Historical Fiction and the Long Tails or Erie People
The first serious military clash between the Great League of the Five Iroquois Nations and the Erie People (Erielhonan/Long Tails) is relatively well-documented. In his History of Ashtabula County,...
View ArticleAcamapichtli – the first ruler of Tenochtitlan
The name Acamapichtli – Aca(tl)=reed, mapichtli=handful – meant ‘a handful of reeds’, sometimes depicted as arrows with blunted tips, has carved itself into Tenochtitlan’s history as one of the corner...
View ArticleHuitzilihuitl – the second ruler of Tenochtitlan
His name was Huitzilihuitl, which meant Hummingbird Feather (huitzi(lin)=hummingbird, ihuitl=feather). He wasn’t the oldest son of his father, the first Tenochtitlan’s ruler, Acamapichtli, but...
View ArticleThrowing Spears
With the Cold Moons safely gone and the spring taking over for good, the women of the longhouses were hurrying out to start preparations for the new planting season. The winter time of the...
View ArticleChimalpopoca – the third ruler of Tenochtitlan
His name Chimalpopoca meant Smoking Shield (Chimal(li)-shield, popoca-smoke/smoking), and he came to succeed his father, Huitzilihuitl, in the year of 1418 or Four Rabbit-Nahui Tochtli. Some sources...
View ArticleItzcoatl – the fourth ruler of Tenochtitlan
His name was Itzcoatl, which meant Obsidian Serpent – izt(li)=obsidian, coatl=serpent – and he came to succeed his nephew, the Third Tlatoani of Tenochtitlan, in 1428 or One Flint Knife/Ce Tecpatl....
View ArticleHistorical fiction and the war on Tlatelolco, part 1
By the second part of the 15th century, Tenochtitlan was already an important, dominant altepetl with quite a few provinces to rule. A member of the Triple Alliance, situated between its powerful...
View ArticlePart XIII: What triggered conflict between Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco
In the mid-15th century, Tenochtitlan‘s influence spread already far and wide, even though it was still nowhere near what it would be only a few decades later, under the rule of the vigorous eighth...
View ArticlePart XIV: The conflict with Tlatelolco intensifies
Tlatelolco, indeed, had taken a dubious course when, following the demonstrative competition upon the Great Plaza described in the Tenochtitlan’s Conquests Part XIII, Moquihuixtli and his adviser...
View ArticlePart XV: The Conquest of Tlatelolco
After the unsuccessful night attack on Tenochtitlan described in the Tenochtitlan’s Conquests Part XIV Tlatelolco found itself in a dire dilemma: to try and fight in an open battle that they had not...
View ArticleSchool with no Summer Break
If you happened to be a teenager in one of the Central Mexico’s prominent altepetls/city-states such as Tenochtitlan, the famous island-capital of the Mexica Aztecs, or their partners of the mainland,...
View ArticleAxayacatl – the sixth ruler of Tenochtitlan
His name was Axayacatl, which meant Water Face – a(tl)=water, xayacatl=face – but also depicts certain water incest that was abound in Lake Texcoco and still a part of the native cuisine in Mexico...
View ArticleA plea for help from the Toluca Valley
To the south and west of Lake Texcoco spread fertile areas of easily cultivated valleys bordered by highlands of various elevations. Plenty of cities and towns dotted those, some subdued by...
View ArticleTake a stroll around Tenochtitlan Zoo
If you happened to wander the grand island-capital of the Mexicas for more than a few days, touring magnificent plazas and squares, endless alleys of marketplace and portable bridges stretching across...
View ArticleArmy with no Beasts of Burden
It is well known that Tenochtitlan’s influence, not to say outright domination, encompassed Central Mexico and after the time of its eight Tlatoani Ahuitzotl reached almost from coast to coast....
View ArticleMilitary career
Youths just out of school – both calmecac and telpochcalli yet mostly from the prestigious calmecac – used to be picked by veterans as yaotelpochtli or shield-bearers. Their duty was to carry their...
View ArticleReinforcements from the Otomi north
While Axayacatl was busy recruiting his army, which in as giant an island city as Tenochtitlan was not an easy or a short process, the independent city-states of the Toluca Valley weren’t idle as well....
View ArticleMocuilxochitzin – the most famous poetess of Tenochtitlan
In the Mexica Capital, women composing poetry were not uncommon, if less famous than their fellow contemporary noblemen poets. Sahagun in his “Florentine Codex” presents us with a glyph that is thought...
View ArticlePriestly Career
Various servants of gods held an important place in Tenochtitlan’s life, even though their importance is tended to be often overplayed by the later-day records of Spanish conquerors. Like anywhere...
View ArticleFrom the feasts of Tenochtitlan Royal Enclosure to the kitchens of the...
Between the grand feasts consumed by the Mexica rulers in Tenochtitlan Palace and the daily meals the last of the commoners living by the wharves or the marketplace hastily devoured, the flow of the...
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