The Rise of the Aztecs

Reinforcements from the Otomi north

31 October 2017

While Axayacatl was busy recruiting his army, which in as giant an island city as Tenochtitlan was not an easy or a short process, the independent city-states of the Toluca Valley weren’t idle as well. Not only Tenantzinco sought alliances outside of its immediate surroundings.... Read More

Military career

29 September 2017

Youths just out of school – both calmecac and telpochcalli yet mostly from the prestigious calmecac – used to be picked by veterans as yaotelpochtli or shield-bearers. Their duty was to carry their veteran’s military equipment, spare weaponry and clothes, keep an eye on his... Read More

A plea for help from the Toluca Valley

31 May 2017

To the south and west of Lake Texcoco spread fertile areas of easily cultivated valleys bordered by highlands of various elevations. Plenty of cities and towns dotted those, some subdued by Tenochtitlan prior to the second part of the 15th century and Axayacatl‘s rule, some... Read More

Part XIV: The conflict with Tlatelolco intensifies

28 January 2017

Tlatelolco, indeed, had taken a dubious course when, following the demonstrative competition upon the Great Plaza described in the Tenochtitlan’s Conquests Part XIII, Moquihuixtli and his adviser Teconal began sending messengers to various independent cities of the mainland, asking for help and support against Tenochtitlan.... Read More

Part XIII: What triggered conflict between Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco

28 January 2017

In the mid-15th century, Tenochtitlan‘s influence spread already far and wide, even though it was still nowhere near what it would be only a few decades later, under the rule of the vigorous eighth ruler Ahuitzotl, who would conquer lavishly, stretching Tenochtitlan’s influence almost from... Read More

Huitzilihuitl – the second ruler of Tenochtitlan

27 October 2015

His name was Huitzilihuitl, which meant Hummingbird Feather (huitzi(lin)=hummingbird, ihuitl=feather). He wasn’t the oldest son of his father, the first Tenochtitlan’s ruler, Acamapichtli, but according to the council of the city elders he was the most fitting. Acamapichtli died without naming his heir, leaving it... Read More

Acamapichtli – the first ruler of Tenochtitlan

21 October 2015

The name Acamapichtli – Aca(tl)=reed, mapichtli=handful – meant ‘a handful of reeds’, sometimes depicted as arrows with blunted tips, has carved itself into Tenochtitlan’s history as one of the corner stones, or the true Tenochtitlan’s beginning. He was the son of a prominent Mexica warrior... Read More

The Rise of the Aztecs, Part XII, The New Emperor

7 April 2014

Ten years after the fall of the Tepanec Empire saw the Triple Alliance evolving rapidly, growing by leaps and bounds, with Tlacopan, the partners of the famous alliance, cooperating readily when needed, while maintaining their city-states’ independence, developing each into its own direction. Texcoco, the... Read More

The Rise of the Aztecs, Part XI, The Triple Alliance

13 March 2014

After Azcapotzalco, the Tepanec Capital, and other important Tepanecs towns fell, the Mexica-Aztecs and the Acolhua people found themselves with a new challenge to face, this time of creating and not destroying. Their independence achieved, or almost achieved, as the Acolhua were yet to re-conquer... Read More

The Rise of the Aztecs, Part X, The Final Showdown

31 March 2013

In the The Rise of the Aztecs Part IX, we left the Aztecs, Acolhua and the Highlanders preparing to cross Lake Texcoco in the desperate attempt to rid themselves of the Tepanec oppression. No more high or extravagant tribute would be paid; not a single... Read More

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