In the The Rise of the Aztecs Part IX, we left the Aztecs, Acolhua and the Highlanders preparing to cross Lake Texcoco in the desperate attempt to rid themselves of the Tepanec oppression. No more high or extravagant tribute would be paid; not a single cotton cloak, no quetzal feathers, no foodstuff, no precious materials would be sent to the stern Masters of the Mexican Valley with every full moon. The Tepanecs had swallowed more than they could have digest, while their new ruler was proving to be a mere shadow of his great father.

And so, according to various accounts, the beginning of 1428 saw thousands of warriors rolling down the shores of Lake Texcoco, gathering strength as they went. The conquered Acolhua, reinforced by the Highlanders from all over Tlaxcala Valley, with even the people from the distant city of Xaltocan, had boarded large war canoes, to be joined by the fierce Mexica warriors eager to reach Azcapotzalco, the magnificent capital of the Tepanecs.

As the huge fleet landed on the western shores of Lake Texcoco, even some of the Tepanec communities joined the daring enterprise, with Tlacopan being the most notable of the ‘traitors’. Situated on the shores of the Great Lake, in a close proximity to Tenochtitlan, Tlacopan was apparently under the Aztec influence for some time, dissatisfied with Azcapotzalco’s politics anyway. A clever move, as by assisting the allies in time, Tlacopan had guaranteed itself a secured position in the new arrangement of powers, far beyond this town’s natural importance.

Yet, even for the hastily organized hordes of its dissatisfied subjects, the Tepanec Empire was more than a match. The offensive against Azcapotzalco had met with a fierce resistance of the hardened, battle-trained Tepanec warriors’ force, eager to fight, eager to defend the Great Capital, eager to carry the war back to the revolting subjects’ territories.

The balance of power in the Mexican Valley was about to change, but in whose favor?

For some time the fighting on the outskirts of Azcapotzalco went on, fierce, unrelenting, with the invaders and the defenders giving everything they had, knowing that whoever lost would have to perish, if not as a nation than as a power. Some sources state that the fighting raged on and off for more than a few months, while others point out that due to the lay of the land it could not have gone on for more than a week or so.

In any case, at one point, a relief force led by the renowned Tepanec general appeared, and the battle that ensued lasted from sunrise to sundown, hopelessly balance. But then one of the Mexica leaders, either young Moctezuma I (not to confuse with Moctezuma II who was famous for greeting Cortez about a century or so later) or Tlacaelel, had challenged the Tepanec Warlord and had managed to kill him in a fair duel of obsidian swords. Such spectacular death harmed the fighting spirits of the defenders up to the point that they had hastily retreated behind Azcapotzalco’s walls and the city was taken on the following day.

According to some accounts, the victorious allies had razed the magnificent capital to the ground, turning it into a huge slave market, sparing no one. Yet, other accounts are mentioning the renewed list of Tepanec rulers that began appearing after a span of some decades, which suggests that Azcapotzalco remained to function as a city, but a mediocre place of no significance.

Maxtla, the cause of the whole trouble, had fled to Coyoacan, leaving his capital behind to deal with the invaders. However, the allies weren’t about to give up. After another short blockade and a difficult battle, Coyoacan had fallen too, and this time the despicable ruler was sacrificed on the highest pyramid of Coyoacan’s plaza, reportedly by Nezahualcoyotl himself.

Upon this final victory the Triple Alliance, or the beginning of what we came to know as the Aztec Empire, was formed. The former Tepanec provinces, towns and subjected territories were taken under the Triple Alliance members’ responsibility, and more had been added as the time passed.

Itzcoatl, the ruler of Mexica-Aztec Tenochtitlan took the title of Lord of the Culhua, taking two-fifths of the general tribute paid to the alliance from the conquered territories and yet to be conquered ones.

Nezahualcoyotl, his friend and ally of enough summers, was returned as the ruler of Acolhua Texcoco and its six provinces, declaring himself Lord of the Acolhua, entitled to another two-fifths of the paid goods.

Totoquihuaztli, the ruler of Tlacopan, being a minor ally, did not argue about his much smaller share. He received his remained fifth of the upcoming tribute gratefully, called himself Lord of the Tepanecs and settled down to enjoy the fruits of his ‘betrayal’.

The Highlanders, as it seemed, were in this enterprise not for the titles. They took a considerable share of the immediate spoils, which were huge as Azcapotzalco was a very rich city, and went back to their mountainous towns and valleys, indifferent to the fame and the glory at being called this or that way. They didn’t care how the lowlanders would portray them in their historical records and, needless to say, the allies, indeed, did not go out of their way to stress the importance of their temporary partners’ part in the conquest of the mighty Tepanec empire.

And so what we came to know as the famous Aztec Empire was born, to change the face of the whole Mesoamerica in the next century to come.

The “Rise of the Aztecs” series ended with the siege put on Tenochtitlan in the beginning of 1428.

Prepared, the island-city didn’t panic, blocking the causeways and making sure no water-borne offensive could have been launched by the angered Tepanecs.

Itzcoatl and Tlacaelel were ready, fighting defensive skirmishes while waiting for their Acolhua allies to join in the prospected war.

Reinforced by the Highlanders of Huexotzinco, and even the more distant Tlaxcala and Xaltocan people, Nezahualcoyotl did not make his besieged allies wait. Not stopping to re-conquer even his beloved altepetl of Texcoco, he crossed Lake Texcoco, instead, in a swift well-organized operation, heading straight toward the Azcapotzalco, the Tepanec Capital.

Alarmed, Maxtla, the Tepanec Emperor, had abandoned the blockade, rushing back, anxious to defend his capital, with the Aztecs hot on his heels.

Some sources say that the siege of Azcapotzalco lasted for 114 days, with Nezahualcóyotl and the Highlanders keeping the western watch, while the Mexica warriors sealed the other roads leading to the great city. Others argue that due to the relatively flat terrain, Azcapotzalco was most likely blockaded for a much shorter period of time.

In the end, after many sorties and one large battle with the suddenly appearing Tepanec relief force, the Tepanec Capital fell to the hands of its former tributaries and subjected nations, and the history of Mexican Valley changed.

Following the great victory, Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan formed the Triple Alliance, or what we came to know as the famous Aztec Empire. Many sources state that the future empire, which had, indeed, stretched almost from coast to coast, encompassing much of the modern-day Mexico, while reaching far south into Mesoamerica, was the fruit of Tlacaelel’s work. Many hold this man to be the architect of the Aztec Empire, although he had never been an emperor.

Both Tlacaelel and Nezahualcoyotl lived long, fruitful lives, ruling their corners of the empire differently, but with much success.

If you happened to miss a large scale ceremony while touring prominent cities of the 14th-15th centuries Central Mexico, don’t think your trip was ruined. Stay for some time and wait for the arrival of the market day.

Such day would be well spent and, anyway, you won’t be forced to wait too long as the market interval, the equivalent to our way of counting the weeks, would usually last for no longer that 5 days, unless you got stuck in a small town or village, which, as a tourist, you would be careful to avoid, anyway. So, just tour the beautiful pyramids and plazas until the dawn of the market day arrived, then stay for a treat.

The marketplace in the large altepetl, city-state, was a colorful affair of bubbling activity and clamor, a swirl of sights and smells. Before the dawn-break the traders would already be there, spreading their mats, erecting their stalls, ready for a busy profitable day.

Coming from all over the valley and having started their journey with the nightfall of the previous day, some traders might had been quite tired, but this was the custom, to embark upon the journey at dusk, whether for a purpose of a short trip to the neighboring town or for a moon-long trading expedition to the other side of the valley or the continent.

Yet, no matter how much time a trader would spend on the road, he would never dream to start selling his goods before reaching his destination. To do so was to show disrespect to the gods who were watching over the market business. It was also in violation of the pochteca, the trader guild’s laws, and no merchant in his right mind would risk angering the powerful guild, who were extremely influential and whose watchful eyes and the punishing arm would reach everywhere.

In the all encompassing legal system of courts and laws (and the Aztecs were very law-abiding society) the trading guild was one of the few independent bodies, functioning outside the intricate legal system.

It all happened in 1473, according to quite a few accounts, when Tlatelolco, Tenochtitlan’s sister-city, revolted against the growing dominance of their pushy neighbors, the leaders of the Triple Alliance, who only half a century earlier had conquered the Tepanec Empire, and had grown too powerful ever since. The revolt was crushed easily, some say with the active help of the leading merchants from the rebellious city, who struck a deal with Tenochtitlan’s emperor, Axayacatl, accepting his patronage and offering to act as his spies and the independent merchants of his ever-growing empire.

Thus the symbolic relationship of the Aztec royal house and the Pochteca traders was defined. It helped to strengthen the economy of the developing empire and added the much needed spying services of the long-distance traders gathering information as they traveled far and wide. With the passing of time Tlatelolco was turned into a huge marketplace, functioning on almost a daily basis, able to accommodate up to 60,000 people on the major market days.

The Pochteca were responsible for the foreign and local trade and had twelve powerful guilds located in major cities-states. They had their own rituals, ceremonies and patron deities and, more importantly, their own legal system.

Very rich and powerful, the leading merchants were nevertheless careful to conceal their riches. Being the typical middle class, they did wise by not flaunting their fortunes before the arrogant, fierce, dangerous nobles. In exchange for taxation, the traders’ guilds were granted the power to regulate the economy, represent themselves before the emperor, judge all law suits relating to the merchant class and ensue their sentences to those who were found guilty of violating the commercial laws.

Each village or town had at least one marketplace, with larger cities having multiple markets. Large markets would meet every 5 days, while the smaller ones would meet less frequently. People would travel far and wide to reach a market where they could buy and sell, hear the local news and socialize with friends.

Much of the selling-buying activity was based on barter, but there was an agreed upon currency too, with the main one being cocoa beans or a certain length of cotton cloths called quachtli. The exchange rates varied at times, from 100 cocoa beans to 300 being worth of a full length cotton cloak. Copper ax blades and quills filled with gold dust were used to determine the pricing for various items too.

All this and more was regulated most scrupulously by inspectors, who were always there, mixing with the crowds, making sure the items were sold at appropriate exchange rates, checking the quality of the products as well. Certain goods could be sold in certain areas, designated by the market judge who required every vendor to a pay a tax in cloaks or cocoa beans.

Everything was sold by number and measure instead of by weight, and the inspectors made sure to check the measures, destroying the false ones if such were discovered. The offender then would be dragged to a market court, to be judged and sentenced by a panel of judges.

Such courts governed all disputes between the traders, required to deal with any issues related to the marketing. In a case of false measures the offender would be fined, with his goods confiscated, sent to bring the rest of the fine from his family to pay up. Other crimes, dealing with stolen goods or with counterfeiting, was sentenced more harshly, with the most serious of the offenders being beaten to death in the center of the marketplace, for everyone to see and learn the lesson.

Still, there were many ways to cheat the system, and undeterred some traders kept mixing in poor quality products. Cocoa beans were easily susceptible to counterfeiting as vendors could remove the outer shell and fill it with dirt, or heat shriveled beans to make them look larger, or create entirely false beans out of wax or amaranth dough. These beans would then be mixed with real beans for sale in the marketplace. (The Florentine Codex includes a description of a bad cacao seller: “… he counterfeits cacao… by making the fresh cacao beans whitish… stirs them into the ashes… with amaranth seed dough, wax, avocado pits… he counterfeits cacao…. Indeed he casts, he throws in with them wild cacao beans to deceive the people…)

So, as we can see, the pochteca courts were never out of job and the marketplace was anything but a boring place to spend one’s time at, either buying or selling good or just hanging out with friends.

I’m honored to present a guest post from MXocoyotzin, an historian, musician, and a freethinker. He speaks a good Nahuatl, loves rock, literature and poetry, admits to being a chocoholic and a devoted fan of Beatles and AC/DC.

He is also one of the founders of In Tlilli In Tlapalli – pre-hispanic blog where you can read many more fascinating articles by him, and other knowledgeable, well-versed in history people.

Women in Mesoamerican societies

In Mesoamerican society women played a very important role, not only among the Mexica (Aztecs), but among the other Nahua cultures as well. At various times, from Preclassic to Postclassic times there is much evidence that let us learn about a woman’s place in the Mexican Valley and beyond it.

Like in most societies, the dominance of the men was evident, with Mesoamerica being no exception. From the moment of birth this was already clear that a baby-boy was received with a little more ‘cheerful’ welcome (although the boys were informed that they came to the world to work). Baby-girls were greeted with words that encouraged them to stay at home. This was refuted by the ritual of burying the umbilical cord in the floor to symbolize the unity of the house (although if the girl was born to a noble family, this part of the ritual was made difficult since the houses of the nobles had no earthen floors).

The words that were said to the newborn were: “… Is no gait out of house, you do not have to have habit of going nowhere. You have to be the ash with which the fire is covered in this hearth. You have to be the trivet where it puts itself on the pan. In this place our master Yoaltecuhtli buries you. Here you have to work, your mission has to be bringing water and grinding corn in put you… “

Like boys, girls were required to attend school, a sort of calmecac or tepochcalli, for various periods of times, depending on a girl’s belonging to a noble or a commoner family.

In the case of a girl who was not noble, the training in the household chores began at the age of 4 up to 12. She had been trained in all aspects of housework. To avoid idleness, the girls were put to sweep the house and the street. This had been done as much for the cleanliness as for honoring Yoalticitl. At the age of 13, after the girl had learned to spin, she had been taught to make tortillas and prepare food, although her main task remained to weave cotton.

In addition to this, noble girls were taught the art of speaking and walking with great dignity. When older, they were taught, among other things, to conduct rituals and supervise the religious aspects of life, to learn how to say prayers and how to prepare offerings to the gods, helping to protect their husbands and families.

The noblewomen, pillis, had to keep the home clean and do daily offerings with rubber, copal (resin) and food that were placed on their home altars. Less occupied with other activities, such as cooking and weaving, most of the noblewomen were entrusted withthe administration of home economics.

For Mesoamerican society, virginity was a very important factor, because when a woman lost hers before the marriage, she was less likely to be accepted by a man, because this way he would have lose his honor. So parents would usually make sure their daughters were kept well until marriage.

A woman in most Nahua societies was physically and mentally prepared for a marriage by the age of 18, but neither they nor their families were the ones to look for a husband. These were men (and man’s family) who would seek the woman out. Sometimes a matchmaker, cihuatlanque, would be employed.

A woman was expected to be loyal and respectful to her husband. The husbands, on the other hand (provided he was noble) could have multiple wives. The trial for infidelity was a public affair and the men were required to take their wives and daughters (no matter how small they were) to witness the punishment, so that the women should learn not to do this.

In conclusion, this is principally what a woman was representing in the pre-Hispanic world, entrusted with the education of her children, praying for her husband, maintaining order in the house, and making sure it was functioning properly. And although it shows a sad difference between the genders , women did not receive a degree of scorn or contempt. Instead, they were a huge pillar of Mesoamerican society, not only socially but religiously as well. Even the deities had their concept of male-female duality, which can be seen from the main deities such as Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl.

Women were especially revered for being the givers of life, and when they lost this virtue with age, they were not belittled, but on the contrary – they were more appreciated because they had all the wisdom within.

For the original post and more information, you are invited to visit In Tlilli In Tlapalli – pre-hispanic blog

In ‘The Rise of the Aztecs Part VIII’, we left Tenochtitlan in turmoil, shattered by the violent death of its lawful Emperor. How dared the Tepanecs to do that? And did it mean war?

The people of Tenochtitlan were worried, fearing the powerful, ruthless, and so far invincible, masters of the Mexican Valley. The Acolhua rebellion of a decade before showed the fruitlessness of the appraising. And while the royal house of Tenochtitlan was determined to face the challenge, the commoners had their doubts.

At those times Tenochtitlan’s council of elders, representatives of four districts and twenty clans, wielded still much influence – something that Itzcoatl, the next Aztec Emperor, had made sure to correct later on – so the rulers could not go to war on their say-so, aristocratic blood or not. They had to reason with their people, and so many promises were made and many fearful oaths taken, while Itzcoatl, an illegitimate son of the First Emperor Acamapichtli and a warlord of many summers, was chosen to be the next emperor.

A very able, highly experienced man, Itzcoatl got to work. First his own people needed to be convinced, then the preparation for the difficult campaign had to be made, alliances struck and strategic plans attended to.

Luckily another very able man saw the force of his argument. Tlacaelel, the man who is generally held today as to be the architect of the Aztec empire, was a young man in the middle of his twenties, but already an outstanding warrior and a promising leader, good in organization and administration. A legal son of Huitzilihuitl, the Second Emperor, Tlacaelel seemed to be indifferent to the power the throne of Tenochtitlan could offer, not aspiring for the highest office in the land.

Enthusiastic and passionate, Tlacaelel went about convincing people, even venturing to Azcapotzalco in order to deliver the declaration of war by his own hands. According to some ancient sources he got into a whole bunch of trouble carrying this particular message, yet back to Tenochtitlan he came, unharmed, proving his courage and his worthiness. For such bravery and loyalty he was awarded by the next highest office in the land – Cihuacoatl, the high priest and the closest adviser.

So, now that the people were convinced and the declaration of war ensued, Itzcoatl sought possible allies. The Aztecs could not war on the Tepanecs alone, but there were more than a few discontented nations around Texcoco Lake. The defeated Acolhua for ones, although their lawful ruler was in the Highlands again, hiding from the wrath of Maxtla. So the messengers were dispatched to climb the high ridges of the eastern side of the Great Lake, offering the fierce highlanders rich pickings and fame.

The highlanders, by this time a mix of Nahua and Otomi people, had had their doubts. Historical enemies of all Lowlanders, they may have wanted to say a resounding ‘no’, but hosting the heir to Texcoco throne for such a long time made the offer more reliable. And tempting, difficult to resist. Azcapotzalco was rumored to be fabulously rich and the campaign against the Tepanecs should prove interesting. Nezahualcoyotl’s task of convincing his newly-found allies had not turned difficult.

And so the combined forces of the Highlanders, Acolhua, Aztecs, joined even by some discontented-by-their-own-capital’s policies Tepanecs, crossed Texcoco Lake, ready to war on the Masters of the Valley. In the next post The Rise of Aztecs Part X, The fall of the Empire we will see what happens to an Empire that had became too large.

I’m honored to present a guest post by Rosalina Cantú Guzmán, an artist, writer, poet and philosopher. Rosalina’s poems are beautiful and her paintings are inspiring.

Rosalina seeks “…to learn, to share and to understand…” “…Through my writing,” she says. “I share my questions about life, through my poems I get to touch the soul and the universe around us and through my art I go beyond thoughts, ideas, colors and lines…”

Originally coming from Mexico-city, Rosalina loves to learn about history of her homeland as much as she can, and most kindly she agreed to share some of her knowledge. I hope you’ll enjoy her article concerning the role of Tlahcuilo, the Scribe and the Artist in the Aztec’ society.

Tlahcuilo – the one who writes paintings

Tlahcuilo is a word derived from Nahuatl.

Tlacuihcuilō or tlahcuilō means ‘the one who works in stone or wood’, and who later came to refer to what we now call – scribe, painter, writer or scholar.

The tlahcuilos were Aztec men and women who excelled in drawing, who were trained with the knowledge of their language and culture from childhood. The work of tlahcuilo is associated with different activities, not only the pictograph. The tlahcuilos painted murals and codices in Mesoamerica. He knew the various forms of representation and mythology. He or she could work in markets and temples, depending on the type of activity that they needed to perform.

The codices were elaborated on bark paper called amatl. In Spanish it is called paper amate. It is a form of paper that is made by boiling the inner bark of several species of trees, particularly fig trees (genus Fics). The resulted fibrous material then is pounded with a stone to produce a stretchy and somewhat delicate paper that’s very characteristic being light brown with corrugated lines. The amate paper is still in use in Mexico in artisan paintings.

Tlahcuilos would also use deerskin, or cotton cloth woven like a belt, and black and red ink for paintings and glyphs; and in some cases, maguey paper. To make the colors they would use vegetables, insects, shells, and minerals to create colors, then oil could be added to make colors brighter. The codices were kept, folded by way of screens, or homes in amoxcallis codices. The tlahcuilos were under the protection of the goddess Xochiquétzal.

The next poem will help to explain the importance of the tlahcuilo and their connection with the gods. This poem is of the Dual God Ometeotl where its depicted as a divine artist who sings and paints human life into existence in his/her divine book. The world is created by the flowers and songs (In Xochitl In Cuicatl) of the gods.

The Tlacuilo With flowers You write, O Giver of life; With songs You give color With songs You shade; Those who live here on the Earth; Later you will erase eagles and jaguars, We live only in your book of paintings, Here, on the Earth.

So the humans create their own flowers and songs, imitating the divine and communicating with the gods. And the tlahcuilo, the human painter, was the artist closest to the god.

They were trained in priestly schools. To be a true painter, a person had to develop an inward sense of feeling and understanding about the nature and intention of the god. This was called conversing with one’s heart, which resulted in the painter’s becoming a yolteotl, or heart rooted in the divine. So the person who had taken the god into his heart was then honored to transfer the images and purpose of the divine realty into paintings, codices, and murals so important for the Aztecs.

This Nahuatl poem found in the Codex Matritense, depicts what a good painter should be:

In tlahcuilo In tlahcuilo: tlilli tlapalli, tlilatl yalvil toltecatl, tlachichiuhqui… In qualli tlahcuilo: mihmati, yolteutl, tlayolteuiani, moyolnonotzani. Tlatlapalpoani, tlatlapalaquiani, tlacevallotiani, tlacxitiani, tlaxayacatiani, tlatzontiani. Xochitlahcuiloa, tlaxochiicuiloa toltecati.

The good painter is a Toltec, an artist; He creates with black and white ink, He prepares the black, he grounds it and apply it, Creator of things in black water; The good painter, understanding, has god in his heart He brings divinity to things with his heart, He communicates with his own heart He knows the colors, he applies, he shades; He draws the feet, the faces; He draws the shades, achieving perfection; He applies color to everything; He paints the colors of all the flowers; As if he was a Toltec.

A note worth mentioning is that they always refer to the Toltecs as perfection, because they believed the Toltecs were descendants of the gods. To be an artist, a Tlahcuilo, you had to be born to be one, you had to have the intuitive skills. Nevertheless, to become Tlahcuilo you had to undergo an extensive training in the local calmecac.

Generally this profession was passed from father to son. The Tlahcuilos were highly regarded in the Aztec society. Their work was intentionally cryptic, only the priest and nobles could interpret them. They weren’t interested in drawing nature as it is observed; the tlahcuilo’s work was a conceptual art. They didn’t sign the codexes or their works; their works belonged to society. And their work still remains with us in murals and codexes, where their unique union and understanding with the gods made them messengers of the flowers and songs of the Aztec society.

Rosalina Cantú Guzmán