Cacamatzin (or Cacama) (c. 1483–1520) was the tlatoani (ruler) of Texcoco,Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, the second most important city of the

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 ...

Empire. Cacamatzin was a son of the previous king Nezahualpilli by one of his mistresses. Traditionally, the Texcocan kings were elected by the nobility from the most able of the royal family. Cacamatzin's election to the throne in 1515 was said to have been made under considerable pressure from

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 ...

, lord of Tenochtitlán. Moctezuma II wished to lessen Texcoco's power in favor of greater centralization in Tenochtitlán. Cacamatzin wrote ''Cacamatzin Icuic'' ("Song of Cacamatzin"), invoking his father and grandfather; he seems to protest against Pedro de Alvarado's attack during the festival of Tóxcatl. Moctezuma II, under orders from Cortés, had Cacamatzin arrested "in his own palace while discussing war-preparations". The ''

Cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

s'' of Coyoacan,

Iztapalapa Iztapalapa () is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City, located on the eastern side of the city. The borough is named after and centered on the formerly independent municipality of Iztapalapa (officially Iztapalapa de Cuitláhua ...

, and

Tacuba Tacuba is a district in the Ahuachapán department of El Salvador. Church Of Tacuba It is located in Villa of Tacuba. It is head of the municipality of the same name in the department of Ahuachapán, at about 14 Kilometers of the city of Ahuac ...

were also arrested. Cacamatzin died during the retreat of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

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 ...

, on

La Noche Triste La Noche Triste ("The Night of Sorrows", literally "The Sad Night"), was an important event during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, wherein Hernán Cortés, his army of Spanish conquistadors, and their native allies were driven out of th ...

.León-Portilla, M. 1992, 'The

Broken Spears ''The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico'' (Spanish title: ''Visión de los vencidos: Relaciones indígenas de la conquista''; lit. "Vision of the Defeated: Indigenous relations of the conquest") is a book by Mexican histo ...

: The Aztec Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico.'' Boston: Beacon Press,

Rebellion

While staying in the Axayácatl palace, the Spaniards discovered the room where the treasures of Moctezuma's grandfather were found. Cortés asked the huey tlatoani about the places where the gold came from. After the answer, expeditions were organized to the regions of Zacatula, Pánuco and Coatzacoalcos; Cortés also demanded that Moctezuma ask all his vassals to immediately pay all available gold. Tetlahuehuezquititzin and Netzahualquentzin, both Cacamatzin's brothers, were responsible in Tetzcuco for delivering the gold to the Spanish. Due to a misunderstanding, a probable treason on the part of Netzahualquentzin was suspected, he was arrested and taken in front of Cortés who sentenced him to hang, but Moctezuma interceded and the sentence was suspended, however Netzahualquentzin had been flogged. Exacerbated by events, Cacamatzin summoned his vassals, his cousin and lord of Coyoacán, as well as the tlatoani of Tlacopan Totoquihuatzin, the lord of Iztapalapa Cuitláhuac, and the lord of Matlatzinco, to rebel against the Spanish conquerors. However, Moctezuma, enraptured by the Europeans, and not wanting to see Tenochtitlan under war, alerted Cortés, who tried to make peace with the Lord of Tetzcuco. Cacamatzin's answer was negative, he even argued that he did not believe his lies and that he would not be convinced as the huey tlatoani had been. Moctezuma, through messengers, interceded in favor of Cortés and ordered Cacamatzin to be asked once again not to attempt rebellion against the Spanish. In response, the Lord of Tetzcuco gave an ultimatum of four days, adding that his uncle was a chicken, he begged Moctezuma to let go, to be a lord and not a slave, he told Cortés that he had no friendship with whoever took him away. honor and kingdom, and that the war he wanted to wage was for the benefit of his vassals in defense of their land and religion.León-Portilla, M. 1992, 'The

: The Aztec Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico. ''Boston: Beacon Press, ''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cacamatzin 1480s births 1520 deaths Tlatoque Texcoco (altepetl) Nahuatl-language poets 16th-century monarchs in North America