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itzamahel — House of Tezozomoc
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Published: 2023-09-14 12:38:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 4455; Favourites: 58; Downloads: 0
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Description
Tezozomoc Yacateteltetl (also Tezozomoctli, Tezozomoctzin), was a Tepanecatecuhtli ("Lord of the Tepaneca", one of the Nahua groups that settled in central Mexico around the 13th-14th centuries CE after a migration from the north) reputedly born in 1320, and who ruled the altepetl (city-state) of Azcapotzalco from the year 1353 until his death in a year Mahtlactli-Omome Tochtli (Twelve Rabbit, 1426).Tezozomoc became known as a military and political genius who oversaw an expansion of Tepanec influence, bringing about Azcapotzalco's dominance in the Valley of Mexico and beyond, during his lifetime, marking a new era in the post-classic period of Mesoamerica. Tezozomoc was a son of Acolnahuacatzin, previous Tepanec ruler of Azcapotzalco, and Cuetlaxochitzin, daughter of the Chichimeca (a name which refers to a variety of peoples who migrated into the centrall Valley of Mexico from the north) king Xolotl from Tenayocán / Tenayuca, one of the major altepetl of the area. Most of the written records about Tezozomoc (such as the Crónica Mexicayotl by Chimalpahin, the Annals of Tlatelolco written by anonymous Nahua authors and the writings of Alva Ixtlilxochitl, a descendant of one of his enemies) come from the early colonial era and show conflicting data, from dates of his birth and ascension to those of his family, but in any of them it's said he had multiple wives (at least 2, in some accounts up to 4 legitimate and more unknown) and many children (from at least 6 to 11), most of whom were made lords of altepeme (plural of city-states) or daughters who married other lords, concentrating power and influence around him.
From left to right, the ones portrayed here are:
- Acolnahuacatl Tzacualcatl, installed as lord of Tlacopan. He would eventually marry Tlacochcuetzin, daughter of Tlacacuitlahuatzin, ruler of Tiliuhcan, and have two sons: Coauoxtli and Oquetzal.
- Cuacuapitzahuac, installed as lord of Tlatelolco. He would eventually marry Acxocueitl, and have a son named Tlacateotl, his successor, and two daughters, Matlalatzin (who would later marry the Mexica Tenochca / Aztec ruler Chimalpopoca) and Huacaltzintli (who would marry the Mexica Tenochca / Aztec ruler Itzcoatl). One of his sisters, Xiuhcanahualtzin, would marry his son Tlacateotl.
- Maxtla, installed as ruler of Coyoacán. He had a son, Tecollotzin, who would succeed him. Upon Tezozomoc's death he tried to usurp his throne from his brother Tayatzin, causing a war which would put the Mexica against the Tepaneca and cause the downfall of Azcapotzalco.
- Tzihuacxochitzin, daughter of Huitzilaztatzin and wife of Tezozomoc. Mother of Acolnahuacatl, Cuacuapitzahuac, Maxtla, Ayauhcihuatl, Xiuhcanahualtzin and others.
- Tezozomoc
- Chalchiuhcozcatzin, main wife of Tlacaelel and mother of Tayatzin.
- Tayatzin, Tezozomoc's future successor, usurped by his half-brother Maxtla. He sided with Chimalpopoca, the ruler of Tenochtitlán at the time, in an attempt to retake Azcapotzalco, what triggered a war in which both him and Chimalpopoca would die, but in which Itzcoatl, Chimalpopoca's uncle and successor, would ally with Nezahualcoyotl of Texcoco and Totoquihuaztli of Tlacopan to bring down Maxtla and destroy Azcapotzalco.
- Ayauhcihuatl, daughter of Tezozomoc and Tzihuacxochitzin, she was married to Huitzilihuitl, a Mexica ruler of Tenochtitlán who, once approaced by Ixtlilxochitl of Texcoco in an attempt to gather an alliance against Tezozomoc, declined it in her favor.
The Mexica from Tenochtitlán (a group of Nahua peoples who, years later, would ally with the Tepaneca from Tlacopan and the Acolhua / Culhua from Texcoco forming the In Excan Tlahtoloyan, what we call today the "Aztec Empire") who have settled in the central valley of Mexico years after the Tepaneca from Azcapotzalco, have started to pay tributes to them under Tezozomoc's rule, and the rulers of the Mexica Tenochca sought an alliance with him to guarantee their place in the power which Tezozomoc exercised for decades. From this alliance, the Mexica lend their best warriors to fight for the interests of the Tepanecatecuhtli. Huitzilihuitl, who started to rule as second Tlatoani ("he who speaks", ruler of an altepetl) of Tenochtitlán after Acamapichtli, some time between 1390 - 1403, married Ayauhcihuatl, a daughter of Tezozomoc, what earned the Tenochca Mexica a symbolic reduction in tribute payments.
Tezozomoc left a divisive legacy, that paved the way for the lordship which the Mexica, once his tributaries, would seize in the 15th century to become the greatest political power in the region and beyond (the Aztec empire); and also a cruel, wealthy and demanding ruler who enjoyed and exercised so much influence that would drive his own family to fight themselves for his position, dooming the whole social fabric his subjects fought for decades to keep growing.
Digital illustration by Zamahel, 2023
Way back (in 2015) I've drawn a humanoid Cuetzpalin (lizard) version of Tezozomoc , as well of Maxtla and Tayatzin , set in a fantasy world
