VI. THE CHICHIMEC PERIOD.--CONTINUED
Migration of the Aztecs -- Nations of Anáhuac at Beginning of the Thirteenth Century -- The Aztecs submit to the Tepanecs -- Reign of the Emperor Tlotzin -- Quinantzin, King of Tezcuco and Chichimec Emperor -- Transfer of the Capital -- Tenancacaltzin usurps the Imperial Throne at Tenayocan -- The Usurper defeated by Tepanecs and Mexicans -- Acolnahuacatl proclaimed Emperor -- Quinantzin's Victories -- Battle at Poyauhtlan -- Quinantzin again Emperor -- Toltec Institutions at Tezcuco -- Events at Culhuacan -- Mexicans driven from Chapultepec -- Alliance between Mexicans and Culhuas -- Religious Strife -- Foundation of Mexico -- Reign of the Emperor Techotl -- Political Changes -- Ruin of the Culhua Power -- Tezozomoc, King of Azcapuzalco -- Separation of Mexicans and Tlatelulcas -- Acamapichtli II., King of Mexico -- Quaquauhpitzahuac, King of Tlatelulco.
The last of the so-called foreign tribes that came into notice in Anáhuac, from out the confusion that followed the downfall of the Toltecs, was the Aztec, or Mexican, which settled at Chapultepec in the last years of the twelfth century.[VI-1] According to their traditions they set out on their migration from Aztlan together with the Nahuatlaca tribes, whose arrival has already been noticed; but were left behind by those tribes at Chicomoztoc, one of their first stopping-places. The migration of the Aztecs from Chicomoztoc is described much more fully than that of the tribes that preceded them; but in the details of this journey, so far as dates, names, and events are concerned, the traditions are inextricably confused. I have already expressed my opinion that some of these traditions may refer very vaguely to the pre-Toltec events in Nahua history, but that they chiefly refer to the movements of the Nahua, or Chichimec, tribes which occupied the Toltec provinces during the continuance of the empire, and which after a long struggle became powerful in and about the Valley of Mexico. We have no means of determining in a manner at all satisfactory whether Aztlan and Chicomoztoc were in Central America or in the region of Zacatecas and Jalisco; nor indeed of proving that they were not in Alaska, New Mexico, or on the Mississippi, although there is absolutely no evidence in favor of the latter locations; but we know at least that all the halting-places of the migrating tribes after Chicomoztoc were in the immediate vicinity of Anáhuac. The record as a whole is exactly what might be expected, were the traditions of half a dozen kindred bands respecting their wanderings about the central plateau, and efforts to establish themselves in permanent homes, united in one consecutive narrative; and I have little doubt that such was substantially the process by which the Spanish version of the Aztec migration was formed. Whatever the cause of the confusion that reigns in that version, it is utterly useless to attempt its clearing-up; and I dispose of the whole matter by simply presenting in a note the dates and successive halting-places attributed to this migration by the principal authorities; the opinions of these authorities respecting the location of Aztlan and Chicomoztoc have been previously given.[VI-2]
[Sidenote: THE AZTEC MIGRATION.]
Some of the events and circumstances connected with the migration, however, must be noticed, although there is little agreement as to the place or date of their occurrence. At Aztlan the Aztecs are said to have crossed each year a great river or channel to Teo-Culhuacan, to make sacrifices in honor of the god Tetzauh. Prompted by the cry of a bird, as has already been related, they left their home under command of Huitziton, or Huitzilopochtli, probably identical with Mecitl, or Mexi, whence was derived their name of Mexicas, or Mexicans. They seem to have left Aztlan about 1090, and to have settled in Chicomoztoc, after several halts, in 1116.[VI-3] Chicomoztoc, to which Brasseur adds the name Quinehuayan, was also on the bank of a river, and the Aztecs continued the profession of boatmen which they had practiced at Aztlan, being subject to a tyrannical monarch to whom the name of Montezuma is applied by some of the traditions. After the other Nahuatlaca tribes had separated themselves from the Aztecs by divine command, the leader, or high-priest, or god,--Huitzilopochtli--for the exact epoch of his death and deification it is impossible to determine--informed the latter that he had selected them as his peculiar people, for whom he destined a glorious future. He ordered them to abandon the name of Aztecs and adopt that of Mexicas, and to wear upon their forehead and ears a patch of gum and feathers, as a distinguishing mark, presenting them at the same time with arrows and a net as insignia.[VI-4] This separation at Chicomoztoc, or the Seven Caves, presents strong analogies to that which took place in Tulan Zuiva; it is not impossible that the events related are identical, the earlier portions of this tradition referring vaguely back to the primitive epochs of Nahua history, while the later portions relate the events which followed the Toltec destruction. After the separation, and while the Aztecs were yet at Chicomoztoc,[VI-5] an event occurred to which is traditionally referred the origin of the differences that in later years divided this people into two rival parties, the Mexicans and Tlatelulcas. Two small bundles mysteriously appeared among them one day when all were assembled; the first opened contained an emerald of extraordinary size and beauty, for the possession of which a quarrel ensued. The second bundle proved to contain nothing more attractive than a few common sticks, and the party into whose possession it fell deemed themselves most unfortunate, until Huitziton made known to them a novel process of producing fire by rubbing two sticks together.[VI-6] According to Brasseur's authorities one of the princes of Chicomoztoc, named Chalchiuh Tlatonac, was induced to depart with the Aztecs, assuming a rank second only to that of the high-priest Huitziton. It is also claimed that certain Toltec nobles with their followers, who had been driven from Chapultepec by the Chichimecs, joined their fortunes with those of the Aztecs at an early period of their migration, perhaps, however, before they left Aztlan.[VI-7]
[Sidenote: DEATH OF HUITZITON.]
After leaving Chicomoztoc, and while in Michoacan according to most authorities, although by some of them Huitzilopochtli is spoken of as a god long before, the aged high-priest Huitziton died or disappeared suddenly during the night. It is hinted that he was foully disposed of by the priesthood, through jealousy of his popularity and power; but whether responsible or not for his death, the priests resolved to take advantage of it to advance their own interests. Consequently the next morning a report was circulated that Huitziton had been called to take his place among the gods with the great Tetzauh, or Tezcatlipoca, who on his arrival had addressed to him the following craftily prepared speech: "Welcome brave warrior, and thanks for having so well served me and governed my people. It is time that thou take thy rest among the gods; return, then, to thy sons the priests and tell them not to be afflicted at thy absence; for although they may no longer behold thee, thou wilt not cease to be in their midst to guide and rule them from on high. For I will cause thy flesh to be consumed, that thy skull and bones may remain to thy sons as a consolation, that they may consult thee respecting the routes they have to follow and in all the affairs of government, and that thou mayest direct them and show unto them the land which I have chosen for them, where they will have a long and prosperous empire." Brasseur adds to the speech, "where they shall find a nopal growing alone on a rock in the midst of the waters, and on this nopal an eagle holding a serpent in his claws, there they are to halt, there will be the seat of their empire, there will my temple be built," although this is not given by Veytia or Torquemada, the authorities referred to by the abbé. The god also gave directions that the bones of Huitzilopochtli should be carried in an urn by the priests on their migration, or according to some authorities that an idol should be made and carried in an ark on the shoulders of four priests. The four priests were of course designated for the important position of teomama, or 'god-bearers,' who were to constitute the medium through which the idol should make known his commands to the people. The people dared make no opposition to the will of their god, and the plans of the crafty priests were most successfully carried out.
But an episode that is related of this period, indicates that the plots of the priests were perfectly comprehended by at least one person. This was Malinalxochitl, the sister, friend, or mistress of Huitziton, a brave princess who rendered great aid to the high-priest against the machinations of his foes. She was charged, however, probably by the hostile priests, with the possession of the black art. She could kill with a glance, turn the course of rivers, and transform herself into any form at will. After the death of Huitziton the priests, whose tricks she very likely tried to expose, resorted to their new divinity to rid themselves of Malinalxochitl. The idol from its ark was made to issue an order that the sorceress should be abandoned while asleep. With her followers she went to Mt Texcaltepec, where she afterwards founded the town of Malinalco, and bore a son named Copil, or Cohuitl, to whom she entrusted her revenge on the Mexicans.[VI-8]
While they were yet in Michoacan, on the banks of Lake Patzcuaro, a trouble is said to have occurred which resulted in the separation of the Tarascos from the Aztecs, and their settlement in this region. The tale, to which very little importance is to be attached, from the fact that the Tarascan language was different from the Aztec, is as follows: A number of men and women were bathing together, when the rest, at the instigation of the priests, took their clothing and departed. The bathers were obliged to improvise a dress, which pleased them so much that they retained it ever after in preference to the maxtli; but they never forgave the Aztecs, resolved to remain where they were, and even changed their language that they might have nothing in common with that people. Camargo's version is that in crossing a river a part of the travelers used their maxtlis to fasten together their rafts, and were forced to borrow the women's huipiles to cover their nakedness; and Veytia adds that so imperfectly did these garments perform their office that the rest of the tribe, shocked at the appearance of their companions, abandoned them in disgust, calling them Tarascos from a circumstance that has been already given.[VI-9]
[Sidenote: AZTECS AT TOLLAN AND ZUMPANGO.]
Quauhtlequetzqui seems to have been the priest who of the four assumed the highest rank after the death of Huitziton; and coming under his command or that of their idol through him expressed, to Coatepec in the vicinity of Tollan, the Mexicans, at the order of their god, stopped the current of the river so as to form a kind of lake surrounding the mountain. Their stay in this place was one of great prosperity and increase in population and wealth; here they placed the sacred ark in a grand temple; and here they were taught to make balls of india-rubber and initiated by the gods into the mysteries of the tlachtli, or game of ball, which afterward became their national diversion.[VI-10] But the will of Huitzilopochtli was made known that this fair land must be abandoned, and their wanderings recommenced. The people murmured and showed signs of revolt, but the god appeared before them in so frightful an aspect as to fill them with terror; some of the malcontents were found dead near the temple with their hearts cut out; the dam was broken, thus destroying the great charm of their new home; and finally the will of the leader was obeyed, though not apparently until several revolting chiefs with their followers had separated themselves from the main body.[VI-11]
At Tzompanco, now Zumpango on the northern lake, the Mexicans--not perhaps the main body, judging from the names given to the leaders--were most kindly received, possibly as allies in the wars waged by Tochpanecatl, the lord of that city. This lord's son Ilhuicatl married Tlacapantzin, a Mexican girl, and, as Brasseur states, the same lord gave his daughter Tlaquilxochitl as a wife to Tozcuecuex, the Aztec leader, at the same time giving to the Mexicans through her the possession of Tizayocan their next halting-place. From one of these marriages sprung Huitzilihuitl, who afterwards became, according to many authors, the first king, or ruler, of the Mexicans.[VI-12]
Several other intermarriages with tribes in Anáhuac are reported, and also some hostilities during the subsequent frequent changes of residence, but no important events are definitely reported before the arrival and settlement at Chapultepec in 1194 as already stated, although there is but little agreement in the dates, many traditions assigning the arrival to a much later period. As has been before stated, these traditions refer to different bands, and the disagreement in dates would be natural even if the chronology of the records had been correctly interpreted by the Spanish writers, which is not probable. There can be little doubt of the comparative accuracy of Brasseur's dates.
[Sidenote: THE AZTECS AT CHAPULTEPEC.]
At this period Nopaltzin was still on the throne of Tenayocan, but was succeeded in 1211 by Tlotzin Pochotl.[VI-13] Acolnahuacatl, called by the Spanish writers Acolhua II., reigned over the Tepanecs at Azcapuzalco; Culhuacan was governed successively after Achitometl by Icxochitlanex, Quahuitonal, Mazatzin, Cuetzal, Chalchiuh Tlatonac II., Tziuhtecatl, Xihuiltemoc, and Coxcoxtli, down to about the end of the thirteenth century; the Teo-Chichimecs, one of the invading bands that have so vaguely appeared in preceding annals together with the Nahuatlaca tribes, were settled at Poyauhtlan in the vicinity of Tezcuco, a source of great uneasiness to all the nations, although nominally friends of the emperor Tlotzin; and Quinantzin, the son of Tlotzin, was chief lord at Tezcuco and heir to the imperial throne.[VI-14] The Aztecs meantime fortified their naturally strong position at Chapultepec, and in 2 Acatl, 1195, celebrated the completion of their cycle.[VI-15] Huitzilihuitl, in spite of the sacerdotal opposition was made chief, or as some say, king; the scattered Mexican bands, and even the main body of the Mexicans under the high priest Quauhtlequetzqui, or his successor of the same name, came to join those of Chapultepec; and the colony began to assume some importance in the eyes of the surrounding monarchs. The king of Azcapuzalco sought to make the Mexicans his vassals, desiring their aid as warriors, but Huitzilihuitl proudly refused to pay tribute. Their first war, something over thirty years after their arrival, was with Xaltocan, against which province they had aided the lord of Zumpango when first they entered the valley. The armies of Xaltocan, under Huixton, attacked and defeated the Aztecs near Chapultepec, forcing them to retreat within their fortifications, acting probably by the encouragement of the Tepanecs.[VI-16] According to Brasseur's authorities, the Tepanecs again proposed an alliance, and on refusal, marched with their own army, and soldiers from other nations, against Chapultepec, and at last forced Huitzilihuitl to submit to the payment of tribute.[VI-17] Before yielding, however, the Mexican chief sent ambassadors to Quinantzin at Tezcuco, offering him the allegiance of his people and asking aid; but the Tezcucan lord was not in condition to help them, and advised them to submit temporarily to Acolnahuacatl,[VI-18] which they did about 1240.
[Sidenote: REIGN OF THE EMPEROR QUINANTZIN.]
The reign of Tlotzin, the Chichimec emperor, was, for the most part, one of great prosperity, although his enemies were constantly on the watch for an opportunity to overthrow his power. He seems to have used his influence against a tendency exhibited by the Chichimecs to a rudeness of manners, and independence of all control, which threatened, in his opinion, a relapse into comparative barbarism. He favored rather the elegance of Toltec manners, and the strictness of Toltec discipline. In his efforts for reform he was seconded, or even excelled, by his son, Quinantzin, lord of Tezcuco. Ixtlilxochitl tells us that Tlotzin, soon after his ascension, made a long tour of inspection through his territory, correcting abuses and enforcing the laws, but exciting thereby the enmity of some vassal lords. Tenayocan was properly the Chichimec capital, but the emperor spent much of his time at Tezcuco, which had become one of the finest cities in Anáhuac. For the embellishment of this city, many Toltecs are said to have been called in from various towns, by the orders of Quinantzin. Some of the officers placed in charge of the parks and public works of Tezcuco, particularly Icuex and Ocotox, abused their trust, were banished, headed revolts, and were defeated by Quinantzin. About this time Tlotzin formed a new monarchy at Tezcuco, abdicating his own rights there and giving the crown to his son, Quinantzin. Another son, Tlacateotzin, was given the province of Tlazalan, subject to the crown of Tezcuco, and still other sons, Tochintecuhtli and Xiuhquetzaltzin, were made by Tlotzin, rulers of Huexotzinco and Tlascala, indicating that the eastern plateau was at this time a part of the empire, though it is not probable that a very strict allegiance was enforced. As monarch, Quinantzin, from his royal palace of Oztoticpac, labored more earnestly and successfully than before for a return to the old Toltec civilization, thus exciting the opposition of many Chichimec nobles, and preparing the way for future disasters. Tlotzin became, at last, so fond of his son's beautiful home, that he practically abandoned Tenayocan, appointing Tenancacaltzin, probably his brother, to rule in his stead. The newly appointed lieutenant had no fondness for Toltec reform, became secretly the chief of the opposition to the emperor, and only awaited an opportunity to declare his independence. Tlotzin Pochotl, at last, after an illness whose chief feature is said to have been a profound melancholy, was carried, at his request, to Tenayocan, where he died in 1246, after appointing Quinantzin as his heir. His funeral was accompanied with great pomp and display; all the kings of Anáhuac, both friends and foes, assisting in the ceremonies, and eulogizing his character.[VI-19]
Taking the title of Chichimecatl Tecuhtli, or Emperor of the Chichimecs, Quinantzin transferred the capital to Tezcuco, re-appointing, it would seem, Tenancacaltzin as ruler of Tenayocan. He immediately annexed the powers of Huexotla and Coatlichan to his dominion, forcing the princes of those cities, Tochintecuhtli, or Ihuimatzal, and Huetzin II., to reside in his capital, and forming from the three kingdoms that of Acolhuacan. As emperor, he gave freer vent than ever to his old inclinations to pomp and ceremony. Whenever he appeared in public he caused himself to be borne in a magnificent royal palanquin on the shoulders of four Chichimec nobles. The ill-will which Quinantzin's strict discipline and Toltec inclinations had previously excited; the fears aroused by his annexation of Huexotla and Coatlichan, and other decided political measures; displeasure of those of Tenayocan at the change of capital; and the humiliation of the Chichimec nobles, in being obliged to bear the royal palanquin, soon resulted in a revolution. By the support of the Tepanec king at Azcapulzalco, Tenancacaltzin was proclaimed emperor at Tenayocan, and all Anáhuac, save Culhuacan, Coatlichan, Xaltocan, and Huexotla, were arrayed against the Tezcucan monarch, many of his own relatives joining in the movement against him, and his brother, Tlacateotzin, being driven from the dominion of Tlazalan. In so unequal a struggle Quinantzin seems to have made no effort to overthrow the usurper, but rather to have employed all the force that could be furnished by his remaining vassals in fortifying his position at Tezcuco, where he patiently awaited future opportunities for revenge and recovery of his imperial throne.[VI-20]
[Sidenote: TENANCACALTZIN USURPS THE THRONE.]
Acolnahuacatl, the Tepanec king, seems to have supported the usurpation of Tenancacaltzin not from any feelings of friendship, but from ambitious motives for his own interests. He took no steps to accomplish the conquest of Tezcuco, but on the contrary soon began to plot against the usurping emperor. He made use of the Mexicans, who had suffered much from the people of Tenayocan and were eager for vengeance, to accomplish his purpose. Reinforced by some Tepanec troops in Aztec dress, they made several raids for plunder against Tenayocan and the adjoining towns. Thus provoked, Tenancacaltzin marched with an army to punish the robbers, but was met at Tepeyacac, where now the church of Guadalupe stands, by the Mexicans and Tepanecs combined, and utterly defeated. The conquered emperor fled to Xaltocan, expecting aid from the enemies of the Mexicans, but the princes of Xaltocan were also friends of Quinantzin, to whom they delivered Tenancacaltzin, but who refused to revenge his wrongs upon his uncle, and permitted him to leave the country. The Tepanec king took possession of Tenayocan and had himself declared emperor of the Chichimecs, Quinantzin apparently making at first no opposition, but awaiting a more favorable opportunity to regain his power.[VI-21]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: QUINANTZIN CHICHIMEC EMPEROR.]
I now come to the chain of events by which Quinantzin regained the imperial throne and a power surpassing that of any preceding monarch. The northern provinces of Meztitlan, Tulancingo, and Totoltepec, excited by the rebels Icuex and Ocotox, formerly banished by Quinantzin, raised the standard of revolt and marched to attack the capital. They were even joined by the four eldest sons of the king, according to Brasseur and Ixtlilxochitl, although other authorities make this rebellion a distinct and later affair, and disagree somewhat as to the time of the northern rebellion. Dividing his available force into four divisions, Quinantzin took command of one division, entrusting the others to his brothers Tochintzin, or Tochintecuhtli, and Nopaltzin, and to Huetzin II. of Coatlichan, while his son Techotl remained in command at Tezcuco. All the divisions were equally successful and the rebels were driven back with great loss. Nopaltzin killed Ocotox in personal combat but was himself killed later in the battle. The king's rebel sons had not actually taken part in the fight, and on offering their submission were, at the intercession of their mother, pardoned, on condition of leaving Anáhuac and joining the Teo-Chichimecs on the eastern plateau. This success in the north was not without its effect in the valley. Many cities that had declared their independence, or had become subjects of Acolnahuacatl, now offered anew their allegiance to the monarch of Acolhuacan at Tezcuco. Congratulations flowed in from Culhuacan and other friendly powers, with various plausible excuses for not having aided Quinantzin in his time of trouble. Prisoners taken during the war were released, and some of the lords of the northern provinces were even restored to their former positions on promise of future loyalty. Thus the wise king laid the foundations of future success. The pardoned sons of Quinantzin, before proceeding to Tlascala and Huexotzinco, joined the Teo-Chichimecs at Poyauhtlan. This people, by their encroachments, had made enemies of all the nations of Anáhuac; it is even said that they had instigated the northern revolt in the hope that the formation of a league against themselves might be prevented. But this hope was vain, and soon after Quinantzin's victory, they were attacked before their city by the united forces of the Tepanecs, Culhuas, Xochimilcas, and Mexicans. A battle ensued described as the most terrible ever fought in the valley, in which the Teo-Chichimecs held their ground, but which so exhausted the forces on both sides that it was long before any nation concerned was in condition to renew hostilities. The king of Acolhuacan seems not to have taken part in this struggle, perhaps because of the presence of his sons at Poyauhtlan and the fact that his relatives were ruling the Teo-Chichimecs in Tlascala. The state of affairs was now altogether favorable to Quinantzin, and after, as some authors state, another campaign against the northern provinces, he began to turn his attention toward his lost dominions about the lakes. The emperor Acolnahuacatl, at Tenayocan, seems to have clearly perceived that fortune favored his rival, and that in his exhausted condition since the battle at Poyauhtlan, he could not possibly defend either the imperial crown or even that of Azcapuzalco, and craftily resolved to voluntarily abandon his claims to the former in the hope of retaining the latter. His plans, as usual, were successful; Quinantzin accepted his proposition without any manifestation of ill-will, and was crowned emperor with the most imposing ceremonies in 1272, forming a friendly alliance with the kings of Culhuacan and Azcapuzalco, and becoming practically the master of Anáhuac. The Teo-Chichimecs soon after, by the advice of their god, and with the consent of the emperor, migrated eastward to Tlascala.[VI-22]
In his efforts to embellish his capital, and to restore his empire to the glory and his subjects to the culture of the ancient times, it has been stated that Quinantzin called in the aid of many Toltecs, showing them great favor. A few years after his accession, two of the Toltec tribes that had left the valley at the fall of the empire and settled on the coast of the Pacific in Oajaca, the Tailotlacs and Chimalpanecs, are said to have returned and to have been received by the emperor and granted lands in Tezcuco, after having stayed some time in Chalco. The new chiefs were even allowed to become allied by marriage to the royal family. The new-comers seem to have belonged to the partisans of Tezcatlipoca. Additional bands of Huitznahuacs, Tepanecs, Culhuas, and Mexicans, from distant lands, are also vaguely alluded to as having settled in Tezcuco, Azcapuzalco, and Mexico.[VI-23] About the same time the northern province of Tepepulco revolted, according to Torquemada,[VI-24] and was conquered by Quinantzin, spoken of as Tlaltecatzin by this and several other writers. The province was joined to the dominions of Tezcuco under a royal governor, its lord having been put to death. Another source of prosperity for Tezcuco seems to have been a fresh out-burst in Culhuacan of the old religious dissensions between the partisans of Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, causing many of the inhabitants to make their homes in the Acolhua capital where they were gladly received; although Ixtlilxochitl tells us that Quinantzin erected no temples in his capital, and permitted the erection of none, being content, and obliging all the citizens to be so, with the simple religious rites of his Chichimec ancestors.[VI-25] Xihuiltemoc, a descendant of Acxitl, the last king of Tollan, was on the throne of Culhuacan at this time, and seems to have formed some kind of an alliance with the Mexicans at Chapultepec, and to have admitted to his city the worship of Huitzilopochtli--a fact that leads Brasseur to think that the Culhua king was a partisan of Tezcatlipoca, almost identical with Huitzilopochtli so far as the bloody rites in his honor are concerned.[VI-26] In the last years of the thirteenth century, about 1281, Xihuiltemoc was succeeded by Coxcoxtli whose mother is said to have been a Mexican, but who was a devoted partisan of Quetzalcoatl.[VI-27]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: THE AZTECS LEAVE CHAPULTEPEC.]
The Aztecs had, in the meantime, gained much in power, and although few in numbers, compared with the other nations, had, by their skill as warriors and the ferocity of their character, made themselves hated by all, becoming, indeed, the pests of Anáhuac, although nominally the allies of the Culhuas and Tepanecs. The story of their overthrow at Chapultepec is a brief one, as told by the Spanish writers. Copil, son of Huitziton's sister, the sorceress Malinalxochitl, had, as has been already related,[VI-28] been sworn by his mother to vengeance on the Mexicans. He now came to the lake region and used all his influence to excite the surrounding nations against his enemies, denouncing them as everything that is bad, and urging their extermination. Hearing of his plots, the priest Quauhtlequetzqui went with a party to Tepetzingo, where Copil was, killed him, tore out his heart and threw it into the lake. The place was known as Tlalcocomocco, and here afterwards sprang up the tunal which guided the Aztecs in founding their city; here was also a hot spring, called Acopilco. Immediately after this the Aztecs were attacked by many nations, chiefly the Culhuas and Chalcas, driven to Acoculco, amid the reeds of the lake, and many of their number carried captives to Culhuacan, among whom was their chief, Huitzilihuitl, who was sacrificed. Afterwards they were given, by the Culhuas, the district of Tizaapan, which abounded in snakes, lizards, etc., on which chiefly they lived, paying heavy tribute to the king of Culhuacan, and leading a very hard life for many years.[VI-29]
Brasseur throws much light upon the events of this period. It seems that the Aztecs provoked Copil's efforts for their destruction by two raids against Malinalco, which belonged to Culhuacan, and that the Mexicans treacherously drew the son of Malinalxochitl into their power by offering him the position of high-priest, according to a pretended revelation of Huitzilopochtli's will. His daughter, Azcaxochitl, was forced to become the mistress of Quauhtlequetzqui; all his nobles were taken prisoners, and a band of Culhuas who came to Tlalcocomocco soon after, were massacred. All the rulers of the valley, save, perhaps, Quinantzin, were soon leagued together for the destruction of these marauders and butchers. Huitzilihuitl made a valiant and long-continued defence, defeating the Tepanecs in a fierce battle, but exciting renewed horror by murdering and cutting in pieces Acolnahuacatl, king of Azcapuzalco, and formerly emperor. They were at last conquered through their rash bravery, since, while their army was fighting the Culhuas whom they had been challenged to meet, another body of the enemy took and burned Chapultepec, carrying off the surviving inhabitants as prisoners. The Mexican army was then defeated, nearly exterminated, and the remnants scattered in the lake marshes, while Huitzilihuitl was taken, and, with his daughter and sister, put to death in revenge for the murder of Copil and the Tepanec king. These events occurred about 1297. For two years the scattered Mexican remnants were subjected to every indignity, but in 1299, perhaps through the influence of Acamapichtli, his son and heir, Coxcoxtli was induced to grant this unfortunate people the small, barren, and serpent-infested isle of Tizaapan.[VI-30]
[Sidenote: WAR WITH THE XOCHIMILCAS.]
The Spanish writers do not imply that Acolnahuacatl, king of the Tepanecs, was killed by the Aztecs, or that he even fell in battle. His son, Tezozomoc, was heir to the throne, but as he was very young, his mother seems to have ruled as regent during his minority, and as she was the wife of Coxcoxtli, the power was practically in the hands of the Culhua monarch.[VI-31] Coxcoxtli thus saw his power in Anáhuac largely increased, but he was continually annoyed with petitions from the Mexicans for larger territory and permission to settle at various points in his dominions, and at the same time harassed by the encroachments of the Xochimilcas, particularly in the lake fisheries. He at last proposed to grant the requests of the Aztecs on condition that they would aid him in chastising the insolent and powerful Xochimilcas. The services of the followers of Huitzilopochtli were always in demand when there was fighting to be done. The secret plan of the king was to place the new allies in the front to receive the force of the attack; the heavier their loss the better, for his troops would have an easy victory, and a dead Aztec was a much less troublesome neighbor or subject than a live one. No arms were supplied to the allies, but their priests taught them to make shields of reeds, and arm themselves with clubs and obsidian knives. By a strange freak of fancy they resolved to retain no captives, though a reward was offered for them, but to disarm and release all they captured after having marked them by cutting off the right ear of each. The fury of their attack and their novel method of warfare struck terror into the hearts of the enemy, who were defeated and driven back to their capital in confusion, the Mexicans obtaining much plunder, and the Culhuas an extraordinary number of prisoners. Returning to Culhuacan, the Culhua braves proudly displayed their captives, ridiculing their allies, until the latter pointed out the lack of ears among the victims of Culhua valor, and calmly produced the missing features from their sacks; the effect was complete, and they carried off the honors of the day. Coxcoxtli was proud of such allies, their petitions were granted, and the two nations were also connected by intermarriage.[VI-32]
[Sidenote: THE MOTHER OF THE GODS.]
The history of the Mexicans and Culhuas, during the early part of the fourteenth century, down to the founding of the city of Tenochtitlan in 1325, presents a confusion unequaled, perhaps, in any other period of the aboriginal annals. A civil war on the eastern plateau at Cholula, in which king Coxcoxtli was involved to a certain extent, will be mentioned elsewhere, as it only slightly concerns the general history of Anáhuac. Torquemada, Clavigero, and others, relate that after the battle with the Xochimilcas, the Aztecs had secreted four captives destined for sacrifice, and had, besides, asked the Culhua king to provide them with a suitable offering and to be present at the ceremonies. They were sent a dead body and a mass of filth which the Mexicans, restraining their anger at the insult, placed upon the altar and said nothing. When Coxcoxtli and his suite appeared, the priests, after a religious dance, brought out the four captives and performed the bloody rites of sacrifice before the guests. The Culhuas left the place in disgust, and orders were immediately given that the Mexicans should be driven from the territories of Culhuacan.[VI-33] As Acosta and Duran tell the story, the Aztecs sent from Tizaapan, where it seems many of them were still living, to the Culhua king, requesting him to give them his daughter to rule over them and be the mother of their god. The request was cheerfully granted and the young princess conducted with great pomp to the town of her future subjects. A great festival was prepared, the princess was privately sacrificed to Huitzilopochtli, who, it seems, had signified his intention of adopting her as his mother; her body was flayed, and her skin placed as a garment on a youth, or an idol, which was set up in the temple to receive the offerings of visitors. Among those who came to make such offerings, as a compliment to their allies, were Coxcoxtli and his nobles. Their rage at the sight that met their eyes may be imagined. The bloody followers of Huitzilopochtli were driven from their homes, and the allies their bravery had gained were lost to them.[VI-34] Ixtlilxochitl, without mentioning their return to Culhua favor by the Xochimilco war, says that the Aztecs escaped from their bondage at Culhuacan on hearing that king Calquiyauhtzin intended to massacre them, and resided, for a time, at Iztacalco, whence they made inroads upon Culhua territory, but finally retreated to the island where Tenochtitlan was founded.[VI-35] I append in a note an abstract of Veytia's version of Nahua history during this and the immediately preceding period, since this version agrees with others at but few points.[VI-36]
Hardly more can be gathered from the preceding records than that the Mexicans, after living for a time in Culhuacan, were forced, on account of their bloody religious rites and of their turbulent disposition, to leave that city, and to wander for several years about the lake before settling where the city of Mexico afterwards stood. Coxcoxtli is said to have been a devoted follower of Quetzalcoatl, and a zealous persecutor of all other sects, so much so, that many families were forced to abandon Culhuacan, and were gladly received at Tezcuco, as has been stated. It seems to have been an ineradicable Toltec tendency to indulge in religious controversy to the prejudice of their national prosperity. Brasseur[VI-37] finds in his documents many additional details of some importance respecting the period in question. The religious strife in Culhuacan broke out into open war between the sects of Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, the former headed by the king and his son Achitometl, the latter under another son, Acamapichtli, and seconded by the Mexicans, who had been driven by persecution from the city. This is the alliance alluded to by Veytia, when he states that Acamapichtli, of Culhuacan, was chosen king of the Mexicans. The rebellious son, at the head of the Mexicans, was victorious, and compelled his father to flee from his capital, but did not at once assume the title of king, and was, not long after, in his turn defeated and driven from the city. This was the final departure of the Mexicans, most of whom gathered at Iztacalco, where a band of their nation had been for some years residing, under the chief Tenuch. Many, however, settled at other points near at hand on the lake shores and islands, and to this period is attributed also their invention of the Chinampas, or floating gardens.
[Sidenote: FOUNDATION OF MEXICO.]
The localities thus occupied at this period, simultaneously or successively, besides Iztacalco, were Mexicaltzinco, Acatzintitlan, Mixiuhtlan, and Temazcaltitlan. At last the priests selected what they deemed a suitable place for permanent settlement, the same spot where Copil had been sacrificed, an island, or raised tract in the lake marshes, and pretended to find there the nopal, eagle, and serpent which had been promised by their god as a token that the proper location had been found. The nopal grew on a rock in the midst of a beautiful pool, into which one of the two discoverers was instantly drawn, and admitted to an interview with the Tlalocs, who confirmed the belief that here was to be their permanent home. According to some authorities, a title to this site was obtained from the king of Azcapuzalco. The first task was to erect a rude temple of rushes for the ark of the idol Huitzilopochtli, which was located exactly over the stone which bore the famous nopal; the huts of the people were built around this as a centre, divided by divine command into four wards, or districts. Then all set industriously to work, the men leveling and filling in the site of their town, or fishing and killing wild ducks on the lakes, the products being mostly bartered by the women in the cities of the main land, for stone and wood for building material. The first victim sacrificed to the god in his new temple was a Culhua noble, of hostile sect, opportunely captured.[VI-38] Thus was founded, in 1325,[VI-39] the city named--probably from Mexi, the original name of Huitziton, and Tenuch, their chief leader at the time the city was formed--Mexico Tenochtitlan.[VI-40]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: DEATH OF QUINANTZIN.]
Quinantzin continued in his glorious career at Tezcuco, allowing the surrounding kings to weaken their power by their intrigues and contentions one with another, while he devoted all his energies as a diplomatist, and all the strength of his armies to the strengthening of his imperial power, the enlargement and embellishment of his capital, where refugees from all directions were kindly welcomed, the quelling of rebellion in various provinces, and the conquest of new lands. Not only did he promptly put down every attempt at revolt in his own dominions, but insisted that the kings of Culhuacan and Azcapuzalco should check the attempts of their revolting vassals. Huehuetlan, Mizquic, Cuitlahuac, Zayollan, Temimiltepec, and Totolapan, are named as the rebellious provinces thus subdued during the last years of this emperor's reign. No monarch in Anáhuac could have resisted Quinantzin's power, but he seems to have had no disposition to encroach on what he deemed the legitimate domains of his brother sovereigns. In spite of the opposition of the Chichimec nobles to his reforms, his tendency to Toltec usages, and his fondness for display, the emperor after his power had become firmly established enjoyed the love and respect of all his subjects. His surname, Tlaltecatzin, 'he who lords the earth,' is said to have been given him in consideration of his success in subduing so many provinces. He died in 8 Calli, 1305,[VI-41] at an advanced age, and his funeral ceremonies were conducted with all the pomp that had been characteristic of him in life. Seventy rulers of provinces are said to have assisted. His body, embalmed, was seated in full royal apparel on the throne, an eagle at the feet, a tiger at the back, and the bow and arrows in his hands. All the people crowded to the palace to take a last look upon their emperor, and after eighty days, according to Torquemada, his body was burned, and the ashes, in an emerald urn with a golden cover, placed in a cave near Tezcuco; or, as Veytia and Ixtlilxochitl say, buried in a temple of the Sun in the Tezcocingo forest.[VI-42]
[Sidenote: LIMITS OF THE CHICHIMEC EMPIRE.]
Quinantzin's elder sons having proved rebellious during their father's reign, and having, therefore, been banished, his youngest son, Techotl, Techotlalatzin, or Techotlala, was chosen as his successor. Techotl reigned from 1305 to 1357, a period during which the dominions attached to the crown of Tezcuco were almost entirely undisturbed by civil or foreign wars. Only one war is recorded, by which the province of Xaltocan, peopled chiefly by Otomís, with the aid of the chiefs of Otompan, Quahuacan, and Tecomic, attempted to regain her independence of Chichimec imperial authority. The revolt was, however, promptly repressed by the emperor and his allies after a campaign of two months. Tezozomoc had now succeeded to the throne of Azcapuzalco, and with his Tepanec forces, took a very prominent part in this war against Xaltocan and the northern provinces. The Mexicans also sent an army to this war, and received some territory as a result, the rest of the provinces being joined to the domains of Tezcuco and Azcapuzalco.[VI-43] Techotl's tastes and ambitions were similar to those of his father, and his fifty-two years of peaceful and prosperous reign enabled him to successfully carry out his projects. To him, as emperor, belonged the allegiance of the kings of Culhuacan, Azcapuzalco, and Mexico in the latter part of his rule, when the latter power had risen to some prominence; but no tribute was paid by these kings, and their allegiance was probably only nominal.[VI-44] Over the provinces that belonged to Tezcuco, or rather the kingdom of Acolhuacan, Techotl ruled in precisely the same manner as the other kings over their respective territories. The lord of each province acknowledged his allegiance to his king, paid tribute according to the wealth of his people, and was bound to aid his sovereign, if so requested, in time of war; in other respects he was perfectly independent, and governed his dominion with almost absolute sway. The long list of vassal provinces and lords given by the records[VI-45] show that the authority of the Chichimec emperor extended far beyond Anáhuac, but do not enable us to fix definitely its limits; it probably was but little less extensive than that of the emperor at Culhuacan, in Toltec times, and was very similar to the Toltec rule in its nature.[VI-46] Techotl's efforts seem to have been directed to the complete re-establishment of Toltec culture; to the building-up and embellishment of his capital; to the enacting of just laws and their strict enforcement by the appointment of the necessary courts and officials; to the work of attracting new settlers into his kingdom and capital, by kind treatment of all new-comers, and a toleration of all their religious beliefs and rites; and above all, to the centralization of his imperial power, and the gradual lessening of the prerogatives of his vassal lords. The refugees from different nations were given separate wards of Tezcuco for a residence, and were permitted to erect temples, and to perform all their various rites. Human sacrifice and religious strife were alone prohibited. The different creeds and ceremonials of Toltec times became almost universal in his kingdom,[VI-47] although the emperor himself is said to have ridiculed all these creeds and sacrifices, contenting himself with the worship of one god, of whom he deemed the sun a symbol. He is credited with having entertained sentiments on religious topics several centuries in advance of his time.
In his efforts for the centralization of the Chichimec power, he first summoned the chief lords of his provinces, some twenty-six in number, to Tezcuco, and practically compelled them to live there, although heaping upon them honors and titles which made it impossible for them to refuse obedience to his wishes. All together constituted a royal council, consulted on matters of national import; and from them were selected sub-councils, to whose management were entrusted the superintendence of various branches, such as the administration of justice, military regulations, art and science, agriculture, etc. Five of the leading lords were entrusted with the most important and honorable positions, and placed at the head of the chief councils.[VI-48] As an offset to the favors granted these lords at the capital and in the general government, their prerogatives at home were greatly diminished. The twenty-six provinces were subdivided into sixty-five departments; the lords retained their original titles and the absolute command of twenty-six of the departments, but over the other thirty-nine governors were placed who were supposed to be wholly devoted to the interests of the emperor. Techotl is even said to have gone so far as to transfer the inhabitants belonging to different tribes from one province to another, so that the subjects of each chief, although the same in number as before, were of different tribes, and, as the emperor craftily imagined, much less easily incited to revolt in the interests of ambitious chieftains, who were ever ready to take advantage of favorable circumstances to declare their independence. If the Chichimec nobles objected to these extraordinary measures, their opposition is not recorded.
[Sidenote: REIGN OF TECHOTL.]
At one of the grand assemblies of kings and lords, held at Tezcuco, to deliberate on the general interests of the empire, in 1342, Techotl announced his intention to leave his crown to his eldest son, Ixtlilxochitl, and caused that prince to be formally acknowledged as heir apparent to the imperial throne. It does not appear that any opposition to his succession was made at the time,[VI-49] although as we shall see, his right was not undisputed at the death of his father. At one of these assemblies, as all the authorities agree, it was ordered that the Nahua language should be employed exclusively at court, in the tribunals, and in the transaction of all public affairs. It has been inferred from this, by many writers, that the language of the Chichimec nations was different from that of the Toltecs;[VI-50] but such a supposition would be inconsistent with the whole tenor of the aboriginal annals, and cannot be admitted. Among the new tribes that occupied Anáhuac after the Toltecs, there were doubtless some that spoke another tongue; the enforced use of the Nahua at court was aimed at the chiefs of such tribes, and was a part of the emperor's general policy. Of course it is just possible that one of the tribes of foreign tongue had become powerful and constituted a large part of the population of Tezcuco, but such a state of affairs is not probable, and the statement of some writers that the many learned Culhuas and Mexicans gathered at the Chichimec capital during this period, came as teachers of the Nahua language at the court of Techotl, cannot be accepted. Brasseur's idea, as implied throughout this period of aboriginal history, that the Chichimecs were barbarians, gradually civilized by the few Toltecs that remained in the country, and forced by their kings to adopt Nahua language and institutions, I regard as wholly imaginary. The struggles of Quinantzin and his successors were directed, not to the introduction of Toltec usages, but to the preservation of their culture, threatened by the spirit of anarchy and independence that followed the downfall of the Toltec empire.
[Sidenote: DEATH OF TECHOTL.]
Feeling, at last, that his end was drawing near, and that the work to which he had devoted his energies must be committed to other hands, the aged monarch is reported to have held a long interview with his son and heir, Ixtlilxochitl. Most earnestly he instructed his son concerning his future duties, and warned him against dangers whose occurrence he already foresaw. He feared, above all, the projects of Tezozomoc, the Tepanec king, who had already, although nominally loyal to Techotl, shown tokens of far-reaching ambition and the possession of great executive ability, and who evidently remembered that Acolnahuacatl, his predecessor, had once been emperor. Special advice was given to Ixtlilxochitl, who was probably a very young man, although there is some disagreement about the date of his birth,[VI-51] as to the best policy to be followed with the king of Azcapuzalco, and after jealously striving to imbue his successor with the spirit that had made his own reign so glorious, the emperor died, as has been stated, in 8 Calli, 1357.[VI-52]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: AZTECS AT MEXICO TENOCHTITLAN.]
Having traced the glorious, though peaceful career of the emperor Techotl, I have to close this chapter by narrating the events of Culhua and Mexican history during a corresponding period; a period most fatal to Culhuacan, the metropolis of Anáhuac in Toltec times, and the only Toltec city that had retained its prominence through the dark days of Chichimec invasion. We have seen the Mexicans expelled from Culhuacan at the triumph of Achitometl over his brother Acamapichtli; and, after a series of wanderings about the lake, founding their city of Mexico Tenochtitlan in 1325. One year before the city was founded, however, Acamapichtli seems to have regained his power, and this time, his father Coxcoxtli having died, he assumed the title of king. His rule was probably very advantageous to the Mexicans, his friends, during their first years in their new city, while they were strengthening their position; but in 1336 he died, murdered, as some of the records imply, and was succeeded by his brother Achitometl II., the avowed enemy of the Mexicans and their religious rites. His accession drove many of the rival sect to Mexico, and he thus aided, involuntarily, in building up the new power. The infant son of the dead king, also named Acamapichtli, was saved either by his mother, or, as others say, by the princess Ilancueitl.[VI-53] During the troubles between the rival sects headed by Acamapichtli and Achitometl, large numbers of Culhuas had left their city and either taken refuge in Tezcuco, or had joined kindred tribes in different localities. On the final accession of Achitometl this depopulating movement was continued to a greater extent than ever before. According to Brasseur's documents, a war with Chalco in 1339, fomented by Tezozomoc, who had succeeded to the Tepanec throne eight years before, gave the finishing blow to the power of Culhuacan, which was practically abandoned by king and people about 1347, her weaker tributary provinces being in part appropriated by the stronger, which now became independent of all save imperial power, although a large portion fell into the hands of the kings of Azcapuzalco and Acolhuacan. The larger part of the Culhuas proper were divided between Quauhtitlan,--which soon became practically a Culhua, or Toltec, city, under Iztactototl, grandson of Coxcoxtli, who succeeded in 1348,--and Mexico.[VI-54]
The territory on which Mexico Tenochtitlan was built seems to have belonged to the domain of Azcapuzalco, and the Mexicans were obliged to pay to the Tepanec king a certain amount of tribute in fish and other productions of the lake. Their prosperity, the improvements they were constantly making in their city, and their strong position in the lake, taken in connection with their well-known valor and ambition, excited much jealousy among the surrounding nations. Possibly this jealousy is alluded to in the fable of a fatal epidemic which prevailed at this time, ascribed in the popular tradition to the fumes of fried fish and other delicacies, wafted from the island town, which created so violent a longing as to occasion illness.[VI-55] The Tepanecs were the only people that had the power to oppress the Aztecs, which they are said to have done, not only by the exaction of the regular tribute due them, but by imposing special taxes, to be paid in articles of no value to the receivers, but which could be obtained by the Mexicans only with great difficulty or danger.[VI-56] Brasseur says that Tezozomoc even went so far as to send his son Tlacotin to rule in Mexico after Tenuch's death, and he dying after a short time, another son, Teuhtlehuac, became governor.[VI-57] I find nothing in the Spanish writers respecting Tepanec governors in Mexico, although none of them give any very definite idea how the city was governed in the early period of its existence. Some authors mention Tenuch as one of the chiefs that directed the original Aztec migration; others, as we have seen, make him the chief of an Aztec band at Iztacalco, just before the founding of the city, and imply that he was the leader under the priesthood at the time of its foundation, and for some time after; while still other writers state that he was elected chief three years after the foundation.[VI-58]
At this period took place the division of the Aztecs into Mexicans and Tlatelulcas, although Veytia dates it back before the foundation of the city, and before many of the events already related. It was caused by a quarrel between the priests and nobles, and was a secession of the latter when unable to check the growing power of the former. Torquemada attributes the separation merely to the overcrowded state of the city; and the fable of the two bundles which originated the dissension in early times has already been related.[VI-59] Brasseur sees in this division the inevitable Nahua tendency to struggle bravely and unitedly against misfortune, but at the first dawn of prosperity to indulge in internal strife. The priesthood used their influence to excite the lower classes against the nobility, and particularly against their Tepanec governor, whom they denounced as a tyrant. They finally succeeded in raising such a storm that Teuhtlehuac was driven out, and his party, including most of the nobility, determined to seek a new home. The connection of a Tepanec governor with the matter, removes some of the difficulties involved in other versions, but it is not easy to understand why Tezozomoc permitted his son to be driven from Tenochtitlan. Whatever the circumstances which led to the secession, the location of the new establishment was miraculously pointed out. The nobles were attracted by a whirlwind to a sandy spot among the reeds of the lake, about two miles from Tenochtitlan, and found there the shield, arrow, and coiled serpent, which they deemed a most happy augury. They obtained a title of the land from the Tepanec king, on condition of a yearly tribute,[VI-60] and called their new home Xaltelulco, afterwards, Tlatelulco.[VI-61]
[Sidenote: GROWTH OF MEXICO AND TLATELULCO.]
Both cities grew rapidly, and acquired much prosperity and power, notwithstanding the separation, by reason of the large immigration that they received, and of the rivalry that sprang up between the two divisions. The additions to the population in Tenochtitlan were chiefly Culhuas, who came in so large numbers as to outnumber, perhaps, the original Mexicans; while Tlatelulco received a corresponding influx of Tepanecs, and many from other neighboring nations. We have no further details of their history down to the death of the emperor Techotl, at Tezcuco, except that the establishment of a monarchy in each of the two cities. The Mexicans were at first ruled by the priests, with certain chiefs not definitely named; although by some Tenuch is still spoken of as alive and ruling down to 1357. It was finally decided, in an assembly of priests and wise men of the nation, to choose a king, and the choice fell upon Acamapichtli II., son of Acamapichtli of Culhuacan. The large Culhua element in Tenochtitlan doubtless had a great influence in this choice; and other motives were the friendship of the candidate's father for the Mexicans in past times, the possibility of reconquering the old Culhua possessions and joining them to the Aztec domain, and possibly the extreme youth of Acamapichtli, which offered to the priesthood a prospect of easily controlling his actions. The young candidate was summoned from Tezcuco, where he had taken refuge, together with the princess Ilancueitl, who had rescued him, who seems to have been regent during his minority, and who is even said to have become his wife. 1350 was the date of the accession of Acamapichtli II., the first king of Mexico Tenochtitlan.[VI-62] Soon after, probably the following year, 1351, the Tlatelulcas also determined to establish a monarchical form of government. They also sent abroad for a king, and received a son of the Tepanec king, Tezozomoc, named Quaquauhpitzahuac.[VI-63]
FOOTNOTES:
[VI-1] 1194, Codex Chimalpopoca; 1140 or 1189, Ixtlilxochitl; 1245, Clavigero; 1331, Gondra; 1298, Veytia, Gama, and Gallatin.
[VI-2] I give here as compactly as possible the course of the Aztec migration as given by the leading authorities:--Leave Aztlan 1 Tecpatl, 1064 A.D., and travel 104 years to Chicomoztoc, where they remain 9 years; thence to Cohuatlicamac, 3 years, Matlahuacallan, 6, Apanco, 5, Chimalco, 6, Pipiolcomic, 3, Tollan, 6, Cohuactepec (Coatepec), 3, Atlitlalacayan, 2, Atotonilco, 1, Tepexic, 5, Apasco, 3, Tzonpanco, 7, Tizayocan, 1, Ecatepec, 1, Tolpetlac, 3, Chimalpan, 4, Cohuatitlan, 2, Huexachtitlan, 3, Tecpayocan, 3, Tepeyacac (Guadalupe), 3, Pantitlan, 2 years, and thence to Chapultepec, arriving in 1298, after a migration of 185 years, which necessitates an addition of 49 years for their stay in Michoacan. Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 91-8. According to Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 77-82, they reached Huey Culhuacan one year after their start; the time consumed in reaching Chicomoztoc is not given, and no dates are mentioned. Otherwise the account agrees exactly with Veytia's, except that an unnamed station is represented as having occupied 3 of the 6 years' stay at Matlahuacallan; there are also a few slight differences in orthography. Tezozomoc's account is as follows:--Aztlan, Culhuacan, Jalisco, Mechoacan, Malinalco (Lake Patzcuaro), Ocopipilla, Acahualcingo, Coatepec (in Tonalan), Atlitlanquian or Atitalaquia, Tequisquiac, Atengo, Tzompan, Cuachilgo, Xaltocan and Lake Chinamitl, Eycoac, Ecatepc, Aculhuacan, Tultepetlac, Huixachtitlan, Tecpayuca (in 2 Calli), Atepetlac, Coatlayauhcan, Tetepanco, Acolnahuac, Popotla (Tacuba), Chapultepec (Techcatepec and Techcatitlan) in 2 Tochtli. Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 5-8. Following Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 156-63, the Aztecs left Aztlan in 1160, crossed the Colorado River, stayed 3 years at Hueicolhuacan, went east to Chicomoztoc, where they separated from the Nahuatlaca tribes, then to Coatlicamac, and reached Tula in 1196, remaining 9 years; then spent 11 years in different places, reached Zumpanco in 1216, remaining 7 years, then Tizajocan, Tolpetlac, Tepejacac, and Chapultepec in 1245 during Nopaltzin's reign. Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 124-9, merely makes some remarks on Clavigero's account, fixing the departure, however, in 1064, and noting the completion of the first cycle in 1090 at Tlalixco. Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., pp. 19-20, makes them leave Aztlan in 1 Tecpatl, 1064, and arrive at Tlalixco, or Acahualtzinco, in 1087, where they completed their first cycle in 1091, and remained 9 years. Acosta, pp. 454-62, says that 6 Nahuatlaca tribes left Aztlan in 820, and were 80 years in reaching Mexico. The Aztecs started in 1122, passed through Michoacan, and halted at Malinalco and Coatepec before reaching Chapultepec. Herrera, dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. x-xi, agrees with Acosta. Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. i, ii, iii, says they left Aztlan in Chicomoztoc, giving dates as by Acosta; but he also gives as stations, Patzcuaro, Malinalco, Ocipila, Acahualcingo, Coatepec, Tulla, Atlitlalacpan, Tequixquiac, Tzumpanco, Xaltocan, Ecatepec, Tulpetlac, Tepaneca, and Chapultepec. Sahagun, tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 145-6, vaguely states that the Mexicans went westward from the Seven Caves to a province called Culhuacan Mexico, whence they were ordered by their god to return, and passed through Tulla, Ichpuchco, Chiquiuhio near Ecatepec, to Chapultepec. According to Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 290-308, the other Nahuatlaca tribes left Aztlan from 1062 to 1068, but the Aztecs in 1 Tochtli, 1090. They pass through Téo-Culhuacan, Quahuitl-Icacan, 1091, Quinehuayan-Oztotl or Quinehuayan-Chicomoztoc, 1116, stay 11 years, Acahualtzinco or Tlalixco (now S. Juan del Rio), 1st cycle in 1143, stay 9 years, Tonalan, Lake Patzcuaro, Malinalco, Cohuatlycamac or Coatepec, 1174, stay 9 years, Apazco, Tzompanco, Tizayocan, Tepeyacac, Pantitlan, Popotlan, and arrive at Chapultepec in 1194, having been several times broken up into different bands on the way. Humboldt's--Vues, tom. ii., p. 176, et seq.--interpretation of Gemelli Careri's map--see vol. ii., pp. 543-7, of this work--gives the stations in the following order: From Colhuacan, the Mexican Ararat, 15 chiefs or tribes reach Aztlan, 'land of flamingoes,' north of 42°, which they leave in 1038, passing through Tocolco, 'humiliation,' Oztotlan, 'place of grottoes,' Mizquiahuala, Teotzapotlan, 'place of divine fruit,' Ilhuicatepec, Papantla, 'large-leaved grass,' Tzompanco, 'place of human bones,' Apazco, 'clay vessel,' Atlicalaguian, 'crevice in which rivulet escapes,' Quauhtitlan, 'eagle grove,' Atzcapotzalco, 'ant-hill,' Chalco, 'place of precious stones,' Pantitlan, 'spinning-place,' Tolpetlac, 'rush mat,' Quauhtepec, 'eagle mountain,' Tetepanco, 'wall of many small stones,' Chicomoztoc, 'seven caves,' Huitzquilocan, 'place of thistles,' Xaltepozauhcan, 'place where the sand issues,' Cozcaquauhco, 'a vulture', Techcatitlan, 'place of obsidian mirrors,' Azcaxochitl, 'ant flower,' Tepetlapan, 'place of tepetate,' Apan, 'place of water,' Teozomaco, 'place of divine apes,' Chapoltepec, 'grasshopper hill.' Gondra, in Prescott, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. iii., pp. 5-7, repeats this interpretation. Ramirez, in García y Cubas, Atlas, justly ridicules the 'Ararat' or deluge theory, and confines the wanderings of the Aztecs to the regions about the lakes; 15 chiefs leave their home in Chalco Lake after tying 1st cycle. The stations are mostly adopted from Humboldt, without any opinion expressed of their accuracy, but there are a few additions and corrections in definitions, as follows:--Aztlan, where 2d and 3d cycle are tied, Cincotlan, 10 years, Tocolco, 4th cycle, Oztotlan, 5 years, Mizquiahuala, 5th cycle, Xalpan, 15 years, Tetepanco, 'wall of many stones,' 5 years, Oxitlipan, 10 years, Teotzapatlan, 4 years, Ilhuicatepec, 4 years, Papantla, meaning doubtful, 2 years, Tzonpanco, 'place of skulls or bones,' 5 years, Apazco, 4 years, Atlicalaquian, 'where water collects,' 2 years, Cauhtitlan, 'near the eagle,' 3 years, Azcapotzalco, 'in the ant-hill,' 6th cycle, 7 years, 1 year to Chalco, Pantitlan, 'place of tiers,' 'place of departure,' neither quite correct; Tolpetlac, 2 years, Epcohuac, 'serpent,' Cuauhtepec, 2 years, Chicomoztoc, 8 years, Huitzquilocal, 3 years, Xaltepozauhcan, doubtful, 4 years, Cozcacuauhco, 4 years, Techcatitlan, 5 years, Azcaxochic, 4 years, Tepetlapa, 5 years, Apan, 'on the water,' Teozomaco, 'in the monkey of stone,' 6 years, Chapoltepec, 4 years. The same author from the Boturini map--see vol. ii., pp. 547-50--derives the following: Left their island home, passed through Coloacan, stayed 5 days in a place not named, thence to Cuextecatlichocayan, Coatlicamac, 28 years, Tollan, 19, Atlicalaquiam, 10, Tlemaco, 5, Atotonilco, 5, Apazco, 12, Tzonpanco, 4, Xaltocan, 4, Acalhuacan, 4, Ehecatepec, 4, Tolpetlac, 8, Coatitlan, 20, Huixachtitlan, 4, Tecpayocan, 4, ----, Amalinalpan, 8, Pantitlan, 4, Acolnahuac, 4, Popotla, 4, ----, Atlacuihuayan or Tacubaya, 4, Chapoltepec, 20 years. Gondra, in Prescott, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. iii., pp. 23-30, interprets the Boturini map as follows:--Leave Aztlan 1168, pass through Colhuacan, Cuatlicamaca, 1216-25, Apanco, 1226-9, Tlamaco, 1230-4, Tzompango, 1246, Azcapotzalco, 1250, Jaltocan, 1251-4, Colhuacan, 1258, Tolpetlac, 1262, Ecatepetl, 1270, Cuautitlan, Chalco, Tecpayocan, 1295, Pantitlan, Atotonilco, 1303, Azcapotzalco, 1311, Apan, 1315, Acaxochitl, 1319, Tlacuihuallan, 1327, Chapoltepetl, 1331-51.
[VI-3] Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 292-5, on the authority of the Mem. de Culhuacan and other original documents.
[VI-4] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 135-6.
[VI-5] Id., pp. 136-8. Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 79-80, followed by Clavigero and Vetancvrt, represents this event as having occurred at a subsequent halting-place.
[VI-6] Veytia conjectures the emerald to typify the nobility of the Tlatelulcas, a useless attribute when compared with Aztec science and industry.
[VI-7] Hist., tom. ii., pp. 293-6; Ixtlilxochitl, vol. ix., p. 214. Veytia, tom. ii., p. 95, makes Chalchiuh Tlatonac another name of Huitziton.
[VI-8] On Huitzilopochtli see vol. iii., pp. 288-324. Some of the authorities imply that Huitzilopochtli died or at least appeared as an idol long before this period, soon after their departure from Aztlan. Boturini, Idea, pp. 60-1, states that Huitziton was taken up to heaven in sight of the people. See also on his death and the abandonment of Malinalxochitl; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 93-101; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 78, 80-1; Tezozomoc, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 6-8; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. ii.-iv.; Acosta, pp. 459-61, 468; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 160-1; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 299-302; Sigüenza, in Doc. Hist. Mex., série iii., tom. i., pp. 39-43; Ramirez, in García y Cubas, Atlas; Gondra, in Prescott, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. iii., p. 25.
[VI-9] See vol. ii., p. 130; Tezozomoc, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., p. 6; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. iii.; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 103-5; Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., p. 272; Camargo, in Nouvelles Annales, tom. xcviii., pp. 131-2.
[VI-10] See vol. ii., pp. 297-9; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 106-8; Tezozomoc, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 7-8.
[VI-11] See besides references in preceding notes, Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., pp. 18-19; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xi.; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 125-6; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 302-5.
[VI-12] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 96-7, calls the bride of Ilhuicatl, Tiacapapantzin; and Torquemada, tom. i., p. 82, Tiacapantzin. See also Clavigero, tom. i., p. 163; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. iii.; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 306-8.
[VI-13] Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 213, 346, 397, gives the dates 1107, 1158, and 1105; the first date is 5 Acatl which agrees with Brasseur's documents, but is interpreted as 1211 or one cycle later than Ixtlilxochitl's interpretation. Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 79-80, gives the date 1263.
[VI-14] Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 323, 378; Torquemada, tom. i., p. 254. This author gives the succession of kings at Culhuacan as Achitometl, Mazatzin, Quetzal, Chalchiuhtona, Quauhtlix, Yohuallatonac, Tziuhtecatl, Xuihtemoctzin, and Coxcotzin. Veytia gives the succession as follows: Achitometl, Xohualatonac, Calquiyauhtzin, and Coxcox. It is impossible to reconcile this matter; but no events of great importance in which the Culhuas were engaged seem to have taken place until the reign of Coxcoxtli.
[VI-15] Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., p. 20, and Codex Chimalpopoca. Gallatin makes the date one cycle later or 1298.
[VI-16] Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 83-4. This author represents the Aztecs as having been driven from Chapultepec at this time. There is but little agreement respecting the order of events in Aztec history previous to the foundation of Mexico.
[VI-17] Codex Chimalpopoca, in Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 319-23.
[VI-18] Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., p. 348, and Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 140-1, mention this application to Quinantzin, but refer it to a much later period after the city of Mexico was founded.
[VI-19] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 81-8, 110-13, gives the date of Tlotzin's death as 1298. Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 213, 346, 3981, 461, gives as dates, 1141, 1194, and 1140. See also on his reign; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 68-72; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 143-4; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., p. 16; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 324-33.
[VI-20] Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 73-4, 85; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 114-15; Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 347-8, 399, 452-3; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 144-5; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., p. 16; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 333-8; Müller, Reisen, tom. iii., p. 48.
[VI-21] Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 215, 347-8, 399, 452-3; Veytia, tom. i., pp. 116-17, 122-25, refers these events to a considerably later period, and states that Huitzilihuitl previously married a niece of Acolnahuacatl. Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 338-44.
[VI-22] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 143-54, relates this rebellion and defeat of the northern provinces, and the consequent abdication of Acolnahuacatl, attributing these events, however, to a much later period, after the separation of the Tlatelulcas from the Mexicans, giving the date as 1325. Most of the authorities do not definitely fix the date, but Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 344-55, gives satisfactory reasons, supported by Camargo and Ixtlilxochitl, for referring both this war and the battle at Poyauhtlan to the time when the Mexicans were yet living under Huitzilihuitl at Chapultepec. Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 162-73, unites the rebellion of the king's sons and the fight against the Teo-Chichimecs, referring this latter war to 1350, and including the provinces of Huastepec, Huehuetlan, and Cuitlahuac in the revolt. He represents the allied forces of Anáhuac, 100,000 strong, as serving in six divisions under the general command of Quinantzin, already emperor. He also states that Quinantzin's queen accompanied her sons in their exile. Of course there is great diversity among the authorities in respect to names of leaders, and details of the battles; but the general account given in my text is the only consistent one that can be formed, since there is much even in Veytia's account to support it. It is probable, in the light of later events, that Quinantzin took no part in the war against the Teo-Chichimecs, and quite possible that Camargo's statement that the Teo-Chichimecs were victorious, though much exhausted, in the battle at Poyauhtlan, results to a great extent from national pride in the record of the Tlascaltecs. Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 84-6, 259-60, seems to be the authority for the second campaign of Quinantzin in the north, which was decided by a great battle at Tlaximalco in the region of Monte Real. Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 215-16, 349-52, 398-400, 461-2, as usual favors in different places nearly all the views of other authorities. See also Camargo, in Nouvelles Annales, tom. xcviii., pp. 142-3; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 144-5, 154.
[VI-23] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 160, 228; Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 216-17, 351, 399, 401, 453. The chief of the Tailotlacs was Tempantzin, or Aztatlitexcan; and the Chimalpanecs were under Xiloquetzin and Tlacateotzin. In this, as in other cases I have not entered minutely into the names, marriages, and genealogies of the nobles of Anáhuac, since my space does not permit a full treatment of the subject, and a superficial treatment would be without value.
[VI-24] Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 86. It is not quite certain that this revolt, and that of some southern provinces, which occurred two years later, were not connected with those that have been already narrated. Torquemada rarely pays any attention to chronology.
[VI-25] Kingsborough, vol. ix., p. 217. It seems that Quinantzin's successor granted permission to build temples.
[VI-26] Hist., tom. ii., pp. 377-80.
[VI-27] Id., p. 382; dates 1281, or 1300. According to Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 160-1, and Ixtlilxochitl, p. 462, Xiuhtemoc, king of Culhuacan, died in 1340, and was succeeded by Acamapichtli.
[VI-28] See pp. 327-8.
[VI-29] Duran, MS. tom. i., cap. iv.; Acosta, pp. 462-4; Herrera, dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xi. Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 83-4, 89, says the Aztecs were either brought as slaves from Ocolco to Tizaapan, or were invited to Culhuacan and then enslaved. See also, Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 164-5; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., pp. 20-1; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 127-9. I make no effort to follow Veytia's chronologic order which, in this part of the history, is hopelessly confused and different from the other authorities.
[VI-30] Hist., tom. ii., pp. 380-98.
[VI-31] There is some confusion about the parentage of Tezozomoc and Acamapichtli: 'Coxcoxtli épousa une fille d'Acolnahuacatl dont il eut Tezozomoc, ou Acolnahuacatl épousa une fille de Coxcoxtli dont ce prince serait issu. Quoique le MS. de 1528 donne Acolnahuacatl pour père à Tezozomoc, le Mémorial de Culhuacan le donne pour le fils de Coxcoxtli et frère d'Acamapichtli. Ixtlilxochitl dit également qu'Acamapichtli était son frère.' Id., pp. 394-5. See Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 349, 397, 401. He, however, seems to make Acamapichtli also the son of Acolnahuacatl. Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 73, 161-2, fixes the date of the king's death at 1343. Torquemada, tom. i., p. 68; Granados y Galvez, Tardes Amer., pp. 142-3.
[VI-32] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 119-22. This author places this event in the lifetime of Huitzilihuitl and of Acolnahuacatl. Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 90-1; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 165-7.
[VI-33] See references in last note; also Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 260-1; Gondra, in Prescott, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. iii., pp. 80-1, 260-1.
[VI-34] Acosta, p. 464; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. iv. He calls the Culhua king Achitometl. Herrera, dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xi.
[VI-35] In Kingsborough, vol. ix., p. 398.
[VI-36] Quinantzin succeeded to the empire, and appointed his uncle, Tenancacaltzin, governor in Tenayocan, who usurped the throne in 1299; Huitzilihuitl, of Mexicans, obtained in marriage a niece of king Acolhua II. of Azcapuzalco; Coxcox succeeded Calquiyauhtzin as king of Culhuacan; the Xochimilcas were defeated by the aid of the Mexicans, and Acolhua II. became emperor in 1299; next, Acamapichtli used the Mexicans to conquer Coxcox, and made himself king of Culhuacan in 1301, but died in 1303 and was succeeded by Xiuhtemoc; Huitzilihuitl died in 1318, and the Mexicans chose as their king also, Xiuhtemoc of Culhuacan, where many of them had settled, under the rule of Acamapichtli, and where all now removed from Chapultepec, although against the wishes of the Culhua people; at last, in 1325, for no very definite reason, they were driven from Culhuacan and went to Acatzintitlan, or Mexicaltzinco; then they applied to the emperor Acolhua II. and were allowed to live for a time near Azcapuzalco, while their priests were searching for the predestined location of their future city; then took place the separation between the Mexicans and Tlatelulcas; the Tlatelulcas obtain a King from the emperor after having applied to Quinantzin in vain; Quinantzin regains the imperial throne from Acolhua II.; and finally, Tenochtitlan was founded in 1327. Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 114-57.
[VI-37] Hist., tom. ii., pp. 402-3, 432-50.
[VI-38] On the foundation of Mexico, its date, and name, see--Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. iv.-vi.; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 92-3, 288-91; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 156-60; Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., p. 461; Tezozomoc, in Id., pp. 5, 8-9; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 531; Acosta, pp. 465-6; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 167-9; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., p. 21; Codex Mendoza, in Kingsborough, vol. v., p. 40; Arlegui, Chrón. Zacatecas, pp. 8-9; Cavo, Tres Siglos, tom. i., p. 2; Purchas his Pilgrimes, vol. iv., pp. 1066-7; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 144, 204-5; Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. viii., pp. 405, 415; Müller, Amer. Urrel., p. 534; Gondra, in Prescott, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. iii., p. 356.
[VI-39] Date 1325, according to Clavigero, Gama, Chimalpain, Brasseur, and Prescott; 1327, Veytia, following Sigüenza y Góngora; 1318, Duran; 1324, Codex Mendoza; 1140, 1141, or about 1200, Ixtlilxochitl; 1131, Camargo; 1326, Tezozomoc, in Veytia; 1316, Id., in Gondra; 1225, Chimalpain, in Id.; 1317, Sigüenza, in Id.; 1341, Torquemada, in Id.; 1321, Zapata, in Veytia; 1357, Martinez, in Veytia and Gondra.
[VI-40] On derivation of the name, see vol. ii., p. 559; also Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 92-3; Tezozomoc, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., p. 5; Ixtlilxochitl, in Id., p. 461. These authors derive Tenochtitlan from the Aztec name of the nopal. Cavo, Tres Siglos, tom. i., p. 2, Müller, Amer. Urrel., p. 534, and Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 315, derive Mexico from Metl-ico 'place amid the magueys.'
[VI-41] 1357, Veytia; 1213, 1249, or 1253, Ixtlilxochitl; 1305, Brasseur.
[VI-42] Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 86-7; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 144-6; Veytia, tom. i., pp. 171, 176, 181; Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 215-16, 352, 400, 453; Sahagun, tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 275; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 422-5; Granados y Galvez, Tardes Amer., p. 39.
[VI-43] Xaltocan is spoken of by Ixtlilxochitl and Veytia as having been at this time subjected for the first time to the emperor. Its inhabitants were Otomís, and the refugees are said to have built, or rebuilt, the city of Otompan. Tezozomoc is represented as having borne the principal part in the war, while the emperor Techotl joined in it more to watch and restrain the allies than for anything else. Another war in Tlascala, in which forces sent by Techotl, are said by Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 265-8, to have participated, was, perhaps, the same already mentioned in connection with the king of Culhuacan.
[VI-44] Azcapuzalco, Mexico, Coatlichan, Huexotla, Coatepec, and four or five others are mentioned by Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., p. 355, as paying no tribute; but some of these, according to other authorities, were actually joined to the kingdom of Acolhuacan, and had not even the honor of a tributary lord.
[VI-45] The list of those lords present at the funeral of Quinantzin and the coronation of Techotl, is as follows: Tezozomoc, king of Azcapuzalco; Paintzin, king of Xaltocan, lord of the Otomís; Mocomatzin, Moteuhzomatzin, or Montezuma, king of Coatlichan; Acamapichtli, king of Culhuacan and Mexico (this could not be, as Mexico was not yet founded; Coxcoxtli was king of Culhuacan, but Acamapichtli was, in one sense, chief of the Mexicans, and heir to the throne of Culhuacan); Mixcohuatl, or Mixcohuatzin, king of Tlatelulco (the Aztec Tlatelulco was not yet founded; Brasseur believes this to refer to an ancient city of this name); Quetzalteuhtli, or Quetzalatecuhtli, lord of Xochimilco; Izmatletlopac, lord of Cuitlahuac; Chiquauhtli, lord of Mizquic (Chalco Atenco, according to Brasseur); Pochotl, lord of Chalco Atenco (Ixtlilxochitl); Omaca, or Omeacatl, lord of Tlalmanalco; Cacamaca, lord of Chalco; Temacatzin, lord of Huexotzinco, (or as Brasseur has it, of Quauhquechollan); Tematzin, prince of Huexotzinco (Brasseur); Cocaztzin, lord of Quauhquelchula (Ixtlilxochitl); Teocuitlapopocatzin, lord of Cuetlaxcohuapan, or Cuetlachcoapan; Chichimecatlalpayatzin, high-priest of Cholula; Chichitzin, lord of Tepeaca; Mitl, prince of Tlascala; Xihuilpopoca, lord of Zacatlan; Quauhquetzal, lord of Tenamitec; Chichihuatzin, lord of Tulancingo; Tlaltecatzin, lord of Quauhchinanco; Tecpatl, lord of Atotonilco; Iztaquauhtzin, lord of the Mazahuas; Chalchiuhtlanetzin, lord of Coyuhuacan; Yohuatl Chichimecatzin, lord of Coatepec; Quiyauhtzin, lord of Huexotla; Tecuhtlacuiloltzin, lord of Acolman. Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., p. 353; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., p. 428. Ixtlilxochitl says that these were not all, but merely the leading vassals, all related to the emperor. A list of 46 is given in Ixtlilxochitl, p. 355, and Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 214-15. 73 are said to have attended one assembly, 66 another, and 30 another.
[VI-46] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 182-3, and Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., p. 427, state that the distant provinces of Quauhtemalan (Guatemala), Tecolotlan (Vera Paz), Centizonac, Teoquantepec (Tehuantepec), and Jalisco, were represented in the crowd that gathered at Techotl's coronation, offering their homage and allegiance; but Ixtlilxochitl, p. 353, says that these provinces would not recognize the emperor. There is very little probability that the Chichimec power ever reached so far, but not unlikely that communication took place between Mexico and Central America at this period.
[VI-47] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 195-6, implies that the new rites and ideas came rather from Mexican than Toltec influence.
[VI-48] The general Council of State, composed of all the highest lords, men of learning, ability, and character, was presided over by the emperor himself. Of the five special councils the first was that of war, under a lord who received the title of Tetlahto, and composed, according to Brasseur, of lords of the Acolhua nation. The second was the Council of the Exchequer, under a superintendent of finance, with the title Tlami, or Calpixcontli, having charge of the collection of tribute, and composed of men well acquainted with the resources of every part of the country, chiefly as is said Chichimecs, Otomís, and lords of Meztitlan. The third was the Diplomatic Council, whose president had the title of Yolqui, and was a kind of Grand Master of Ceremonies, whose duty it was to receive, present, entertain and dispatch ambassadors. Many of this council were Culhuas. The fourth was the council of the royal household, under the Amechichi, or High Chamberlain. This council was composed largely of Tepanecs. A fifth official, with the title of Cohuatl, superintended the work of the royal gold and silver smiths and feather-workers at Ocolco, a suburb of Tezcuco. The Spanish writers state that the president of each of the councils must be a relation of the emperor, or at least a Tezcucan nobleman. Torquemada, tom. i., p. 88; Clavigero, tom. i., p. 181; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 182-5; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 430-1.
[VI-49] There seems to have been some trouble between Ixtlilxochitl and the Tepanec king Tezozomoc, even before Techotl's death. Ixtlilxochitl was unmarried, although by his concubines he had many children; and, as Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 217-18, has it, he took Tezozomoc's daughter as a wife at his father's request, but sent her back before consummating the marriage; or, according to Ixtlilxochitl, p. 218, he refused to take Tezozomoc's daughter, who had already been repudiated by some one, except as a concubine. The same author, p. 356, says this occurred after his father's death. He finally married a Mexican princess. Tezozomoc was very much offended.
[VI-50] The emperor is said to have learned the Nahua language from his Culhua nurse Papaloxochitl, and to have become so convinced of its superiority that he ordered its adoption. Ixtlilxochitl, p. 217; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 194-5.
[VI-51] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 217-8, says he was over sixty years old; Ixtlilxochitl gives 1338 as the date of his birth, which would make him less than twenty. The method of arriving at his age seems to be by fixing the date of his son's birth, noting that his father's wife was eight years old at her marriage, and taking into consideration the reported Chichimec custom which required the husband to wait until his wife was forty before consummating the marriage. Ixtlilxochitl was endowed, at birth, with thirteen towns or provinces; his mother is said to have been the sister of Coxcoxtli, king of Culhuacan.
[VI-52] 1353, or 1357, Ixtlilxochitl; 1409, Veytia. On Techotl's reign see: Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 217-18, 353-6, 400-1, 453, 462; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 178-231; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 87-9, 108; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 180-1, 184; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 276; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., pp. 16-17, 24; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 425-32, 457-61, 472-3.
[VI-53] Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 302; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., p. 451. Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 127-30, agrees, except in dates, so far as the succession of Acamapichtli is concerned, and his friendship for the Mexicans. He, however, says nothing of Achitometl II., dates Acamapichtli's death in 1303, and states that he was succeeded by his eldest son Xiuhtemoc. The Codex Mendoza, in Kingsborough, vol. v., p. 42, implies that Acamapichtli transferred his court in 1370 to Mexico, giving, as Motolinia, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 6, says, the lordship of Culhuacan to one of his sons. See also Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 218, 343, 349. Much of the confusion in the Culhua succession is caused by the fact that there were two Acamapichtlis, one, king of Culhuacan and in a certain sense the leader of the Mexicans, and the other, king of Mexico at a later date.
[VI-54] Gomara and Brasseur as above; also Brasseur, p. 465.
[VI-55] Torquemada, tom. i., p. 93; Duran, MS. tom. i., cap. x.
[VI-56] Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. vi.; Tezozomoc, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 9-10; Herrera, dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xii; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 471-3; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 99-101; Clavigero, tom. i., p. 176; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., pp. 22-3.
[VI-57] Hist., tom. ii., p. 454.
[VI-58] Veytia, tom. ii., p. 159, writes the name Tenuhctzin, and dates his election 1330. In the Codex Mendoza, in Kingsborough, vol. v., p. 40, it is stated that the other chiefs still continued to govern their clans. See also, Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 173-4; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 289-91; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., p. 148.
[VI-59] See pp. 325-6, of this volume.
[VI-60] Veytia says they first applied to Quinantzin, placing this event in the reign of Alconahuacatl, as emperor.
[VI-61] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 135, 138, 140-1; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 93, 99, 291. Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. v., names four chiefs who were at the head of the secessionists. Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., p. 398, mentions two chiefs with their adherents. Others speak of eight. Acosta, p. 468, writes Tlatelulco, 'place of terraces.' Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 113, defines the name 'islet.' Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., p. 22, derives it from tlatelli, 'booth,' because the market was located here. Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 467-8, says the original name was Xalliyacac, 'point of land,' which was in the territory belonging to Tlatelulco, at the time a small village, but in the Toltec period a flourishing city. See also, Clavigero, tom. i., p. 170.
[VI-62] There is great diversity among the authorities respecting the parentage of Acamapichtli II., some of which may probably be attributed to the confounding of two of the same name. Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 186-8, 161, dates his accession 1361, says a political contest of four years preceded his election, and calls him the son of Huitzilihuitl by Atotoztli, daughter of Acamapichtli. Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 173-4, Acosta, pp. 469-71, and Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. v-vi., represent the new king as son of Opochtli, an Aztec chief, by Atotoztli, a Culhua princess. Clavigero makes the date 1352; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 94-97, refers to him as a noble Aztec, son of Cohuatzontli by the daughter of a Culhua chieftain. Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 344, 348-9, 456, gives as usual two or three versions of the matter, saying in one place that the new king was the third son of the king of Azcapuzalco. Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 302, brings him from Coatlichan, whither he had escaped with his mother after the death of her husband the Culhua king. 'Acamapichtli, king of Culhuacan, father of the second Acamapichtli spoken of here, was a grandson of Acxoquauhtli, son of Achitometl I., by Azcaxochitl, daughter of the Mexican Huitzilatl. Acamapichtli I. had also married Ixxochitl, daughter of Teotlehuac, who was a brother of Azcaxochitl and son of the same Huitzilatl, and had had by her Acamapichtli II.' Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 469-70. See also: Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., p. 22; Motolinia, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 6; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xii.; Purchas his Pilgrimes, vol. iv., pp. 1005-6. The question of the new king's marriage is even more deeply involved. See same authorities.
[VI-63] Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 94-5; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 174-5; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., p. 471. Date according to Clavigero, 1353. Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 213, 348-9, 398, 453, and Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. ii., p. 141, say that the king's name was Mixcohuatl, or Epcoatzin, or Cohuatlecatl. See also Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., p. 22; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 273; Granados y Galvez, Tardes Amer., pp. 174-5; Müller, Reisen, tom. iii., p. 49; and Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 317-9, with portrait.
VII. THE CHICHIMEC PERIOD.--CONCLUDED
Aztec History -- Reigns of Acamapichtli II. and Quaquauhpitzahuac -- Rebuilding of Culhuacan -- Huitzilihuitl II., King of Mexico -- Tlacateotzin, King of Tlatelulco -- Chimalpopoca Succeeds in Mexico -- Funeral of Techotl -- Ixtlilxochitl, Emperor of the Chichimecs -- Symptoms of Discontent -- Plans of Tezozomoc, the Tepanec King -- Secret council of Rebels -- Religious Toleration in Tezcuco -- Conquest of Xaltocan and Cuitlahuac -- Birth of Nezahualcoyotl -- War between Tezcuco and Azcapuzalco -- Victories of Ixtlilxochitl -- Siege and Fall of Azcapuzalco -- Treachery of Tezozomoc -- Fall of Tezcuco -- Flight and Death of Ixtlilxochitl -- Tezozomoc proclaimed Emperor -- Reorganization of the Empire -- Adventures of Nezahualcoyotl -- Death of Tezozomoc -- Maxtla usurps the Imperial Throne -- Murder of the Mexican Kings -- Nezahualcoyotl's Victory -- Itzcoatl, King of Mexico -- Acolhua and Aztec Alliance -- Fall of Azcapuzalco -- The Tri-partite Alliance, or the New Empire.
The next and final chapter of the Chichimec annals covers a period of three quarters of a century, extending from the death of the emperor Techotl in 1357, to the formation of the tri-partite alliance between the Acolhuas, Aztecs, and Tepanecs, in 1431. It embraces the reigns of three emperors, Ixtlilxochitl, Tezozomoc, and Maxtla; and is a record of continued struggles for the imperial power between the Acolhuas and Tepanecs, resulting in the humiliation of the latter and the triumph of the former, through the aid of a third power, which is admitted as an equal to the victor in the final reconstruction of the empire. The rôle of the other nations of Anáhuac during this period, is that of allies to one or the other of the powers mentioned, or, occasionally, of rebels who take advantage of the dissensions of the ruling powers to declare their independence, enjoyed as a rule only until such time as the masters may have an opportunity to reduce them to their old allegiance. We find the aboriginal record more and more complete as we approach the epoch of the conquest, with much less confusion in chronology, so far as leading events are concerned, although perfect agreement among the authorities is yet far from being attained in the minor details with which the narrative is crowded. A new source of disagreement is, moreover, reached as we approach the final century of the native annals--national prejudices on the part of the native historians through whom those annals have been handed down, and a constant tendency among such writers as Ixtlilxochitl, Tezozomoc, Chimalpain, and Camargo, to exhibit in their highest colors the actions of the nations from which they have descended, while ever disposed to cloud the fame of rival powers. Fortunately, one authority serves, generally, as an efficient check upon another in such cases.
[Sidenote: REIGN OF ACAMAPICHTLI II.]
[Sidenote: THE CHICHIMEC PERIOD.]
Before relating the general history of Anáhuac during the successive reigns of the emperors Ixtlilxochitl and Tezozomoc, in which history the Mexicans took a prominent part as allies of the latter, it will be well to glance, briefly--for there is little to say on the subject--at the course of events in the new cities on the lake marshes. We left Tenochtitlan under the rule of its Culhua king, Acamapichtli II., or rather under the regency of his queen, Ilancueitl; while Quaquauhpitzahuac, son of the Tepanec king Tezozomoc, was on the throne of Tlatelulco, both kingdoms being tributary to that of Azcapuzalco. One of the last acts of the queen was the re-settlement of Culhuacan in 1378, by means of a colony sent from Mexico under Nauhyotl, the fourth of that name who had ruled in the Culhua city. This was done partly from motives of pride in restoring the capital of her own and her husband's ancestors, and partly to serve as a check on the encroachments of the Chalcas in the south.[VII-1] In 1383 the queen died. Ixtlilxochitl states that she bore her husband three sons, one of whom was Huitzilihuitl; Clavigero tells us she was barren, but took charge of the education of two of her husband's sons, Huitzilihuitl and Chimalpopoca, by another wife; Torquemada confounds the two Acamapichtlis, and is, consequently, greatly puzzled about Ilancueitl's children; and finally, Brasseur shows that she was espoused at an advanced age by the king solely for political motives, and that she lived harmoniously with his other two wives, one of whom bore him Huitzilihuitl, and the other Chimalpopoca.[VII-2] The reign of Acamapichtli II. dates, in a certain sense, from the death of his queen, who for many years had, at least, ruled jointly with him. The beginning of the wars between the Mexicans and Chalcas, which were waged so bitterly for many years, is attributed to Acamapichtli's reign, as are the conquests of Quauhnahuac, Mizquic, and Xochimilco; but it must be understood that it was only as the allies of the Tepanec king that the Mexicans engaged in these wars. Torquemada and Acosta assert that Acamapichtli's reign was a very peaceful one.[VII-3] It was after the conquest of Quauhnahuac, later Cuernavaca, that the first gold-workers came to ply their art in Tenochtitlan.[VII-4] After having ruled wisely and justly, greatly enlarging and improving his capital, he died in 1403, leaving the choice of a successor wholly to his nobles and priests.[VII-5] There is great disagreement among the authorities respecting the length of his reign, some dating it from his first call to the throne, and others from the death of the queen. Immediately after the funeral of Acamapichtli, an assembly of the wise men of the nation was held to deliberate on the choice of a successor. The priests made an effort to acquire the control by discontinuing the monarchy. They wished the temporal affairs of the state to be managed by a senate or council, with a military chieftain to lead their armies in war; but the majority believed that their only hope of national safety and future power was in a monarchy, and Huitzilihuitl II., the eldest son of the late king was called to the throne during the same or the following year. The speeches by which the old men convinced the assembly that their yet precarious condition, considering their isolated position and the powerful nations surrounding them, made it necessary to call to their throne a wise, prudent, and powerful king, are recorded by Duran, Tezozomoc, and Torquemada; as are the addresses of advice to the new king at his coronation, in which he was reminded that his position was no sinecure, but that on him depended the future greatness of the Mexicans foretold by the gods. The choice of the people was ratified by king Tezozomoc of Azcapuzalco; and at the same time it is reported that Itzcoatl, a natural son of the late king, by a woman of rank, was appointed commander of the Mexican armies. One of the means by which the Aztecs struggled to attain to their predestined greatness, was by contracting foreign matrimonial alliances with powerful nations; and as Huitzilihuitl had yet no wife, an embassy was sent to Tezozomoc with a most humble and flattering petition, begging that all-powerful sovereign to favor his most obedient vassal by sending one of his daughters, "one of his pearls, emeralds, or precious feathers," as Torquemada expresses it, to share with the new king his poor home in the marshes. The petition was granted, the princess Ayauhcihuatl was given to Huitzilihuitl, and the following year his brother Chimalpopoca won the hand of the beautiful princess Miahuaxochitl, daughter of the lord of Quauhnahuac, who became the mother of Montezuma.[VII-6] By the alliance with Quauhnahuac, the city of Tenochtitlan received a large accession of artists and skilled workmen; while from Tezozomoc, who is said by Veytia to have personally visited the city at the birth of his grandson, the Mexicans obtained the removal of the tribute which they had so long been obliged to pay, or, at least, its reduction to a merely nominal amount, including a few wild fowl and fishes for the royal table. From this time the Mexicans are said to have felt more at their ease, to have paid more attention to the arts and sciences, and to have abandoned their coarse garments of nequen for more sumptuous apparel.[VII-7]
[Sidenote: AZTEC ALLIANCES.]
[Sidenote: REIGN OF HUITZILIHUITL II.]
Very soon after Huitzilihuitl's accession to the throne, the Tlatetulcan king Quaquauhpitzahuac died, and was succeeded by his son Tlacateotzin, according to Brasseur's authorities; although Veytia places at about this date the succession and marriage of Quaquauhpitzahuac, soon followed by Tlacateotzin's birth, the latter becoming king only in 1414. This subject of the Tlatetulcan succession is inextricably confused, since some authors make Mixcohuatl precede Quaquauhpitzahuac as first king; and Ixtlilxochitl, in one of his relations, even puts another king, Amatzin, between the two. The matter is not one of great importance, since it is certain that Tlacateotzin reigned after 1414 during a most exciting period, being one of the chief military leaders in Tezozomoc's army.[VII-8] The two cities had by this time been extended greatly beyond their original limits, and were separated only by a narrow tract of marsh, which was dry at low water. Notwithstanding the fair promises made by the Tepanec king to his vassals and allies on the lake, some of his tyrannical acts seem to have been directed at them even at this early time, if we may credit the statement that Nauhyotl IV., in command of the Aztec-Culhua colony at Culhuacan for the past thirty-five years, was murdered by Tezozomoc's orders in 1413.[VII-9] Tlatelulco was yet in its buildings and some other respects superior to its rival, perhaps by reason of being less under priestly control, or through the greater favor shown its people by the Tepanecs. But Huitzilihuitl had done much to build up and embellish Tenochtitlan, and particularly to promote her commercial industries, by digging canals, multiplying the number of chinampas, and by a wise system of trade regulations. He is also accredited with a new code of laws, and with the introduction of war canoes and the training of his soldiers in their skillful management.[VII-10] Mendieta states that this king conquered Tultitlan, Quauhtitlan, Chalco, Tulancingo, Xaltocan, Otompan, Tezcuco, and Acolman, during his reign, but the reference is of course to the wars of the Tepanec king by the aid of his Mexican allies; and Sahagun says he fought against Culhuacan, referring doubtless to a former ruler of the same name.[VII-11] Huitzilihuitl II. died in 1417,[VII-12] and his half brother, Chimalpopoca, was immediately chosen to succeed him, in the absence of any legitimate son. We have seen that there is much disagreement respecting Huitzilihuitl's marriage and his children; some authors even state that Chimalpopoca was his son, but the majority of the best authorities agree that the new king was the son of Acamapichtli II., and a brother of Huitzilihuitl. The latter's only legitimate son, Acolnahuacatl, was killed, in childhood, by Maxtla, son of Tezozomoc, in 1399, through fear that he might inherit the crown of Azcapuzalco, as Clavigero states. Acosta, confounding this tradition with the fact that king Chimalpopoca was long after killed by Maxtla's orders, tells us Chimalpopoca was killed in childhood. Torquemada adds to the fact of the young Acolnahuacatl's murder, another motive for the crime, in a tale to the effect that Tezozomoc had given Maxtla's wife to the Mexicans for a queen, hence the wrath and vengeance of the Tepanec prince. The choice of the Mexicans is said to have been approved both by the emperor Ixtlilxochitl and by Tezozomoc. Chimalpopoca's marriage has already been noted, and the birth of his son Montezuma Ilhuicamina; Veytia states that his wife, by whom he had seven children, was the princess Matlalatzin, a daughter of the king of Tlatelulco. I shall have occasion to speak again of this king.[VII-13]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: SUCCESSION OF IXTLILXOCHITL.]
To return to the general history of the Chichimec empire, the kings and lords were assembled at Tezcuco to perform the last honors to the dead emperor Techotl, and to celebrate the accession of his son and chosen heir Ixtlilxochitl. We have seen that Techotl had by his great ability and by a series of most extraordinary political measures checked the independent spirit of his vassal lords, avoided all internal strife, centralized the imperial power, and made himself almost absolute master of Anáhuac. Another Techotl might perhaps have retained the mastery; but we have seen that many of his acts were calculated to excite the opposition of the Chichimec lords, that on his death-bed he expressed his misgivings respecting future events, and that his son had already made of the Tepanec king an enemy. It is quite possible that the last years of Techotl's reign were marked with troubles which have not been recorded, and that there were causes of enmity towards Ixtlilxochitl which are unknown to us. Brasseur attributes the misfortunes that ensued to Ixtlilxochitl's vacillating spirit and love of ease; but his acts as recorded by the Spanish writers indicate rather a peaceful and forgiving disposition, joined to marked and brilliant abilities as a warrior. However this may be, trouble ahead was indicated at the very funeral of his mighty and popular father. Many lords invited to participate in the ceremonies were not present. Veytia, and Ixtlilxochitl in one of his relations, say that only four lords attended the obsequies; but the latter author elsewhere, and also Boturini, make the number present over sixty, which is much more probable. The absentees sent in various pretexts for not attending; if they had come they would have been obliged to swear allegiance to the new emperor or to openly rebel, an act for which they were not yet ready. Torquemada and Clavigero tell us that Tezozomoc was present at the funeral, but departed immediately after without giving his adhesion to the new emperor. Ixtlilxochitl, however, was crowned king of Acolhuacan by the princes present at Tezcuco, and in all probability assumed at that time the title of Chichimecatl Tecuhtli, or emperor, that was his due, although no author states this directly, and both Ixtlilxochitl and Veytia state expressly that he was not crowned as emperor for many years. Ixtlilxochitl says, however, in one place that he was proclaimed 'lord paramount' by the assembled princes, and there was no apparent motive for delay in this respect.[VII-14] Ixtlilxochitl was at first disposed to resort to force and to avenge the insult offered him. Putting his army in order and stationing his forces in and about the capital, he sent a summons to Azcapuzalco, ordering the Tepanec king to appear forthwith at court to pay allegiance to his emperor. Tezozomoc, not yet ready for open revolt, pleaded illness, assured Ixtlilxochitl of his good intentions and loyalty, and promised to come as soon as his health would permit. The emperor understood that this was but a pretext, but he was unwilling to resort to harsh measures if they could be avoided, and was induced by his counselors, many of them perhaps in full sympathy with Tezozomoc, to await the better health of his opponent.[VII-15]
[Sidenote: PLOTS OF TEZOZOMOC.]
In the meantime Tezozomoc called a secret meeting of the disaffected lords, with many of whom he may be supposed to have been already in communication. The kings of Mexico and Tlatelulco were among the allies on whom he counted most, and to whom he made the most flattering promises in case of future success. In a long speech before the assembly he expatiated upon the acts of the late emperor which had been most calculated to offend the lords before him. He spoke of their rights as independent Chichimec rulers, of which they had been deprived and only repaid by empty honors at the imperial court; urged upon them the necessity of making an effort to shake off the tyranny that oppressed them while they retained the power to act; reminded them of Ixtlilxochitl's youth and general unfitness to direct the affairs of a mighty empire. He boasted of having himself already shown his independence by absenting himself from the new emperor's coronation. According to most authorities, he disclaimed any ambitious aims of his own, or any intention to despoil Ixtlilxochitl of his domains as king of Acolhuacan, his only avowed design being to restore to all Chichimec lords their ancient independence; but others state that he openly expressed his intention to wear the imperial crown. At any rate, the assembled princes signified their approval of his views, and looked to him for directions; pledged to secrecy for the present, they were dismissed, and Tezozomoc began his preparations for the coming struggle. But he proceeded slowly, for he knew that Ixtlilxochitl was not a foe to be easily overcome.[VII-16] Ixtlilxochitl probably knew of the meeting, but still took no active steps against the Tepanec king, although, as the Spanish writers say, he was constantly arming and disciplining his forces. It is said that immediately upon his accession he removed all restrictions upon religious rites among the many nationalities and sects which composed the population of Tezcuco, even permitting human sacrifice, so strictly prohibited by his ancestors. He thus laid the foundation for troubles analogous to those that had destroyed Tollan and Culhuacan.[VII-17]
Tezozomoc carefully prepared his way to future power by establishing Tepanec colonies in different localities. One of them was at Tultitlan, near Quauhtitlan. We have seen the latter city pass under Culhua control at the fall of Culhuacan; but after the reigns of king Iztactototl and queen Ehuatlycue, the Chichimecs had regained control in 1372. In 1395 an army, composed chiefly of Tepanecs and Mexicans, under Xaltemoc, lord of Quauhtitlan, conquered and burned the Otomí city of Xaltocan, and a large extent of territory between that city and Tollan, of which Tezozomoc took for himself the larger share, giving also portions to his allies for their services. In 1392 the Cuitlahuacs had been conquered by the Mexicans and entrusted to a governor devoted to the interests of Tezozomoc, who embraced every opportunity to place his sons or his friends in positions where they might be of use to him in the future.[VII-18] Ixtlilxochitl watched the aggressive movements without interfering, from cowardice or weakness as one would think were it not for subsequent events, and at last Tezozomoc proceeded to test his adversary's feelings towards him, by sending, for three years successively, a quantity of cotton to Tezcuco, at first with the request, but finally with the order, that it should be woven into fine fabrics and returned to Azcapuzalco. Twice the request was granted and the cloths sent back with a polite message, still, as is said, at the advice of the Acolhua counselors; and the Tepanec king evidently began to think he had overrated his emperor's courage. He was disposed to begin hostilities at once, but was induced by his allied counselors rather to increase year by year the quantity of cotton sent to Tezcuco, and thus to gradually accustom the Acolhua king to a payment of tribute, while he was also constantly winning over to his side lords that yet wavered. On the third year a very large amount of cotton was sent, without any formal request, but with a mere message directing that the staple be forthwith woven into the finest cloths, and to ensure dispatch that it be divided among the Acolhua lords.
[Sidenote: PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.]
Ixtlilxochitl was at last fully aroused, refused to be controlled by his advisers, and returned to Tezozomoc's message a reply substantially as follows: "I have received the cotton kindly furnished by you, and thank you for it. It will serve to make quilted garments to be worn by my soldiers who go to chastise a pack of rebels who not only refuse allegiance to their emperor, but relying on my forbearance, have the impudence to ask for tribute. If you have more cotton send it also; my soldiers do not need armor to fight against such foes, but these quilted garments will give my armies a finer appearance in their triumphal march." With this reply, or soon after, according to Brasseur, a formal challenge was sent to Tezozomoc, whose gray hairs and near relationship, as Ixtlilxochitl said, could no longer protect him. The other authorities speak of no formal challenge, but of long preparation on both sides for the approaching conflict. The Tepanec king summoned his allies, chief among whom were the Mexicans and Tlatelulcas, promised to divide the conquered domain of Acolhuacan among them, and prepared to march on Tezcuco. Ixtlilxochitl also called upon his vassal lords, including those of Coatlichan, Huexotla, Coatepec, Iztapalocan, Tepepulco, Chalco, and others, explained to them the ambitious plans of Tezozomoc, recalled to them the favors they had received from his ancestors, and ordered them to aid him immediately with all their resources. Many of the authors state that he wished at this time to be crowned as emperor, but postponed the ceremonies at the wish of his lords, until after the defeat of his enemy, when they might be performed with fitting pomp. All the lords promised their assistance, although some of them are supposed to have been in sympathy with Tezozomoc. The Spanish writers represent these events as having occurred from 1410 to 1412, but it is evident from what follows that they are to be attributed to the last years of the fourteenth century.[VII-19]
Brasseur, relying on a chapter of Torquemada's work,[VII-20] states that in the challenge mentioned above, the region of Quauhtitlan was mentioned as a battle-ground, and that it was followed by a three years' war, in which Ixtlilxochitl succeeded, at least, in holding his ground, and thereby greatly increased his strength by inspiring confidence in the minds of his wavering vassals. Other authorities, however, state that open hostilities were not engaged in for a long time after the affair of the cotton, although preparations were made on both sides; and this was probably the case, since I find nothing in Torquemada's account to indicate that he intended to make this war distinct from that which, according to all the authorities, took place some years later.
Ixtlilxochitl had married a sister of prince Chimalpopoca of Mexico--half-sister to king Huitzilihuitl II.--by whom he had two children, the princess Atototzin and prince Nezahualcoyotl, 'the fasting coyote.'[VII-21] All the authorities agree on 1402 as the date of his birth, although disagreeing somewhat respecting the month, day, and hour, these variations being, perhaps, not worth discussion from a historical point of view. The predictions of the astrologers at his birth were most flattering for his future career, and he was entrusted for education and training to a Toltec gentleman of high culture.[VII-22] Xaltemoc of Quauhtitlan, who in 1395 had commanded the allied forces in the conquest of Xaltocan, had, it seems, gained the good-will of both the Chichimec and Culhua branches of the population of that city, the power of which had been greatly increased; but this ruler, not lending himself readily to the plans of Tezozomoc, is reported to have been assassinated by the latter's orders in 1408, and his domain to have been divided and put under sons or friends of the Tepanec tyrant, as governors.[VII-23]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: WAR BETWEEN ACOLHUAS AND TEPANECS.]
The first act of open hostility took place in 1415, when Tezozomoc sent an army in several divisions round the lake southward to devastate the country, destroy the minor towns belonging to the emperor, to join forces at Aztahuacan, take and fortify Iztapalocan, an important city near by, and from that place to march on Tezcuco and capture the emperor. The plan succeeded at first and many towns were pillaged. A traitor led them by the best routes and gave them instructions as to manner of assaulting, or, as Brasseur says, admitted them into the city of Iztapalocan; but the inhabitants under the brave governor, Quauhxilotzin, succeed in repulsing the Tepanec forces although not without considerable loss of prisoners, to which misfortune was joined the death of the brave governor, murdered by the hands of the same traitor mentioned above. Ixtlilxochitl, hearing of the march of his enemy, came to Iztapalocan from Tezcuco soon after the battle, with a small army hastily gathered; but the Tepanecs finding that their plan had failed in its main object, had retreated to Azcapuzalco, and the emperor's force was too small to attack Tezozomoc in his intrenchments.[VII-24]
Before beginning a campaign against Tezozomoc, Ixtlilxochitl called a meeting of such vassal lords as were accessible, and had his son Nezahualcoyotl proclaimed, with all the pomp of the old Toltec rites, as his successor on the imperial throne. The high-priests of Huexotla and Cholula assisted at the ceremonies, and the only lords present were those of Huexotla,[VII-25] Coatlichan, and Iztapalocan; others who were faithful were busy preparing their forces for war. The authorities do not agree whether this meeting took place in Tezcuco or Huexotla, and some imply that Ixtlilxochitl was crowned at the same time.[VII-26]
Tezozomoc, too old to lead his armies in person, gave his son Maxtla and the kings of Mexico and Tlatelulco, the highest places in command, making the latter, Tlacateotzin, commander-in-chief. He also took especial care in strengthening his fortifications on the frontier. Ixtlilxochitl divided his forces in three divisions; the first, commanded by Tochintzin, grandson of the lord of Coatlichan, was stationed in towns just north of the capital; the second, under Ixcontzin, lord of Iztapalocan, was to protect the southern provinces; while the third, under the emperor himself, remained near Tezcuco, ready to render aid to his officers where it should be most needed. They were ordered to remain within their intrenchments and await the enemy's movements. The Tepanecs and their allies crossed the lake in canoes, landed in the region of Huexotla, carried some small settlements on the lake shores, and assaulted the Acolhuas in their intrenched positions. Day after day they repeated the assault, and were driven back each time with heavy loss, both sides in the meantime receiving strong reinforcements. Finally Tochintzin feigned a retreat towards Chiuhnauhtlan, drew the Tepanecs in pursuit, faced about suddenly and utterly routed the forces of Tlacateotzin. The lake shore was covered with the dead, and the defeated army retired in confusion to Azcapuzalco. The good-natured emperor gave orders to discontinue offensive operations, and sent an embassy proffering peace on condition of submission to him as emperor, and offering to forget the past. Tezozomoc haughtily declined the overtures, claimed a right, as the nearest relative of the great Xolotl, to the title of Chichimecatl Tecuhtli, and announced his intention to enforce his claims, naming a day when his armies would again meet the Acolhuas on the field of Chiuhnauhtlan. This may be the challenge already referred to as recorded by Torquemada. At any rate, it was accepted, a large army was concentrated at the point indicated, and another at Huexotla, which place, as was ascertained, Tezozomoc really intended treacherously to attack, and which he expected to find comparatively undefended. Tlacateotzin crossed the lake as before in canoes with an immense army, but as before was defeated in a succession of battles, and after some days forced to retreat to the Tepanec capital, branches of the Acolhua army in the meantime sacking several towns in the enemy's domain, and punishing several lords who had deserted the emperor to join Tezozomoc.[VII-27]
[Sidenote: IXTLILXOCHITL'S VICTORIES.]
Ixtlilxochitl's star was now in the ascendant; his valor and success in war inspired new confidence; and many lords who had hitherto held aloof, now declared their allegiance to the emperor. As usual, the Tezcucan monarch was disposed to suspend his military operations, and receive the allegiance which he supposed Tezozomoc would now be ready to offer; but he soon learned that his adversary, far from abandoning his projects, had succeeded, by new promises of a future division of territory and spoils, in gaining over to his side the lords of two powerful provinces, one of which was Chalco, adjoining the Acolhuan domain on the north and south. Exasperated at his foe's persistence, and having a larger army than ever before at his command, Ixtlilxochitl determined to punish Tezozomoc and his allies in their own territory. Leaving at and about Iztapalocan, and under the lord of that city, a sufficient army to keep the Chalcas in check, he marched at the head of a large army northward and round the lakes, taking in his course Otompan and Tollan with many towns of minor importance. Now without opposition, now after a bloody combat, town after town fell before the advancing conqueror, whose fury was directed against Tepanec soldiers and treacherous vassals, women and children being in all cases spared. In the province of Tepotzotlan he was met by the regular Tepanec army of 200,000 men under the Tlatelulcan king Tlacateotzin, who attempted to stay the tide of invasion, but after a desperate conflict, was forced back to Quauhtitlan, and then to Tepatec, where a second great battle was fought. Defeated at every step, the allied rebels were at last forced to retreat within the fortifications of Temalpalco, which defended Tezozomoc's capital, Azcapuzalco. For four months, as some authorities state, the siege of the city was prolonged, Ixtlilxochitl endeavoring rather to harass the pent-up enemy, and gradually reduce their number, than to bring about a general engagement. Finally, when he could hold out no longer, Tezozomoc sent an embassy to the emperor, throwing himself entirely upon his mercy, but pleading most humbly for pardon, reminding Ixtlilxochitl of their near relationship, pledging the submission of all his allies, and promising to come personally to Tezcuco, on an appointed day, to swear the allegiance he had so long and unjustly withheld. The too lenient emperor, tired of war and bloodshed, granted the petition, raised the siege against the advice of all his lords, returned to Tezcuco, and disbanded his armies. Brasseur makes this campaign end in 1416; others in 1417. Ixtlilxochitl states that the campaign lasted four years, and that Tezozomoc had under his command 500,000 men.[VII-28]
[Sidenote: TREACHERY OF TEZOZOMOC.]
By this act Ixtlilxochitl sealed his fate. Some of his truest allies who had fought for glory and loyalty, understanding Tezozomoc's hypocrisy and deeming their labors thrown away, were disgusted at their emperor's ill-timed clemency and withdrew their support. Many more lords had undertaken the war with the expectation, in case of victory, of sharing among themselves the Tepanec dominions. The rank and file, with the lesser chieftains, had borne the toil and danger of a long campaign, and now that it was ended, were denied the spoils that belonged to them as victors. The discontent was loud and wide-spread, and Ixtlilxochitl's prestige outside of Tezcuco and one or two adjoining cities, was lost forever. The Tepanec king, without the slightest idea of fulfilling his pledges, fomented the spirit of mutiny by promising the lords as a reward of rebellion, what they had failed to obtain in loyal combat, new domains from the Tezcucan possessions, together with independence of imperial power. Another motive of hatred on the part of Tezozomoc toward Ixtlilxochitl is mentioned by Brasseur's documents as having come to the knowledge of the former king about this time. His son's wife, a near relative of the Tezcucan king, who had left her husband and Azcapuzalco for good reasons, was now found to be living in or near Tezcuco as the mistress of an Acolhua chief, thus degrading the honor of the Tepanec royal family.[VII-29]
[Sidenote: DEATH OF IXTLILXOCHITL.]
Having completed as secretly as possible his preparations for a renewal of the war, Tezozomoc announced his readiness to swear allegiance to his sovereign, and his intention to celebrate that act and the return of peace by grand festivities. As his age and the state of his health would not permit him, he said, to go to Tezcuco, he appointed a suitable location[VII-30] for the ceremonies and invited Ixtlilxochitl to be present with his son Nezahualcoyotl, accompanied only by unarmed attendants, for the Tepanecs had not yet recovered, he said, from their terror of the Acolhua soldiers. The emperor at first consented, although by this time he had no faith in the Tepanec monarch, and, abandoned in his capital by all his leading nobles, bitterly repented of his unwise course; but at the last moment he sent Prince Tecuiltecatl, his brother, or as some say his natural son, in his stead to make excuses for his absence, and try to have the ceremony postponed. The substitute was flayed alive on his arrival at Tenamatlac, and Tezozomoc, finding that the prey had temporarily escaped his trap, ordered his troops to march immediately on Tezcuco, entered the Acolhua domains on the day after the murder, and the following day surrounded the capital. The lords of Huexotla, Iztapalocan, and Coatepec,[VII-31] were the only ones to render aid to the emperor in this emergency. The city was gallantly defended by the small garrison for many days,[VII-32] but at last the emperor with Nezahualcoyotl and a few companions, by the advice of his lords, left the city at night and took refuge in the forest of Tzincanoztoc, where he soon learned that Toxpilli, chief of the Chimalpanec ward, had pronounced for Tezozomoc and opened the city to the enemy. A scene of carnage and plunder ensued, such of Ixtlilxochitl's partizans as survived fleeing to Huexotzinco and Tlascala. From his retreat at Tzincanoztoc the emperor sent to demand protection of the lord of Otompan, a man deeply indebted to him for honors in the last campaign; but his petition was denied, and his messenger, who was also his son or nephew, a famous general, was murdered, his body torn in pieces, and his nails strung on a cord for a necklace. By this time quite a company had gathered about the emperor, and the enemy had also ascertained his whereabouts. Aided by the natural strength of his position, he defended himself for many days, until, without food or hope of succor, he decided to strive for life no longer. The authorities differ widely in the details of his death, and the matter is not sufficiently important to warrant a repetition of all that has been said about it. Torquemada and Clavigero state that he was drawn out of his last retreat by promised favorable conditions of surrender, and was treacherously murdered; but most agree that at the last approach of the foe, a band of Chalcas and men of Otompan, he induced his son to conceal himself in a tree, turned alone upon the enemy, and fell covered with wounds. At the close of his last conversation with Nezahualcoyotl, he urged him to escape to his friends in Tlascala, always to deal leniently with his enemies, for he did not repent of his own mercy, though it had cost him so dear; he concluded by saying: "I leave to thee, my son, no other inheritance than thy bow and arrow; strive to acquire skill in their use, and let thy strong arm restore the kingdom of thy Chichimec ancestors."[VII-33] The emperor's death took place probably in 1419.[VII-34]
* * * * *
Respecting Tezozomoc's short reign of eight years, we find in the records a general account of the leading events, but learn very little about the order of their occurrence. Of the lords that had remained faithful to Ixtlilxochitl to the last, those in Anáhuac were forced to submit for a time to Tezozomoc or flee for protection to the eastern plateau; but the ruler of more distant provinces, like those in the east about Huexotzinco and Tlascala, and those in the north in the Tulancingo region, beyond the reach of Tepanec power, utterly refused allegiance to the new sovereign. Of the powers that had supported Tezozomoc, few or none seem to have done so from any friendship to him, or respect for his claims, but for the direct benefit which they hoped to gain from the change. Some fought simply to gain their independence, or re-establish the old Chichimec feudal system broken up by Techotl, and such, at the close of the war, simply assumed their independence, the stronger provinces retaining it, and the weaker being kept in subjection by force of arms only, and keeping the Tepanec king so busy during his short term that he had hardly leisure to consolidate his empire. The other class of Tepanec allies had been drawn into the war by Tezozomoc's extravagant promises of new honors, domains, and other spoils; these awaited the complete establishment and re-organization of the empire, and the fulfillment of the emperor's promises.
Tezozomoc proposed as a basis of reconstruction of the empire, the division of power in Anáhuac among seven kings according to the old feudal system, the conquered Acolhua domains to be divided among the seven--himself, of course, taking the largest share, and each of the other six to be independent in the government of their realms, but to acknowledge him as emperor and to pay a regular tribute. The seven kingdoms were to be Azcapuzalco, Mexico, Tlatelulco, Chalco, Acolman, Coatlichan, and Huexotla, the last two being given to the lord of Otompan and his son.[VII-35] King Chimalpopoca of Mexico was to receive the province of Tezcuco and certain Cuitlahuac districts; to king Tlacateotzin of Tlatelulco, was to be given portions of Huexotla and Cuitlahuac. Some minor rewards were also awarded to the lesser allied chiefs. The conditions were accepted, although not without some dissatisfaction on the part of the Mexicans, who had expected much more, and of such chiefs as were not among the seven chosen kings. Amid grand ceremonies and festivities in an assembly of the allied lords, Tezozomoc proclaimed himself emperor, and the six kings as his colleagues, to be consulted in all matters of general government; announced the transfer of his capital to Azcapuzalco; offered a general amnesty to the followers of Ixtlilxochitl on condition of submission to the new political arrangement; offered a reward for the capture of Nezahualcoyotl, dead or alive, proclaiming that all should be treated as traitors and punished with death who should dare to give aid or shelter to the fugitive prince; and appointed officers to publicly proclaim his accession and the new measures that accompanied it, in every city in the empire.[VII-36]
[Sidenote: REIGN OF TEZOZOMOC.]
Some authorities state that the amnesty proclaimed by Tezozomoc in favor of the Acolhua provinces, included freedom from tribute for one year; however this may have been, the matter of tribute was not arranged until after the grand assembly and the swearing of allegiance to the new emperor, but was reserved by the crafty Tepanec as a means of practically retaining for himself what he had apparently given to the six kings, and what had in most cases proved satisfactory to them. Finally the system of tribute was announced. The amount of tribute and of personal service required was made much more burdensome than it had ever been, greatly to the dissatisfaction of the people and subordinate chiefs; then each king was to collect the tribute from his dominions, to retain one third for himself, and to pay over at Azcapuzalco the remaining two thirds into the imperial treasury. Thus the allied powers discovered that Tezozomoc had outwitted them; that he had taken for himself in the division of territory the lion's share; that he had greatly increased the burden of taxation throughout the country; that, not content with the revenues of his own states, and a nominal tribute from his colleagues as a token of their allegiance, he claimed two thirds of that from other states; and that while they had gained the empty titles of kings and associates in the imperial power, they were in reality only governors, poorly paid for the labor of collecting taxes and administering the government. The Mexicans and Tlatelulcas had been promised, moreover, or at least had expected, an establishment on the basis of the old Toltec alliance, with their own kings as the two allies of Tezozomoc, owing him only a nominal allegiance. Moreover Chimalpopoca had now succeeded to the throne of Mexico, and he was a friend of Nezahualcoyotl and had never been favorably disposed toward the Tepanec monarch. The Mexicans, however, masked their discontent, until such time as they should see an opportunity for revenge; the other powers made open and loud complaint, so far as they dared to do so. The final establishment of Tezozomoc's empire, so far as it was ever established, is placed by the Abbé Brasseur in 1425.[VII-37]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: ADVENTURES OF NEZAHUALCOYOTL.]
Prince Nezahualcoyotl, after the death of his father, had been joined by a few faithful friends and had succeeded in making his escape to Tlascala and Huexotzinco, where he found the people and lords true to him, and confident of their ability to repel any force the Tepanec usurper could send against them, but not strong enough at this time to warrant them in undertaking an offensive war against the allied forces of Anáhuac for the restoration of Nezahualcoyotl to his ancestral throne. They advised him to put himself in communication with the many disaffected chieftains of the valley, and to await his opportunity, which was sure to come, and that soon, promising him their aid in such an emergency. The prince thereupon turned boldly about and returned to Anáhuac in disguise. His adventures and hair-breadth escapes during his wanderings are related in detail by the Spanish writers, but must be omitted here as having no special importance in connection with the general history of the country. He found friends in every direction, and was especially protected by Chimalpopoca of Mexico. It is said that he was present in disguise at the assembly when Tezozomoc was crowned, and when he heard a reward offered for his murder, was with difficulty prevented by his friends from making himself known, so great was his rage. Finally his aunts, the queens of Mexico and Tlatelulco, went with a large company of ladies to the palace of Tezozomoc, and interceded for their nephew with so much earnestness that the king countermanded his previous orders, and granted him permission to reside, in a private capacity, at Mexico; and soon after he was even allowed to live at Tezcuco in a palace that had belonged to him personally from his birth.[VII-38]
Tezozomoc was now very old and infirm; for several years he had been kept alive only by means of artificial warmth and the most careful attentions. By a temperate life and freedom from all excess, in addition to a robust constitution, he had prolonged his life even beyond the usual limit in those days of great longevity, and retained the use of all his mental faculties to the last. In his last days he repented of the pardon that he had extended to Nezahualcoyotl; for he dreamed that an eagle tore his head in pieces and consumed his vitals, while a tiger tore his feet. The astrologers informed him that the eagle and the tiger were Nezahualcoyotl, who would surely overthrow the Tepanec power, punish the people of Azcapuzalco, and regain his father's imperial power, unless he could be put to death. The old monarch's last charge to his sons and to his nobles was that Nezahualcoyotl should be killed, if possible, during his funeral exercises, when he would probably be present. He died in 1427, naming Tayauh, one of his sons, as his successor on the Tepanec and Chichimec thrones, and charging him, after the Acolhua prince's death, to strive by every means in his power to make friends among his vassal lords, and to avoid all harsh measures. Maxtla, another son, seems to have had more ability and experience than his brother, but his father feared the consequence of his hasty temper and arbitrary manner, by which he had already made a multitude of enemies.[VII-39] A large number of princes and lords were assembled at the royal obsequies, among them Nezahualcoyotl himself, against the advice of his friends, but relying on his good fortune and on the assurance of a sorcerer in whom he had great faith, that he could not be killed at that time. The heir to the throne was disposed to have his father's recommendations carried out during the funeral exercises, but Maxtla claimed that it would be bad policy--for himself, probably, in consideration of his own ambitious plans--to disgrace so solemn an occasion by murder. All the authorities agree that Tezozomoc was the most unscrupulous and tyrannical despot that ever ruled in Anáhuac; the only good that is recorded of him is his own strict morality, and his strict and impartial enforcement of just laws and punishment of crimes within his own dominions. His extraordinary ability as a diplomatist and politician is evident from the events of his career as related above.[VII-40]
[Sidenote: MAXTLA USURPS THE THRONE.]
Maxtla, although deprived of the succession to the imperial throne, had been made king of Coyuhuacan, a province of which he had long been ruling lord. He had, however, no intention of giving up his claim to his father's crown; Tayauh was of a weak and vacillating disposition, having no enemies, but also no friends except the kings of Mexico and Tlatelulco who probably hated his brother rather than favored him; Maxtla by reason of his high military rank had control of the army; and only a few days after the funeral of Tezozomoc, he had himself proclaimed emperor of the Chichimecs. He offered his brother in exchange his lordship of Coyuhuacan, but the latter seems to have gone to reside in Mexico. Chimalpopoca blamed the deposed sovereign for having so easily relinquished his claims; and by his advice a plot was formed some months later to assassinate the usurper. Tayauh was to have a palace erected for himself at Azcapuzalco, Maxtla was to be invited to be present at the ceremonies of dedication, and was to be strangled with a wreath of flowers while being shown the apartments. A page overheard and revealed the plot; Maxtla aided in the erection of the palace for his brother, and had him stabbed in the midst of the festivities, instead of waiting to be shown the rooms and himself becoming the victim.[VII-41]
Chimalpopoca and Tlacateotzin had excused themselves from attending the fêtes, else they very likely might have shared Tayauh's fate. Now that the plot was revealed and their connection with it, they well knew that Maxtla, who before had reasons to be unfriendly to them,[VII-42] would neglect no opportunity of revenge. A strange story is here given, to the effect that Chimalpopoca, overwhelmed by misfortune, resolved to sacrifice himself on the altar of the gods, or, as some authorities state, by announcing such a resolve to test the feelings of his people and possibly to provoke a revolt in his favor. Maxtla, fearing the latter motive, sent a force of men to Mexico and arrested the royal victim just before the sacrifice was to be performed, taking him as a prisoner to Azcapuzalco, or as others say, confining him in his own prison at Mexico. Chimalpopoca died soon after this event, probably killed by order of Maxtla, but there is no agreement as to the details of his death, or that of Tlacateotzin which took place about the same time.[VII-43] The death of the Aztec kings took place in 1428, and was followed by a re-imposition, and even a doubling, of the tributes of early days, accompanied by every kind of oppression and insult towards the inhabitants of the lake cities.[VII-44]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: NEZAHUALCOYOTL PREPARES FOR WAR.]
Maxtla had resolved that Nezahualcoyotl, as well as Chimalpopoca and Tlacateotzin, must die. Whether he came to intercede for Chimalpopoca, or as other authors say was summoned by Maxtla, the Acolhua prince visited Azcapuzalco at this time, and very narrowly escaped death at the hands of the soldiers posted about the palace with orders to kill him, by fleeing through the royal gardens and returning to Tezcuco. A Tepanec force was immediately dispatched to the latter city, with instructions to kill or capture him at a banquet to which he was to be invited by the governor of the city,--a bastard brother of Nezahualcoyotl, but his deadly foe,--but he was again fortunate enough to elude their pursuit, and after having received offers of aid from several lords in Anáhuac, escaped to Huexotzinco and Tlascala. He found the provinces of the eastern plateau, including Zacatlan, Tototepec, Cempoala, Tepepulco, Cholula, and Tepeaca, more enthusiastic than ever in his favor, and moreover convinced that the time had come for decisive action with a view to restore him to the imperial throne of his ancestors. Armies were raised and placed at his disposal; word came that the Chalcas would join in the enterprise; the sympathy of the Mexicans and Tlatelulcas he was already assured of; he consequently returned to Anáhuac and established his headquarters at a small village near Tezcuco.[VII-45] After having, according to Veytia, taken Otompan and some of the adjoining towns, the allied army was divided into three corps. The first, composed of the Huexotzinca and Tlascaltec forces, was to move on Acolman; the second, made up chiefly of Chalca troops, was to attack Coatlichan; while Nezahualcoyotl himself, with the remaining allied forces, was to operate against Tezcuco. The first two divisions were perfectly successful, capturing the capitals, Acolman and Coatlichan, and laying waste the surrounding territory. According to Ixtlilxochitl and Veytia, Nezahualcoyotl was equally fortunate, took possession of the Acolhua capital, and disbanded a large part of his army; but the author of the Codex Chimalpopoca, partially confirmed by Torquemada, and followed by the Abbé Brasseur, states that the prince imperial failed at this time in his assault on the city, and only succeeded in fortifying himself advantageously in the suburb of Chiauhtla. Subsequent events make this the more probable version of the matter.[VII-46]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: ITZCOATL, KING OF MEXICO.]
The murder of Chimalpopoca and Tlacateotzin caused the wildest excitement in Tenochtitlan and Tlatelulco. From these acts, together with the burden of tribute and the many insults heaped upon them, the people well knew Maxtla's intention to destroy forever their kingdoms and reduce them to their former condition of abject vassalage. A mass meeting composed of all classes was held in Mexico, which anxiously awaited the decision of the senate, where the question of their future condition and policy was long and hotly discussed. The old and the timid members were in favor of yielding to the demands of an emperor whose power they could not hope successfully to resist; they implored their colleagues not to plunge the people into war and the horrors of future slavery by their rash spirit of independence. But the young men of all classes, seconded by most of the nobility, were in favor of war, chiding the cowardice of the rest, and boldly proclaiming their choice of death rather than a dishonorable submission to the tyrant's commands. Moreover, the gods had foretold their future greatness, and should they render themselves unworthy of divine favor, and bring disgrace on the memory of their valiant ancestors?[VII-47] It was decided by a large majority to proceed to the election of a king who should lead them to victory. According to the Codex Chimalpopoca, the first choice of the assembly was Montezuma, eldest son of Chimalpopoca, but he declined to accept the crown, pleading youth and inexperience, and urged the claims of his uncle Itzcoatl, for many years commander of the armies. The other authorities do not mention the choice of Montezuma. However this may have been, Itzcoatl was unanimously elected, and was crowned with the usual ceremonies and with something more than the usual amount of speeches and advice, in view of the gigantic task assumed by the new king, of shaking off the Tepanec yoke. Tempanecatl, or Tlacaeleltzin, was sent to demand a confirmation of the people's choice at the hands of the emperor Maxtla. But he found that the news had preceded him and had been ill-received, war had practically begun, and a blockade was established. The embassador succeeded in reaching the royal presence; but though assured of Itzcoatl's loyalty, Maxtla haughtily replied that Mexico must have no king, must be ruled by Tepanec governors, or take the consequences of a fruitless revolt. Tlacaeleltzin's return with these tidings caused a new panic among the more timid of the Mexicans, but by renewed exhortations, by promises of honors and booty in case of victory, their courage was brought to the sticking point, and the same embassador was sent to Azcapuzalco with a formal declaration of war.[VII-48] Only a few days after Itzcoatl's coronation the Tlatelulcas also chose a king and joined the Mexicans in their fight for national existence. There was some jealousy between the two powers, but their interests were now identical. The choice of the Tlatelulcas fell upon Quauhtlatohuatzin, a celebrated warrior, but not of royal blood; and to this inferiority in the rank of her ruler is attributed, by some authors, the inferior position thereafter occupied by Tlatelulco, previously equal, if not superior, in power to her sister city.[VII-49]
[Sidenote: SIEGE OF MEXICO.]
Such was the state of affairs in the early part of 1429, when the news of Nezahualcoyotl's success reached Azcapuzalco and Mexico. All communication had been cut off between the cities of the lake and the mainland; many sharp attacks had been made by Itzcoatl on the enemy's lines; but no general engagement had taken place. The Mexicans began to find their condition critical; Maxtla expected to be at an early date in possession of the Aztec strongholds, and deferred until after such success all offensive operations against Nezahualcoyotl; the besieged Aztecs naturally looked towards the Acolhua prince for assistance against their common foe. Here the national prejudices of the original native authorities, followed by Spanish writers, begin to appear in the historic annals. Ixtlilxochitl and Veytia favoring the Acolhua interests, represent the Aztecs, hard pressed by the Tepanecs, as having humbly implored the aid of Nezahualcoyotl, who graciously came to their relief; Tezozomoc, Duran, and Acosta make the Mexicans conquer the Tepanec king unaided, and render assistance to the Acolhua prince afterwards; while Torquemada, Clavigero, and the authorities followed by Brasseur state, what in the light of future events is much more probable, that the two powers formed an alliance on equal terms, and for mutual advantage against the usurping emperor. At any rate Montezuma[VII-50]--identical, as Clavigero and Brasseur think, with Tlacaeleltzin--was sent to Nezahualcoyotl, in company with two other lords. The ambassador succeeded in penetrating the enemy's lines, although one of his companions was captured, made known to Nezahualcoyotl the wishes and condition of the Mexicans, and received assurances of sympathy, with promises to consult with his allies, render aid if possible, and at least to have an interview with Itzcoatl. His chief difficulty would seem to have been that most of his allies not without reason detested and feared the Mexicans more than the Tepanecs, and by too hastily following his own inclinations and espousing the Aztec cause, he might risk his own success. The fact that an alliance was finally concluded between these powers shows clearly that neither alone could overthrow the formidable Maxtla, and that it was no act of condescension or pity on the part of either, but rather of necessity, to join their forces. On his return Montezuma was captured by the Chalcas, or being sent, as some authorities state, to Chalco for aid was retained for a time as a prisoner, but set at liberty by his jailer, and reached Mexico in safety.[VII-51] This action of the Chalcas is said to have so displeased the surrounding nations that neither party would accept their alliance, but this may well be doubted, considering the strength of that people. The Huexotlas, according to Torquemada, withdrew their allegiance on hearing that the Aztecs were to be aided. Nezahualcoyotl and Itzcoatl had an interview soon after at Mexico,[VII-52] where the former was received with great rejoicing, and a plan settled for the campaign against Maxtla, whose territory was to be invaded by the allied armies. At about this time, according to the Codex Chimalpopoca, the province of Quauhtitlan succeeded after a succession of reverses and victories in shaking off the Tepanec yoke and announced their friendship to the Mexicans, although they were unable to render any open assistance in the early part of the campaign.[VII-53]
[Sidenote: SIEGE OF AZCAPULZALCO.]
The campaign by which Maxtla was overthrown and the imperial power wrested from the hands of the Tepanecs, lasted over a hundred days. To relate in detail all that the authorities record of this campaign, the marches and counter-marches, the attacks and repulses, the exploits of the leaders and lesser chieftains, noting all the minute variations in statement respecting the names of chiefs, places attacked, number of troops engaged, and the chronological order of events, would require a chapter much longer than my space will allow, would be monotonous to the general reader, and could not probably be made sufficiently accurate to be of great value to the student of aboriginal military tactics. The general nature of the war and the results of the victory may be told in a few lines. The allied Acolhua, Tlascaltec, Cholultec, Mexican, and Tlatelulcan forces, under Nezahualcoyotl, Itzcoatl, Montezuma, and other leaders, amounted to three or four hundred thousand men. Most entered Mexico in canoes from the east; but some divisions marched round the lake. At a preconcerted signal, the lighting of a fire on Mt Quauhtepec, all the forces advanced--probably in canoes, for it is not certain that causeways had yet been constructed--on the Tepanec territory. The lord of Tlacopan, by a previous understanding with the allies, opened that city to the invaders, thus giving them a sure footing in the country of their foe, and in a few days Azcapuzalco was closely besieged. Maxtla had an army somewhat smaller than that of his opponents but they fought for the most part behind intrenchments. The emperor personally took no part in the battles that ensued, but placed his greatest general, Mazatl, at the head of his armies. Day after day the conflict was waged at different points about the doomed capital without decisive result, although many local victories were won by both sides. At last, by a desperate effort, Mazatl succeeded in driving the Mexicans back to the lake shore; in the panic that ensued many Mexican soldiers threw down their arms and begged for quarter; Itzcoatl deemed the battle and his cause lost. Cursing the cowardice of his troops, he called upon his nobles and chieftains to rush upon the foe and die bravely; his call was responded to by large numbers, the troops followed with new courage, and, re-inforcements having arrived opportunely, the tide of battle was turned, Mazatl was slain in hand-to-hand combat by Montezuma, and the Tepanec capital carried by assault. Large numbers of the soldiers were put to the sword, a few bands escaped to the marshes and mountains, the city was plundered and burned, and the emperor was found in a bath and slain. Azcapuzalco never regained a prominent place among the cities of Anáhuac; it was chiefly noted in later times as a slave mart, and the disgraceful traffic is said to have been inaugurated by the sale of the Tepanec inhabitants after the Acolhua and Aztec victory. For a short time the victorious armies ravaged the territories on the west of the lakes, which still remained faithful to Maxtla, and were then recalled, and the allied troops dismissed, laden with spoils, to their own provinces. Itzcoatl and Nezahualcoyotl had no doubt of their ability to keep their foes in check and complete the conquest by the aid of their own troops; they consequently returned to Mexico to celebrate their victory.[VII-54]
The fêtes in honor of the victory and victors were long continued, and conducted on a scale unprecedented in the Mexican capital. After Itzcoatl and Nezahualcoyotl, Montezuma seems to have carried off the highest honors. The altars ran with the blood of sacrificed human victims, rites most repulsive, as is stated, to the Acolhua king, but which he could not prevent on such an occasion. A prominent feature of the ceremonies was the rewarding by lands and honors of the chiefs who had distinguished themselves for bravery in the war, and, as some authorities say, the punishment by exile of such as had shown cowardice. The fêtes were immediately followed, perhaps interrupted, by the tidings that Huexotla, Coatlichan, Acolman, and the adjoining towns, had revolted; and the Mexican, Acolhua, and Tlatelulca forces, with some assistance from the eastern plateau, marched through the eastern part of the valley, and after a series of hard-fought battles conquered the cities mentioned, together with Teotihuacan and in fact nearly all the towns from Iztapalocan to the northern mountains, excepting probably Tezcuco, although some authors include the conquest of that capital in this campaign. In some of the cities no mercy was shown to any class, but all were slain. Veytia moreover divides this campaign into two, and places in the interval between them the final establishment of the empire to be given later. Torquemada and Clavigero connect the latter part of this campaign with a subsequent one against Coyuhuacan.[VII-55]
[Sidenote: THE TRI-PARTITE ALLIANCE.]
At this time, in the year 1431, and before Nezahualcoyotl had regained the capital of his father's empire, as Brasseur insists, took place the events which closed the Chichimec period of aboriginal history, the division of Anáhuac between the victors, the re-establishment of the empire on a new basis. The result is well known, but respecting the motives that led to it there is great confusion. It was decided to re-establish with slight modifications the ancient Toltec confederacy of three kingdoms, independent so far as the direction of internal affairs was concerned, but allied in the management of foreign affairs and in all matters affecting the general interests of the empire, in which matters neither king could act without the consent of his two colleagues. The three kingdoms were Acolhua with its capital at Tezcuco, under Nezahualcoyotl with the title of Chichimecatl Tecuhtli; the Aztec with Mexico for its capital, under Itzcoatl bearing the title of Culhua Tecuhtli; and the Tepanec capital Tlacopan, under Totoquihuatzin with the title Tepaneca Tecuhtli. A line drawn in a general north and south direction through the valley and lake just east of the city of Tenochtitlan, divided the Acolhua domains on the east from those of Mexico on the west. The capital Tlacopan, with a few surrounding towns, and as some say the Otomí province of Mazahuacan in the northwest, made up the limited Tepanec domain.[VII-56] Tezcuco and Mexico seem to have been in all respects equal in power, while Tlacopan was far inferior to either. As a descendant and heir of the Chichimec emperors, Nezahualcoyotl nominally took precedence in rank, presiding at meetings, occupying the place of honor at public ceremonies with his colleagues on his right and left, but had no authority whatever over them, and was probably in respect to actual military power somewhat inferior to Mexico. Provinces conquered by the allied forces, together with all the spoils of war, were to be divided equally between Mexico and Tezcuco after deducting one fifth for Tlacopan.[VII-57]
[Sidenote: TERMS OF THE ALLIANCE.]
[Sidenote: CLOSE OF THE PERIOD.]
The confusion among the authorities about the circumstances and motives that led to the tri-partite alliance on the above basis, arises chiefly from the patriotism of the native authors. The narrative as given by Ixtlilxochitl and Veytia, to the effect that Nezahualcoyotl suspended his triumphal march through his old dominion of Acolhuacan to assist his friend and relative in overthrowing Maxtla, dismissed his allies, and then, out of kindness, admitted Itzcoatl to an equal share with himself in the empire, before completing the conquest of Tezcuco, must evidently be accepted with many allowances. There is still more evident exaggeration in the tale of Clavigero, Tezozomoc, and Duran, that Itzcoatl overthrew the Tepanecs, held the power in his own hands, and graciously put the Acolhua prince on the throne of Tezcuco in consideration of his friendship and assistance. It is evident, as already stated, that the alliance between Itzcoatl and Nezahualcoyotl was formed for the protection of mutual interests; that no allied troops were disbanded which could be retained; that if the conquest of Tezcuco was postponed after the fall of Azcapuzalco, it was because the allies had their hands full in other directions; and that in the final division and establishment of the empire necessity and policy played a much more prominent part than friendship or condescension. On the one hand, if we suppose that the Aztec military force, as is very probable, was at the time superior to that of the Acolhuas, it must be remembered that Nezahualcoyotl had the prestige of being the legitimate heir to the imperial throne of the Chichimecs, that he was popular in Anáhuac and had the support of the eastern cities; while the Aztecs were universally hated and could depend only on the valor of their chiefs and the numbers of their army. It is not impossible that the delay in taking possession of the Acolhua capital, was because the allies of Nezahualcoyotl refused to complete the conquest until their prince had some guaranty against the ambition of the Mexicans. On the other hand, if we credit the statements of those who represent Nezahualcoyotl as holding the balance of power in the first alliance, it is to be noted that the struggle had been a desperate one, even with the aid of Mexico; that it was yet far from ended, that revolts were occurring in every direction, and that with the Aztecs as foes, the success of Nezahualcoyotl was more than doubtful. On this supposition the delay in taking Tezcuco is to be attributed, as indeed some authors claim, to the fear of Itzcoatl that if he contributed further to increase his ally's power he would soon be in a position to dictate terms. Neither power could stand alone, Mexico against all Anáhuac, Tezcuco against Mexico and her own independent and revolting vassals; hence the foundation of the alliance on equal terms is perfectly comprehensible. To account for the admission of Tlacopan to the alliance, we have the facts that that city had rendered important service in the defeat of Maxtla at Azcapuzalco; that she may very likely have been promised a place in the empire in case of success; that in any event it was policy to concentrate the yet powerful Tepanec element in a friendly kingdom; and finally, as several authors state, that the families of Totoquihuatzin and Nezahualcoyotl were closely related by marriage. Some authorities state that Tlacopan was admitted through the influence of Itzcoatl, others insist that it was Nezahualcoyotl's idea. The inauguration of the new order of things, including the crowning of Nezahualcoyotl, king of Acolhuacan, and the conferring of the proper titles upon each of the colleagues, was celebrated in Mexico with great pomp in 1431. Thus ends the Chichimec period, during which a small band of turbulent marauders had passed through oppression and misfortune to a leading place among the American nations. Many strong tribes were yet to be persuaded or forced to submit to the new order of political affairs; the measures by which this was accomplished, and the Aztec power spread far and wide from Anáhuac as a centre, until it came in contact with a greater power from beyond the ocean, will form the subject of the following chapters.[VII-58]
FOOTNOTES:
[VII-1] Codex Chimalp., in Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., p. 99. In the explanation of the Codex Tell. Rem., in Kingsborough, vol. v., p. 148, vol. vi., p. 134, it is stated that king Acamapichtli burned the temple of Culhuacan in 1399, probably referring to the quarrels of Acamapichtli I. with Coxcoxtli, or Achitometl, at an earlier period.
[VII-2] Ixtlilxochitl, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., p. 213; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 176-7; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 95-8; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., p. 100; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 302; Herrera, dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xii.; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 470-3; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. xiii; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., pp. 148-9; Codex Mendoza, in Kingsborough, vol. v., p. 43.
[VII-3] Codex Mendoza, in Kingsborough, vol. v., p. 92; Mendieta, Torquemada, Acosta, Brasseur, and Clavigero, as in preceding note.
[VII-4] Codex Chimalp., in Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., p. 111.
[VII-5] Date, 1404, Duran; 1402, after reigning 41 years, Veytia; 1405, Boturini; 1389, 37 years, Clavigero; 1406, 7 years, Codex Tell. Rem.; 1396, Mendieta; reigned 21 years, Torquemada, Sahagun, Codex Mendoza; 1271, 51 years, Ixtlilxochitl; 46 years, Gomara and Motolinia; 40 years, Acosta and Herrera; 1403, 53 or 21 years, Brasseur.
[VII-6] Acosta and Herrera write the name of Huitzilihuitl's wife Ayauchigual. Veytia says her name was Miahuaxochitl, and that she was the daughter of Tezozomoc. Torquemada, Clavigero, and Gomara make him marry, first, Ayauhcihuatl, daughter of Tezozomoc, and afterwards, Miahuaxochitl, princess of Quauhnahuac, the latter of whom bore Montezuma I. Ixtlilxochitl says the king married his niece, Tetzihuatzin, grand-daughter of Tezozomoc, one of whose children was Chimalpopoca. Brasseur, relying on the Codex Chimalp. and Mem. de Culhuacan, gives the account I have presented in the text. The Codex Tell. Rem. says Huitzilihuitl married a daughter of the princess of Coatlichan, and a grand-daughter of Acamapichtli, having by her no sons. Tezozomoc and Duran name Chimalpopoca as Huitzilihuitl's first son; Veytia says it was Montezuma I., and Torquemada, Clavigero, and Brasseur name the first son Acolnahuacatl.
[VII-7] On the death of Acamapichtli II., and the succession and marriage of Huitzilihuitl II., see Duran, MS. tom. i., cap. vi, vii; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 176-80; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 98-106; Sahagun, tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 268; Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 218, 353, 456-7; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 219-26; Tezozomoc, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 10-11; Codex Tell. Rem., in Id., vol. v., pp. 148-9; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 302; Motolinia, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 6; Herrera, dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xii.; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 473-5; Sigüenza, in Doc. Hist. Mex., série iii., tom. i., p. 50; Boturini, in Id., p. 239; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., p. 149; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 110-17.
[VII-8] According to Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 216-7, 246, 249-51, Mixcohuatl reigned 75 years, was succeeded by Quaquauhpitzahuac in 1400, and he by Tlacateotzin in 1414. Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 213, 218, 353, 356, 453, 462, says Mixcohuatl died in 1271, reigned 51 years, and was succeeded by his son Quaquauhpitzahuac; or that he died in Techotl's reign and was followed by Tlacateotzin; or that Quaquauhpitzahuac died in 1353; or was succeeded by Amatzin; or again, that Tlacateotzin succeeded his father; and that he married a daughter of Tezozomoc. Sahagun, tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 273, ignores Mixcohuatl, as do Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 94-5, 99, 127-8, and Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 175, 184. Both the latter authors make the first king a son of Tezozomoc. Clavigero places his accession in 1353, and that of Tlacateotzin, his successor, in 1399. Torquemada says the first king reigned 35 years, and was followed by Tlacateotzin in the tenth year of Huitzilihuitl's rule. Both Mexicans and Tlatelulcas seem to have claimed the honor of having had the first king. See also Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., p. 123.
[VII-9] Codex Chimalp., in Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., p. 120.
[VII-10] Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. vii.; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 106; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 226-8, 246; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 127-8.
[VII-11] Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., p. 149; Codex Mendoza, in Kingsborough, vol. v., p. 43; Sahagun, tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 268.
[VII-12] Date 1414, Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 246-7; Boturini, in Doc. Hist. Mex., série iii., tom. iv., p. 239; Codex Tell. Rem., in Kingsborough, vol. v., p. 149; 1353, Ixtlilxochitl, in Id., vol. ix., pp. 218, 356, 457; 1409, Clavigero, tom. i., p. 186; 1417, Codex Chimalp. in Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., p. 129, and Codex Mendoza, in Kingsborough, vol. v., p. 43.
[VII-13] On death of Huitzilihuitl II. and succession of Chimalpopoca, see Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 246-9; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 105-7; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 182-7; Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 218, 355-6, 457; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 475-8; Sahagun, tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 268; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. vii, viii; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., p. 149; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 129-31; Codex Mendoza, in Kingsborough, vol. v., p. 43; Codex Tell. Rem., in Id., p. 149.
[VII-14] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 231-3, 236, 245; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 108-9; Clavigero, tom. i., p. 185; Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 218-19, 356, 358-9, 401; Boturini, Idea, p. 142; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 87-92.
[VII-15] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 234-7; Ixtlilxochitl, p. 356.
[VII-16] Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 219, 356-7; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 108-9; Clavigero, tom. i., p. 185; Brasseur, Hist., tom. ii., pp. 93-5.
[VII-17] Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 95-6.
[VII-18] Id., pp. 97-106.
[VII-19] Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 219, 357, 401-2; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 108-9; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 185-6; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 234-45; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 106-8.
[VII-20] Monarq. Ind., tom. i., pp. 108-9.
[VII-21] The former also called Tozquentzin and Atotoztli; and the latter, Acolmiztli and Yoyontzin.
[VII-22] Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 218, 359, 401, 405, 453; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. vi.; Torquemada, tom. i., p. 110; Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt ii., pp. 41-2; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 109-10; Camargo, in Nouvelles Annales, tom. xcviii., p. 146.
[VII-23] Codex Chimalp., in Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 117-18.
[VII-24] Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 219, 358-9, 402. Dates according to this author, April 15, 1359; Dec. 30, 1363; 1415. Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 255-6; date, Aug. 6, 1415. Torquemada, tom. i., p. 109; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 185-6; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 120-1.
[VII-25] Sahagun, tom. ii., lib. viii., pp. 277-8, gives a list of the succession of lords at Huexotla from the earliest Chichimec times.
[VII-26] Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 219-20, 359, 402. He states that in this meeting, or another held about the same time, there were many other lords present, including those of Acolman and Tepechpan, who, although pretending to be faithful, kept Tezozomoc posted as to the course events were taking. See also Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 257-8; Torquemada, tom. i., p. 110; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 121-2.
[VII-27] Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 359-60, 402-3; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 257-68; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 108-9; Clavigero, tom. i., p. 186; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 122-5.
[VII-28] Clavigero, tom. i., p. 186, states that Ixtlilxochitl granted this peace, not because he had any faith in Tezozomoc or was disposed to be lenient to his allies, but because his army was equally exhausted with that of the enemy, and he was unable to continue hostilities. This is hardly probable, although he had doubtless suffered more than the records indicate. See also Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 220, 360-2, 403, 453; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 268-76; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 108-10; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 122-7.
[VII-29] Codex Chimalp., in Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 129-30.
[VII-30] Chiuhnauhtlan, as the Spanish writers say; Brasseur says it was at Tenamatlac, a Tepanec pleasure-resort in the mountains of Chiucnauhtecatl.
[VII-31] Brasseur says Coatlichan, which is more likely.
[VII-32] 50, and 16, are Ixtlilxochitl's figures in different places; Veytia says 10, and Brasseur 40.
[VII-33] Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 220-3, 362-4, 403-4, 453-4, 462-3; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 278-99; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 110-13; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 187-9; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 129-38.
[VII-34] Oct. 29, 1418, Veytia; 1410, Clavigero; 1410, Ixtlilxochitl, p. 463; April 22, 1415, Id., p. 454; Sept. 21, 1418, Id., p. 404; 1419, Brasseur. Torquemada implies that Ixtlilxochitl's reign lasted only seven years. Sahagun, tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 276, says he ruled 61 years, during which time nothing worthy of mention occurred. Ixtlilxochitl in one place, p. 223, says that the last Tepanec wars lasted 3 years and 273 days; elsewhere, p. 364, that they lasted 50 consecutive years, and that millions of people perished.
[VII-35] Torquemada states that Tezozomoc reserved Coatlichan for himself.
[VII-36] Ixtlilxochitl tells a strange story, to the effect that Tezozomoc's officers were directed to ask the children in each province, who was their king; such as replied 'Tezozomoc,' were to be caressed and their parents rewarded; but those that answered 'Ixtlilxochitl,' or 'Nezahualcoyotl,' were put to death without mercy. Thus perished thousands of innocent children. In Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 223, 463.
[VII-37] Veytia, tom. i., pp. 300-6, 315-17; Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 224-5, 365-8, 404, 454, 463; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 113-16; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 190-3; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 138-48; Boturini, Idea, pp. 143-4; Motolinia, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 254.
[VII-38] On Nezahualcoyotl's adventures during this period, down to about 1426, see Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 224-5, 366-9, 404-5, 463-4; Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 304, 311-14, 317-19; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 190-1, 193-4; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 116-7; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 148-50.
[VII-39] There is much confusion respecting these sons of Tezozomoc. Ixtlilxochitl in one place, pp. 368-9, names Maxtla, Tayauh, and Atlatota Icpaltzin, or Tlatecaypaltzin, as the sons summoned to his death-bed. In another place, p. 464, he calls two of them Tiatzi, or Tayatzi, and Tlacayapaltzin. Torquemada names them Maxtla, Tayatzin, and Tecuhtzintli. All imply that Maxtla was the eldest son. Brasseur, following the Codex Chimalpopoca, states that Tezozomoc had eight legitimate sons, of whom Maxtlaton was the seventh and Quetzalayatzin (Tayauh, or Tayatzin), the sixth.
[VII-40] Veytia, tom. ii., pp. 321-9, tom. iii., pp. 3-11; date, Feb. 2, 1427. Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 217, 225-7, 368-70, 405, 454, 464; dates, March 20, 1427, March 24, 1427, 1424. Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 68, 117-21, 253; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 194-6; date, 1422. Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 148-54; date, March 24, 1427.
[VII-41] See on the usurpation of Maxtla and the death of his brother, Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 226, 371, 464-5; Veytia, tom. iii., pp. 11-18; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 119-21; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 196-8; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 155-7; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., p. 26.
[VII-42] On account of their friendship for Nezahualcoyotl and Tayauh. Another cause of enmity between Chimalpopoca and Maxtla, is said to have been the dishonor of the former's wife by the latter, she having been enticed to Azcapuzalco by the aid of two Tepanec ladies.
[VII-43] Veytia, tom. iii., pp. 18-32, says that immediately after the assassination of Tayauh, a posse of men was sent to seize Chimalpopoca, whom they found engaged in some religious rites in the temple. Several authors state that the king died in prison, having been previously visited by Nezahualcoyotl, who risked his own life to save him. Veytia says Nezahualcoyotl found him much reduced from starvation, went for food, and found him dead on his return. Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 122-8, following Sigüenza, says he hung himself to avoid starvation. Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 226-8, 371-3, 457, 464-5, in one place states that he died in Nezahualcoyotl's arms. In another relation he says that Maxtla in his rage at Nezahualcoyotl's escape sent to Mexico and had Chimalpopoca killed in his stead, the assassins finding him in the temple carving an idol. Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 475-9; Herrera, dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xii.; Tezozomoc, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 11-12, and Duran, MS., tom. i., pp. 129-37--state that during Tezozomoc's reign the Tepanec nobles, fearful that Chimalpopoca, as the grandson of Tezozomoc would succeed to the Tepanec throne, sent to Mexico and had him assassinated while asleep; adding that the grandfather Tezozomoc, died of grief at this act! Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 158-9, 164, implies that Maxtla only arrested the proposed sacrifice, and agrees with Ixtlilxochitl's statement that the king was murdered at Mexico while at work in the temple.
The Tlatelulcan king was killed by the same party. He at first escaped from his palace, but was overtaken on the lake while striving to reach Tezcuco, and his body was sunk. Such is the account given by most authors; Ixtlilxochitl says he drowned himself; while Torquemada records two versions--one that he was killed for treason against Nezahualcoyotl; and the other, that he was killed by Montezuma I. of Mexico. See also on the death of the Aztec kings--Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 200-3; Motolinia, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., p. 6; Granados y Galvez, Tardes Amer., p. 154; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., pp. 26-7; Codex Mendoza, in Kingsborough, vol. v., p. 44; Codex Tell. Rem., in Id., vol. vi., p. 135.
[VII-44] Date, July 23, 1427, or 1424, Ixtlilxochitl; May 31, 1427, Sigüenza; March 31, 1427, Vetancvrt; July 19, 1427, Veytia; 1423, Clavigero; 1427, Codex Mendoza; 1426, Codex Tell. Rem.; 1428, Codex Chimalpopoca.
[VII-45] The Spanish writers state that about this time the king of Chalco became disaffected, and a messenger, Xolotecuhtli, was sent to win him over through the influence of his wife, who was a sister of Huitzilihuitzin, Nezahualcoyotl's chief counselor. The Chalca king said his change of allegiance was on account of his hatred and fear of the Mexican king, but consented at last to leave the matter to his people, who decided unanimously in favor of Nezahualcoyotl.
[VII-46] I have omitted in this account of Nezahualcoyotl's flight, return, and victorious campaign, the numerous details of the prince's adventures and escapes, the names of lords to whom he applied and the tenor of each reply, the wonderful omens that on many occasions foretold success to his plans, told at so great length by the authorities, but comparatively unimportant, and altogether too bulky for my space. See on this period of history: Veytia, tom. iii., pp. 14, 33-79, 92-107; Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 228-35, 373-81, 405-6, 465-7; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 125-40; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 202-10; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 171-3; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., pp. 26-7.
[VII-47] This discussion is placed by different authorities before or after the choice of a king. This is a matter of no great importance; the opposition to war probably continued down to the commencement of hostilities, but the election of a warlike king was of itself equivalent to a declaration of war, in view of Maxtla's well-known designs; consequently, I have placed it before the election.
[VII-48] An extraordinary treaty is spoken of by Tezozomoc, Duran, Acosta, and Clavigero, by the terms of which the nobles bound themselves in case of defeat to give up their bodies to be sacrificed to the gods; while the people bound themselves and their descendants in case of victory to become the servants of the nobles for all future time. Veytia states that titles of nobility, and permission to have many wives, were among the inducements to bravery held out to the plebeians. It is not impossible that the contract alluded to may have been invented or exaggerated in later times by the nobles to support their extravagant claims upon the people. Torquemada and Ixtlilxochitl refer to no such contract, and to no claim for the Tepanec recognition of their king; but state that the election of Itzcoatl on the one side, and the heavy tributes with the dishonor of Itzcoatl's wife on the other, led to the establishment of the blockade.
[VII-49] On the succession and declaration of war in Mexico, see--Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 128-34. This author says nothing of the succession of a new king in Tlatelulco. Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 206-13; Veytia, tom. iii., pp. 78-91, 137; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 479-83; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. viii., ix., Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 235-6, 381, 383, 406, 465; Tezozomoc, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 11-15; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 165-8; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., p. 27; Granados y Galvez, Tardes Amer., p. 154.
[VII-50] This name is written in many ways; Moteuhzoma or Moteuczoma being probably more correct than the familiar form of Montezuma.
[VII-51] Totzintecuhtli, king of Chalco, is said to have sent the prisoner first to Huexotzinca and then offered him to Maxtla to be sacrificed; but the kings sent him back and refused to do so dishonorable a deed.
[VII-52] Brasseur says the first interview was at Tenayocan.
[VII-53] See Veytia, tom. iii., pp. 91-2, 108-22; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 209-11; Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 236, 381-2, 406-7, 464-6; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 136-40; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 173-9; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. ix.
[VII-54] The chief point of difference between the authorities on this campaign, is the relative honor due to the different allies and leaders, and especially the share which the Mexicans and Acolhuas respectively had in the overthrow of the Tepanec tyrant. Clavigero places this war in 1425, and thinks that causeways were already built. Veytia gives the date 1428, notes that the Mexican troops were richly clad, while the forces of Nezahualcoyotl wore plain, white garments, and makes the siege last 140 days. Ixtlilxochitl also gives the date 1428, and the length of the war 100 and 115 days. According to Brasseur, Nezahualcoyotl found time during the siege of Azcapuzalco to reconquer Acolman and Coatlichan, which had revolted. He calls the Tepanec leader Mazatzin, and gives the date as 1430. See Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 236-7, 382-4, 407, 466; Veytia, tom. iii., pp. 120-39; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. ix.; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 214-20; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 140-3; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 180-5; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 483-5.
[VII-55] See Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 221-3; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 142-6; Veytia, tom. iii., pp. 136-47, 155-60; Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 237-8, 383-5, 407, 466-7; Tezozomoc, in Kingsborough, vol. ix., pp. 16-17; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. ix.; Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 484-5; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt. ii., p. 28; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 187-9.
[VII-56] The line is said to have extended from Totoltepec in the north to a point in the lake near Mexico, which would be in a S.W. course. Thence it extended to mount Cuexcomatl probably towards the S.E. Subsequent events seem often to indicate that these lines were intended to be indefinitely prolonged, and to bound future conquests. Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., p. 266, takes this view of the matter, although on p. 191 he implies the contrary.
[VII-57] Such was the basis of the alliance according to Ixtlilxochitl, Veytia, Zurita, and Brasseur. All agree respecting the inferior position of Tlacopan and her share of the spoils, but Ixtlilxochitl, p. 455, makes both pay a small tribute to Tezcuco. Veytia makes Nezahualcoyotl superior in nominal rank as above; Ixtlilxochitl in most of his relations makes him and Itzcoatl equal in this respect; while Torquemada, Clavigero, Gomara, and Duran make Itzcoatl supreme, and give to Mexico two thirds instead of one half of the spoils after deducting the share of Tlacopan. The chief support of the latter opinion is the great proportional growth of the Mexican domains in later times; but practically Mexico received much more even than the two thirds allotted to her by these authors. I think it more likely that Mexico in her great military power and love of conquest took much more than her proper share, at first with the consent of her colleagues and later without such consent; and it is also possible that the division agreed upon referred only to conquests accomplished under certain conditions not recorded, or, a supposition which agrees very nearly with the actual division in later times, that each of the three kingdoms was to have the conquered provinces that adjoined its territory, and that Mexico obtained the largest share, not only on account of her ambition, but because the most desirable field for conquest proved to be in the south-east and south-west. See preceding note.
[VII-58] Totoquihuatzin was the grandson of Tezozomoc, and his daughter was either concubine or wife of Nezahualcoyotl. Torquemada and Clavigero state that the people of the region about Tezcuco petitioned Itzcoatl to allow Nezahualcoyotl to rule over them, because, as the latter suggests, this territory had been given to Chimalpopoca by Tezozomoc. To Nezahualcoyotl, during his stay in Mexico, are attributed a palace and hunting-park at Chapultepec, together with several reservoirs and the idea of an aqueduct to supply water to the city. Veytia claims to have seen traces of the boundary line between the Aztec and Acolhua domains. It extended from Mount Cuexcomatl in the south, between Iztapalapan and Culhuacan, through the northern lake at Zumpango to Totoltepec. This would, however, be far from a straight line. See respecting the establishment of the new alliance:--Ixtlilxochitl, pp. 237-8, 383, 407, 454, 467; Veytia, tom. iii., pp. 155-68; Torquemada, tom. i., pp. 143-4, 154-6; Clavigero, tom. i., pp. 221-5; Duran, MS., tom. i., cap. ix., x., xiv.; Brasseur, Hist., tom. iii., pp. 187-93; Gomara, Conq. Mex., fol. 303; Prescott's Mex., vol. i., p. 19; Vetancvrt, Teatro, pt ii., p. 28.