First Aztec Kings
First Aztec Kings. — Acamapictli. — Huitzilihuitl. — Quimalpopoca. — Itzacoatl. — Moteuczoma Ilhuicamina. — Axayacatl. — Tizoc. — Ahuizotl. — Retrospect.
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From The Aztecs: Their History, Manners, and Customs by Lucien Biart, translated by John Leslie Garner, 1900.
First Aztec Kings. — Acamapictli. — Huitzilihuitl. — Quimalpopoca. — Itzacoatl. — Moteuczoma Ilhuicamina. — Axayacatl. — Tizoc. — Ahuizotl. — Retrospect.
Up to the year 1363, which must have been subsequent to the most ancient eruption known of Popocatepetl, the political government of the Aztecs was aristocratic. They obeyed a council composed of twenty of the most notable men of the tribe, first among whom, as might naturally be expected, was the high-priest of Huitzilipochtli. According to the Codex Mendoza, the president of the great council at the time of the founding of Mexico was called Tenoch.
It was after his death that the Aztecs, following the example of their neighbors, the Alcolhuas, the Tepanecs and the Chichimecs, who prospered under regal authority, thought of adopting the same form of government. As they desired a sovereign who would have their well-being at heart, and who, if need were, could command their army, they chose Acamapictli (“the hand full of reeds”), who was famed for his wisdom. On his father’s side, the sovereign elect belonged to the Aztec nobility, and on his mother’s to that of the Alcolhuas, among whom, it is believed, he was brought up.
During the thirty years of his reign Acamapictli wisely ruled the few cities that constituted his entire kingdom, and his people increased greatly in numbers; but being a feudatory of the king of the Tepanecs, Tezozomoc, he had to assist him in many of his wars.
It was not long before Tezozomoc, infatuated by his power, demanded from the Mexicans not only military services, but large and often unreasonable tribute. Thus, under pain of complete servitude, he ordered them one day to furnish him with a field sown with Indian corn, all-spice, and gourds, and light enough to float on the water. At the appointed time, the tyrant, to his great astonishment, saw the field which he had ordered advance towards the shore of the lake; it was the first of the floating isles, which at a later date filled the Spaniards with wonder. The effect of the extravagant and apparently unrealizable caprice of Tezozomoc was to stimulate the inventive powers of his vassals, and what was intended to be their ruin turned to their advantage. For want of arable lands they betook themselves to filling their lakes with chinampas, or floating islands, and their material condition was thus greatly improved.
In spite of the unfavorable circumstances in which he was placed in consequence of the subjection to which he was condemned, Acamapictli succeeded in ruling in peace. He caused a great many stone buildings to be constructed in his capital, and began the canals of the lake. He died in 1396, regretting that he had not been able to relieve his people from the crushing yoke of the Tepanecs. In the ideographic manuscripts Acamapictli is represented by a crowned head, surmounted by a hand holding a bunch of reeds.
After an interregnum of some months, electors, chosen from the nobles of the four quarters of Mexico, elected prince Huitzilihuitl (“feather of the humming bird”), son of the deceased king, as their ruler. The people having approved of the choice thus made, the young prince was conducted to the royal mansion, seated on the throne, the copilli or crown placed on his head, and was anointed, according to Acosta (whom Torquemada, we believe wrongfully, contradicts), with the “divine balsam” used in the service of Huitzilipochtli,—that is to say, pine resin.
The new king was not married, and although the undertaking seemed a rash one, Acamapictli having unsuccessfully attempted it, the nobles determined to have him espouse the daughter of Tezozomoc. The latter, who contemplated the subjugation of the peoples who surrounded his kingdom, was just then in great need of allies, Desirous of attaching the Aztecs, whose bravery he was acquainted with, to himself, he accepted the proposed marriage, and reduced the heavy tribute he had thus far exacted to some simple gifts of an insignificant value.
Having become the son-in-law of the powerful king of the Tepanecs, and seeing the advantages which this relation had secured him, Huitzilihuitl (sovereigns had the right to have several wives) lost no time in allying himself to the principal chiefs of the valley. A crafty politician, he knew how to profit by these alliances, and the ascending march of the Aztecs dates from his reign. Faithful to Tezozomoc, Huilzilihuitl seconded him in all the wars which he undertook; rendered him many services, and returned more than once to his own capital a victor. Thanks to their intrepidity and to the talents of their sovereign, the political situation of the Mexicans was bettered, their material condition improved, and their sword began to have weight in the balance of the neighboring kings. Having become freer, without ceasing to be industrious, they extended their commerce, and substituted cotton clothing for the garments of agave fibre which they then wore.
At this time Maxatla, the brother-in-law and special enemy of their king, called together the nobility of Azcapozalco, capital of the Tepanecs, and directed their attention to the rapid prosperity of the Aztecs, to their pride and growing power, representing them as enemies to be feared in the near future. Huitzilihuitl, still too weak to fight against the Tepanecs, had to humiliate himself and help his enemy in another war. He died before it was ended, in 1417. He had reigned twenty years, enacted useful laws, extended his kingdom by draining many of the marshes formed by the lake, remodelled the army, and definitively granted to the nobles the right to elect their kings. These electors chose his brother Quimalpopoca as his successor, and it was then established that the new sovereign should always be chosen from among the brothers, or if there were none, from among the nephews of the deceased king. In the ideographic manuscripts, a bird’s head, holding a feather in its beak, surmounts the head of the second king of the Mexicans.
Quimalpopoca (“smoking shield”) left almost nothing in the history of his country but the remembrance of his domestic misfortunes and of his tragic end. His wife, allured to the court of Maxatla, usurper of the throne of Alcolhuacan, which belonged to his nephew Nezahualcoyotl, was violated by the tyrant. This was an affront all the more insulting as, a short time before, Maxatla, in exchange for a present which the Aztecs had offered him, had answered by sending them a dress of a woman.
Unable to avenge himself for these insults, the unfortunate king determined to sacrifice himself on the altar of Huitzilipochtli. Apprised of his design, Maxatla, who must have had informants among the Mexican nobility, had Quimalpopoca carried off by surprise, and confined him in a wooden cage. Tired of life, the royal prisoner hung himself to the bars of his prison in 1427. He had reigned thirteen years.
During this period the Mexican nation, in spite of the misfortunes of its king, had progressed and had won a naval battle on the lake, against the inhabitants of Chaleo, who had tried to surprise them. The great causeway which connected Mexico with Tlacotalpan was constructed during the reign of Quimalpopoca, and, according to Torquemada, it was he also who erected the first of the so-called sacrificial stones and another destined for gladiatorial fights.
Humiliated by the tyrant of Alcolhuacan, the Aztecs resolved to place at their head a man capable of avenging them, and the electors gave the crown of Quimalpopoca to his half-brother on his father’s side, Itzacoatl (“serpent of stone”), a natural son of Acamapictli and a slave. The shame cast upon him by his mother’s condition was redeemed by his own merit,—by the military talents of which he had given many proofs during the thirty years that he had commanded the army. Once in power he resolved to conquer the city of Azcapozalco, and finally to release his people from the weighty supremacy of the Tepanecs. With this intention he allied himself to the celebrated Alcolhuan prince, Nezahualcoyotl, and marched against Maxatla.
Well seconded by his nephews, Tlacaelel and Moteuczoma,—whose military exploits some historians at times seem to confound,—Itzacoatl had the satisfaction of seeing his endeavors crowned with success. A terrible battle, which lasted two whole days, was fought and won against Maxatla in person, who was pursued into his own capital. This memorable fight, which by its consequences almost completely changed the political condition of the valley of Anahuac, took place in 1428, about a century after the foundation of Mexico.
In this supreme struggle Itzacoatl had been abandoned for a moment by the people of his capital, who, dreading the results of an unequal contest, had mutinied in the very hour of battle. Therefore, once victorious, the king especially rewarded the nobility, who had valiantly seconded him. He confirmed their old privileges, conferred new ones on them, and divided the greater part of the conquered territory among them and the priests. But one of his first cares was to place Nezahualcoyotl, his faithful ally, again on the throne of Alcolhuacan, and to appoint a noble of the Tepanecs who had been opposed to the war to govern them. The two new kings agreed to sustain the sovereign of Mexico in all his wars, and to recognize his supremacy. This double treaty of alliance was not the only illustration of Itzacoatl’s political ability; he took care to reward all those who had distinguished themselves in the recent struggle, measuring the reward by the valor which each one had displayed or by the services he had rendered, without taking any account of his condition. This act of wisdom, imitated by his successors, was an incentive to the Aztecs, and one of the causes of their future greatness.
Itzacoatl, who won from his fellow-countrymen the name of the Great , died in 1440, at a very advanced age. He had served his country during thirty years as a general, and had governed it during thirteen as king. He delivered the Aztecs from all servitude, made numerous and important conquests, placed the descendants of the ancient Chichimec kings again on the throne of their ancestors, enriched his country with the spoils of conquered peoples, built a great many edifices in his capital, and increased the number of alliances which paved the way to the greatness of the nation he had wisely governed. For political reasons of which we are ignorant,—he wished, the annalists say, to efface the past from the memory of his people,—he caused a great number of the paintings which recalled the history of bygone times to be destroyed.
The four electors charged with the selection of his successor did not have to deliberate long. Itzacoatl had no brother; the crown had therefore to revert to one of his nephews, and no one was more worthy of this honor than Moteuczoma Ilhuicamina (“he who throws arrows towards the sky”), the “man given to anger,” according to Torquemada. This prince, son of Huitzilihuitl, had won a number of battles, had aided Itzacoatl in all his works, had given a thousand proofs of energy and capacity; hence he was unanimously elected.
After the harangues, dances, and illuminations which followed every new election, Moteuczoma, in obedience to the custom which required that the kings should in person conquer the prisoners that were to be sacrificed on the day of their coronation, began a campaign against the inhabitants of Chaleo, who had treacherously retained him captive when he was only a general. Seconded by Tlacaelel, who, on account of his military talent and wisdom was called the prince of the armies, he conquered them, and took many prisoners; then, without completing the subjugation of the enemy, he returned to be crowned.
After this, desiring to secure the favor of the gods, one of his first cares was to order the building of a temple. The work went on rapidly; for the Aztec sovereigns, in the execution of their plans, proceeded after the manner of the kings of Egypt. They brought the workmen together by thousands, not concerning themselves about their liberty, and still less about their sufferings, the life of a vassal being of little value in their eyes. When the temple was built the active warrior took the field again, and after a prolonged struggle, he at last succeeded in subjugating the Chalcoans, who had been defeated in a decisive battle. Upon the field of battle conquests he had extended the Mexican empire to about the limits it has to-day.
Besides his courage, Ahuitzotl possessed really royal qualities; and his liberality won for him the love of his subjects. He adorned Mexico with such a number of handsome buildings that at this time it was undoubtedly the most beautiful city of the New World. When he received the tribute sent by the provinces, Ahuitzotl was in the habit of calling the people together and of distributing clothes and provisions among those that seemed in need of them. Officers and soldiers who had distinguished themselves in war, and ministers and employees of the crown who had served him faithfully, were rewarded with gifts of bars of gold or silver, or with presents of jewels or rare and costly feathers. Unfortunately, his good qualities were obscured by lamentable faults. He was capricious, inclined to vengeance, cruel, and so fond of war that peace seemed odious to him. Hence his name, in the language of Spanish-Americans, serves to designate a man always ready to pick a quarrel.
At the death of Ahuitzotl, none of his brothers was living. The number of his nephews, however, was large. The electors chose a son of Axayacatl, named Moteuczoma, whom they characterized as Xoyocotzin (“ the younger ”), to distinguish him from the first. This was the monarch who had to contend with Cortez, and whom our historians have accustomed us to call Montezuma.
To recapitulate again: Although, as we have said, undoubted data in regard to the history of the first inhabitants of Anahuac are wanting,—although the great journey of the Aztecs from their native country, Aztlan, to their settlement on Lake Tezcoco, presents a number of obscure, contradictory, and insoluble points,—there is an abundance of documents, beginning with the reign of Itzacoatl. We might have lengthened this account by quoting the speeches addressed to each king at the time of his accession to the throne, and the harangues of the generals at the moment of giving battle, and by describing in detail the combats and incessant struggles of the cities among themselves. But what interest can the recital of uniform events, which follow one another with painful monotony, and which most frequently serve only to demonstrate the cruelty of man, have for any one except perhaps a Mexican? Hence it is only in broad outline that we have thought it advisable to relate the principal facts which gave the Aztecs supremacy over their neighbors; and we have avoided fatiguing the attention of the reader with the recital of facts which not a single anecdote enlivens.
We have seen the civilizing power pass from the hands of the Toltecs to the Chichimecs, then to the Alcolhuas, and finally to the Aztecs. These nations, we must not omit to state, never rose above a semi-barbarous condition. The priests, nobles, and soldiers possessed all the privileges, and sought to increase them by reducing as large a number of men as possible to servitude. It is indeed true that by forming important national unities the conquerors were unwittingly working for the cause of civilization and for the future of humanity. But it is idle to indulge in conjec- tures, and to attempt to say what would have become of the great Aztec empire if it had not been overthrown by Cortez.
To resume: From their humble beginning, which has been justly compared with that of the Romans, we have seen the Aztec people rise, fall into servitude, and then rising again, gradually overcome by their patience, energy, courage, and the ability of their general-kings, the peoples by whom they were surrounded. The greater part of these peoples, it must not be forgotten, had the same origin and spoke the same language as the Aztecs. Indeed, the victories of the Mexicans were not obtained over foreigners or over men of a race different from their own. These victories reduced to unity the scattered members of one and the same family, and from that time, Itzacoatl appealed to the great modern principle of nationalities injustification of his conquests.
One thing is certain,—in his eyes, as in the eyes of all conquerors, might was right.
Biart, Lucien. The Aztecs: Their History, Manners, and Customs. Translated by John Leslie Garner, A.C. McClurg & Co, 1900.
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