Juan Velázquez Tlacotzin was an

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

leader in

Tenochtitlan , also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear, but the date 13 March 1325 was chosen in 1925 to celebrate the 600th annivers ...

, during the final decades of the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire, also known as the Triple Alliance (, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ or the Tenochca Empire, was an alliance of three Nahuas, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states rul ...

. He then was the first post- Spanish conquest indigenous ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1525 to 1526.

Biography

Aztec era

Tlacotzin was a Cihuacoatl (counselor) during the rule of

Moctezuma II Moctezuma Xocoyotzin . ( – 29 June 1520), retroactively referred to in European sources as Moctezuma II, and often simply called Montezuma,Other variant spellings include Moctezuma, Motewksomah, Motecuhzomatzin, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma, Motē ...

and of

Cuauhtémoc Cuauhtémoc (, ), also known as Cuauhtemotzín, Guatimozín, or Guatémoc, was the Aztec ruler ('' tlatoani'') of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, and the last Aztec Emperor. The name Cuauhtemōc means "one who has descended like an eagle", an ...

Spanish era

Tlacotzin was captured and later tortured by

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

, along with Cuauhtémoc, to reveal the location of Royal Treasures and gold of the Imperial Family. After the execution of Emperor

he was chosen as Cuauhtemoc's successor by Hernán Cortés. Immediately after the execution of Cuauhtemoc, Cortés ordered Tlacotzin be dressed as a Spaniard, given a sword and a white horse as symbols of his new position as Aztec ruler. Tlacotzin was also baptized by the Spanish as don Juan Velásquez. Although Tlacotzin was to govern like a ''tlatoani'', his non-noble birth (and lack of connection to the previous royal dynasty) as well as him not going through the traditional investiture ceremony meant that he was regarded by the Nahua subjects as ''cuauhtlatoani'' ("eagle ruler"; a non-dynastic interim ruler) instead. He accompanied Cortés on his three-year expedition, but died in 1526 (8 Tochtli) while on it, of an unknown sickness in Nochixtlan. Cortés immediately chose Andrés de Tapia Motelchiuh as his successor.

References

*'' Anales de Tlatelolco'' (1540)

External links

16th-century Aztec nobility Tenochca tlatoque 16th-century monarchs in North America 16th-century indigenous leaders of the Americas 16th-century Mexican people Year of birth unknown 1526 deaths Spanish Indian auxiliaries {{mesoamerica-stub

Biography

Aztec era

Spanish era

See also

References

External links