Tag Archives: July 2024

Huatulco

The Aztecs: Stories Behind the Legendary People

Leave a comment

By Carole Reedy

Two of the greatest civilizations on our planet originated in Mexico: the Mayan and the Aztec. The Mayan civilization of the present-day Yucatán area dates back as early as 2000 BCE. The Aztec civilization, centered around present-day Mexico City, emerged later, about 1325 CE until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s.

The Aztec people and culture are among the most recognizable, and yet most mysterious, subjects of today’s Mexican culture. Most contemporary people have heard the tales of fierce Aztecs, their magnificent pyramids, and a culture of sacrifice.

To understand more, a visit to Mexico City is essential. It will allow you to enter the core of Aztec life, enhancing your understanding of their society.

Start with a visit to the center of the Aztec city Tenochtitlán (our present-day zócalo). Here you’ll feel the open-air expanse of the ancient city, surrounded now by 16th century Spanish architecture.

Imagine the streets as canals and the somber 16th century Spanish Cathedral as a grand colorful pyramid. Visit the Templo Mayor, home of the Aztecs’ largest pyramid. A must-see museum packed with treasures accompanies the site.

Remarkably, the pyramid ruins weren’t discovered until 1978, when electricians, diligently working in the city center, happened upon the 500-year-old Aztec wealth. All construction immediately halted. Archeologists stepped in, and they have been excavating ever since. To this day they are uncovering riches of the Aztecs that help us understand their culture and daily life. For details of the actual discovery and excavation, read Life and Death in the Templo Mayor (1995) by Eduardo Matos Montezuma who directed the excavation project.

The Templo Mayor was destroyed in 1521 by the Spanish, the rubble and stones reused to build Spanish structures like the cathedral. This practice continued throughout Mexico after the Spanish invasion. The first item on Cortés’ agenda when conquering a city was to build a cathedral.

Storytelling is an effective way to pass on a people’s history. With a variety of viewpoints, we can synthesize facts, observations, and feelings to understand a culture not our own. There’s a wealth of information and many books, both fiction and nonfiction, in which to discover more about the enigmatic Aztecs. Here are several reading suggestions that dispel some myths and reinforce the importance of the Aztecs in the overall scheme of this most significant of countries and civilizations.

Most of the stories below come from the points of view of the Azteca, rather than the traditional Spanish versions we are accustomed to hearing.

When Moctezuma Met Cortés: The True Story of the Meeting that Changed History, by Matthew Restall (2018)
This is a well-researched and exquisitely written account of the August first meeting between the Aztec leader Moctezuma and the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.

Backed up by pages of reputable references, Restall paints a strikingly complex picture of the Aztecs and their encounters with the Spanish. Although the references are scholarly, Restall writes in an accessible style. He paints a vivid portrait of the Aztecs and especially the family of Moctezuma in their daily lives.

Beyond his focus on the meeting itself, Restall analyzes the tactics of the Spanish during their journey from Veracruz to Tenochtitlán (our Mexico City) as well as the long days they spent in the city. He also examines the outlying native societies and their relationship with both the Aztecs and the Spanish, providing a fresh look at exactly who defeated the Aztecs.

Restall also takes a closer look at Hernán Cortés, offering a different aspect of the man who enjoyed basking in the limelight. The views of the King of Spain and of other conquistadors, which can be found in Bernal Díaz de Castillo’s tome (see below), provide a more realistic profile of the conquistador.

Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs, by Camilla Townsend (2019)
Camilla Townsend is a Distinguished Professor of History at Rutgers University. She is a winner of multiple prizes over the years for her impressive research and conclusions.

Fifth Sun is the story of the Aztecs in their own words. Before the invasion of the Europeans, these native people had their own history, which is related to us thanks to Townsend’s research and determination.

Also notable is Townsend’s The Annals of Native America: How the Nahuas of Colonial Mexico Kept Their History Alive (2016).

After receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2010, she began looking at the Nahua, one of the Aztec peoples, in their own language. Spanish friars had taught the Nahua the Latin alphabet so they could read the Bible, thus paving the way for their conversion to Christianity.

The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1568; tr. Janet Burke and Ted Humphrey, 2012)
This well-regarded conquistador’s account of his many years in North America must be considered despite its inaccuracies, since this is only one of two first-hand accounts of the overthrow of the Aztecs.

“We came to serve God and to get rich, as all men wish to do,” is the famous quote for which Díaz can take credit. Despite the intent, many of the conquistadors themselves did not walk away with anywhere near the riches they had hoped to attain.

Díaz wrote the memoirs 30 years after the conquest and later refined and expanded them. He found the biographies and other sources glorifying Cortés’s efforts to be highly inaccurate. His observations of the new land and its people are described in detail, which adds a much-needed human touch to the volume and this significant time in Latin-American history.

Díaz had participated in other expeditions, among them in Cuba and the Yucatán, before his lengthy time with Cortés. He lived a long life, dying in Guatemala in 1584 at the ripe old age of 92.

If you are learning Spanish, this is a good book to start reading in your new language. The prose is forthright, you know something of the subject, and the grammar is not complicated.

During your visit to the Templo Mayor be sure to stop and read the long quotes from Bernal Díaz and Cortés that are inscribed on huge slabs of concrete overlooking the ruins.

The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, by Miguel León-Portilla (1568; tr. Lysander Kemp, 2006)
Eyewitness accounts of the Aztecs told to Spanish friars in the 1500s make this one of the most significant resources for understanding Aztec society.

This book was first published in 1959 and has undergone several revisions and printings. It has been widely translated–into English, French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Polish, Swedish, Hungarian, and Japanese, among other languages.

Leon-Portilla, a renowned historian and anthropologist, is known for his numerous books and research into the Azteca.

The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1568; tr. Janet Burke and Ted Humphrey, 2012)
This well-regarded conquistador’s account of his many years in North America must be considered despite its inaccuracies, since this is only one of two first-hand accounts of the overthrow of the Aztecs.

“We came to serve God and to get rich, as all men wish to do,” is the famous quote for which Díaz can take credit. Despite the intent, many of the conquistadors themselves did not walk away with anywhere near the riches they had hoped to attain.

Díaz wrote the memoirs 30 years after the conquest and later refined and expanded them. He found the biographies and other sources glorifying Cortés’s efforts to be highly inaccurate. His observations of the new land and its people are described in detail, which adds a much-needed human touch to the volume and this significant time in Latin-American history.

Díaz had participated in other expeditions, among them in Cuba and the Yucatán, before his lengthy time with Cortés. He lived a long life, dying in Guatemala in 1584 at the ripe old age of 92.

If you are learning Spanish, this is a good book to start reading in your new language. The prose is forthright, you know something of the subject, and the grammar is not complicated.

During your visit to the Templo Mayor be sure to stop and read the long quotes from Bernal Díaz and Cortés that are inscribed on huge slabs of concrete overlooking the ruins.

The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, by Miguel León-Portilla (1568; tr. Lysander Kemp, 2006)
Eyewitness accounts of the Aztecs told to Spanish friars in the 1500s make this one of the most significant resources for understanding Aztec society.

This book was first published in 1959 and has undergone several revisions and printings. It has been widely translated–into English, French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Polish, Swedish, Hungarian, and Japanese, among other languages.

Leon-Portilla, a renowned historian and anthropologist, is known for his numerous books and research into the Azteca.

Huatulco

The Venice of the New World

Leave a comment

By Raveen Singh

The year is 1325. According to a myth, a nomadic tribe moved into an area previously occupied by several other tribes, with the intent to settle. As such, a King of the existing tribe offers his daughter’s hand in marriage to the incoming nomads.

The Nomads, the Sacrifice, and the Lake

The nomadic tribe receives the young woman and prepares her for marriage in accordance with their customs. Then five men lead her to the top of a stone cairn, where a slab of rock awaits. They lay her down and hold her, one man per limb. The fifth man lifts a piece of obsidian over his head and plunges it into her heart, reaching in and ripping it out with his bare hands. Later that night, at a presentation for the King, they wore her glistening skin as they performed a ceremonial dance.

Once the King realized what had been done, he was clearly angered. Legend has it that he ordered the nomads to be destroyed, a chase ensued, and the nomads plunged themselves to safety in Lake Tenochtitlan. On an island in that lake, the nomads saw a vision: an eagle perched on a cactus eating a snake. This was a sign to the nomadic tribe to settle there; they called themselves the Mexica.

The Nomads Settle Down and Build

The Mexica, later called the Aztecs, were forced to adapt to their new inherited island in the middle of a large saline lake surrounded by four other freshwater lakes. To settle this area, found by chance but validated by their deity, would require feats of engineering far ahead of the times.

The lake beds comprise extremely soft soils, incapable of supporting heavy structures such as houses, roads, buildings, bridges, or most importantly, temples. The Aztecs somehow figured out how to drive piles into the muck, which contained fill to provide support for building a temple. Now known as the Templo Mayor, it was the central focal point of the new settlement.

Causeways. Initially, the only access to the area was via water and canoes. The Aztecs then required access to the mainland, so they placed fill into the soft lake beds. The fill would settle out of sight into the soft substrate, the Aztecs drove an array wood piles into the fill, and created the basis for building roads. Because all the construction materials were placed by human hands, as the Aztecs had no animals to help with the tasks, they made every effort to reduce the materials requiring transport. Eventually, using the fill-and-piling method, they constructed five causeways to link the mainland to the Templo Mayor.

The settlement, called Tenochtitlan, was centralized around the Templo Mayor, and the Aztecs realized that the obstacle that they had to surmount was also the very thing that provided them security – the lake itself.

Chinampas. As the settlement grew, they realized that their food supply required security against hostile invading tribes and the Aztecs eventually perfected the use of chinampas (floating gardens) as a means of ensuring a stable large-scale cultivated food supply. The chinampas were made of interwoven reeds with stakes beneath the surface of the water, creating underwater fences. Atop these mats, they added lake sediment mixed with aquatic vegetation until the top layer was above the surface. This type of construction would ensure that the crops would always have a water supply, requiring minimal maintenance.

Drainage, Dikes, and Canals. The Mexica also developed a multipurpose drainage system, which comprised a ditch for the flow of water and sediment (which likely included human waste) that would in turn be used in the development of new chinampas. Because of the biological diversity of the introduced sediment and the use of lake-bed sediments, the bacterial community was diverse, thus supporting virtually every type of crop. With these raised, well-watered beds, the crop yields were very high, permitting up to seven harvests per year. In 2018, the United Nations designated the chinampa system of agriculture a Globally Important Heritage System; it should be noted that it is still in use today.

Construction in a low-lying land such as a lake bed also required advanced techniques to control flooding. An area with impermeable soils and no drainage required a method of ensuring that water levels in the area of habitation were maintained. Dikes, canals and causeways were built as a means of flood control, including a 16-km long dike that held back a portion of Lake Texcoco to prevent seasonal flooding. The Aztecs also built a series of canals through the city to drain the swamplands, and earthen causeways that also served as pedestrian walkways. A series of locks, gates, and sluiceways were built into the system a means of controlling water levels, an engineering feat far ahead of its time.

Aqueducts. Water, the sustenance of life, was also initially a challenge to the Aztec. The waters of the lake at the location were saline and not sustainable for long-term use for humans. The Aztecs found a series of springs on the mainland, and developed an aqueduct to transmit this water to the island city. Initially, water was brought in by canoe, which would have sharply limited the growth of the society.

An Expanding Empire. The aqueduct required negotiations with the adjacent tribe, who required that the Aztecs cede themselves to rule by the mainland tribe. As the Aztec society grew due to prosperous food supply and engineering, they conquered the governing tribe; the governed became the government. It is at this time that the Aztecs underwent a rapid expansion, conquering other tribes such as the Olmecs and Toltecs, and taking their people as workers, slaves, and sacrificial victims. These conquests allowed the Aztecs to preserve their society and expand their empire as far away as Guatemala and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean.

Other systems developed by the Aztecs long before being colonized include the military draft (conscription), and a legal system with judges and trials. Using the cocoa bean as currency, their busiest days in the markets of Tenochtitlan drew some 50,000 people.

The Demise of the Aztecs

In 1521, Hernán Cortés arrived on the Yucatán peninsula and found his way to Veracruz. The indigenous population joined him on his march to the head state of the Aztec Empire. The Spanish were in awe of the progress that the Aztec society had made, which paralleled some of the advanced systems in Europe at the time. The floating gardens and the prominence of the Templo Mayor must have been a sight to the Spanish conquistadors.

Of course, the story of the Spanish and their rapid conquest is full of sadness; the destruction of Aztec society by the Spanish was accomplished through the introduction of disease, advanced weaponry comprising steel, and the use of horses for the height and mobility advantages. Those who are interested are encouraged to read Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond (1999), for a better accounting of how colonizing European armies could so easily conquer the societies they met through exploration.

In a final death blow to the Aztecs empire, all the structures of Tenochtitlan were destroyed and the building materials were dumped into the lake to form the foundation for the new Spanish settlement, called Mexico. The causeways were converted into roadways (still in use today); the aqueducts were destroyed. The Templo Mayor was razed to the ground, and in an act of conquest, the new Spanish cathedral was built atop the old Templo Mayor. This was only discovered in 1978, as a dig for a utility in the area encountered remnants of the old structure. Today, the area is preserved as a tourist attraction in the zócalo in Mexico City, where it is possible to pass under the church and view the Templo Mayor. In less than 200 years, the advancement of the society of the Aztecs can only be described as profound and its demise as tragic.

Montezuma’s Revenge

There are many tales in folklore regarding Montezuma’s revenge; however, this is an obscure one that the old civilization has left behind.

Like many modern cities that are built on marine environments (think Jakarta, Venice, Amsterdam, New Orleans, Bangkok, Kolkata, Tokyo, and even Washington DC), Mexico City underwent an astounding period of growth in the early 20th century, building on its legacy as a capital founded by the Aztecs.

However, the construction on the lake bed has had a lasting impact on modern day Mexico City. The increased weight of the colonial settlement over time has resulted in compression of the soils, and the pumping of water from the subsurface has drawn down the water table. This in turn has reduced pore pressures in the underlying soils, thus increasing the rates of settlement.

It is said that there are places in Mexico City that are settling up to 500 cm per year. This has resulted in buckling of roads, bursting of utilities, and damaged buildings as walls topple and fail. Compounded with earthquakes, the destruction is multiplied; in 1985 the earthquake that struck Mexico City caused widespread devastation, associated in part with soil-structure interaction and poor building foundations. As of the writing of this article, there is no known solution to this long-term problem. The lake, or its remnants, continue to be dewatered as development continues, exacerbating the condition. It is said that in the last century, Mexico City has subsided some 33 feet.

Perhaps Montezuma’s revenge is more profound than modern society ever thought it could be.

Huatulco

Aztec “Farm to Table” Cuisine

Leave a comment

By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken

The Aztecs, or as they called themselves, the Mexica, ardently embraced the style of cuisine that we currently call “farm to table.” When they first settled the area that has become Mexico City, the geography was ideal for protection from enemies – swampy land kept flooded by five lakes of brackish water – but was hardly suitable for long-term habitation, much less farming.

The Floating Islands of Mexica Agriculture

The ingenious settlers, as described in detail by Julie Etra in The Eye (February 2023), constructed aqueducts to bring fresh water into the area and rectangular gardening plots, called chinampas, in the lakes (see “The Venice of the West,” elsewhere in this issue). The materials from which the chinampas were constructed provided rich nutrients for growing crops, and the nutrients were replenished naturally by the algae growing in the surrounding water. While the Mexica nobility owned multiple chinampas that were farmed by their servants and captive slaves, the hoi polloi were also granted garden plots, reportedly distributed as one for each family.

Produce from the Chinampas. The primary crop planted on the chinampas was maize – many varieties of corn ranging from almost white to black with a rainbow of colors in between. After the ripe ears were harvested, the kernels were soaked in a home-made clay pot in an alkaline solution of local lime (not the fruit, but limestone, which is composed of organic fossils). The soaking softened the kernels and enriched them with health-enhancing minerals. This process, called nixtamalization, is still used in Mexico today. The corn was then thoroughly washed, dried and ground, always by women, on a grinding slab, or metate, using a stone pestle, or mano. As still happens today, the ground corn was used to make dough (masa) for tortillas or tamales. Corn smut, or huitlacoche, a fungus that grows between the kernels of corn, was harvested and used as a delicacy, as were other naturally occurring edible mushrooms.

Other crops grown on the chinampas were beans, pumpkins and other squash, and many varieties of chiles, including the precursor of the modern-day poblano. Amaranth and chia, both pseudo-grains (actually seeds) were part of the ordinary produce. Small sweet tomatoes were a common crop, as were herbs and spices that were cultivated from wild progenitors such as culantro – a pungent variety of cilantro – and others that are familiar today, including epazote, hoja santa, and annato bushes, which produced achiote. Spices were ground in a stone molcajete using another stone – implements resembling a mortar and pestle. Dishes could also be cooked and served in large molcajetes, and since the stone retains the flavors of spices, subsequent uses of the same implement instantly provided flavor to the dish being prepared.

Fish and Game. While maize prepared in different incarnations was the primary farm-to-family staple, the lakes provided tasty protein supplements. Fish and crustaceans were frequent dietary additions, and algae, especially the blue-green spirulina, were harvested from the water and shaped into nutrient-rich cakes and baked. Wild land animals also were caught and cooked – mainly in casseroles – including iguanas, gophers, salamanders, and the occasional deer that came to eat crops but instead were eaten.

Insects. Particular insects became favorites for adding crunch and flavor to foods. Grasshoppers, or chapulines, were a popular addition and another source of protein. Chicatanas, or flying ants that take to the air after the first spring rains and literally fall from the sky, may have been included as a treat, but their habitat is more closely allied to the Oaxaca area, where the Zapotecs lived, than to the Aztec territory. Prized for their taste and actually farmed in the local waters by the Mexica were the eggs of the water fly, or ahuautle. They are a seasonal treat and most abundant during the summer months; the Aztecs spread woven mats slightly under the water in areas where the flies were known to swarm, and thousands of the tiny golden eggs were deposited and then harvested. Since Montezuma himself was known by the Spanish invaders to have a hankering for this caviar, it became prestigious for a meal to include ahuautle.

Livestock. Animals that are commonly found on farms in Mexico today were not present until the Spanish settlers introduced them, so cattle, goats, and sheep were not on the Aztec menu. The Mexica did domesticate and cook some animals. Ducks and turkeys were additions to the menu primarily for the noble class. But dogs, especially breeds related to today’s chihuahuas, were easy to raise at home and provided a welcome addition to maize-based dishes.

How Did the Mexica Cook and Serve Their Food?

Most dishes were prepared by baking, steaming, and especially stewing in clay casseroles. The addition of ground chiles and salt was ubiquitous. Cooking implements did not include metal pans, nor did the Mexica fry foods in cooking oils. Likewise, there were no metal eating utensils. Tortillas served in baskets were used to scoop up food from a casserole shared among families. And although the cuisine was locally grown and prepared, tables were a European concept. People sat on mats for meals – except the nobility who enjoyed sitting on beautifully carved low benches – however this elevated seating was just for men. The nobility also had very beautiful bowls and pots decorated in multiple colors that can be seen in museums today.

The Spanish Conquest of Aztec Cuisine

The Spanish invasion brought dramatic changes to Aztec cuisine. In addition to introducing small-pox and other diseases that killed off a large proportion of the indigenous population, and large farm animals that no doubt raised the cholesterol in the Mexica diet to dangerously high levels, the Spanish settlers also introduced rice, garlic, cooking oils, and new spices including cinnamon and coriander, greatly altering the everyday cuisine in the Aztec territories.

The importance of their cuisine to the Mexica, especially food containing chiles and salt, can be noted by their frequent religious fasts followed by feasts. Eating was not considered merely a way to survive but a deeply spiritual practice. The consumption of human flesh, the flesh of fallen warriors of enemy tribes, was not, as the Spanish reported, a casual practice of cannibalism, but was bound to sacred rituals. The flesh could only be consumed after cooking by the family of the Mexica warrior who killed the enemy in battle and not by the Mexica warrior himself.

Unlike today, when farm to table cuisine is experienced as a novel way of enjoying a usually delicious albeit rather expensive meal, for the Mexica farm to table cuisine was part of their lives devoted to finding stability in a shifting world.

Huatulco

Aztec Nobility – The Descendants of Moctezuma

Leave a comment

By Randy Jackson

At the time of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico, the Aztec civilization was highly stratified, with social classes ranging from nobility and merchants to commoners and enslaved people. The conquest devastated the Aztec civilization and social order through disease, warfare, and the imposition of Spanish rule. Yet, like the Aztecs, Spanish society was organized under a monarchy and a noble class. Intermarriages allowed some members of the Aztec nobility to integrate into the Spanish elite in what was then called New Spain. Today, several Mexican families can trace their lineage back to the ruling Aztec nobility at the time of the conquest. One notable lineage is that of the descendants of Moctezuma II, the Aztec ruler at the time of the arrival of the Spanish.

Moctezuma’s Captivity and the Aztec Rebellion

On November 8, 1519, Hernán Cortés entered Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire, with 400 Spanish soldiers and cavalry. The Spaniards were welcomed by the Aztec ruler, Moctezuma, in a display of pageantry, marking the historically momentous meeting of the two civilizations. However, the Spaniards quickly wore out their welcome. Within a week, Cortés had Moctezuma under a form of house arrest. Soon, the Aztec noble class began planning to rid themselves of the Spanish.

By June 1520, a full-blown Aztec uprising against the Spanish had erupted. On June 29, 1520, Moctezuma was killed, possibly by a rock thrown from within an Aztec mob. The next day, the uprising, known as “La Noche Triste” or “The Night of Sorrows,” drove the conquistadors out of the capital, forcing them to retreat to Tlaxcala with significant loss of life and almost all of their precious treasure. Among the surviving Spaniards in Tlaxcala were some of Moctezuma’s children, likely taken against their will.

Moctezuma’s Children

Polygamy was a common practice in Aztec society. Although less common in the lower classes, it was prevalent among the nobility, in part to strengthen alliances between families. For the Aztec leader, political alliances through marriage were essential for maintaining power. Moctezuma II had numerous wives and concubines and fathered many children. Historical sources vary on the exact number of his children, but they often cite around 19. Many of these children died during the tumult of the conquest and its aftermath. However, a few survived to continue the bloodline of Moctezuma. Although historical records for most surviving children are poor or nonexistent, there are better records for two children, one son and one daughter, whose stories provide a glimpse into the partial legacy of the Aztec emperor.

Tecuichpotzin / Doña Isabel Moctezuma

Tecuichpotzin, later known as Isabel Moctezuma, was the daughter of Moctezuma II and his principal wife, Teotlalco of Tlacopan, a city-state of the Aztec Empire. Born in 1509 or 1510, Tecuichpotzin was about ten years old when the Spaniards arrived in 1519. At this young age, she was already married to Atlixcatzin, the ruler of Tlatelolco, another city-state within the Aztec Empire. Atlixcatzin died in 1520. Following his death, she was quickly remarried to her uncle Cuitláhuac, who became emperor after Moctezuma II’s death. Cuitláhuac, however, succumbed to smallpox only 80 days later. She was then married to the next emperor, Cuauhtémoc, whom Cortés had executed when the Conquistadors returned to defeat the Aztecs of Tenochtitlán in 1521.

By 1526, at the age of 17, Tecuichpotzin was converted to Christianity and baptized. Henceforth she was known by her Spanish and Christian name, Isabel. Cortés then had Isabel married for the fourth time to Alonso de Grado, a close colleague. With this marriage came a grant of a large encomienda (land and slaves), the largest encomienda in the Valley of Mexico. Within about a year of this marriage, Alonso de Grado died. Cortés took Isabel into his household, and she became pregnant with Cortés’s daughter. Cortés had the child raised separately, and Isabel was married to another of Cortés’s colleagues, Pedro Gallego de Andrade. Together, Isabel and Pedro had a son in 1530; shortly after, Pedro Gallego died. In 1532, Isabel was married for the sixth (and last) time to Juan Cano de Saavedra. Together, they had five children.

In 1550 or 1551, Isabel died at the age of about 42. The children of Doña Isabel Moctezuma became prominent members of Mexican and Spanish societies, and her lineage continues to have a flourishing presence in both countries today.

Tlacahuepan / Don Pedro Moctezuma

Tlacahuepan, later known as Pedro Moctezuma, was born in 1520 or 1521, at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. He was born to Moctezuma’s wife Miahuaxchotzin, the Empress of Tula’s city-state, the Toltec Empire’s ancient capital. Sometime before the Spanish siege and final conquest of the Aztec capital, Pedro and his mother relocated back to her home city of Tula. Although Pedro was too young to have witnessed the fighting and collapse of his father’s empire, for the majority of his adult life, he was involved in fighting in Spanish courts to prove his entitlement as a son of Moctezuma.

In 1522, the King of Spain appointed Hernán Cortés as governor and captain general of New Spain. Although Cortés was instructed to limit the granting of encomiendas and respect the indigenous people’s land rights, he largely ignored these directives. Cortés argued that granting encomiendas was essential for civilizing the territory and rewarding the loyalty of his followers. Additionally, he used the system to incorporate the Aztec ruling class into the emerging colonial administration. One notable encomienda was granted in Tula to Don Pedro Moctezuma.

In 1528, Hernán Cortés returned to Spain to appeal directly to King Charles I regarding conflicts with various colonial authorities and to defend himself against accusations of abuse of power and inappropriate granting of lands. In the 1530s, Spanish courts revoked Don Pedro’s encomienda, converting it to Royal Crown property. Don Pedro subsequently spent his life embroiled in legal battles in Spanish courts over his noble entitlements as a son of Moctezuma.

Don Pedro Moctezuma traveled to Spain to appeal directly to the King. In 1539, he was granted a coat of arms in recognition of his status as the son of Moctezuma II. Later, he was also granted annual sums from the crown. Don Pedro Moctezuma died in 1570, still struggling with land entitlements. However, the Spanish Crown firmly recognized his noble lineage. His grandson, Pedro Tesifón Moctezuma, was granted the title of “Count of Moctezuma de Tultengo,” which was later upgraded to “Duke of Moctezuma de Tultengo” in 1865, a title that still exists today. Holders of this title have been prominently involved in Spanish society over the centuries. Although historical records vary regarding the number of children of Don Pedro Moctezuma, it is known that two prominent sons carried on the noble lineage in Spain and with descendants also in Mexico.

Despite the collapse of the Aztec Empire and the challenges posed by colonial rule, Moctezuma’s noble lineage managed to endure and integrate into the new societal structure and carry on over the centuries. Through strategic marriages and legal battles, Moctezuma’s descendants preserved their noble status and secured recognition from the Spanish crown. The Spanish noble titles and the prominence of some of the descendants of families in Mexico testify to the legacy of Moctezuma II.

For contact or comment: box95jackson@gmail.com.

Huatulco

Social Class, Politics, Economics, and Religion: A Brief History of Aztec Sex

Leave a comment

By Deborah Van Hoewyk

The Aztecs are one group of Mexico’s ancient indigenous peoples; although it is a diverse group, the different peoples are connected through use of some version of Nahuatl language. They called themselves the Mexica, arrived in what is now Mexico City in the 1300s, and were conquered by Hernán Cortés in 1521. In their short two centuries of rule, however, they established an empire that stretched from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico and had over 400 to 500 small states and 5 to 6 million people.

How Do We Know What We Know About the Aztecs?

Until recently, our knowledge of the Aztecs – not to mention the Maya, the Olmecs, the Zapotecs, the Mixtecs (there are more) – was based on “codices,” manuscript histories written by indigenous people at the request of the conquistadors. Friars who had learned the local native language then translated the manuscripts into Spanish, and they were shipped back to the European monarchs as reports on their colonies. The codices are useful resources, but they’re more than a bit iffy about “what came before.”

Recently historians and anthropologists have begun investigating earlier writings by ancient Mexicans. In a recent (2019) book, Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs, Camilla Townsend from Rutgers University, notes that “the Native Americans were more intrigued by the Roman alphabet than the Spaniards ever knew. Unbeknownst to the newcomers, the Aztecs took it home and used it to write detailed histories in their own language.”

Until now, no one paid much attention to these sources, but there has been a major effort to integrate pre- and post-conquest documents to reach a better understanding of ancient Latin American civilizations. Townsend’s book – which makes the point that the Conquest was not “introductory or climactic,” but “pivotal” in the long story of Mexico – gives us a history, in their own words, of a people who lived complex, nuanced lives in a cultural context the Spanish barely attempted to understand.

In searching for a more accurate understanding of the Aztecs – were they bloodthirsty savages? Focused only on warfare? Superstitious and easily duped into surrender? – Townsend, among other historians, introduces new perspectives to understanding “these complex and often mischaracterized people.”

Gender and Sex, Polygamy and Politics

The big picture for Aztec sex is that it occurred primarily in marriage, although the upper classes practiced “polygyny,” the kind of polygamy where a man can have multiple wives; there was no such privilege for women. There was one “true” wife, presumably the first, and the others were sometimes called “weavers.” In Aztec culture, women were the weavers, textiles were very valuable, so having many weavers increased the man’s wealth – Moctezuma had hundreds of wives. Men could also keep concubines – women to whom they were not married.

Aztec historian Caroline Dodds Pennock of the University of Sheffield in the UK looked at “Gender and Aztec Life Cycles,” a chapter in The Oxford Handbook of the Aztecs (2017). She says our notion of Aztec life driven by “brutal warriors, glorious kings, and bloody priests” is a bit off: in reality, “women in Aztec culture were powerful and effective figures, possessing tangible rights and responsibility, and clearly recognized as indispensable to society’s collective success.” That is not to say that gender wasn’t prescribed in Aztec society – the model was “complementarity,” that is, men and women had different roles that complemented each other.

As she looks at pre-Conquest Aztec life via the role of women and gender, Townsend finds upper-class women played a political role in bringing altepetls (city states) into the empire through marriage; they exercised considerable influence during the Conquest on whether any given altepetl would side with or fight against the Spanish.

Both Dodds Pennock and Townsend used documents that focused on upper-class women. In The Flower and the Scorpion: Sexuality and Ritual in Early Nahua Culture (2011), history professor Pete Sigal of Duke University argues that the “sexual lives and imaginations” of the ordinary Aztecs included pleasure, seduction, and components of the rituals of fertility and warfare. Moreover, they resisted Spanish efforts to inculcate repressive Catholic attitudes towards sex for well over a century after the conquest.

The Specifics of Aztec Sexuality

When references to specific sexual practices come up, you might think the Aztecs were just waiting for the Catholic church to arrive and say, “Nope, that’s a no-no, not that!” There was a group of deities who ruled over sexuality, and they were much given to punishing those whose sexual behavior was outside the approved realm. A couple of these gods were associated with disease – think of STDs as a punishment for sex outside marriage.

Pre-marital sex. Punishable by death. Adult men and women not allowed to interact with each other outside of marriage. Both men and women were supposed to be virginal at marriage, but women were also required to pass a virginity test (i.e., presence of the hymen). For upper-class young men, though, this prohibition didn’t really apply – they often had small collections of concubines.

Adultery. Upper-class men, of course, couldn’t commit adultery because they were allowed multiple wives and concubines. Once adultery was claimed, a lower-class man might be beaten or have his head shaved, but a woman was sentenced to death, usually by stoning.

Homosexuality. Mentioned infrequently in contemporary documents, and was punishable by death. The gay man who took the active (penetrating) role was murdered by being impaled while his partner died when his intestines were extracted through his anus – a much harsher penalty, actually, since the “receiving” partner was perceived as being less “macho.” Lesbians were killed with a garrote.

There is a double-gendered god, Xochipilli as a male and Xochiquetzal as a female, who governs flowers, love, art, and fertility; Xochipilli is the patron/protector of homosexuality and male prostitutes. There have always been festivals to Xochipilli/Xochiquetzal, suggesting that the Aztecs might have had a “Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t get caught or we’ll kill you” policy.

Sodomy (oral or anal sex). Even among heterosexual partners, punishable by hanging.

Masturbation. Forbidden – punished by rubbing hot pepper powder on the genitals.

Prostitution. Prostitution was alive and well in Aztec society. “Respectable” Aztec women wore their hair up; prostitutes let it loose. They were the only women allowed to wear perfume, jewelry, and makeup. Sometimes prostitutes and priestesses were one and the same; they rewarded young men who survived battle with their favors. Another ritualistic role was to pleasure those men who were on their way to being sacrificed.

When the Spaniards Arrived …

The conquistadors brought their sex-as-sin Catholic beliefs with them. Within two years, they had converted two men to the priesthood and within ten years, they had begun converting the upper classes to Christianity. They hoped Christianity at the top would “trickle down” to rest of society.

Christianity, of course, requires that a man have only one wife; the Spanish began to require monogamy, which created social chaos. The additional wives, not to mention the concubines, suddenly had no legal or social status. Basically, the Spanish enslaved them, many on the encomiendas they created to reward their conquering soldiers; the Spaniard who held the encomienda had the right to tribute, produced through labor, of all inhabitants in a particular area. The Spanish replaced women who had been paid to weave with men, destroying the men’s identity as warriors. The alliances that marriages had fostered, the wealth that had accumulated within allied city-states, resolved disputes between altepetls – all suddenly thrown into disarray. Starting with its stance on sex, Catholic law destroyed a culture.

Moreover, at the urging of Queen Isabella of Spain, the conquistadors intermarried with the native peoples (she called them “free vassals of the Spanish Crown”) at a great rate. This “marathon sexual activity” on the part of the Spanish began to destroy indigeneity. By January 1, 1821, when Mexico won its independence from Spain, only half the population of Mexico was indigenous; 20% was mestizo. In the 2015 census conducted by INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography), only 23% of Mexicans said they were indigenous or of indigenous descent.

Huatulco

The Pochteca

Leave a comment

By Julie Etra

Triple Alliance
Before addressing the subject of this article, the Pochteca, some background information about the Mexica Empire helps explain the setting within which this particular social class existed. Commonly known as the Aztec Empire, a sort of misnomer, the Empire was governed by the Triple Alliance (Alliance) from 1428-1521. On August 13, 1521, it fell to the conquering Spaniards, accompanied by the indigenous enemies of the Alliance. The Alliance was a military, political, and social agreement among three city-states who shared lands in the Basin of Mexico and joined forces for their mutual benefit. The city-states consisted of Tenochtitlan, now known as Mexico City, which was settled by the Mexica/Aztec; Texcoco, home of the Acolhua tribe who settled in the Valley 100 years before the Mexica; and Tlacopan, where the Tepaneca preceded the Acolhua by about a century. The three tribes shared the same Nahua language and a number of customs. The Alliance replaced the previously dominant Tepaneca.

Social Classes of the Empire
Within this empire/alliance existed a highly structured class system with eight more or less distinct classes. At the top was the sovereign ruler or Emperor, called the Tlatoani, (for example the last Tlatoani ruler prior to the Spanish conquest was Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin aka Moctezuma II). The word is derived from the nahuatl verb tlahtoa, which means “to speak”, The Tlatoani was followed by the nobility, warrior class (guerreros) the high priests and priestesses, the middle class (commoners), the free poor, servants, and slaves.

Nobility

The nobility included the wealthy families within the same bloodline and lineage to which they were born. Following the leadership of the Tlatoani they ran the government, including the army, and oversaw the other classes. Their great wealth was accrued through management of the land, slavery, and tributes from outlying towns to the central government in the ever-expanding empire. Following the top-ranking Tlatoani were the Tetecuhtin, the high lords and the Pipiltin who were the regular lords.

Warriors
The soldiers were essential to the defense and expansion of the empire, conquering and subjugating surrounding territories. All Aztec males were required to serve in one capacity or another and received military training at a young age. The military offered an opportunity for upward class mobility for commoners and free/poor citizens (not unlike the contemporary volunteer military of the USA), in particular for taking captives for sacrifices and slavery. Also, somewhat similar to the contemporary USA, warfare was a major component of the Aztec economy, and innately entwined with religion (unlike the USA). Warriors were between 15 and 20 years old. To be eligible for battle recruits had to pass a physical test of carrying very heavy burdens for a predetermined duration. The warriors were also called on to provide additional protection of the Pochteca, and to keep an eye on the neighboring untrustworthy Tlaxcalans.

The Priests
The priests, next in rank, had an enormous amount of responsibility, respect, and power. They were the prophets of the society, observing and interpreting the movements of the heavens (planets and stars) and tracking planetary events such as eclipses. They had a direct line of communication with the gods, maintained the temples and organized all the religious festivities and associated gods, which were many. The priests oversaw and implemented human sacrifices to the gods over the sacrificial stones. They were responsible for the education of children as well as the general population in matters of religion and traditions, thereby wielding power and influence over society. There were female priests, known as cihuatlamacazqui, but they were much less common than their male counterparts.

The Middle Class
The middle class, or the commoners, made up the largest component of the population. This class was responsible for many of the skilled trades and included stone cutters, masons, feather workers, potters, weavers, sculptors, painters, boatsmiths, goldsmiths, and silversmiths. This class also included accountants and arbitrators for business and personal matters.

Poor/Free
This class could work their way up through the ranks through bravery in the military service or marriage. They included hunters (fowlers, who hunted the abundant waterfowl), fishermen, and the farmers who cultivated the chinampas of Tenochtitlan.

Servants
This class was similar to the serfs of Medieval Europe. They were owned by the nobility but had a higher status than slaves as they were allowed to marry, and their children were not automatically considered property of their owners. Unlike serfs, they could have side trades and additional income as well as their own slaves and servants. Like slaves, they could be sold but could also be freed with the proper documentation.

Slaves
The obvious does not need to be repeated. Many of these were captives of war, and subject to human sacrifice.

The Pochteca
And finally, the Pochteca. They were a powerful and elite class or guild of professional soldier – traders, ranking just below the nobility. The guilds were restricted, highly controlled, and membership was hereditary, passing from father to son. Being secretive, the guild did not share information about trade routes, source of goods, and third-party local merchants and suppliers. Although they served multiple purposes the Pochteca were primarily long-distance traveling merchants, particularly in luxury and exotic items, traveling from Tenochtitlan to Nicaragua and as far north as what is now New Mexico in the United States.

Trips could last months The trade or commerce was known as pochtecayotl in their Nahuatl language, derived from pochtecatl, which was one of the neighborhoods of Tlatelolco (now within modern Mexico City) that housed the Pochteca, and where the market, called a Pochtlan, sometimes spelled Puxtla or Puxtlan, was located.

The guild had their own internal structure which included another class of servants, tlamemeh or tamemes who were porters, as there were no beasts of burden until the arrival of the Spaniards with their horses. The word is derived from the Nahuatl word tlamama, which means to carry. Like other classes, they were born into this system and trained as children to carry heavy loads. The Pochteca sometimes received protection from the warrior class as they had to cross into foreign and potentially hostile territory outside the control of the Empire, including modern day Guatemala and other countries in Central America in order to obtain unique treasure such as quetzal feathers and birds (Chiapas, Guatemala, Costa Rica) and jade (Guatemala), for example. They had their own god, Yacatecuhtli, the patron saint of commerce, their own ceremonies, and their own laws and courts, overseen by Pochteca elders. They were allowed to keep merchandise, but public display was not permitted as to not outshine or offend the nobility. Hence, they were able to quietly self-enrich and organize elaborate feasts and rituals for their own community.
Some of the more exotic goods they brought to the Capital for the Tlatoani and the nobility included the aforementioned quetzal feathers and birds (check the penacho of Moctezuma II; a replica is on display in the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City. The original is on display at the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna, Austria) and other exotic and colorful birds such as scarlet macaws (Moctezuma II had an aviary), marine shells, turquoise, other gemstones, jaguar pelts, coca, and polychrome pottery. Many of these luxury items are on display at the Templo Mayor Museum just off the Zócalo in Mexico City.

Since they had license to unconstrained travel, they were well positioned for another role as spies and informants, relaying information about subordinate states, especially the aforementioned Tlaxcalans (who indeed betrayed the Mexica and sided with the Spaniards) to the central government in Tenochtitlan.

Although there were other merchant guilds in Mayan society called ppolom, compared to the Aztec Pochteca, they lacked the complex structure and unique characteristics of the Pochteca.

 

Huatulco

Editor’s Letter July 2024

Leave a comment

“We Spaniards know a sickness of the heart that only gold can cure.”
Hernan Cortés

How a culture narrates its past says a lot about who they are today. When many of us were taught history in schools we were told heroic tales of explorers discovering new lands. We memorized the dates of those momentous events and celebrated them.

However before 1492, 1521, 1534 there were already things happening on this side of the world. In fact, the first people from Europe to arrive in what we now call the Americas were the Vikings. Around 1000 AD, the Viking explorer Leif Erikson, sailed to a place he called “Vinland,” in what is now the Canadian province of Newfoundland.

Prior to these extranjeros touching down, there was a lot of action and living already occurring in the Americas. William M. Denevan writes that, “The discovery of America was followed by possibly the greatest demographic disaster in the history of the world.” Research by some scholars provides population estimates of the pre-contact Americas to be as high as 112 million in 1492, while others estimate the population to have been as low as eight million. In any case, the native population declined to less than six million by 1650.

In this issue we look at the Aztecs. This mighty civilization was sophisticated and some say more advanced in many respects than those who destroyed it.

When I was in school and learning about the people who sailed into the unknown I wondered what could possess them, where did they get the drive? Was the hunger for riches and power so enticing? Where did the motivation come from? I thought as I grew up and understood the ways of the world it would be become clear, but if I am honest, it only bewilders me even more. How great is our need for supremacy over one another? Perhaps it is our value system that needs an overhaul?

If looking at the news is any indication, we never know in the moment whether we are on the ‘right’ side of history. Maybe at the end of the day there is no right side, for even on the side of our ‘enemies’ are those trying to forge new paths of cooperation.

See you next month,

Jane