Nahua Language, Culture, and Conquest in Mesoamerica

Nahuatl as lingua franca

Nahuatl was the main language of central Mexico before 1521; an agglutinating language still spoken today with many dialects and English loanwords like "chocolate" and "avocado."

In tlilli in tlapalli (black and red)

Aztec phrase meaning "black and red," referring to sacred writing and codices that preserved cultural knowledge through pictographs and glyphs.

Florentine Codex writing system

Divided into Spanish, Nahuatl (Latin letters), and pictorial images written in black and red.

Precious feathers and birds

Feathers from birds like the quetzal symbolized nobility and life force; used for tribute and elite attire.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of Mexico (1519-1521).

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire in Peru.

Malintzin (La Malinche)

Nahua woman who served as Cortés's translator and cultural mediator; viewed both as traitor and survivor.

Protagonists of the Conquest

Hernán Cortés, Moctezuma II, and Malintzin—key figures in the Spanish-Mexica encounter.

Moctezuma II

Ninth Mexica ruler of Tenochtitlan; captured and killed during the Spanish conquest.

Cuauhtemoc

Last ruler of Tenochtitlan who surrendered to the Spaniards in 1521.

Nahuatl place-names

Describe geography or history (e.g., Tenochtitlan "rock cactus place," Moyotlan "mosquito place").

Triple Alliance

Coalition of Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan that ruled the Valley of Mexico.

Mexica deities

Huitzilopochtli (war/sun), Quetzalcoatl (wind), Tezcatlipoca (night), Tlaloc (rain), Tonatiuh (sun).

Mexico-Tenochtitlan

Island capital of the Mexica founded in 1325; later became Mexico City.

Templo Mayor

Main temple of Tenochtitlan dedicated to Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli; later replaced by Mexico City's cathedral.

Diseases in New Spain

Smallpox and cocoliztli epidemics devastated Indigenous populations between 1520-1576.

El Colegio de Tlatelolco

Founded 1536 to educate Indigenous nobles in Latin, Spanish, and Nahuatl; site of the Florentine Codex's creation.

Nahua futurities (Stear)

Colonial Nahuas used writing to imagine collective futures and well-being rooted in Indigenous traditions.

Quauhquechollan (Eagle-Swan)

Puebla region allied with Spaniards; depicted in the Lienzo de Quauhquechollan (1521-1527).

Indigenous medicine

Used herbal cures and sacred plants like peyote, mushrooms, and ololiuhqui; healers were called ticitl.

Tonalli

Yollotli, Ihiyotl,Three life forces in Nahua belief—head (sun-energy), heart, and liver—linking body to cosmos.

Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl

Mestizo historian and judge from Tetzcoco who wrote Relaciones and Historia chichimeca.

Bartolomé de Alva

Priest who translated Spanish plays into Nahuatl and wrote a confession manual.

Tetzcoco

Member of the Triple Alliance known for its poets and legal culture.

Nezahualcoyotl

Philosopher-king of Tetzcoco known for laws, poetry, and architecture.

Nezahualpilli

Son of Nezahualcoyotl; continued his father's cultural reforms.

Four Suns (Ages)

Mythic eras before the current Fifth Sun: Water, Earth, Wind, and Fire.

Toxcatl Festival massacre

1520 massacre of Mexica nobles by Alvarado's men during a religious festival, sparking war.

Women in colonial Mexico

Faced heavier labor demands; worked in weaving and markets; ideals of chastity reshaped gender roles.

Malintzin and Quispe Sisa

Indigenous women who had mestizo children with conquistadors; symbols of cultural hybridity.

Religious life in Colonial Latin America

The Church enforced monogamy and honor ideals, reshaping native gender relations.

Anales de Juan Bautista

1582 Nahua chronicle describing Spanish tribute and food shortages.

Juan Teton's warnings

Criticized Spanish livestock and meat consumption as harmful to Indigenous agriculture.

Domingo Chimalpahin

Nahua historian who wrote annals and collaborated on the Crónica Mexicayotl.

Huitzilopochtli

Patron war god of the Mexica who guided their migration from Aztlan to Tenochtitlan.

Sacred caves

Considered entrances to the underworld and sacred sites in Mesoamerican cosmology.

Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc

Mexica noble and historian, co-author of the Crónica Mexicayotl.

Crónica Mexicayotl

1609 Nahua history recounting Mexica origins and rulers, used to educate youth.