Triple Alliance Aztec - last aztec emperor

Aztec civilization - last aztec emperor

Tenochtitlán – The Venice of the New World So said the Spanish conquistadors when they arrived in Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire. 

        The Aztecs had built their city in the middle of a lake, and it was filled with the glories of this Central American civilization. The Aztecs are remembered as fierce warriors, but they were also interested in education and were deeply religious. The temples they built in their city were some of the most stunning in the Americas, but the Aztecs are also remembered for practicing human sacrifice as part of their religion. 

 

 

     The Aztecs were a collection of paradoxes. But if we go back and look at the short history of the Aztec Empire, we can start to unravel some of these paradoxes and understand one of the great civilizations of the Americas. 

     After years of fighting with other tribes and cities in Central America, the Aztecs rose to prominence in 1345 CE with the founding of Tenochtitlán. The empire itself would come into existence around 1428, and they ruled until 1521 CE. That’s less than 100 years! Throughout that time, the Aztecs had kings who ruled the empire with both war and diplomacy, and they had powerful priests. The priests were so powerful that they even decided where the city of Tenochtitlán was to be built. 

    The Aztec kings were warrior kings. Several tribes lived in the Valley of Mexico with the Aztecs – and none of these tribes liked each other; in fact, they fought all the time. The Aztecs were able to conquer some of the little tribes on their own, but they quickly learned that they couldn’t face the bigger tribes alone. So, the people of Tenochtitlán teamed up with two other city-states and formed the Triple Alliance Aztec. 

     The Triple Alliance Aztec was the empire’s first emperor, Itzcóatl’s, idea, and it allowed the Aztecs to defeat their biggest enemy – the Azcapotzalco Kingdom – in 1428 CE.  While the Aztecs were defeating their enemies and expanding the empire, they were also focused on building up Tenochtitlán. They built adobe houses instead of reed houses. They brought water through the city in canals that were only rivaled by Italy’s Venice to ensure the lake water was always fresh. They even had zoos and museums! 

     The pride and joy of Tenochtitlán was the Great Pyramid, which is also called the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlán. The temple was a wonder of the world, and it was the biggest building in the city. It was dedicated to the war god Huitzilopochtli and the rain god Tlaloc, and the aztec people took care to keep their temple beautifully decorated and well-tended. 

     The aztec people were in the process of defeating all of their enemies when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in 1519. Hernando Cortés marched on Tenochtitlán, and after two years of fighting, the Aztec Empire surrendered to the Spanish. Much of the Aztec culture was then destroyed, lost forever to the past. Cortés eventually built a new city on the ruins of Tenochtitlán, and that city would become today’s Mexico City. The aztec people were a brave people. They are remembered as strong warriors, and Tenochtitlán is remembered as one of the great cities of the Americas.

But where did it all begin? 

     The beginnings of the Aztec Empire are shrouded in myth and legend. We know that the Aztecs were also called the Mexica, and they came from somewhere in the north. But all the uncertain myths and legends surrounding their origins come from multiple destructions of Aztec history. The first one we know about happened during the reign of King Itzcoatl. He ruled the Aztec Empire from 1427 to 1440, and rewrote all of Aztec history to make himself and his people sound more powerful. 

 

 

     According to the Florentine Codex (research compiled by a Spanish friar), to ensure there weren’t competing versions of his story, King Itzcoatl burned all the books on Aztec history; thus, all we have left now are the myths and legends. The story goes like this: In the beginning, the Mexica people emerged from the Earth from a system of caves. There were six other tribes with them, and they all wandered the Earth. Although the other tribes moved south, the Mexica stayed in the north and built a city called Aztlán. 

     Historians aren’t sure if Aztlán even existed, so they are unsure of where it would have been located. Aztlán can be translated as “the place of herons” or “the place of white birds.” Aztlán was a paradise built in the middle of a lake, and it had everything the Mexica people could ever want or need. The aztec people were fascinated by Aztlán and claimed that they emulated much of their civilization from this mythical city. There are conflicting stories about why the Mexica people left their city; some say they were forced out by the tyrannical ruling elite, or pushed south by warring tribes. 

     Other stories say that the city suffered a huge natural disaster, and the people fled for their lives. Historians think this is more likely. They have found evidence of mass migration around the time the Mexica say they left Aztlán, so it’s likely they left because of a long drought. Some people may dismiss these legends are just stories; they are certainly imaginative, and others draw some truth from them. The Mexica certainly appear to have lived in the north for a while, but for some reason, they moved southward to the northern and central parts of Mexico. 

     In Mexico, the Mexica were a nomadic tribe, and they met several other tribes who were already there. The two biggest rival tribes were the Tepanecs and the Culhuacan. At first, the Tepanecs allowed the Mexica to settle in the land, but they were tired of them within a year. 

     The Mexica were supposed to pay tribute to the Tepanecs for allowing them to settle in their land, but the Mexica didn’t like paying tribute. It’s a lot like paying taxes, and nobody likes doing that! The Tepanecs kicked the Mexica out, so the Mexica went to the Culhuacan tribal area. At first, they were accepted by the Culhuacan because they were willing to do the dirty work in the name of their god, Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, sun, and human sacrifice. The priests urged the people to do deeds that would honor the war god, which led to the development of a strong warrior culture. 

     Unfortunately, Huitzilopochtli did not only require brave deeds in battle; the priests said he also required human sacrifice. This was an important part of the Aztec culture, and while almost no one practices human sacrifice today, the Aztecs practiced it to please their gods. They also believed that the ritual brought everyone closer to the gods. Although many of the victims of human sacrifice were slaves or captured foreigners from wars, some of the victims were people with high social status. They volunteered, believing that they could become gods and goddesses in the process. This religious practice got the Mexica in trouble with the Culhuacan tribe. 

     King Achicometl gave the Aztecs, thinking she would be married to one of their royals; however, they wanted to sacrifice her to the gods. And they did so, believing that she would become the wife of Huitzilopochtli. King Achicometl kicked the Aztecs out of his land when he found out, leaving them as a nomadic tribe once again. This incident happened around 1323. About a hundred years later, the Aztec Empire was a feared and powerful civilization with a thriving city of their very own. 

What happened to cause such a profound change in the Mexica people to launch them into prominence in the Valley of Mexico?

      Legend tells us that the Aztec high priest had a vision one day, wherein the god, Huitzilipochtli, would show them their new home. The sign would be an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. The Aztecs eventually found that very sign on a tiny island in the middle of a shallow lake. Once the Aztec people began building their city, there was no stopping them. They built Tenochtitlán out of the lake and expanded their farmlands. Acamapichtli, the first ruler of the Aztecs, worked on expanding the farmland and then protecting that farmland from hostile tribes. 

     Creating land out of a lake can be a little challenging. The Aztecs made their farmland by stacking mud and soil in the lake itself. Because the lake was shallow, they were soon able to create rectangles of dry land. When they needed more land, all they had to do was make more rectangles. This farming technique was called chinampa.

      The Aztecs also began to trade in cotton, built a port, and even figured out how to get fresh water inside the city with a system of canals. Their leaders quickly learned that they needed more than just good military instincts to stay in power; they also needed to be diplomatic, be dedicated to the law, and invest in trade. 

     However, the Aztecs couldn’t get away from their warrior roots. Since war was part of the Aztec culture, they expanded their empire by conquering the neighboring tribes. Some of the tribes were initially more powerful than the Aztecs, so the Aztecs formed the Triple Alliance in their fight against the others. 

     The Triple Alliance Aztec comprised Tenochtitlán – which Itzcoatl led at this time – and the city-states of Tetzcoco and Tlacopan. Together, they defeated their enemies. Their main enemy was the Tepanecs. By the time of the Spanish conquest, the Tepanecs had become subject to the Triple Alliance. The three city-states eventually split up duties; Tenochtitlán became the leader in law, public speaking, engineering, and the arts. Part of this love for the arts comes from another myth that the Aztecs told. 

     One of the Aztecs' legends to establish themselves as a refined civilization states that they were descended from the Toltecs. The Toltecs were an earlier Mesoamerican civilization, and many tribes in Central America believed the Toltecs were the peak of sophistication and great leadership. Historians have found some truth to this myth. A civilization in Mesoamerica existed from about 900 CE to 1200 CE, but since the Aztecs did not leave the north until around 1100 CE, it is extremely unlikely that they were descended from the Toltecs. 

     Still, that didn’t stop the Aztecs from claiming many of the Toltecs' mythical achievements for themselves. They claimed that the Toltecs “taught the clay to lie,” which is a way to say that the Toltecs were amazing artisans. Although the Aztecs loved the arts, they expanded their empire through warfare. 

     The Aztec Empire rose to prominence and gained power through a lot of wars, some diplomacy, and a little mythical help. They would rule the Valley of Mexico from Tenochtitlán for about 100 years before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors – and the end of life as the Aztecs knew it.