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Complex civilizations of mesoamerica
Short essay about mesoamerica civilization
Rise and Fall of the Aztecs
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A little about Montezuma: Montezuma was the fifth and last king of the Aztec empire before the Spanish in early 16 C.E. He was born on 1466 C.E and died at 1520 C.E.
Montezuma’s rule: Montezuma achieved the title of tlooni (meaning “the speaker”) in 1502 C.E, as he would rule until 1520 C.E. By which he had expanded the empire and was thought of as a god and as a preturpreter of the sun. During Montezuma's rule the Aztec Empire expanded and reached its biggest size. Through warfare, the Aztec Empire stretched from as far south as Xocono, (the part of Mexico that borders Guatemala) and incorporated the Zapotec and Yopi people into the tribe.
Montezuma’s family: Montezuma had many wives, but the only two were his queens were, Tlapalizquixochtzin, and Teotlalco. He also had many children including, Princess Isabel Montezuma, and Chimalpopoca.
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In his first description of montezuma Díaz del Castillo writes: “The great Montezuma was about 40 years old, of good height, well proportioned, spare and slight, and not very dark, though of the usual Indian
Using only a fairly small number of soldiers (10,000), Cortes brought down 5 Million Aztecs to their knees and so it made easier for Hernan to take over a country that was in desperate times. The Aztecs drove the Spanish troops from the city, giving Cortes a better chance to try and win over the Aztec empire again. Cortes returned again in 1521, this time putting an end to the Aztec empire by killing the Aztec leader. The same year King Charles I appointed him the governor of New Spain. It was after the war when Cortes changed the name of the country from Tenochtitlan to Mexico City or
After the discovery of the new world, by Christopher Columbus, rapidly the Europeans navigate from their countries to the new world in search of gold and precious rocks that have a value for their kings or queens. Hernan Cortes, born in Medellin, Spain, was a conquistador mainly best known as the conquistador that found Tenochtitlan, which is now call Mexico City. During the conquista Bernal del Castillo and Hernán Cortés describe the struggles and other issues that they had to find the city Tenochtitlan through writing it on a book. Tenochtitlan, at that point, had amazing building structure and an extensive market. The Aztec or Mexica had, when found by Cortez, an extensive knowledge of Astronomy, time, and including Mathematics. After Cortes’s entrance to Tenochtitlan the king, Moctezuma, believe that Spaniards were part of their culture or history, as the same as Toltecs.
During his reign, Hernan Cortes spent most of his time rebuilding Mexico City. He destroyed Aztec buildings and temples, and then rebuilt Christians Churches on top of the ruins. He also brought many Europeans to Mexico. Because of this Mexico City soon became the most important city in the Americas. Cortes founded new cities and appointed men to rule over these new cities and extend Spanish rule. He instituted the encomienda land tenure system in 1524. This is a trusteeship labour system in which certain per...
He attempted this primarily through his portrayal of Montezuma’s system of governance as brutal and is people as disloyal to him. He described the apparent willingness of the peoples he encountered to abandon the Aztecs and swear allegiance to the King of Spain, “Although they were subjects of Montezuma … they had been reduced to that condition by force …and when they had obtained through me some knowledge of your Highness … they declared their desire to become vassals of your Majesty, and to form an alliance with me”(Second Letter, 38–39). Cortés justified his conquest further through his proclamation to the his king that he was acting in defense of these newly acquired vassals. Cortés wrote that Montezuma subjected the local people to violent and tyrannical repression and, “took from them their sons to be slain and offered as sacrifices to his idols”(Second Letter,
The passage from Bernal Díaz del Castillo’s The True History of the Conquest of New Spain is a clear example of a narrative source. Díaz is presenting his personal account of Hernan Cortes’s expedition into Tenochtitlan. An interesting aspect of this narrative is that it was written almost 50 years after the events described occurred . Bernal Díaz del Castillo was only 24 years old when on November 8, 1519 he and the rest of Hernán Cortés’s expedition first entered the city of Tenochtitlán . He did not finish his account, titled The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, which many suspect was intended as a slight to Francisco López de Gómara’s accounts of the expeditions , until 1567 . This was not his first travel to the New World, in fact, it was his fourth . Díaz del Castillo was 19 years old the first time he traveled to the Americas, this time was to Panama . Díaz later became a governor in Guatemala, mostly as a reward for his actions as a conquistador . The event that is commonly seen as spurring the not-well-educated Bernal Díaz del Castillo to write of his experiences with Cortés was the publication of Francisco López de Gómara’s Coleccion de historiadores primitivos de las Indias Occidentales, which Díaz saw as seriously flawed and underappreciating the work of the conquistadors . The book this passage comes from languished on shelves until it was published in 1632, posthumously .
Spain, as one of the most powerful nations in the old world, had a great influence on many events in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Spanish also had an influence on many other empires/nations' fate. One of the empires that suffered a grave fate at the hands of the Spanish was the Aztec empire. The Aztec empire was not the oldest Mesoamerican empire and it was formed from an agreement between three city-states. The Aztec's class system had the emperor on top, then the priests, and everyone else below them. The priests were responsible for keeping the gods happy. The sacrifice of goods and people was a commonplace in the Aztec culture, and it was often the goods/people of other nations that were taken for sacrifices. As one can imagine,
August 13th, 1521 marked the end of a diabolical, yet genius group of leaders. They were referred to as the Aztecs. They were an extremely advanced ancient civilization. The Aztec’s were overthrown by the Spanish, yet we still haven’t forgotten the Aztecs. But since their culture was so complex it’s hard to know what is the most necessary thing to study when it comes to them, especially when their were so many things that defined their culture. The Aztecs were highly religious and believed in human sacrifice. They also had a complex method of farming called chinampas. This grew an extremely large amount of food per year by using canals. This was extremely successful because of how complex it was. When asked if historians should emphasize agriculture
Cortes was able to conquer the Aztecs for several very different reasons. In combination these reasons allowed him to have the upper hand in the conquest of Mexico. Arguably these reasons can be sorted into six different categories. The various causes for Cortes' success will be assessed in a climax pattern. To begin with the Aztecs had a harsh tribute system that was not popular among the people of Mexico. This cruel tribute system allowed Cortes to act as a liberator. Furthermore, with the Spanish brought several diseases into Mexico in witch they were immune to but the Aztecs were not. The spread of diseases such as small pox reduced the Aztec population and furthered Cortes' success unintentionally Also Marina was a tribal girl given as a gift to Cortes, she proved invaluable in translating local dialects in combination with Geronimo de Aguilar. Also an important aspect of his success was due to Montezuma's belief that Cortes was Quetzakoatl. A predominant reason for the Spanish success was due to their weaponry especially their armour and firepower. Perhaps the most important reason of all was that of Cortes' Indian allies such as the Tlaxcalans who made up the majority of his combined army. All these reasons worked together to allow Cortes, originally with 508 men to conquer the Aztec Empire of millions of people.
Nezahualcoyotl (Hungry Coyote) born in 1402 in Texcoco, was considered the greatest poet of ancient Mexico. He was the ruler of the city-state of Texcoco, which together with the city-states of Tenochtitlan and Tlacopan made up the Aztec Empire. The Aztec Empire ruled the Valley of Mexico for 93 years (1428-1521) until Hernan Cortes’s Spanish conquistadores and his native allies defeated it. The Aztecs controlled almost all of central Mexico, except the Tlaxcalteca kingdom. However, Nezahualcoyotl was not an Aztec; his people were the Alcohuans, one of the northern tribes that migrated into the Valley of Mexico. After becoming the ruler of his homeland, his talents and vision of the city flourished and Texcoco became the center of the empire.
...quered territories were not in direct contact with the Aztec empire. The Aztec empire functioned well because it succeeded in centering the power in the capital. Tenochtitlan was their capital. When the Aztecs conquered a city they did not meddle in the city’s local affairs as long as the city paid its tribute to the Aztec empire.
There were two forms of law that existed in the Aztec community, common law and written law up until around 1325. After that they declared a king what was other wise known to them as a tlatoani. This chief was in charge of the administration of justice, a chief of the army, a head priest, and a royal treasure. They took on those responsibilities with this statement in mind, “what is desirable, what is right” and they were to rule by that order.
We are left with Castillo symbolically describing the events at the Great Cue. Montezuma sent priests to help Cortés ascend the 114 stairs to the top but Cortés would not allow them to even come near him. At the top, Montezuma tells Cortés that he and his men must be very tired from ascending the great Cue. Cortés promptly and firmly replies: "…that he and his companions were never tired of anything" (World History: Castillo, 252). This symbolizes and affirms Cortés intentions that we were only able to infer before.
The Aztec Empire was ruled by an emperor known as the Huey Tlatcani, guest speaker, and had absolute power. The Huey Tlatcani was believed to have been
They built Tenochtitlan in the year thirteen twenty five BC. They started as a small struggling village continually fighting with other Mexican city-states. Tenochtitlan acted as a place of refuge. Aztec Empire At first the Aztecs where ruled by the mightiest of the city-states in central Mexico known as Azcapotzlaco.
Montezuma the Aztec king but Montezuma refused.November 1519 the Aztec people tried to appease Cortes by giving him gold and other treasures. Cortes didn't trust the people though and he took Montezuma hostage.1519