Maxtla (

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...

pronunciation: ''maštɬa'') was a

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 Ixtlilxochi ...

ruler (''

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 ...

'') of

Azcapotzalco Azcapotzalco ( nci, Āzcapōtzalco , , from ''wikt:azcapotzalli, āzcapōtzalli'' “anthill” + ''wikt:-co, -co'' “place”; literally, “In the place of the anthills”) is a Boroughs of Mexico City, borough (''demarcación territorial'') i ...

from 1426 to his death in 1428.

Family

He was a son of the famous king Tezozomoc, who was a son of

Acolnahuacatl Acolnahuacatl (also Aculnahuacatl, Acolnahuacatzin) was a king of the Tepanec city of Azcapotzalco. He was likely a son of the king Xiuhtlatonac. He married princess Cuetlaxochitzin, daughter of king Xolotl. Their son was the famous king Tez ...

and queen Cuetlaxochitzin. His mother was queen

Tzihuacxochitzin I Tzihuacxochitzin I was a Queen consort of Azcapotzalco as a wife of the king Tezozomoc, who was very famous. She was a daughter of the noble dignitary called Huitzilaztatzin. She married Tezozomoc, and it is mentioned by Chimalpahin that they ...

, daughter of the noble dignitary Huitzilaztatzin. He was a brother of the kings

Aculnahuacatl Tzaqualcatl Aculnahuacatl Tzaqualcatl (ruled c. 1400–c. 1430) was the first ''tlatoani'' (ruler) of the pre-Columbian Tepanec ''altepetl'' (ethnic state) of TlacopanDiego Durán, The History of the Indies of New Spain, translated, annotated and with introdu ...

and

Quaquapitzahuac Quaquapitzahuac (died 1417) was the first ruler of the Aztec city of Tlatelolco. His name, which means "Slender Horn", was pronounced in Classical Nahuatl, and is also spelled Cuacuauhpitzahuac, Cuacuapitzahuac, and Quaquauhpitzahuac. His neph ...

and queens

Xiuhcanahualtzin Xiuhcanahualtzin was a Princess of Azcapotzalco and Queen of Tlatelolco by marriage. Family She was a daughter of the king Tezozomoc and Tzihuacxochitzin and sister of the king Quaquapitzahuac. She married her nephew Tlacateotl, who was a succe ...

and

Ayauhcihuatl Ayauhcihuatl was a Queen of Tenochtitlan. Biography Ayauhcihuatl was born as a princess of Azcapotzalco. She was a daughter of King Tezozomoc and sister of Kings Aculnahuacatl Tzaqualcatl, Quaquapitzahuac, Epcoatl, Tzihuactlayahuallohuatzin ...

. He was an uncle of

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 ...

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Chimalpopoca Chimalpopoca ( nci-IPA, Chīmalpopōca, t͡ʃiːmaɬpoˈpoːka for "smoking shield," ) or Chīmalpopōcatzin (1397–1427) was the third Emperor of Tenochtitlan (1417–1427). Biography Chimalpopoca was born to the Emperor Huitzilihuitl and Q ...

. His elder half-brother was

Tayatzin Tayatzin was a king of Tepanec city of Azcapotzalco in Mexico. He is also called Quetzalayatzin. Biography He was born as a prince, the son of king Tezozomoc and queen Chalchiuhcozcatzin, who was Tezozomoc's main wife. His half-siblings were ...

Biography

Maxtla was installed as a ruler of

Coyoacán Coyoacán ( , ) 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-Hispani ...

. Upon Tezozomoc's death in the year Twelve Rabbit (1426), Tayatzin became a king, but Maxtla seized power at

, leaving the rulership of Coyoacán to his son

Tecollotzin Tecollotzin was a ''Tlatoque'' (ruler) of Coyoacán altepetl in 15th century Mexico. Family He was a son of the Maxtla, the ruler of Coyoacán, and grandson of ruler Tezozomoc and Tzihuacxochitzin I. His aunt was Ayauhcihuatl (Aztec "empress") ...

. Emperor Chimalpopoca 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 ...

allied with Tayatzin, and the two conspired to retake the throne and kill Maxtla. Friendly relations between Tenochtitlan and Azcapotzalco were thus replaced by insults and violent intrigue, apparently involving tit-for-tat assassination attempts. Maxtla sent Chimalpopoca a present of women's clothing, and later arranged his assassination. Tayatzin was killed, and Chimalpopoca decided to offer himself as a sacrifice at the altar of his father

Huitzilíhuitl 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 ...

. When Maxtla laid siege to Tenochtitlan in 1428, Chimalpopoca's successor and uncle,

Itzcoatl Itzcoatl ( nci-IPA, Itzcōhuātl, it͡sˈkoːwaːt͡ɬ, "Obsidian Serpent", ) (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 t ...

, repelled his forces with the aid of an alliance of city states, including Texcoco under

Nezahualcoyotl Nezahualcoyotl may refer to: * Nezahualcoyotl (tlatoani), the ruler of Texcoco * Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, a city in the State of Mexico * Nezahualcóyotl metro station, in Mexico City * The Nezahualcóyotl Award, a literary prize in Mexico * Nezah ...

and many former Tepanec allies, notably

Tlacopan 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 ...

. These allied forces sacked Azcapotzalco and Maxtla was personally sacrificed by

, potentially because of the death of Nezahualcoyotl's father at the hands of Azcapotzalco's forces. The victorious powers formalized their relationship in the Triple Alliance of

, Texcoco and Tlacopan, which would become the basis of the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...

Notes

{{reflist 1428 deaths Rulers of Azcapotzalco Year of birth unknown