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Itzcóatl
Itzcoatl ( , "Obsidian Serpent", ) (c. 1380–1440) was the fourth king of Tenochtitlan, and the founder of the Aztec Empire, ruling from 1427 to 1440. Under Itzcoatl the Mexica of Tenochtitlan threw off the domination of the Tepanecs and established the Triple Alliance (Aztec Empire) together with the other city-states Tetzcoco and Tlacopan. Biography Itzcoatl was the natural son of ''tlàtoāni'' Acamapichtli and an unknown Tepanec woman from Azcapotzalco. He was elected as the king when his predecessor, his nephew Chimalpopoca, was killed by Maxtla of the nearby Tepanec ''āltepētl'' (city-state) of Azcapotzalco. Allying with Nezahualcoyotl of Texcoco, Itzcoatl went on to defeat Maxtla and end the Tepanec domination of central Mexico. After this victory, Itzcoatl, Nezahualcoyotl, and Totoquilhuaztli, king of Tlacopan, forged what would become known as the Aztec Triple Alliance, forming the basis of the eventual Aztec Empire. Itzcoatl next turned his attention to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Culhuacán (altepetl)
Culhuacan ( ) was one of the Nahuatl-speaking pre-Columbian city-states of the Valley of Mexico. According to tradition, Culhuacan was founded by the Toltecs under Mixcoatl and was the first Toltec city. The Nahuatl speakers agreed that Culhuacán was the first city to give its rulers the title of "speaker" ('' tlatoani''). In the sixteenth century following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Culhuacan was incorporated into colonial New Spain and called a ''pueblo'', but in local-level documentation in Nahuatl, residents continued to use the designation altepetl for their settlement. History Culhuacan was perhaps the first of the chinampa towns founded on the shores of Lake Xochimilco, with chinampas dating to 1100 C.E. From written records there is evidence that Culhuacan survived the fall of Tollan and maintained its prestige until the mid-14th century. According to the ''Crónica Mexicayotl'', transcribed in 1609, in 1299, Culhuacan's ''tlatoani'', Coxcoxtli, hel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acamapichtli
Acamapichtli ( , meaning "Handful of reeds") was the first '' Tlatoani'', or king, of the Aztecs (or Mexica) of Tenochtitlan, and founder of the Aztec imperial dynasty. Chronicles differ as to the dates of his reign: according to the Codex Chimalpahin, he reigned from 1367 to 1387; according to the Codex Aubin, he reigned from 1376 to 1395; and according to the Codex Chimalpopoca, he reigned from 1350 to 1403.Simon, Z (2021). "Ten Chronologies of Ancient Mexico" Biography Family and early life Acamapichtli was not a native of Tenochtitlan. Blood relationships between rulers were an important aspect of politics in 14th century Mexico, and as relative newcomers, the Mexicans were at a disadvantage. On the death of Tenoch, the elders of the Mexica '' calpultin'' decided to elect a ''tlatoani'' who could secure the fledgling city's position through ties to powerful groups in the region. They sent a delegation to the leaders of Culhuacan. Although the Culhua had only recentl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Xochimilco
Lake Xochimilco (; , ) is an ancient endorheic lake, located in the present-day Borough of Xochimilco in southern Mexico City. It is the last remaining habitat of the axolotl. The lake is within the Valley of Mexico hydrological basin, in central Mexico. History Geologic Lake Xochimilco is part of a series of historical lakes, which included: :# Lake Texcoco — ''brackish'' :# Lake Zumpango :# Lake Xaltocan :# Lake Chalco — ''fresh water'' Lake Xochimilco was originally a part of an even larger lake, Lake Texcoco, during the last glacial period. Between 12,000 and 6,000 years ago, the climate in central Mexico warmed and the snowmelt that once fed Lake Texcoco virtually disappeared. This caused the lake to drop hundreds of feet over next several thousand years. By 2,000 years ago Xochimilco became a bay in the southern portion of Texcoco. Then around the 13th or 14th century the Aztecs built large causeways effectively creating a new lake. Mesoamerican These lakes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Codex Mendoza
The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codices, Aztec codex, believed to have been created around the year 1541. It contains a history of both the Aztec rulers and their conquests as well as a description of the daily life of pre-conquest Aztec society. The codex is written using traditional Aztec pictograms with a translation and explanation of the text provided in Spanish language, Spanish. It is named after Don (honorific), Don Antonio de Mendoza (1495-1552), the viceroy of New Spain, who supervised its creation and who was a leading patron of native artists. Mendoza knew that the ravages of the conquest had destroyed multiple native artifacts, and that the craft traditions that generated them had been effaced. When the Spanish crown ordered Mendoza to provide evidence of the Aztec political and tribute system, he invited skilled artists and scribes who were being schooled at the Franciscan college in Tlatelolco to gather in a workshop under the supervision of Spanish priests where t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azcapotzalco (altepetl)
Azcapotzalco was a pre-Columbian Nahua '' altepetl'' (state), capital of the Tepanec empire, in the Valley of Mexico, on the western shore of Lake Texcoco. The name ''Azcapotzalco'' means "at the anthill" in Nahuatl. Its inhabitants were called ''Azcapotzalca''. According to the 17th century annalist Chimalpahin, Azcapotzalco was founded by Chichimecs in the year 995 AD. The most famous ruler ('' tlatoani'') of Azcapotzalco was Tezozomoctli. History According to chronicler Fernando Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, the Tepanecs were a Chichimec group that settled in 1012 in the region west of Lake Texcoco. Their lineage began when their Acolhua leader (or Acolnahuacatl) married Xolotl's daughter Cuetlaxochitzin. But this information is apocryphal, since Acolnahuacatl's life is considered to have occurred much later. Chimalpahin places their settlement before, in 995. In fact, archaeological investigations have revealed that Azcapotzalco was inhabited since the Classical period ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coyoacán
Coyoacán ( ; , Otomi: ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre-Hispanic village on the southern shore of Lake Texcoco dominated by the Tepanec people. Against Aztec domination, these people allied with the Spanish, who used the area as a headquarters during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and made it the first capital of New Spain between 1521 and 1523. The village and later municipality of Coyoacán remained independent of Mexico City through the colonial period into the 19th century. In 1857, the area was incorporated into the then Federal District when this district was expanded. In 1928, the borough was created when the Federal District was divided into sixteen boroughs. The urban expansion of Mexico City reached the borough in the mid-20th century, turning farms, former lakes, and for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xochimilco (altepetl)
Xochimilco was the most important city of the Xochimilca people, one of the Nahua tribes that migrated to the Mesoamerica region. At the same time it was the name of the altepetl of this group and historically referred to both interchangebly.Lockhart. ''The Nahuas After the Conquest'' The city was founded around 900 AD. It grew to become an important city in the Valley of Mexico, until in 1430, the Mexica of Tenochtitlan succeeded in conquering the city. Etymology The name “Xochimilco” comes from Nahuatl and means “flower field.” This referred to the many flowers and other crops that were grown here on chinampas since the pre-Hispanic period. History The first human presence in the area was of hunter gatherers, who eventually settled into farming communities. The first settlements in the Xochimilco area were associated with the Cuicuilco, Copilco and Tlatilco settlements during the Classic period. The Xochimilca people, considered to be one of the seven Nahua tribe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Chalco
Lake Chalco was an endorheic lake formerly located in the Valley of Mexico, and was important for Mesoamerican cultural development in central Mexico. The lake was named after the ancient city of Chalco on its former eastern shore. Lake Chalco and Lake Xochimilco were the original habitat of the axolotl, an amphibian that is critically endangered due to urban destruction. Geography Lake Chalco and the other Mexican great lakes (the brackish lakes Texcoco, Zumpango and Xaltocan and the freshwater Xochimilco) formed the ancient Basin of Mexico lake system. These lakes were home to many Mesoamerican cultures including the Toltecs and the Aztecs. Lake Chalco itself had a fresh water hydrologic structure due in large part to the artesian springs lining its south shore. This allowed extensive beds to be cultivated through the Aztec era. After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, these beds fell into disuse and were largely abandoned. History The shoreline of the L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinampas
Chinampa ( ) is a technique used in Mesoamerican agriculture which relies on small, rectangular areas of fertile arable land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Valley of Mexico. The word chinampa has Nahuatl origins, chinampa meaning “in the fence of reeds”. They are built up on wetlands of a lake or freshwater swamp for agricultural purposes, and their proportions ensure optimal moisture retention. This method was also used and occupied most of Lake Xochimilco. The United Nations designated it a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System in 2018. Although different technologies existed during the Post-classic and Colonial periods in the basin, chinampas have raised many questions about agricultural production and political development. After the Aztec Triple Alliance formed, the conquest of southern basin city-states, such as Xochimilco, was one of the first strategies of imperial expansion. Before this time, farmers maintained small-scale chinampas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
