Cuauhtémoc

About Cuauhtémoc

Who is it?: Last Aztec Emperor
Birth Year: 1497
Birth Place: Mexican
Reign: 1520–1521
Predecessor: Cuitlahuac
Successor: Tlacotzin
Father: Ahuitzotl
Mother: Tlilancapatl

Cuauhtémoc

Cuauhtémoc was born on 1497 in Mexican, is Last Aztec Emperor. Cuauhtemoc was the last emperor Aztec Emperor who ruled from 1520 to 1521. Born to Ahuitzotl and Tlilancapatl, he was the cousin of late Emperor Moctezuma II. Since an early age, Cuauhtemoc’s aggressiveness and determination was famous, his name itself means ‘a person who has descended like an eagle’. Just like a descending eagle that is focussed and sharp, Cuauhtemoc too was strong-minded and unwavering. He succeeded Cuitláhuac in 1520 after the latter died an untimely death due to small pox. At the time when Cuauhtemoc ascended the throne, he was merely 25 years old. There were only a few Aztec captains who were eligible for the post. Cuauhtemoc was voted as the most able candidate by the high noblemen, which eventually led to his appointment. During his tenure as the Emperor, Cuauhtémoc defended the city through a four-month siege. He was later captured by the Spanish, who in turn tortured Cuauhtemoc to reveal the location of Aztec gold. However, Cuauhtemoc’s resoluteness was legendary as despite immense torture, he stuck to his silence and till the end did not reveal the location of traditional Aztec wealth. Fearing an insurrection by Cuauhtemoc in future, the Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, killed him
Cuauhtémoc is a member of Historical Personalities

Some Cuauhtémoc images

Famous Quotes:

Oh Malinzin [i.e., Cortés]! Now I understand your false promises and the kind of death you have had in store for me. For you are killing me unjustly. May God demand justice from you, as it was taken from me when I entrusted myself to you in my city of Mexico!

Biography/Timeline

1515

Cuauhtemoc's date of birth is unknown, as he does not enter the historical record until he became Emperor. He was the eldest legitimate son of Emperor Ahuitzotl and may well have attended the last New Fire ceremony, marking the beginning of a new 52-year cycle in the Aztec calendar. Like the rest of Cuauhtemoc's early biography, that is inferred from knowledge of his age, and the likely events and life path of someone of his rank. Following education in the calmecac, the school for elite boys, and then his military Service, he was named ruler of Tlatelolco, with the title cuauhtlatoani ("eagle ruler") in 1515. To have reached this position of rulership, Cuauhtemoc had to be a male of high birth and a warrior who had captured enemies for sacrifice.

1520

When Cuauhtemoc was elected tlatoani in 1520, Tenochtitlan had already been rocked by the invasion of the Spanish and their indigenous allies, the death of Moctezuma II, and the death of Moctezuma's brother Cuitlahuac, who succeeded him as ruler, but died of smallpox shortly afterwards. In keeping with traditional practice, the most able candidate among the high noblemen was chosen by vote of the highest noblemen, Cuauhtemoc assumed the rulership. Although under Cuitlahuac Tenochtitlan began mounting a defense against the invaders, it was increasingly isolated militarily and largely faced the crisis alone, as the numbers of Spanish allies increased with the desertion of many polities previously under its control.

1521

Cuauhtémoc called for reinforcements from the countryside to aid the defense of Tenochtitlán, after eighty days of warfare against the Spanish. Of all the Nahuas, only Tlatelolcas remained loyal, and the surviving Tenochcas looked for refuge in Tlatelolco, where even women took part in the battle. Cuauhtémoc was captured on August 13, 1521, while fleeing Tenochtitlán by crossing Lake Texcoco with his wife, family, and friends.

1525

There are a number of discrepancies in the various accounts of the event. According to Cortés himself, on 27 February 1525, he learned from a citizen of Tenochtitlan, Mexicalcingo, that Cuauhtémoc, Coanacoch (the ruler of Texcoco), and Tetlepanquetzal, the ruler of Tlacopan, were plotting his death. Cortés interrogated them until each confessed and then had Cuauhtémoc, Tetlepanquetzal, and another lord, Tlacatlec, hanged. Cortés wrote that the other lords would be too frightened to plot against him again, as they believed he had uncovered the plan through magic powers. Cortés's account is supported by the Historian Francisco López de Gómara.

1949

The modern-day town of Ixcateopan in the state of Guerrero is home to an ossuary purportedly containing Cuauhtémoc's remains. Archeologist Eulalia Guzmán, a "passionate indigenista", excavated the bones in 1949, which were discovered shortly after bones of Cortés, found in Mexico City, had been authenticated by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH). Initially, Mexican scholars congratulated Guzmán, but after a similar examination by scholars at INAH, their authenticity as Cuauhtemoc's was rejected, as the bones in the ossuary belonged to several different persons, several of them seemingly women. The finding caused a public uproar. A panel assembled by Guzmán gave support to the initial contention. The Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) had another panel examine the bones, which gave support to INAH's original finding, but did not report on the finding publicly. A scholarly study of the controversy was published in 2011 and argued that the available data suggests that the grave is an elaborate hoax prepared by a local of Ichcateopan as a way of generating publicity, and that subsequently supported by Mexican nationalists such as Guzman who wished to use the find for political purposes.

1996

In the 1996 Rage Against The Machine single People of the Sun, lyricist Zack de la Rocha rhymes "When the fifth sun sets get back reclaimed, The spirit of Cuauhtémoc alive and untamed".

2017

Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl, a mestizo Historian and descendant of Coanacoch, wrote an account of the executions in the 17th century partly based on Texcocan oral tradition. According to Ixtlilxóchitl, the three lords were joking cheerfully with one another because of a rumor that Cortés had decided to return the expedition to Mexico, when Cortés asked a spy to tell him what they were talking about. The spy reported honestly, but Cortés invented the plot himself. Cuauhtémoc, Coanacoch, and Tetlepanquetzal were hanged as well as eight others. However, Cortés cut down Coanacoch, the last to be hanged, after his brother began rallying his warriors. Coanacoch did not have long to enjoy his reprieve, as Ixtlilxóchitl wrote that he died a few days later.

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