mainland". Moctezuma was killed, although the sources do not agree on who killed him. According to one account, when Moctezuma, now seen by

420-459: A crucial role in the conquest, yet other factors paved the path for the Spaniards' success. For instance, the Spaniards' timing of entry, the compelling ideologies of both groups, and the Spanish unfamiliarity with the Aztec Empire. Therefore, the Spaniards lacked a sense of danger and power structure within the empire. "A direct attack on a city as mighty as Tenochtitlan was unlikely and unexpected" from

525-489: A daily basis. The Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli needed daily nourishment ( tlaxcaltiliztli ) in the form of human blood and hearts and that they, as “people of the sun,” were required to provide Huitzilopochtli with his sustenance. When the Aztecs sacrificed people to Huitzilopochtli, the victim would be placed on a sacrificial stone. The priest would then cut through the abdomen with an obsidian or flint blade. The heart would be torn out still beating and held towards

630-410: A face that was marked with yellow and blue stripes and he carries around the fire serpent Xiuhcoatl with him. According to legend, the statue was supposed to be destroyed by the soldier Gil González de Benavides , but it was rescued by a man called Tlatolatl . The statue appeared some years later during an investigation by Bishop Zummáraga in the 1530s, only to be lost again. There is speculation that

735-409: A greater percentage of their total forces. Through this, the Aztecs used the flower wars to weaken their opponents. Furthermore, since fewer soldiers took part in flower war as compared to a traditional war, the practice of flower war allowed the Aztecs to hold a potential threat at bay while focusing the bulk of their forces elsewhere. Another purpose of the flower war, according to Hassig, was to show

840-443: A large "pyre of paper and incense " between the armies. Actual battle tactics also differed from typical warfare. In typical warfare, the Aztecs used atlatl darts, stones, and other ranged weapons to weaken enemy forces from afar. However, in flower wars, the Aztecs did not use ranged weapons and instead used weapons such as the macuahuitl that required skill and close proximity to the enemy. The use of these kinds of weapons allowed

945-476: A long-running flower war could become increasingly deadly over time. For example, in a long-running flower war between the Aztecs and the Chalcas , there were few battle deaths at the start. After time had passed, captured commoners started to be killed, but captured nobles were frequently released; sacrifice was not always the fate of captives. However, after further time had passed, captive nobles were killed along with

1050-529: A petition for rewards for services, as many Spanish accounts were, the Anonymous Conqueror made observations about the indigenous situation at the time of the conquest. The account was used by eighteenth-century Jesuit Francisco Javier Clavijero in his descriptions of the history of Mexico. On the indigenous side, the allies of Cortés, particularly the Tlaxcalans, wrote extensively about their services to

1155-417: A purely historical explanation to one in terms of cosmovision and possible astronomical content.” At one level, Huitzilopochtli's birth and victorious battle against the four hundred children represent the character of the solar region of the Aztecs in that the daily sunrise was viewed as a celestial battle against the moon (Coyolxauhqui) and the stars (Centzon Huitznahua). Another version of the myth, found in

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1260-571: A pyramidal platform, on top of which were twin temples, one painted with blue stripes and the other painted red. The red shrine, on the south side, was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, while the blue shrine to the north was dedicated to Tlaloc. That these two deities were on opposite sides of the Great Temple is very representative of the Aztec dichotomy that the deities represent. Tlaloc, as the rain god, represented fertility and growth, while Huitzilopochtli, as

1365-505: A well-seasoned participant in the conquest of Central Mexico, wrote what he called The True History of the Conquest of New Spain , countering the account by Cortés's official biographer, Francisco López de Gómara . Bernal Díaz's account had begun as a benemérito petition for rewards but he expanded it to encompass a full history of his earlier expeditions in the Caribbean and Tierra Firme and

1470-472: Is attributed to their help from indigenous allies, technology, and the Aztec empire's vulnerability due to the smallpox spread. As a result, the Aztec's tactics countering the Spaniard's advanced technology is understated. According to Hassig, "It is true that cannons, guns, crossbows, steel blades, horses and war dogs were advanced on the Aztecs' weaponry. But the advantage these gave a few hundred Spanish soldiers

1575-481: Is debatable. Omens were extremely important to the Aztecs, who believed that history repeated itself. A number of modern scholars cast doubt on whether such omens occurred or whether they were ex post facto (retrospective) creations to help the Mexica explain their defeat. Some scholars contend that "the most likely interpretation of the story of these portents is that some, if not all, had occurred" but concede that it

1680-459: Is nowhere they can get as good a unified narrative of the main events, crises, and course of the Mexican conquest as Prescott's version." In the sources recorded by Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún and Dominican Diego Durán in the mid to late sixteenth century, there are accounts of events that were interpreted as supernatural omens of the conquest. These two accounts are full-blown narratives from

1785-588: Is often translated as "Left-Handed Hummingbird" or "Hummingbird of the South" on the basis that Aztec cosmology associated the south with the left hand side of the body. However, Frances Karttunen points out that in Classical Nahuatl compounds are usually head final , implying that a more accurate translation may be "the left (or south) side of the hummingbird". The hummingbird was spiritually important in Aztec culture. Diego Durán describes what appears to be

1890-458: Is the solar and war deity of sacrifice in Aztec religion . He was also the patron god of the Aztecs and their capital city, Tenochtitlan . He wielded Xiuhcoatl , the fire serpent, as a weapon, thus also associating Huitzilopochtli with fire. The Spaniards recorded the deity's name as Huichilobos . During their discovery and conquest of the Aztec Empire , they wrote that human sacrifice

1995-486: Is true. Over the years, and especially after Nezhualpilli's death in 1515, several supernatural omens appeared. The eight bad omens or wonders: Additionally, the Tlaxcala saw a "radiance that shone in the east every morning three hours before sunrise", and a "whirlwind of dust" from the volcano Matlalcueye . According to Diaz, "These Caciques also told us of a tradition they had heard from their ancestors, that one of

2100-450: Is very likely that "clever Mexicans and friars, writing later of the Mexican empire, were happy to link those memories with what they know occurred in Europe. Many sources depicting omens and the return of old Aztec gods, including those supervised by Spanish priests, were written after the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521. Spanish accounts tended to incorporate omens to emphasize what they saw as

2205-524: The Ramírez Codex , in Tenochtitlan approximately sixty prisoners were sacrificed at the festivities. Sacrifices were reported to be made in other Aztec cities, including Tlatelolco , Xochimilco , and Texcoco , but the number is unknown, and no currently available archeological findings confirm this. For the reconsecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, dedicated to Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli,

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2310-664: The Aztec Empire as well as their political rivals, particularly the Tlaxcaltecs and Tetzcocans , a former partner in the Aztec Triple Alliance. Other city-states also joined, including Cempoala and Huejotzingo and polities bordering Lake Texcoco , the inland lake system of the Valley of Mexico . Particularly important to the Spanish success was a multilingual (Nahuatl, a Maya dialect, and Spanish) Nahua-speaking woman enslaved by

2415-627: The Mixtón War in 1542. Two letters to Cortés about Alvarado's campaigns in Guatemala are published in The Conquistadors . The chronicle of the so-called "Anonymous Conqueror" was written sometime in the sixteenth century, entitled in an early twentieth-century translation to English as Narrative of Some Things of New Spain and of the Great City of Temestitan (i.e. Tenochtitlan). Rather than it being

2520-511: The Spanish Main , seeking wealth in the form of gold and access to indigenous labor to mine gold and other manual labor. Twenty-five years after the first Spanish settlement in the New World , expeditions of exploration were sent to the coast of Mexico. In 1517, Cuban governor Diego Velázquez commissioned a fleet of three ships under the command of Hernández de Córdoba to sail west and explore

2625-589: The Yucatán peninsula. Córdoba reached the coast of Yucatán. The Mayans at Cape Catoche invited the Spanish to land, and the conquistadors read the Requirement of 1513 to them, which offered the natives the protection of the King of Spain, if they would submit to him. Córdoba took two prisoners, who adopted the baptized names of Melchor and Julián and became interpreters. Later, the two prisoners, being misled or misinterpreting

2730-408: The status quo . A combination of factors including superior weaponry, strategic alliances with oppressed or otherwise dissatisfied or opportunistic indigenous groups , and the impact of European diseases contributed to the downfall of the short rule of the Aztec civilization. The invasion of Tenochtitlán , the capital of the Aztec Empire, marked the beginning of Spanish dominance in the region and

2835-513: The 1540s, in writings by Europeans. Nonetheless, it was repeated in many sources, even among Indians, especially those who had become students of the Franciscan friars and were searching for an explanation for how the Aztecs had fallen. This was complicated by the word teules that the Nahuas used to refer to the Spaniards, who claimed to represent their Christian god and originated from a land unknown to

2940-405: The 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus 's first voyage, when scholarly and popular interest in first encounters surged. A popular and enduring narrative of the Spanish campaign in central Mexico is by New England -born nineteenth-century historian William Hickling Prescott . His History of the Conquest of Mexico , first published in 1843, remains an important unified narrative synthesis of

3045-646: The Aztec Empire was a pivotal event in the history of the Americas, marked by the collision of the Aztec Triple Alliance and the Spanish Empire . Taking place between 1519 and 1521, this event saw the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés , and his small army of European soldiers and numerous indigenous allies, overthrowing one of the most powerful empires in Mesoamerica . Led by the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II ,

3150-449: The Aztec Empire had established dominance over central Mexico through military conquest and intricate alliances. Because the Aztec Empire ruled via hegemonic control by maintaining local leadership and relying on the psychological perception of Aztec power—backed by military force —the Aztecs normally kept subordinate rulers compliant. This was an inherently unstable system of governance, as this situation could change with any alteration in

3255-541: The Aztec Empire had its final victory on 13 August 1521, when a coalition army of Spanish forces and native Tlaxcalan warriors led by Cortés and Xicotencatl the Younger captured the emperor Cuauhtémoc and Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire . The fall of Tenochtitlan marks the beginning of Spanish rule in central Mexico, and they established their capital of Mexico City on the ruins of Tenochtitlan. Cortés made alliances with tributary city-states ( altepetl ) of

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3360-536: The Aztec attack on the Totonacs in Veracruz , Cortés claims that he took Motecuhzoma captive. Capturing the cacique or indigenous ruler was a standard operating procedure for Spaniards in their expansion in the Caribbean, so capturing Motecuhzoma had considerable precedent but modern scholars are skeptical that Cortés and his countrymen took Motecuhzoma captive at this time. They had great incentive to claim they did, owing to

3465-553: The Aztec believed that as part of balancing life in the cosmos, they had to give the Earth blood, similarly to their belief that the gods gave their blood to create humans. The Aztec were also not the only people in the Valley of Mexico known to practice these rituals, losing members of their own society to the ones around them in the same way that the Aztec would take prisoners to be sacrificed, and they even believed that being sacrificed themselves

3570-409: The Aztecs did want to conquer the Tlaxcalans, but that they simply could not for some reason. Despite many scholars' doubts about the sacrifice motive of the flower war, Hicks asserts that Moctezuma II's explanations of the flower war (gaining sacrifices and combat training) were logical, given that the Aztecs did place a heavy importance on both sacrifice and martial ability. Fighting in actual warfare

3675-465: The Aztecs had not done so because war with Tlaxcala was a convenient way of gathering sacrifices and training their own soldiers. However, scholars such as Frederic Hicks question that the main purpose of the flower war was to gain sacrifices. Tlaxcalan historian Muñoz Camargo noted that the Aztecs would often besiege Tlaxcalan towns and cut off trade, which was uncharacteristic of a typical flower war. For this reason, proponents of Hicks' idea believe that

3780-519: The Aztecs to display their individual combat ability, which was an important part of the flower war. Flower wars involved fewer soldiers than typical Aztec wars did. A larger proportion of the soldiers would be drawn from nobility than during a typical war. These characteristics allowed the Aztecs to engage in flower wars during any time of the year. In contrast, the Aztecs could fight larger wars of conquest only from late autumn to early spring, because Aztec citizens were needed for farming purposes during

3885-401: The Aztecs, "flower wars were an efficient means of continuing a conflict that was too costly to conclude immediately." As such, a purpose of these wars was to occupy and wear down the enemy's fighting force. By requiring an equal number of soldiers on each side, the Aztecs made the battle seem balanced at first; however, the side with fewer overall troops suffered more because the losses comprised

3990-435: The Caribbean and Tierra Firme (Central America), learning strategy and tactics of successful enterprises. The Spanish conquest of Mexico had antecedents with established practices. The fall of the Aztec Empire was the key event in the formation of the Spanish Empire overseas, with New Spain , which later became Mexico . 1519 1520 1521 1522 1524 1525 1525–30 1527–1547 The conquest of Mexico,

4095-596: The Earth, and the Sun. Another origin story tells of a fierce goddess, Coatlicue , being impregnated as she was sweeping by a ball of feathers on Mount Coatepec ("Serpent Hill"; near Tula , Hidalgo ). Her other children, who were already fully grown, were the four hundred male Centzonuitznaua and the female deity Coyolxauhqui . These children, angered by the manner by which their mother became impregnated, conspired to kill her. Huitzilopochtli burst forth from his mother's womb in full armor and fully grown, or in other versions of

4200-597: The Mayas, known to the Spanish conquistadors as Doña Marina, and later as La Malinche . After eight months of battles and negotiations, which overcame the diplomatic resistance of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II to his visit, Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlan on 8 November 1519, where he took up residence with fellow Spaniards and their indigenous allies. When news reached Cortés of the death of several of his men during

4305-425: The Mexica in Tenochtitlan on 13 August 1521. Notably, the accounts of the conquest, Spanish and indigenous alike, have biases and exaggerations. Some, though not all, Spanish accounts downplay the support of their indigenous allies. Conquerors' accounts exaggerate individual contributions to the Conquest at the expense of their comrades, while indigenous allies' accounts stress their loyalty and importance to victory for

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4410-460: The Mexica people had on the battlefield. The people had to make sacrifices to him to protect the Aztec from infinite night. According to Miguel León-Portilla , in this new vision from Tlacaelel, the warriors that died in battle and women who died in childbirth would go to serve Huitzilopochtli in his palace (in the south, or left). From a description in the Florentine Codex , Huitzilopochtli

4515-521: The Nahuas feared the world would end as the other four creations of their legends had. Under Tlacaelel , Aztecs believed that they could give strength to Huitzilopochtli with human blood and thereby postpone the end of the world, at least for another 52 years. In the book El Calendario Mexica y la Cronografia by Rafael Tena and published by the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico,

4620-514: The Spaniards arrived in 1519, Moctezuma knew this was the year of Ce Acatl, which is the year Quetzalcoatl was promised to return. Previously, during Juan de Grijalva 's expedition, Moctezuma believed that those men were heralds of Quetzalcoatl, as Moctezuma, as well as everyone else in the Aztec Empire, were to believe that eventually, Quetzalcoatl will return. Moctezuma even had glass beads that were left behind by Grijalva brought to Tenochtitlan and they were regarded as sacred religious relics. On

4725-614: The Spanish Crown in the conquest, arguing for special privileges for themselves. The most important of these are the pictorial Lienzo de Tlaxcala (1585) and the Historia de Tlaxcala by Diego Muñoz Camargo . Less successfully, the Nahua allies from Huexotzinco (or Huejotzinco) near Tlaxcala argued that their contributions had been overlooked by the Spanish. In a letter in Nahuatl to the Spanish Crown,

4830-536: The Spanish. These accounts are similar to Spanish conquerors' accounts contained in petitions for rewards, known as benemérito petitions. Two lengthy accounts from the defeated indigenous viewpoint were created under the direction of Spanish friars, Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún and Dominican Diego Durán , using indigenous informants. Because Nahuatl did not have a full alphabet, the majority of extant indigenous sources are recollections of Nahuatl-speakers who were subsequently introduced to Latin characters after

4935-459: The arrival of the Spanish from the Gulf of Mexico. In 1510, Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II was visited by Nezahualpilli , who had a reputation as a great seer, as well as being the tlatoani of Texcoco. Nezahualpilli warned Moctezuma that he must be on guard, for in a few years Aztec cities would be destroyed. Before leaving, he said that there would be omens for Moctezuma to know that what he has been told

5040-512: The arrival of the Spanish. Gingerish identifies the Annals of Tlatelolco (1524?-1528) as “One of the oldest recorded manuscripts in Nahuatl, written presumably by a native who must have learned the use of Latin characters and alphabet within three or four years of the conquest.” Lockhart, however, argues for a later post-1540 date for this manuscript, and indeed the majority of indigenous source material

5145-634: The author gives the last day of the Nahuatl month Panquetzaliztli as the date of the celebration of the rebirth of the Lord Huitzilopochtli on top of Coatepec (Snake Hill); December 9 in the Julian calendar or December 19 in the Gregorian calendar with the variant of December 18 in leap years . Ritual sacrifice and self bloodletting were key offerings to Huitzilopochtli. The Aztecs performed ritual self-sacrifice (also called autosacrifice or blood-letting) on

5250-433: The blue snake, Xiuhcoatl , in his hand in the form of an atlatl . Diego Durán described the festivities for Huitzilopochtli. Panquetzaliztli (November 9 to November 28) was the Aztec month dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. People decorated their homes and trees with paper flags; there were ritual races, processions, dances, songs, prayers, and finally human sacrifices. This was one of the more important Aztec festivals, and

5355-431: The central Mexican highlands. Ixtlilxochitl reports that the flower war began "as a response" to the famine: "the priests ... of Mexico [Tenochtitlan] said that the gods were angry at the empire, and that to placate them it was necessary to sacrifice many men, and that this had to be done regularly." Thus, Tenochtitlan (the Aztec capital), Texcoco , Tlaxcala , Cholula , and Huejotzingo agreed to engage in flower war for

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5460-470: The commoners. This increased the cost of the flower war for both the Aztecs and the Chalcas. The Aztecs considered flower war death to be more noble than dying in a typical war; this can be seen in the word for a flower war death, xochimiquiztli , which translates to "flowery death, blissful death, fortunate death". Further, the Aztecs thought that their own warriors who died in a flower war would be transported to

5565-456: The conquest of the Aztec. A number of lower rank Spanish conquerors wrote benemérito petitions to the Spanish Crown, requesting rewards for their services in the conquest, including Juan Díaz, Andrés de Tapia, García del Pilar, and Fray Francisco de Aguilar . Cortés's right-hand man, Pedro de Alvarado did not write at any length about his actions in the New World, and died as a man of action in

5670-507: The conquest. Prescott read and used all the formal writings from the sixteenth century, although few had been published by the mid-nineteenth century when he was writing. It is likely that a 1585 revision of Bernardino de Sahagún's account of the conquest survives today only in the form of a copy because it was made in Spain for Prescott's project from a now-lost original. Although scholars of the modern era point out its biases and shortcomings, "there

5775-519: The conquistadors, particularly after the Spanish were forced out of Tenochtitlan. The best-known indigenous account of the conquest is Book 12 of Bernardino de Sahagún 's General History of the Things of New Spain and published as the Florentine Codex , in parallel columns of Nahuatl and Spanish, with pictorials. Less well-known is Sahagún 's 1585 revision of the conquest account, which shifts from

5880-414: The creator couple of the Ōmeteōtl ( Tōnacātēcuhtli and Tōnacācihuātl ) while his brothers were Quetzalcōātl ("Precious Serpent" or "Quetzal-Feathered Serpent"), Xīpe Tōtec ("Our Lord Flayed"), and Tezcatlipōca ("Smoking Mirror"). His mother and father instructed him and Quetzalcoatl to bring order to the world. Together, Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl created fire, the first male and female humans,

5985-493: The enemy empires. As well, it was very uncommon that an attacking army would come unannounced. In addition, aside from the infantry and the allies' role in the Spanish conquest, cavalry was the "arm of decision in the conquest" and "the key ingredient in the Spanish forces". Many of those on the Cortés expedition of 1519 had never seen combat before, including Cortés. A whole generation of Spaniards later participated in expeditions in

6090-511: The establishment of New Spain. This conquest had profound consequences, as it led to the cultural assimilation of the Spanish culture, while also paving the way for the emergence of a new social hierarchy dominated by Spanish conquerors and their descendants. Following an earlier expedition to Yucatán led by Juan de Grijalva in 1518, Spanish conquistador Hernándo Cortés led an expedition ( entrada ) to Mexico. The next year, Cortés and his retinue set sail for Mexico. The Spanish campaign against

6195-431: The form of sacrifices to ensure the sun would survive the cycle of 52 years, which was the basis of many Mesoamerican myths . There were 18 especially holy festive days, and only one of them was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. This celebration day, known as Toxcatl, falls within the fifteenth month of the Mexican calendar. During the festival, captives and slaves were brought forth and slain ceremoniously. Every 52 years,

6300-505: The heaven where Huitzilopochtli (the supreme god of sun, fire, and war) lived. The prominence of Aztec warfare stems from their understanding of mythology. According to Caroline Dodds Pennock, a historian from the University of Sheffield, the Aztecs followed the orders of their god of war, Huitzilopochtli , telling the people of Tenochtitlan that they were able to migrate only through war, making their view of their own culture as well as

6405-401: The historical chronicles of Diego Duran and Alvarado Tezozomoc, tells the story with strong historical allusion and portrays two Aztec factions in ferocious battle. The leader of one group, Huitzilopochtli, defeats the warriors of a woman leader, Coyolxauh, and tears open their breasts and eats their hearts. Both versions tell of the origin of human sacrifice at the sacred place, Coatepec, during

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6510-407: The hummingbird hibernating in a tree, somewhat like the common poorwill does. He writes, "It appears to be dead, but at the advent of spring, ... the little bird is reborn." There are a handful of origin mythologies describing the deity's beginnings. One story tells of the cosmic creation and Huitzilopochtli's role in it. According to this legend, he was the smallest son of four — his parents being

6615-410: The idols which they particularly worshipped had prophesied the coming of men from distant lands in the direction of the sunrise, who would conquer them and rule them." Some accounts would claim that this idol or deity was Quetzalcoatl, and that the Aztecs were defeated because they believed the Spanish were supernatural and didn't know how to react, although whether or not the Aztecs really believed that

6720-529: The indigenous lords of Huexotzinco lay out their case in for their valorous service. The letter has been published in Nahuatl and English translation by James Lockhart in We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico in 1991. Texcoco patriot and member of a noble family there, Fernando Alva Ixtlilxochitl, likewise petitioned the Spanish Crown, in Spanish, saying that Texcoco had not received sufficient rewards for their support of

6825-607: The indigenous viewpoint entirely and inserts at crucial junctures passages lauding the Spanish and in particular Hernán Cortés. Another indigenous account compiled by a Spanish friar is Dominican Diego Durán 's The History of the Indies of New Spain , from 1581, with many color illustrations. A text from the Nahua point of view, the Anales de Tlatelolco , an early indigenous account in Nahuatl, perhaps from 1540, remained in indigenous hands until it

6930-402: The initial destruction of the great pre-Columbian civilizations, is a significant event in world history. The conquest was well documented by a variety of sources with differing points of view, including indigenous accounts, by both allies and opponents. Accounts by the Spanish conquerors exist from the first landfall at Veracruz , Mexico (on Good Friday , 22 April 1519) to the final victory over

7035-528: The journey. For a time, Huitzilopochtli left them in the charge of his sister, Malinalxochitl , who, according to legend, founded Malinalco, but the Aztecs resented her ruling and called back Huitzilopochtli. He put his sister to sleep and ordered the Aztecs to leave the place. When she woke up and realized she was alone, she became angry and desired revenge. She gave birth to a son called Copil . When he grew up, he confronted Huitzilopochtli, who had to kill him. Huitzilopochtli then took his heart out and threw it in

7140-579: The language gave information to the Spanish conquistadors that there was plenty of gold up for grabs. On the western side of the Yucatán Peninsula, the Spanish were attacked at night by Maya chief Mochcouoh, a battle in which 50 men were killed. Córdoba was mortally wounded and only a remnant of his crew returned to Cuba . Huitzilopochtli God of war and will, Lord of the Sun and fire Huitzilopochtli ( Classical Nahuatl : Huītzilōpōchtli , IPA: [wiːt͡siloːˈpoːt͡ʃt͡ɬi] )

7245-407: The laws of Spain at this time, but critical analysis of their personal writings suggest Motecuhzoma was not taken captive until a much later date. When Cortés left Tenochtitlan to return to the coast and deal with the threat of the expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez , Cortés left Pedro de Alvarado in charge of Tenochtitlan. Cortés left with a small army to the coast with the plan of attacking during

7350-418: The main objectives were political, religious, and socioeconomic reasons. The flower war was a secondary type of warfare that was practiced by the Aztecs and differed from typical warfare. While engaging in a flower war, competing armies would meet on a "preset date at a preselected place". These places became sacred sites and were called cuauhtlalli or yaotlalli. Combatants signaled the start of war by burning

7455-541: The middle of Lake Texcoco . Many years later, Huitzilopochtli ordered the Aztecs to search for Copil's heart and build their city over it. The sign would be an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a precious serpent, and the place would become their permanent home. After much traveling, they arrived at the area which would eventually be Tenochtitlan on an island in the Lago Texcoco of the Valley of Mexico. In art and iconography , Huitzilopochtli could be represented either as

7560-502: The moon. In the Aztec worldview, this is the reason why the Sun is constantly chasing the Moon and stars. It is also why it was so important to provide tribute for Huitzilopochtli as sustenance for the Sun. If Huitzilopochtli did not have enough strength to battle his siblings, they would destroy their mother and thus the world. Huitzilopochtli was the patron god of the Mexica tribe. Originally, he

7665-634: The most significant being the one at the Templo Mayor which was made of dough mixed with sacrificial blood. Warriors who died in battle or as sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli were called quauhteca (“the eagle’s people”). War was an important source of both human and material tribute. Human tribute was used for sacrificial purposes because human blood was believed to be extremely important, and thus powerful. According to Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli needed blood as sustenance in order to continue to keep his sister and many brothers at bay as he chased them through

7770-485: The mountain, while his sister was dismembered and fell to pieces below, so Huitzilopochtli's temple and icon sat triumphantly at the top of the Templo Mayor while the carving of the dismembered goddess lay far below. This drama of sacrificial dismemberment was vividly repeated in some of the offerings found around the Coyolxauhqui stone in which the decapitated skulls of young women were placed. This would suggest that there

7875-399: The natives. "Teules" is derived from the Nahuatl word teotl for god but with its meaning changed to representative of god, sometimes implying mysterious and supernatural power. The Spanish had established a permanent settlement on the island of Hispaniola in 1493 on the second voyage of Christopher Columbus . There were further Spanish explorations and settlements in the Caribbean and

7980-519: The necessity of the new religion. The written language was a personal possession of the noble and priestly class.” The first Spanish account of the conquest was written by lead conqueror Hernán Cortés , who sent a series of letters to the Spanish monarch Charles V , giving a contemporary account of the conquest from his point of view, in which he justified his actions. These were almost immediately published in Spain and later in other parts of Europe. Much later, Spanish conqueror Bernal Díaz del Castillo ,

8085-423: The night. After defeating Narváez's fleet, Cortés convinced most of his enemy's crew to go with him by promising great riches. Upon reaching Tenochtitlan, Cortés and the new enlarged force received the message that "the Aztec had risen against the Spanish garrison" during a religious celebration. Alvarado ordered his army to attack the unarmed crowd; he later claims that the Aztecs had used the celebration to cover up

8190-424: The other hand, some ethnohistorians say the Aztec leaders did not view the Spaniards as supernatural in any sense but rather as simply another group of powerful outsiders. They believe that Moctezuma responded rationally to the Spanish invasion and did not think the Spanish were supernatural. In his own letters written on the spot, Cortés never claimed that he was perceived as a god. The idea appears to emerge only in

8295-467: The people prepared for the whole month. They fasted or ate very little; a statue of the god was made with amaranth (huautli) seeds and honey, and at the end of the month, it was cut into small pieces so everybody could eat a little piece of the god. After the Spanish conquest, cultivation of amaranth was outlawed, while some of the festivities were subsumed into the Christmas celebration. According to

8400-435: The politics of their society itself, it makes sense that a large part of these flower wars would be to appease their gods, especially Huitzilopochtli, as he was not only their god of war, but also the patron of the state. By extending this devotion to their gods so that the Aztec could make Tenochtitlan the strong capital that they were promised it to be, they are said to have taken many people to be sacrificed in their name, as

8505-425: The population as a mere puppet of the invading Spaniards, attempted to calm the outraged populace, he was killed by a projectile. According to an indigenous account, the Spanish killed Moctezuma. The Spanish, Tlaxcalans and reinforcements returned a year later on 13 August 1521 to a civilization that had been weakened by famine and smallpox. This made it easier to conquer the remaining Aztecs. The Spaniards' victory

8610-429: The preordained nature of the conquest and their success as Spanish destiny. This influenced some natives writing under the tutelage of the Franciscan friars. Other explanations include a desire to please the Spaniards or resentment toward the failure of Montezuma and Tenochtitlan warriors." Hugh Thomas writes that Moctezuma was debating whether Cortés was a god or the ambassador of a great king in another land. Because

8715-404: The purpose of obtaining human sacrifices for the gods . However, scholars such as Frederic Hicks disagree with using Ixlilxochitl's writings as the origin story of the flower war, due to Ixtlilxochitl not specifically mentioning "flower war" and being the only known source to record these events. Flower wars differed from typical wars in a number of important aspects. In typical Aztec warfare,

8820-427: The rest of the world based on warfare. This aspect of their society was so important that the majority of their music revolved around the flowery metaphors, as well as comparing the warriors to multiple types of prominent birds, holding these warriors, and by proxy these wars, to such high esteem, forever cementing their legacy in Aztec society. With religion being so important to Aztec society, going as far to shape

8925-446: The rest of the year. Additionally, flower wars differed from typical wars in that there were equal numbers of soldiers on each side of the battle; this was also related to the Aztecs wanting to show off their military prowess. They had the ability to participate in small warfare more frequently than others so it was used as practice to prepare their warriors for typical warfare. Flower wars were generally less lethal than typical wars, but

9030-551: The rise of the Aztec nation and at the foundation of Tenochtitlan. There are several legends and myths of Huitzilopochtli. According to the Aubin Codex , the Aztecs originally came from a place called Aztlán . They lived under the ruling of a powerful elite called the " Azteca Chicomoztoca ". Huitzilopochtli ordered them to abandon Aztlán and find a new home. He also ordered them never to call themselves Aztec; instead they should be called "Mexica." Huitzilopochtli guided them through

9135-452: The sky in honor to the Sun-God. The body would then be pushed down the pyramid where the Coyolxauhqui stone could be found. The Coyolxauhqui Stone recreates the story of Coyolxauhqui, Huitzilopochtli's sister who was dismembered at the base of a mountain, just as the sacrificial victims were. The body would be carried away and either cremated or given to the warrior responsible for the capture of

9240-527: The sky. The most important and powerful structure in Tenochtitlan is the Templo Mayor. Its importance as the sacred center is reflected in the fact that it was enlarged frontally eleven times during the two hundred years of its existence. The Great Temple of Tenochtitlan was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc , the rain god. 16th century Dominican friar Diego Durán wrote, "These two gods were always meant to be together, since they were considered companions of equal power." The Templo Mayor consisted of

9345-488: The statue still exists in a cave somewhere in the Anahuac Valley . He always had a blue-green hummingbird helmet in any of the depictions found. In fact, his hummingbird helmet was the one item that consistently defined him as Huitzilopochtli, the sun god, in artistic renderings. He is usually depicted as holding a shield adorned with balls of eagle feathers, a homage to his mother and the story of his birth. He also holds

9450-420: The story, burst forth from the womb and immediately put on his gear. He attacked his older brothers and sister, defending his mother by beheading his sister and casting her body from the mountain top. He also chased after his brothers, who fled from him and became scattered all over the sky. Huitzilopochtli is seen as the sun in mythology, while his many male siblings are perceived as the stars and his sister as

9555-400: The sun god, represented war and sacrifice. The Coyolxauhqui stone was found directly at the base of the stairway leading up to Huitzilopochtli's temple. On both sides of the stairway's base were two large grinning serpent heads. The image is clear. The Templo Mayor is the image of Coatepec or Serpent Mountain where the divine battle took place. Just as Huitzilopochtli triumphed at the top of

9660-449: The superiority of Aztec troops. This was another reason that equal numbers of troops were used. If the Aztecs tried to use numerical superiority, their enemy would resort to the kind of defensive tactics that the Aztecs had trouble fighting against. With equal numbers, the enemy would fight the Aztecs on the open field, where individual soldiers had a greater chance of showing off their martial ability. Finally, according to Hassig, "propaganda

9765-582: The victim. He would either cut the body in pieces and send them to important people as an offering , or use the pieces for ritual cannibalism . The warrior would thus ascend one step in the hierarchy of the Aztec social classes, a system that rewarded successful warriors. During the festival of Panquetzaliztli, of which Huitzilopochtli was the patron, sacrificial victims were adorned in the manner of Huitzilopochtli's costume and blue body paint, before their hearts would be sacrificially removed. Representations of Huitzilopochtli called teixiptla were also worshipped,

9870-429: The viewpoint of the Spanish opponents. Most first-hand accounts about the conquest of the Aztec Empire were written by Spaniards: Hernán Cortés' letters to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and the first-person narrative of Bernal Díaz del Castillo , The True History of the Conquest of New Spain . The primary sources from the native people affected as a result of the conquest are seldom used, because they tend to reflect

9975-405: The views of a particular native group, such as the Tlaxcalans. Indigenous accounts were written in pictographs as early as 1525. Later accounts were written in the native tongue of the Aztec and other native peoples of central Mexico, Nahuatl . The native texts of the defeated Mexica narrating their version of the conquest describe eight omens that were believed to have occurred nine years prior to

10080-433: Was a mandatory part of training for warriors of the noble class, and it was heavily encouraged for warriors of lower classes as well. Given these factors, Hicks suggests that Moctezuma II's stated reasons may have been genuine and not just an excuse for military failure. However, some scholars have suggested that the flower war served purposes beyond gaining sacrifices and combat training. For example, Hassig states that for

10185-426: Was a ritual reenactment of the myth at the dedication of the stone sometime in the latter part of the fifteenth century. Many gods in the pantheon of deities of the Aztecs were inclined to have a fondness for a particular aspect of warfare. However, Huitzilopochtli was known as the primary god of war in ancient Mexico. Since he was the patron god of the Mexica, he was credited with both the victories and defeats that

10290-487: Was an honor and a distinguished way to die. Historians have thought that flower wars were fought for purposes including combat training and capturing humans for religious sacrifice . Historians note evidence of the sacrifice motive: one of Cortez 's captains, Andres de Tapia , once asked Moctezuma II why the stronger Aztec Empire had not yet conquered the nearby state of Tlaxcala outright. The emperor responded by saying that although they could have if they had wanted to,

10395-409: Was common in worship ceremonies. These took place frequently throughout the region. When performed, typically multiple victims were sacrificed per day at any one of the numerous temples. There continues to be disagreement about the full significance of Huītzilōpōchtli's name. Generally it is agreed that there are two elements, huītzilin " hummingbird " and ōpōchtli "left hand side." The name

10500-400: Was not overwhelming." In the words of Restall, "Spanish weapons were useful for breaking the offensive lines of waves of indigenous warriors, but this was no formula for conquest ... rather, it was a formula for survival, until Spanish and indigenous reinforcements arrived." The integration of the indigenous allies, essentially, those from Tlaxcala and Texcoco, into the Spanish army played

10605-417: Was of little importance to the Nahuas , but after the rise of the Aztecs, Tlacaelel reformed their religion and put Huitzilopochtli at the same level as Quetzalcoatl , Tlaloc , and Tezcatlipoca , making him a solar god. Through this, Huitzilopochtli replaced Nanahuatzin , the solar god from the Nahua legend. Huitzilopochtli was said to be in a constant struggle with the darkness and required nourishment in

10710-843: Was perhaps the most significant purpose of flower wars." By engaging their opponents in the flower war, the Aztecs were able to continuously showcase their force, which warned other city-states about their power. If the Aztecs made enough of a show of force, it could encourage the allies of the Aztec's enemies to change their allegiance. Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire [REDACTED] Habsburg Spain Indigenous allies: Support or occasional allies : [REDACTED] Aztec Triple Alliance (1519–1521) Allied city-states : Independent kingdoms and city-states : Spanish commanders: Indigenous allies: Aztec commanders: Spaniards (total): 1,800 Spaniards dead 200,000 Aztecs dead (including civilians) The Spanish conquest of

10815-487: Was published. An extract of this important manuscript was published in 1991 by James Lockhart in Nahuatl transcription and English translation. A popular anthology in English for classroom use is Miguel León-Portilla 's, The Broken Spears: The Aztec Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico from 1992. Not surprisingly, many publications and republications of sixteenth-century accounts of the conquest of Mexico appeared around 1992,

10920-514: Was recorded a generation or more after the events through interaction with and under influence of Spanish priests. As noted in, “No ‘pure’ Nahuatl text exists-with the exception of a few pre- Cortesian pictographic codices. Every written Nahuatl text was recorded after 1521 either directly by a Christian priest, by students who worked directly under priestly supervision, or by former students who had studied in Christian schools long enough to understand

11025-521: Was so bright that the warrior souls had to use their shields to protect their eyes. They could only see the god through the arrow holes in their shields, so it was the bravest warrior who could see him best. Warriors and women who died during childbirth were transformed into hummingbirds upon death and went to join Huitzilopochtli. As the precise studies of Johanna Broda have shown, the creation myth consisted of “several layers of symbolism, ranging from

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