The aztec empire

The Aztec Empire flourished
between c. 1345 and 1521 CE and,
at its greatest extent, covered most
of northern Mesoamerica. Aztec
warriors were able to dominate their
neighbouring states and permit
rulers such as Motecuhzoma II to
impose Aztec ideals and religion
across Mexico. Highly accomplished
in agriculture and trade, the last of
the great Mesoamerican civilizations
was also noted for its art and
architecture which ranks amongst
the finest ever produced on the
continent.

Sometime around 1100 CE the
city-states or altepetl which
were spread over central
Mexico began to compete with
each other for local resources
and regional dominance. Each
state had its own ruler or
tlatoani who led a council of
nobles but these small urban
centres surrounded by farmland
soon sought to expand their
wealth and influence so that by
c. 1400 CE several small
empires had formed in the
Valley of Mexico.
Tlatoani

Dominant amongst these altepetl were Texcoco, capital of
the Acholhua region, and Azcapotzalco, capital of the
Tepenec. These two empires came face to face in 1428 CE
with the Tepanec War. The Azcapotzalco forces were
defeated by an alliance of Texcoco, Tenochtitlan (the capital
of the Mexica) and several other smaller cities.
The Tepanec
War

Following victory a Triple Alliance
was formed between Texcoco,
Tenochtitlan and a rebel Tepanec
city, Tlacopan. A campaign of
territorial expansion began where
the spoils of war - usually in the
form of tributes from the
conquered - were shared
between these three great cities.
Over time Tenochtitlan came to
dominate the Alliance, its ruler
became the supreme ruer - the
huey tlatoque ('high king') - and
the city established itself as the
capital of the Aztec empire.

The empire continued to expand from
1430 CE and the Aztec military -
bolstered by conscription of all adult
males, men supplied from allied and
conquered states, and such elite
groups as the Eagle and Jaguar
warriors - swept aside their rivals.
Aztec warriors wore padded cotton
armour, carried a wooden or reed
shield covered in hide, and wielded
weapons such as a super sharp
obsidian sword-club (macuahuitl), a
spear or dart thrower (atlatl), and bow
and arrows. Elite warriors also wore
spectacular feathered and animal skin
costumes and headdresses to signify
their rank.

The Aztec empire came to cover most of northern Mexico, an
area of some 135,000 square kilometres.

Technochtitlan (nowadays the center of Mexico City) was
founded on an island in the middle of the shallow lake
Texcoco.

The inhabitants of
Tenochtitlan were divided
into several social strata.
At the top were the King,
the local rulers
(teteuhctin) or the High
Priest(ahaw), then came
the council (often part of
yhe royal family), then
were the nobles (pipiltin),
commoners and traders
(macehualtin), and finally
slaves (tlacohtin).

Mythology and religion, as with
most ancient cultures, were closely
intertwined for the Aztecs. The very
founding of Tenochtitlán was based
on the belief that peoples from the
mythical land of plenty Aztlán
(literally 'Land of White Herons' and
origin of the Aztec name) in the far
northwest had first settled in the
Valley of Mexico. They had been
shown the way by their god
Huitzilopochtli who had sent an
eagle sitting on a cactus to indicate
exactly where these migrants
should build their new home. The
god also gave these people their
name, the Mexica, who along with
other ethnic groups, who similarly
spoke Nahuatl, collectively made up
the peoples now generally known
as the Aztecs.
Huitzilopochtli

The Aztec pantheon included a mix
of older Mesoamerian gods and
specifically Mexica deities. The two
principal gods worshipped were
Huitzilopochtli (the war and sun god)
and Tlaloc (the rain god) and both
had a temple on top of the Templo
Mayor pyramid at the heart of
Tenochtitlan. Other important gods
were Quetzalcoatl (the feathered
serpent god common to many
Mesoamerican cultures),
Tezcatlipoca (supreme god at
Texcoco), Xipe Totec (god of Spring
and agriculture), Xiuhtecuhtli (god of
fire), Xochipilli (god of summertime
and flowers), Ometeotl (the creator
god), Mictlantecuhtli (god of the
dead) and Coatlicue (the earth-
mother goddess).

The Aztecs were themselves
appreciative of fine art and they
collected pieces from across their
empire to be brought back to
Tenochtitlán and often ceremonially
buried. Aztec art was nothing if not
eclectic and ranged from miniature
engraved precious objects to
massive stone temples.
Monumental sculptures were a
particular favourite and could be
fearsome monstrosities such as the
colossal Coatlicue statue or be very
life-like such as the famous
sculpture of a seated Xochipilli.

Organised in guilds and attached
to the main palaces, artisans could
specialise in metalwork, wood
carving or stone sculpture, with
materials used such as amethyst,
rock crystal, gold, silver, and
exotic feathers. Perhaps some of
the most striking art objects are
those which employed turquoise
mosaic such as the famous mask
of Xuihtecuhtli. Common forms of
pottery vessels include
anthropomorphic vases in bright
colours and of special note was
the finely made and highly prized
Cholula ware from Cholollan.
Mask of Xiuhtecuhtli

Aztec art depicted all manner
of subjects but especially
popular were animals, plants
and gods, particularly those
related to fertility and
agriculture. Art could also be
used as propaganda to
spread the imperial
dominance of Tenochtitlan.
Examples such as the Sun
Stone, Stone of Tizoc, and
Throne of Motecuhzoma II all
portray Aztec ideology and
seek to closely correlate
political rulers to cosmic
events and even the gods
themselves.
The throne of Motecuhzoma IIThe Sun Stone
Stone of Tizoc

Aztec cities often competed to
construct the greatest temples in
the Aztec empire and in the
world.[citation needed] While
doing so, instead of demolishing
an old temple and building a new
one at the site, they simply built
over the old structure. Often, the
temples were immense and were
very proportioned. Some temples
have been found to have at least
four or five layers. Houses were
uniform throughout most of the
empire, only varying in size and
ornamentation. Houses were built
with logs and were not separated,
thus resulting in one large room.

• The Aztec empire, which controlled some 11,000,000 people,
had always had to deal with minor rebellions - typically, when
new rulers took power at Tenochtitlan - but these had always
been swiftly crushed. The tide began to turn, though, when the
Aztecs were heavily defeated by the Tlaxcala and in 1515 CE.

With the arrival of the Spanish, some of these rebel states would
again seize the opportunity to gain their independence. When
the conquistadors finally did arrive from the Old World sailing
their floating palaces and led by Hernán Cortés, their initial
relations with the leader of the Aztecs, Motecuhzoma II, were
friendly and valuable gifts were exchanged

Things turned sour, though, when
a small group of Spanish soldiers
were killed at Tenochtitlan while
Cortés was away at Veracruz.
The Aztec warriors, unhappy at
Motecuhzoma's passivity,
overthrew him and set Cuitlahuac
as the new tlatoani. This incident
was just what Cortés needed and
he returned to the city to relieve
the besieged remaining Spanish
but was forced to withdraw on
the 30th of June 1520 CE in what
became known as the Noche
Triste.

Gathering local allies Cortés
returned ten months later and
in 1521 CE he laid siege to the
city. Lacking food and ravaged
by disease, the Aztecs, now led
by Cuauhtemoc, finally
collapsed on the fateful day of
13th of August 1521 CE.
Tenochtitlan was sacked and
its monuments destroyed.
From the ashes rose the new
capital of the colony of New
Spain and the long line of
Mesoamerican civilizations
which had stretched right back
to the Olmec came to a
dramatic and brutal end.

The aztec empire

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