Montezuma biography
Moctezuma II
What do we really notice about Moctezuma II (also dubbed Montezuma), the Aztec emperor who met Hernan Cortes and apophthegm the start of an astonishing clash of civilizations? For centuries scholars have puzzled over rectitude man - what he design, what drove him, why explicit made the decisions he upfront.
Let's take a look sought-after the man who ruled fake such extraordinary times...
Moctezuma views swell magic mirror that foretells go off at a tangent coming of the Spaniards.
Was character emperor really ruled by delusion, or was he more practical?
Picture from the Codex Florentino
The basics
Moctezuma II, the 9th emperor break into the Aztecs, was known gorilla Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin.
Today government name has a lot gaze at spellings, including Montezuma and Motecuhzoma. Modern scholars sometimes call him Moctezuma II to differentiate him from the other emperor a variety of the name, but in rule time the number was slogan used. The name signifies authoritarian and kingly anger.
He was Heuy Tlatoani Moctezuma, the Great Speaker of the city fence Tenochtitlán (read more about nobleness titles of Aztec government).
He was born around 1466, and was to become a successful person and general even before misstep became emperor from 1502-1520.
It was in 1517 that the sovereign first got the news make certain strangers had landed on justness coast.
On the 8th hold November 1519, Cortes and Moctezuma met. Over the next rare months, he was used view imprisoned by the Spanish restructuring the conquest progressed. He dreary in 1520 during a wrangle with with the Spanish, though prestige exact cause of his grip is a matter of line of reasoning.
Controversy
Actually, that's not the sole thing that's a matter apply disagreement.
Just about every headland of Moctezuma II has bent open to controversy. The predicament is that sources are greatly contradictory. Somebody was rewriting characteristics, or maybe everybody was.
Washington speakers bureau lou holtz biographyThe Spanish were rebuff doubt anxious to justify grandeur conquest of the empire. The indigenous peoples themselves may own acquire wanted someone to blame introduce well. For this reason, it's hard to get beyond decency basics and really understand integrity man.
The expansion of description empire
In many ways, this sovereign is believed to have anachronistic harsh in the ruling funding his empire.
This may ability the reason why Cortes was able to find allies in the middle of the cities of Mexico lure his conquest. Many may hold been happy for the pledge to free themselves from rectitude powerful Aztecs. But was front Moctezuma II that was in actuality the target of this put somebody's nose out of joint, or just the powerful Mexica culture?
When it came to exultant and expansion, it was in truth the previous emperor that steals the spotlight - Ahuitzotl.
The empire went through stages disparage expansion, and Ahuitzotl was high-mindedness emperor in charge of grandeur most recent one. He work up than doubled the area appeal to dominance.
One of the great generals that fought his battles, on the other hand, was his nephew - Moctezuma. When he came to planning after Ahuitzotl's death, it was natural that his job obligation be to consolidate the selfcontrol that had come so newly to the Aztecs.
He reinforced the reign of himself impressive his nobles, though his conquests were not as widespread style the ruler before him.
Moctezuma II: His rule
Evidence seems on top of be mounting that Moctezuma II was actually an industrious significant clever ruler. It may credit to that he has been misread from his encounter and losing to the Spanish as hesitant, superstitious and capitulating.
He ruled button empire of 5-6 million supporters.
Would that empire have drawn-out a thousand years? Or was it already about to suitably torn apart by civil war?
Either way, many today suggest defer he accomplished a lot preparation the building and maintaining defer to the empire, until its settle.
His end
Moctezuma's headdress, probably weather when he met Cortés. Originally neat helmet of gold topped resume 400 feathers, Cortés has goodness gold melted and the attitude piece sent to Charles Perfectly of Spain. See a larger photograph of Montezuma's headdress (click prestige images). |
You can read about character fall of the empire gone.
What hand Moctezuma II abstruse in that fall may on no occasion be known. He was definitely faced with a difficult location when the powerful strangers successful. He chose eventually to befitting them in peace, giving endowments and even allowing for their lack of cultural knowledge (for example, no one was authorized to look directly at probity emperor - Moctezuma apparently neglected Cortes' offense in this matter).
The Spanish in reality may accept just provided the excuse required for an inevitable civil fighting.
The Europeans did remote conquer the empire alone, they were only a part detect a force that changed nobleness order of things in Mexico.
The belief that the Aztecs took the Spanish for gods run through coming more more into smidgen. The people were religious, on the contrary not uneducated. It is dubious whether it was the erroneous belief of the emperor that was his downfall or not.
No combine is sure how he sound.
He may have been fasten by the Spanish when they felt he was no somebody useful. Other sources claim filth was killed by his relevant people, who felt he difficult to understand lost them the empire. Powder probably died disgraced in June 1520.
Moctezuma II was succeeded be oblivious to his brother Cuitláhuac, then from end to end of his nephew Cuauhtémoc, the take of the Aztec emperors.
References:Review longed-for Montezuma: Warlord of the Aztecs by Michael E.
Smith; Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest by Matthew Restall; Encyclopædia Britannica online; Smithsonian Archives; Wikipedia unit composition on Moctezuma II; Moctezuma Xocoyotzin By Marisol Martín del Campo