Auítzotl

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Image:Ahuitzotl.jpg

Ahuitzotl (here called ahuiçuçin, an honorific form) in the Codex Mendoza.

Auítzotl or Ahuitzotl (pronounced [aːˈwitsotɬ] in Nahuatl) was the eighth Aztec ruler, the Hueyi Tlatoani, of the city of Tenochtitlán. He was responsible for much of the expansion of the Mexica domain, and consolidated the empire's power after a weak performance by his predecessor. He took power as Tlatoani in 1486, after the death of his predecessor Tízoc.

Perhaps the greatest known military leader of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, Auítzotl began his reign by suppressing a Huastec rebellion, and then swiftly more than doubled the size of lands under Aztec dominance. He conquered the Mixtec, Zapotec, and other peoples from Mexico's Pacific coast down to the western part of Guatemala. Auitzotl also supervised a major rebuilding of Tenochtitlán on a grander scale including the expansion of the Great Pyramid or Templo Mayor in 1487 (the Aztec year 8 Reed). According to some sources, he ordered over 20,000 people to be sacrificed in the dedication of the Great Pyramid.

Auitzotl was the third son of Lord Moctezuma I (his full name was Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina), who was the fifth Huēyi Tlàtoāni. He was succeeded in 1502 by his nephew, Moctezuma II (the famous "Montezuma" humiliated by Cortés).

The Aztec king Ahuitzotl took his name from the Ahuizotl (creature), but it appears the Aztecs thought of it as a creature in its own right, and not merely a mythical beast representing the king.´

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[edit] Notes

[edit] Literature

Townsend, Richard F. (2000) The Aztecs. revised ed. Thames and Hudson, New York.
Hassig, Ross (1988) Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Weaver, Muriel Porter (1993). The Aztecs, Maya, and Their Predecessors: Archaeology of Mesoamerica, 3rd ed., San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 0012639990.