Matlalxochtzin () was a daughter of

Tlacacuitlahuatzin Tlacacuitlahuatzin () was the first ruler of Tiliuhcan, a pre-Columbian Tepanec ''altepetl'' (ethnic state) near Tlacopan. Family His father was called Huehuetzin. His daughters Miyahuaxochtzin and Matlalxochtzin married Huitzilihuitl and Tlat ...

, the first ''

tlatoani ''Tlatoani'' ( , "one who speaks, ruler"; plural ' or tlatoque) is the Classical Nahuatl term for the ruler of an , a pre-Hispanic state. It is the noun form of the verb "tlahtoa" meaning "speak, command, rule". As a result, it has been various ...

'' (ruler) of

Tiliuhcan Tlacopan, also called Tacuba, was a Tepanec / Mexica altepetl on the western shore of Lake Texcoco. The site is today the neighborhood of Tacuba, in Mexico City. Etymology The name comes from Classical Nahuatl ''tlacōtl'', "stem" or "rod" and ...

, one of the

polities A polity is an identifiable political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any other group of p ...

(''

altepetl The (, plural ''altepeme'' or ''altepemeh'') was the local, ethnically-based political entity, usually translated into English as "city-state," of pre-Columbian Nahuatl-speaking societiesSmith 1997 p. 37 in the Americas. The ''altepetl'' was co ...

'') of the

Tepanec The Tepanecs or Tepaneca are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the late 12th or early 13th centuries.The dates vary by source, including 1152 CE in Anales de Tlatelolco, 1210 from Chimalpahin, and 1226 from Ixtlilxoch ...

people in the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico wa ...

during the Late Postclassic period of

Mesoamerican chronology Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian, prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BC ...

. She was born in Tiliuhcan after her father had been elevated as ''tlatoani''—his father Huehuetzin (Matlalxochtzin's grandfather) had been leader in Tiliuhcan but was only of

eagle warrior Eagle warriors or eagle knights (Classical Nahuatl: ''cuāuhtli'' (singular) or ''cuāuhmeh'' (plural)''Nahuatl Dictionary.'' (1997). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved September 5, 2012, frolink/ref>) were a special cl ...

rank. Matlalxochtzin and her older sister

Miyahuaxochtzin Miyahuaxochtzin of Tiliuhcan was a Queen of Tenochtitlan as a wife of King Huitzilihuitl. She was a daughter of King Tlacacuitlahuatzin and sister of Princess Matlalxochtzin and Queen Tlacochcuetzin. She was the mother of Prince Huehue Zaca an ...

were sent to the

Mexica The Mexica (Nahuatl: , ;''Nahuatl Dictionary.'' (1990). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved August 29, 2012, frolink/ref> singular ) were a Nahuatl-speaking indigenous people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of ...

stronghold of

Tenochtitlan , ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-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. The date 13 March 1325 was ...

to marry two sons of

Acamapichtli Acamapichtli ( nci-IPA, Ācamāpichtli, aːkamaːˈpit͡ʃt͡ɬi, 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 ...

, the founder of the

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

imperial dynastic line.

became a wife of

Huitzilihuitl Huitzilihuitl or Huitzilihuitzin (Nahuatl language; English: ''Hummingbird Feather'') (1370s – ''ca.'' 1417) was the second ''Tlatoani'' or king of Tenochtitlan. According to the Codex Chimalpahin, he reigned from 1390 to 1415, according to t ...

while Matlalxochtzin was taken by his younger brother

Tlatolqaca Tlatolqaca () was an Aztec prince, son of Emperor Acamapichtli and Queen Huitzilxotzin, grandson of Princess Atotoztli I, half-brother of Emperors Huitzilihuitl and Itzcoatl, an uncle of Chimalpopoca and Moctezuma I Moctezuma I (–1469), also ...

.Chimalpahin (1997, p.119)

Notes

References

* {{refend 15th-century women Aztec nobility Indigenous Mexican women Nobility of the Americas