Xicotencatl II Axayacatl, also known as Xicotencatl the Younger (died 1521), was a prince and warleader, probably with the title of ''

Tlacochcalcatl Tlacochcalcatl ( "The man from the house of darts") was an Aztec military title or rank; roughly equivalent to the modern title of field marshal. In Aztec warfare the ''tlacochcalcatl'' was second in command only to the ''tlatoani'' and he usuall ...

'', of the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

state of

Tlaxcallan Tlaxcala ( 'place of maize tortillas') was a pre-Columbian city and state in central Mexico. During the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Tlaxcala allied with the Spanish Empire against the Aztecs, supplying a large contingent for and somet ...

at the time of the

Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...

Biography

He was the son of the ruler of

Tizatlan Tizatlan, in pre-Columbian Mexico, was one of the four independent altepemeh (polities, sing. altepetl) that constituted the confederation of Tlaxcallan. Today Tizatlan is a part of the modern city of Tlaxcala, and the Pre-Columbian city is visi ...

, one of the four confederate altepeme of the Tlaxcallan state, of which Xicotencatl the Younger was considered to be the ''de facto'' ruler because of his father's weakened health. His

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 ...

name, pronounced , is sometimes also spelled Xīcohtēncatl and means "person from Xīcohtēnco," a place name that can be translated "at the edge of the bumblebees." He is known primarily as the leader of the force that was dispatched from Tlaxcallan to intercept the forces of

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 ...

and his

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 ...

allies as they entered Tlaxcallan territory when going inland from the

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

coast.Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London:

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Bernal Díaz del Castillo Bernal Díaz del Castillo ( 1492 – 3 February 1584) was a Spanish conquistador, who participated as a soldier in the conquest of the Aztec Empire under Hernán Cortés and late in his life wrote an account of the events. As an experienced ...

's ''

Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España ''Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España'' (''The True History of the Conquest of New Spain'') is a first-person narrative written in 1568 by military adventurer, ''conquistador'', and colonist settler Bernal Díaz del Castillo ...

'' and in the histories of Tlaxcala, such as the one by

Diego Muñoz Camargo Diego Muñoz Camargo (c. 1529 – 1599) was the author of ''History of Tlaxcala'', an illustrated codex that highlights the religious, cultural, and military history of the Tlaxcalan people. Life Diego Muñoz Camargo was born in Spanish colonia ...

. When fighting the Spaniards he used an ambush strategy; he first engaged the enemy with a small force that feigned a retreat, and then lured the Spaniards back to a better fortified position where the main force waited. The Spaniards retreated when too many of their men were killed or wounded, and they sought a peace treaty with the Tlaxcaltecs.

Maxixcatzin MaxixcatlThe Nahuatl name is often used in the honorific form as Maxixcatzin. was the tlatoani (ruler) of the Nahua altepetl (city-state) of Ocotelolco at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Ocotelolco was one of the four towns ...

, the ruler of

Ocotelolco Ocotelolco (sometimes spelled Ocotelulco), in pre-Columbian Mexico, was one of the four independent altepetl (polities) that constituted the confederation of Tlaxcallan. The site is in the present day state of Tlaxcala in central Mexico. History ...

, was in favour of allying with the Spaniards, but Xicotencatl II opposed this idea and continued to fight, nearly wiping out the Spanish force. However, in a crucial moment, the soldiers from Ocotelolco retreated from the battlefield following the orders of Maxixcatzin, and Xicotencatl was forced to accept the proposed peace treaty. The Spaniards with the Tlaxcaltec forces marched on

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 ...

, where they stayed until the Noche Triste, at which time they were forced to flee the city after an

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 ...

uprising. The remnants of the Spanish forces made it to Tlaxcala where they once again asked for the assistance of the Tlaxcaltec, and where Xicotencatl II once again spoke against helping them. However, Maxixcatzin's faction was again successful, and the Spaniards stayed in his palace while they regrouped and received reinforcements. When the final stage of the

siege of Tenochtitlan The Fall of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, was a decisive event in the Spanish conquest of the empire. It occurred in 1521 following extensive manipulation of local factions and exploitation of pre-existing political divisions ...

was about to be carried out, Xicotencatl marched on the Aztec capital as the leader of a Tlaxcaltec force, attacking from the north and passing by Texcoco. The night before the final march, he was apprehended and accused of treason by Cortés and by the Ocotelolcan warleader Chichimecateuctli, who said that he had tried to flee back to Tlaxcala. He was summarily executed by hanging. The description of Xicotencatl has been subject to changing attitudes in the understanding of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. In the early period he was seen mostly as a traitor who tried to halt the arrival of the Spanish "liberation" of the Indians from Aztec dominance. Later he was romantically construed as an indigenous hero who valiantly opposed the onslaught of the Spanish.Hassig, 2001, p. 29. Recently, ethnohistorian

Ross Hassig Ross Hassig (born December 13, 1945) is an American historical anthropologist specializing in Mesoamerican studies, particularly the Aztec culture. His focus is often on the description of practical infrastructure in Mesoamerican societies. ...

(2001) has analysed his actions in terms of Tlaxcaltec politics, and he concludes that Xicotencatl was mostly acting to further the political interests of his own polity, that of Tizatlan, over the opposing faction of Ocotelolco. The charge of treason lodged against him and his subsequent execution were, in this view, the logical result of the Ocotelolcans finally achieving the upper hand.

Biography

See also

References

Further reading