When Spanish Conquistadors arrived at Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan they were amazed by what they saw. With over 200,000 people, temples that reached the skies and grand canals throughout the city. But unlike their European counterparts, the Aztecs also knew how to keep it clean.
A sophisticated system of canals separated brackish salt water of the lake from freshwater runoff higher up in the basin. These fed growing chinampas (small agricultural plots built up out of surrounding earth that floated on top of water) & created a watery highway through city.
Someone navigating Tenochtitlan could theoretically do so entirely by canoe. Tenochtitlan was full of monumental architecture and well-planned city streets. In a letter to the Spanish king, Cortés said that the streets and causeways across the lake were beautifully made.
At center of Tenochtitlan lay one of grandest, most imposing pieces of architecture the Templo Mayor. It was a large stepped pyramid, rising 90 feet into air. It was topped by 2 temples dedicated to gods & covered all over with best carvings & decorations that empire could muster
One of temples was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, god of war that gave signal to found Tenochtitlan. Other went to Tlaloc, god of rain & agriculture. It was rebuilt 6 times before Spanish conquistadors invaded. Cortés' forces razed 7th temple to make way for a cathedral.
Aztec god of war and the sun Huitzilopochtli. The god carries his typical atl-atl or spear-thrower, feathered arrows and shield and wears hummingbird feathers.
Before Tenochtitlan, Mexica people were wandering the land, looking for a home in 14th century. According to the tale, they prayed for help to Huitzilopochtli. The god came through with a striking vision. Mexica found an island in middle of a salty, swampy lake in a valley +
There, they saw a great eagle land on a prickly pear cactus, a snake caught in its beak. This, Huitzilopochtli said, was a sign that they should settle on this spot. Mexica started building right away. Story of eagle was so powerful that it survived to present day. Mexican flag👇
If Tenochtitlan was beautiful city, it was also engineered for defence: various stretches along causeways were flanked by bridges of removable wooden beams used primarily to allow canoes to pass from one lake to other, their potential uses for defence purposes was equally obvious
Cortés & Spanish soldiers arrived on shore of Tenochtitlan in Nov 1519 & was welcomed by Tlatoani (king) Moctezuma II. They were housed in palace of Axayacatl : a wonder to behold, as 1 soldier puts it. A visit to market of Tlatelolco amazed Cortés, reaching for superlatives.
Market was well organized & divided into orderly sections for exchange of endless supply of goods & including every kind of traders. In letters to Charles V with description of place, he mentions that one could find in it "every imaginable thing that can be found on this earth".
Mexica(Aztec) had a finely honed taste for the delicate, the exquisite, and the fragrant. They adored flowers, perfumes, brightly painted walls, and epic poetry.
Most people were able to communicate through a common language, Nahuatl & it's still spoken today. That's thanks in part to native people who wrote it down in the 16th century, before the language disappeared under Spanish rule.
"Aztec" isn't quite right for the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan, who called themselves the "Mexica". Other "Aztecs" would be far more likely to refer to themselves by city-state. Someone from Tlaxcala would probably say they were Tlaxcalan, or a person from Tabasco a Tabascan.
Writers in 18th century, long after the Spanish conquest, used that word to describe what was really a vast group of people. Tenochtitlan wasn't only major settlement around as area was teeming with people. Tlacopan was so close that you could reach it in a short canoe trip.
A slightly longer boat ride would get you to Culhuacan in the south, then Xochimilco only a bit further on. Tenochtitlan found it beneficial to form alliances with nearby cities, especially Tlacopan & Texcoco. Idea was that these three settlements would form a "triple alliance."
Cortés told Moctezuma that how he who was such a great and a wise ruler has not worked out by reasoning that these idols they were worshipping were not gods but devils. Cortés suggested them that they should be replaced by a cross and the image of the Virgin Mary.
Cortés took advantage of Tenochtitlan's arch rivals Tlaxcala's resentment rooted in inequity & rivalry. Tlaxcalan's antipathy towards Tenochtitlan which demanded food, treasure for its own benefit was too strong and all this made it easy for Cortés to took control of Tenochtitlan
Wealth of Tenochtitlan was astounding, Cortés began plotting how to capture city. Plan involved capturing Montezuma & holding him until more reinforcements could arrive to secure city. On November 14, 1519, they imprisoned Moctezuma accusing him of an attack on Spanish garrison.
The people of Tenochtitlan were furious and attacked the Spaniards, forcing them to barricade themselves inside the Palace of Axayácatl. The palace was under seige. Cortes could not restore order, and the Spanish were starving, as the market had closed.
Moctezuma died on 29th June,1520. It's disputable whether it was at hands of his own people due to wounds(when he was called to roof of the palace to make the people calm & was hit by a volley of projectiles of stones & spears & was hit 3 times) or was strangulated by Spaniards.
With Montezuma dead, Cortes realized that there was no way he could hold the city. On night of June 30, Cortés & his men attempted to slip out of city. However Mexica warriors caught them fleeing killing 600 Spaniards (roughly half of Cortes' army), along with most of his horses.
Bernal Diaz del Castillo, one of spaniards who survived La Noche Triste, recalled that their position on Tacuba causeway was perilous. On one side was water, full of angry, armed warriors in canoes. On other were rooftops, where people flung stones & other weapons at the soldiers
Spaniards who made it out fled to Tlaxcala, regrouped, and eventually returned to siege the city. They found a city weakened by a smallpox epidemic & unable to stand much further against conquistadors' weaponry. With their leader gone & a vast number of people killed by disease,+
Tenochtitlan could not offer any more resistance. The city surrendered in August 1521. An estimated 100,000 native people were killed during the siege, compared to 100 Spanish dead.
In encomienda system, Spanish nobles were given previously native-held land to rule over like feudal lords. Mexica were pushed down to lower strata of society as Tenochtitlan metamorphosed into Mexico City. Meanwhile, smallpox & cocoliztli kept devastating native communities.
Mexica didn't have access to iron or bronze, but they made ingenious use of stone & copper. They made drills out of reed or bone, they understood mathematics, they used a 365-day calendar, & they were one of 1st cultures in world to require that all children receive an education.
Loading suggestions...