Montezuma II and the Aztec Empire

A man who would become a god, leading his empire to the highest of highs and the very lowest of lows. This is, of course, Montezuma and the Aztec Empire. Born the son of an Aztec ruler, he was destined for greatness. He, however, has a confusing history. It's a difficult person to read up about because, well, the Europeans were going through a renaissance. The Aztecs didn't. They didn't like to keep records. Even though his name was Montezuma II, it would have been plain old Montezuma to his people because they didn't care if you were the first, second, third or fourth. Although, his name wouldn't have been Montezuma because this is actually his name. And here are some clips of me trying to say it. Montezuma. His name literally meant angry like a lord. And I mention this because, as a historian, even though we know the legend of Montezuma, we didn't even know his real name. The fact is, Montezuma's past has been lost to history. But it isn't a complete blank slate. Although I can't tell you if he had a pet dog or a pet cat, if he had a good relationship with his parents or siblings, I think we should just stick to what we know so we can focus on the facts. The first records of him were when the Aztec Empire was really in a stage of transformation. The Aztecs had a system of a selective empire. So that meant you had to be part of a royal family to rule, but you didn't have to be the eldest son of the eldest son to rule. Anyone could rule. If you were good enough, you could rule if you were a royal. When Montezuma was three years old, his father, Axiocatl, was selected to become Tatuani, which meant that he was now the emperor. Tatuani literally meant emperor in the Aztec language. This meant that this three-year-old's pampered life was about to get filled with gold. Montezuma would have been at the very top of the Aztec class system. He would have been schooled in politics, warring, and how to be royal, preparing him to be a next possible Tatuani if or when that time came. But what would he be ruling? Well, let's put it in numbers. He would be ruling between 6 and 11 million people and 500 cities. 500 years ago! It's enormous! Contrary to popular belief, the Aztec Empire was not some ancient empire that took thousands of years to build. When Montezuma was born, the Aztec Empire wasn't even 50 years old yet. These people only arrived in Mexico in the 13th century because of its fertile lands. There were only a number of city-states, and these city-states fought between each other, literally fighting for survival. If you were good at warring, you survived. If you weren't, you didn't. Fortunately for the Aztecs, war was something they were really, really good at. Legend goes that the Aztecs settled this area in 1325 AD and built a city on an island in a lake. They called this city Tenochtitlan, and it would become their center of power. The fact is, though, in the dark forest, you weren't really allowed to get too powerful because as soon as you did, someone else would take you down. And this happened to the Aztecs and the city of Tenochtitlan when they found themselves under the thun of the Tepanec Empire. Things weren't looking good for the Aztecs. It was an unstable place to rule. Change happened really quickly, and in 1428, a civil war ensued in the Tepanec Empire. This meant that the Tenochtitlan city allied themselves with two other city-states, Texcoco and Tlacopan, and they overthrew their empire, making sure that they could develop as a triple alliance. This triple alliance formed the basis of the Aztec imperial development. If we consider that it only started in 1428, their imperial expansion was almost Genghis Khan-like. They took city after city after city in literally a blink of an eye. This imperial state wasn't really an imperial state if you look at an imperial state like Rome. The idea was they would conquer you, then place their gods atop your temple. All you had to do was pay tribute. If you didn't, they'd come and reconquer you. This meant that there was no integration of cultures. There was no real empire. You could continue on with your old life. There was no loyalty to this new state. Often, your culture and that of the Aztecs would have been completely different. In 1479, when Montezuma was 10 years old, his father, the emperor, had tried to expand the empire even more, and he tried to conquer people called Tlaxcala. The Tlaxcala were really strong, and he got beaten back, so badly in fact. He lost his entire army. This, of course, led to people growing concerns with the rulership of Montezuma's father, and within a year, he died due to a wasting disease that sounds very similar to someone being poisoned over a long period of time. His body would have been given a funeral fit for a god, as he was cremated on top of the temple. One had to wonder, was Montezuma happy? Was he sad? Was he angry? We don't know. There weren't any records. The empire stagnated. It was ruled by Tizoc, Montezuma's uncle, until he died, too, of wasting disease. Well, the elders decided to choose Montezuma's other uncle, Arzatl, to be his successor. And this guy was literally awesome. He really secured the Aztec empire, and put himself as one of the greatest emperors in all time. Oh, and I said he was really awesome! What I meant to say is he was a psychotic murderer. He started off his reign by sacrificing 20,000 to 80,000 people to the gods, atop on his temple there. Now, even though he was a psychotic murderer, he was a really good conqueror. And he was someone that Montezuma could learn from. Montezuma stuck close to his uncle. He started to develop from a young boy into a young, powerful man. He was trained in warfare, diplomacy, and even as a high priest. All he had to do was prove himself to become his uncle's successor to the throne. All he had to do was prove himself in battle. Aztecs literally lived for war. Even their creation story consists of an Aztec guard jumping out of Mother Earth's womb, fully armed and ready to go, and decapitates his sister. If you were male, you were constantly fighting with each other in order to elevate your status. The more people you beat, the better clothes you could wear. The more chance you could become a noble. This meant that the Aztec nobles and royals weren't sitting far away on the battlefield. They were in the front lines because they were the best fighters the empire could offer. Aztec battles and warfare were completely different to anywhere else at that time. Their weapons weren't sharp swords or axes, but rather blunt clubs. Not because they didn't have the technology to make sharp swords or axes, but because you didn't want to kill your enemy on the battlefield. Because what a waste. What you wanted to do was break their legs, capture them, take them to your temple to sacrifice them. The Aztecs really needed human sacrifices. Their calendar was broken up into 18 months and celebrated festivals each month, sacrificing humans as the festival. This meant they were warring constantly to get these sacrifices. This idea of Aztec sacrifices was originally thought to have been Spanish propaganda, but amazingly, archaeologists confirmed the sacrifices to be real in 2015, and reconfirmed in 2018 through excavations, where they found thousands and thousands of human skulls that had been sacrificed to the gods. Why were the Aztecs doing all the sacrificing? Well, the Aztecs believed that their gods had given their own blood for humanity to live. This meant that the gods demanded a blood debt to be paid. And if they didn't pay the blood debt, the entire world would end. The Aztecs therefore needed these sacrifices. And one way to do this was through war. Montezuma and his uncle, Awazatl, were really good at war. They managed to link the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans through conquest. Awazatl taught the man of now 30, Montezuma, how to become the most prolific warrior in the empire. And everyone started to see him as a possible heir. This way his heir didn't take long. We don't know exactly how it happened, but Awazatl died. Either he was hit in the head when running away from a flood, or he died due to a good old wasting disease. Either way, there was a new emperor. At Awazatl's funeral, where he was cremated on Topi's temple, like his brothers, the council of elders met to vote on a new Tatuani. Montezuma's chance had finally come. He was crowned on a coronation stone, which gives us the date Year 11 Crocodile Reed, which in today's terms means the 15th of July, 1508. This would have been an amazing thing. An amazing day. He was given a palace that would have made Versailles look like a tent. The palace had a private zoo, pools of both salt and freshwater, hanging gardens and aviary, and gold everywhere. He lived a life of pure indulgence and luxury. It literally has been unmatched. He had 3,000 servants attending his every needs. He had chefs make him hundreds of dishes, which he would choose from for that day. The chefs would then throw away the food and start again anew. He had entertainers, and once again, he was draped in gold. For all of his opulence, he still needed to focus on what put him on the throne in the first place. War. To celebrate his coronation, he declared war on the Nopalian city just outside of the empire. Over the next 16 years, he had four more conquests, expanding his empire to pretty much modern-day Mexico. His power was unmatched by anyone in the Western Hemisphere. Throughout this process, he moved the empire away from becoming an almost government-like state with the elders to becoming a dictator. This obviously is not a good idea. His empire started to waver, and in 1515, he tried to take on Tlaxcala. Those are the people that beat back his father, and he too was beaten back by them. This meant that the cities that had been conquered were possibly looking to set up their own independence. The Aztecs didn't keep records of this, so we don't know for sure, but either way, it seems that the Aztec empire was potentially nearing its end. Two years later, the end was near when floating temples landed on the shores, bearing white sails. The Spanish had arrived in 1517. Montezuma and his people didn't know, but the Spanish were there. This was the beginning of the end. As per usual with the Aztecs, it's guesswork here. Per one can imagine, Montezuma had received news of these strange-looking people with loud, deadly weapons, speaking an unknown language, starting to explore your empire, but they started to take some cities with great violence, not sacrificing people to the gods, but killing for killing's sake. It must have been like an alien invasion. We do know Montezuma sent some gifts of gold and silver to the Spanish as a traditional way of resolving disputes in Aztec culture. The Spanish saw these as welcome gifts and said, we'll have some more of that. Montezuma, at this point, finally put down his old foe Tlaxcala and asked them to join him, join forces against the Spanish, because he had heard of 6,000 loyal Aztec subjects being executed. Montezuma began to get nervous. He was the top dog in this area. Who were these newbies? In November 1519, Hernan Cortes and the conquistadors could be seen nearing Tenochtitlan. Montezuma didn't put up any resistance. Sources say he may have seen these Spanish as gods, but in reality, it was probably because Montezuma knew resistance would be futile and it would lead to the death of thousands fighting fields that would be so large, no one would survive. He decided to welcome the Spanish in, extending a hand of friendship. On the 8th of November 1519, Hernan Cortes accepted the hand of friendship. Montezuma showed him around the city, showed him his palace. He must have wondered, am I going to be friends with these new Spanish people? Are we going to develop trade? Or is he going to decimate me like he's done to all of my Aztec cities? It must have been the weirdest and unnerving experience. One thing we do know, Cortes and the Spanish were blown away by their host and blown away by this amazing city. They said it overshadowed anything they had ever seen in Europe. After a few days of looking around the city, the obvious happened. Cortes took Montezuma captive and forced him to swear allegiance to Charles V of Spain. That's Charles V Habsburg of Spain. He is potentially the most powerful man in European history. Montezuma had been reduced from the most powerful man in the Western Hemisphere to a ruler. Under the thumb of Cortes and the Spanish. It's hard to know what Montezuma thought here. Maybe he thought he was doing the right thing to save his people. Maybe he was weak. But in the end, he did what Cortes asked. Which meant, technically, the Aztecs had ended. Montezuma was allowed to keep his title. He was allowed to keep his palace and live in luxury. But the truth is, he was a slave to the Spanish will. His people hated the Spanish. The Spanish put a cross atop their temple. Cortes sent Montezuma out to calm down the people. In 1520, Cortes left the city and he left his understudy, Pietro de Alvarado in charge. Things were really bad for the Aztecs but they were about to get a whole lot worse. Alvarado was a whole lot less diplomatic than Cortes. He displayed his strengths by having noble Aztec rulers executed for fun. When he did this, he told Montezuma to go outside and calm the people down. And he did this again and again. If this wasn't bad enough, the real killer was unleashed. The Spanish brought with them European diseases, like smallpox. The Aztecs didn't have any antibodies to fight against this alien disease. And it caused a pandemic. Thousands of Aztec people were killed because of smallpox. In May 1520, the Aztecs held a festival like they had done for the past 50 years. The nobles and priests all performed a ritual dance in the temple while they were about to sacrifice a young girl when Alvarado and all his men entered the temple and massacred them. Of course, naturally, the city erupted. Montezuma was then sent out to calm his people down but the 200,000 people attacked back. The city became a battleground, burning down many important places and it must have been mayhem. By June, Cortes returned to the city and forced Montezuma to calm everyone down, which he tried to do but it didn't work. One of two things happened here. The first is Montezuma was hit in the head with a rock by one of his subjects and he died. The other is Cortes saw Montezuma's usefulness as over and had him executed. The Spanish were now in trouble. Either way, they had caused the death of a living god. They tried to flee the city but they were met with the Aztecs who killed them in their dozens. Many of them also drowned in the lake due to their heavy armor. This botched exodus is known as the Night of Terrors and it nearly saw the Spanish conquest come to a complete end. Instead, they regrouped and nine months later, Cortes headed back to the city and decimated it. Montezuma's tragic story, although completely hazy, is a window into a culture that is so different to anywhere else. Perhaps we will never fully understand this culture. Perhaps we're not meant to. Although the Aztec empire ended, Montezuma's family lived on through his son Pietro who was ennobled as a count by the Spanish. Nowadays his family lives on and they've been elevated to the title of Duke in the Spanish peerage. I really hope you enjoyed that. Like, comment, subscribe, the more you know.