Aztec Wordbank

Acamapichtli (n)

“fistful of names”-first tlatoani of Tenochitlitan

son of a culhuacan woman→allowed mexica to keep this alliance open

-gave Mexica legitimacy→reed mat (throne) 

-marries Culhua

-father of Itzcoatl

Axayacatl (n)

tlatloani of the Mexica, following Moctezuma the elder (1469)

-bisexual, allegedly took Flamingo snake to bed also fathered a number of children

-takes the throne do to Moctezuma (elder) sponsoring his campaign (even though he was a younger son)→ causes Tlatelco to get mad

-Faces a inner rebellion from the Tlatelco (a sort of satellite altept with their own tlatloani but still Mexica)→they grow envious of Tenochitilitan’s power and wealth and their tlatloani begins to publicy disrespect Chalchiuhnenetzin (Jade Doll) who was also Axayacatl’s sisters

-Axayacatl and the Tenocha crush the Tlatelco

-father of Moctezuma the younger. Also sponsors and protects Nezahualpilli’s claim to the throne in Texcoco throne diplomacy, bribes and some threats

Chalchiuhnenetzin (Jade Doll) (n)

-direct sister of Axayacatl

-married to Tlatelco tlatloani 

-Tlatelco direspect her, downgrading her in the hierachy of wives, then stealing her gifts given to her by Axayacatl then stripping her naked 

-runs away back to her brother, warns him of the Tlatelco desire to go to war

-ends in Tlatelco submitted to the Tenocha thru war

Chimalpahin

“Don domingo”-writes in the early 17th century (1600s)→ one of the last generation who still had relatives (grandparents) alive that remebered pre-conquest world 

-worked for the San Anton church 

-super important as his work potrays the native perspective on what they thought happened to them and envisoned the future 

-often vignettes or short stories that we can use to piece together to understand the wide world of Chimalpahin’s grandparents 

Chimalxochitl

“Shield Flower”→one of the original Mexica people

-her and her clan are wandering mecenaries and try to claim freedom and indepedence by claiming Shied Flower’s father as a tlatloani

-The culhua people violently massacre them and take Shield Flower captive

-semi-mythical→as she is bound and tied , she paints herself in the ritual way of sacrifice and demands to be killed

-when she is burned she casts a warning telling the Culhua that her ancestors will be warriors 

-Her people a few generations later found Tenochilitan 

Cuauhtemoc

Last tlatlani of the Mexica, following Moctezuma II and Cuitláhuac who died only a few months after he took power from small pox. 

-Aggressive, wanted to wage war and show brutal force to assert power 

-kills Moctezuma’s sons to show that he means business

-able to keep some allies but many indigenous still go to the Spanish

-marries Tecuichpotzin to secure legitmacy (she was a daughter of Moctezuma and carried both royal lines) 

-after a long seige and battle with Cortes, surrenders himself as his people are starving

Itzcoatl

“Obsidan Snake”

-son of Acamapichtli 

-unknown mother→ not expected to rule

-critically forms Triple alliance with Texcoco (alcohua people->east of lake) and Tlacopan (Tepanec/east of lake) to overthrow the Tepanec overlords, who had done wrong to all 3 groups (killed Mexica predecscor to Itzoatl, waged war against the alcohua and demoted the Tlacopan) 

-Followed by Moctezuma the Elder (son of his half brother and former ruler huitzhuitl) 

Malintzin

“malinche”, “dona marina”

-Born noble, but through war or tribute was given as a slave to a rival clan 

-given by that clan to cortes as a slave

-Spoke both Nahuatl and Mayan, extremely useful to Cortes who previously only had a Mayan translator

-becomes insanely important for Cortes, serving as translator and bridge 

Moctezuma the Elder

grandson of Acamapichtli

grandpa of Axayácatl

-greatly expands Aztec terrority and solidfy/conquer of rebel city states 

-faced huge famine but able to get through it 

-conquers chalco

-willingly gives up throne to the other line (Itzcaotl’s line)

Moctezuma the Younger

-Ruler during Cortes

-son of Axaayacatl 

-sets up 38 provinces to better control and tax Mexica land 

-Finagles with the king of Texcoco king, later the passed up sons would become of Cortes’s allies against him

-tried to Keep cortes at distant, sometimes sending men in skirmishes or detours but eventually forced to meet with Cortes

-taken hostage, at that point becomes a puppet ruler/ really just a symbol→ did not want to fight with the Spanish

Nezahualcoyotl

“Hungry coyote”

son of Texcocan king who is killled by the Azcapotzalco in an attempted coup

-becomes tlatloani of the Texcoocans after fighting off the occupying Azcapotzalco

-forms triple alliance with Itzcoatl 

-followed by Nezahualipilli (despite have hundeds of heirs) 

Nezahualpilli

-”Hungry Prince”

-son of Nezahualcoyotl (Texcoco)

-sponsored by Axayacatl 

-OG wife (daughter of Axayacatl) gets killed for adultery 

-takes new wife, his preferred son is kind of zesty (into poetry and art) so Moctezuma II has him killed and supplants him with another one of Nezahualpilli’s son (Cacama)→later comes back to bite him

-avid supporter of arts and poetry but agreed to have his son killed for a relatively trife infraction→shows domination of Mexica at this point

Quecholcohuatl

-Flamingo Snake 

drummer and singer Chalcan→recently conquered by the Mexica goes to Axayacatl to play basically a politcial song to treat them better

Axayacatl greatly enjoys→even takes him to bed and gives him gifts improves diplomatic relations 

Tecuichpotzin

-”lordly daughter”

-christened Isabel by the Spanish

-premier daughter of Moctezuma, was key because she brought the two rival royal lines (Huitzhoatl and Izocatl)

-given to the Spanish as “test”→if they treated her well that was a good sign for relations, if they took her as a concubine or lesser wife it would be bad news

-married to Cuauhtémoc to secure his legitmacy

-taken by Cortes after the conquest as a symbol of legitmacy

Acolhua

east side of the lake→Texcoco leading city “Paris of Mexico”

-part of triple alliance

-intially also subserveint to Tepanec 

-Moctezuma’s finagling of kings leads to some of them supporting Cortes when he arrives 

altepetl

literally meaning “water mountain”

refers to any city state large enough to boast their own tlatloani 

calmecac

religious specialized school for Aztecs to become priests→often cruel and harsh teachings. Students would be quasi-drowned if they found committing a infraction. 

calpolli

“great house”

clans/neighborhoods within the alteptl, often assocaited families. Key to the orgnazation of cities. Chief of the calpolli was called a pilli/pipilitin (nobles) 

chichimec

ethnic group of Nahua speaking “barbarians” that came from the northwest “chicomoztoc” “place of 7 caves”. Often formed and broke alliances. Ancestors of Shield flower and the mexica.

chicomoztoc

“place of 7 caves”

-legenday plpace of origin of the chicmec and the Nahua people before settling in the basin of Mexico 

-not sure but north of the Tenochtlitlan 

chinampa

-adopted by the Mexica by rival tribe

-hanging gardens→very diffcult to build but highly productive and allowed to basically make an otherwise marshy and unfarmable land (tenocha) produce food 

Chontal Maya

-Tabasco river

-had limited trade and contact with Aztecs

-one of the first to encounter the Spanish on the Mexican conteinent→lose battle and give tribute including a slave called Malinche/Malintze who they got themselves from tribute/war Mexica 

inhueltiuh

“elder sister”->future mother of the heir to the throne/princess 

macehualli

“commoner” families, as opposed to pilli families, paid tribute to the noble families and often worked as craftsman or farmers.

Mexica

ethnic group of people that descended from Shield Flower that settled in the basin of Mexico. Later become the “aztecs”, found Tenochitlitan. Also includes Tlatelolco. 

nochtli

prickly pear cactus that grew abudantly in the basin where the Mexica settled, Highly nutritous and edible

pilli

pipilitin for plural, the noble, leading families of the calpolli often were paid tribute by the macehualli and were trusted with decision making and organizing.

quauhpilli

-eagle lord/honorary noble

-commoners could obtain this through great millitary accomplishment (captives, killing tribute etc)

-allowed officail positions and multiple wives

Tenochtitlan

Capital city of the Mexica

-built on a lake with canals, causeways etc 

-split into quadrants, with each having a calpolli 

-chinampas and market in Tlatelco for food

-large temples to Huitzilopochtli

Teotihuacan

• “place of the gods”→unsure where exactly it was 

• where the Chicemec people came from

• two great pyramids

• obsidan mines and well organized streets 

• toppled by farmer peasant revolt and drought

• roughly 750 years from the founding of Tenochilitan 

Tepanec

-initially super power and the overseeing force of the Alchou and Mexica people (west of the lake)

-Triple alliance crushes them, reduced to a vassal state under the Mexica 

-key cities are Tlapco and Azcapotzalco

Texcoco

-key city of the Alchua people (east of the lake)

-”paris of mexico"→very beautiful 

-part of the triple alliance after going to war and slaughtered by the Tepanec Azcapotzalcan

-later is split, the “official” king supports Moctezuma but many of the sons passed up for the throne support Spanish 

Tlacopan

Tepanec domain (west of the lake)

-demoted by Maxtla (new king of the Azcapotzalco)

-joins triple alliance, topples and joins Triple alliance

-technically the lesser of the 3, with Tenocha and Texcoco being equal

tlatoani

“speaker”

-ruler of an alteptl

-legal,millitary and religous leader

-power often depended on his ability to deleiver tribute and win battles and wars

-also played roles in sacrifices etc

tlacxitlan

“at the foot of”

sort of supreme court that handled commoners and nobles grievances

tlilli in tlapalli

“black and the red”

-painted texts of the scribes

-few were history of art

-mostly were business records, boundary decisons, chains of authroriy, royal family trees, tributes etc

Xicallanco

-key neutral port city

-Mexica couldn’t just attack everywhere otherwise people would refuse to accept their traders

-traded eastern goods, textiles, coca, shell, birds etc luxury 

Tezcatlipoca

“smoking Mirror”

1/3 of the major “mosaic” features of the Aztec religon

-wild character full of blessing and curses, joy and sorrow

-someone to be sort of feared and revered for you never know what he might do

Tlaloc

“Filled Earth” 

1/3 of the major gods

-related to or thought to be the god of rain, mountains, springs, drought, crops and waves .  Often times he himself wasn’t exactly the god of all these things, but his sister or wife or whatever and the Mexica just grouped them together as such 

Quetzalcoatl

“Feathered snake” 

1/3 of major “mosaic” of gods

crosser of boundaries could move from earth to the sky (feathered-snake) 

represented imagintion, accomplishment, creativity , made humans 

also destroyer bringing death 

Huitzilopochtli

“Hummingbird”

patron god of Tenochtilitan and the Mexica

-famous for sprining from his mothers womb (magical birth) fully grown to slaughter his scheming siblings

-also allegedly related to an elite Mexica calpolli

-often violent in his actions, killing several but part of life→ not meant to be perfect