Quiahuiztlan was one of the four ''

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 ...

'' (polities) that made up the

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Tlaxcala Tlaxcala (; , ; from nah, Tlaxcallān ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipaliti ...

. It is located in the modern city of

, Tlaxcala State,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

History

Quiahuiztlan in Tlaxcala State shares the same name as a settlement in modern Veracruz State that was occupied in the 16th century CE as part of the

Totonac The Totonac are an indigenous people of Mexico who reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained quarters in Teotihuacán (a city wh ...

culture. The two places are unrelated. The Quiahuztlan in modern Veracruz State has temples, ballcourt, plazas and residences, which are built on artificial and natural terraces on the fairly high relief flanks of the mountain. The site is most-likely famous for its association with the Spanish conquistador

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

.Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, Excavations conducted at Quiahuiztlan were conducted by Alfonso Medellín Zenil and Ramón Arellanos Melgarejo, from the

Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH, ''National Institute of Anthropology and History'') is a Mexican federal government bureau established in 1939 to guarantee the research, preservation, protection, and promotion of the ...

. In the early 16th century, Quiahuiztlan in Tlaxcala State briefly

seceded Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics lea ...

from the confederation, and replaced its

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

priests with Dominican ones. Quiahuiztlan subsequently rejoined Tlaxcala, but the possibility of a repeat secession continued to be used as a political threat.

References

External links

INAH.gob.mx
Altepetl Archaeological sites in Veracruz Mesoamerican sites {{mesoamerica-stub