Huitzilihuitl

Huitzilíhuitl
2nd Tlatoani of Tenochtitlan
Reign	1396–1417
Coronation	Five Snake / 22 January
Predecessor	Acamapichtli
Successor	Chimalpopoca
Born	c.1379 Mexico Tenochtitlan
Died	1417
Wives	Queen Ayauhcihuatl Queen Cacamacihuatl Queen Miahuaxihuitl Queen Miyahuaxochtzin
Issue	Chimalpopoca Tlacaelel I Moctezuma I Huehue Zaca Citlalcoatl Aztacoatl Axicyotzin Quauhtzitzimitzin Xiconoc Teotlatlauhqui Cuitlahuatzin Miccayaocihuatl Matlalchihuatzin
Father	Emperor Acamapichtli
Mother	Queen Tezcatlan Miyahuatzin

Huitzilihuitl [wit͡siˈliʔwit͡ɬ] (Nahuatl language; English: Hummingbird Feather) (d. ca. 1417) was the second tlatoani of Tenochtitlan, governing from 1396 to 1417,^[1] (or 1390 to 1410 according to other sources).^[2]

Biography

Family and childhood

Huitzilíhuitl was born in Tenochtitlan, and was the son of Acamapichtli, first tlatoani of the Mexica, and Queen Tezcatlan Miyahuatzin, and had a half-brother Itzcoatl. His maternal grandfather was Acacitli. Only 16 years old when his father died, Huitzilihuitl was elected by the principal chiefs, warriors and priests of the city to replace him. At that time, the Mexica were tributaries of the Tepanec city-state of Azcapotzalco.^[3]

Reign

Huitzilíhuitl, a good politician, continued the policies of his father, seeking alliances with his neighbors. He founded the Royal Council or Tlatocan and established four permanent electors to advise the new king, in his inexperience, at the beginning of each reign.^[1]

Huitzilihuitl as depicted in the Tovar Codex.

He married Ayauhcihuatl, daughter of Tezozómoc, the powerful tlatoani of Azcapotzalco,^[1] and obtained a reduction of tribute payments to the symbolic level. Their son Chimalpopoca would succeed his father as tlatoani. After the death of Ayaucíhuatl, Huitzilíhuitl married a second time, to Miahuaxihuitl. She bore him Moctezuma I, who also succeeded to the throne as the fifth tlatoani of Aztecs.^[1][4]

During his reign, the weaving industry grew. It provided cotton cloth not only for Tenochtitlan, but also for Azcapotzalco and Cuerhavaca. The Mexicas no longer had to dress in coarse ayates" of maguey fibers, but were able to change to soft, dyed cotton.^[1][5]

Huitzilíhuitl also wanted to introduce potable water into the city, bringing it to the island from the mainland over the brackish water of the lake. But the nobles not approving the cost, he was unable to put his plan into operation. He constructed a fort on a rock on the island.^[5]

In 1409, the ruler of Texcoco, Techotlala, died and the throne passed to Ixtlilxóchitl I. In the following years, relations between Ixtlilxóchitl and Tezozómoc of Azcapotzalco deteriorated, breaking into open hostilities c. 1416.

In spite of having given his daughter Matlalchihuatzin in marriage to Ixtlilxóchitl, Huitzilíhuitl joined his father-in-law in making war on Texcoco.^[6] He assisted in the conquest and sacking of the cities of Tultitlan, Cuauhtitlan, Chalco, Tollantzingo, Xaltocan, Otompa and Acolman. Huitzilíhuitl profited from the booty of these conquests and also from the traffic of the canoes on the lakes surrounding Tenochtitlan.

Death

Huitzilíhuitl died, probably in 1417, before the end of the war between Azcapotzalco and Texcoco. His successor, his son Chimalpopoca, continued to support Tezozómoc and Azcapotzalco.

Notes

1. García Purón (1984, p.31)
2. Orozco Linares (2005, p.20).
3. Álvarez (1987, entry "Huitzilopochtli"; Enciclopedia de México).
4. García Purón (1984, pp.35)
5. García Purón (1984, p.32)
6. There is a problem with the chronology at this point. Huitzilíhuitl was 16 when he ascended to the throne. Under the more likely dating of his reign, that means he was born in 1379 or 1380. It is unlikely he was married to a close relative of Tezozómoc, a more powerful lord, before he became tlatoani, because until then his prospects were uncertain. So in all likelihood his first child was born no earlier than late 1396, probably no earlier than 1397. Matlalcihuatzin's son Nezahualcóyotl was born in 1402. If she was Huitzilíhuitl's daughter, she would have been only 5 years old (give or take 1 year) when her son was born, perhaps younger. Even under the less likely dating of Huitzilíhuitl's reign, she would have been only 11 (or younger), give or take a year. And Huitzilíhuitl himself would have been 22±1 or 28±1, quite young to be a grandfather. Since the 1402 birth of Nezahualcóyotl seems well established, this casts doubt on the dates of Huitzilíhuitl's reign, or the age at which he took power, or his relationship to Matlalcihuatzin. If she were a sister or other relative rather than a daughter, that could resolve the conflict. Enciclopedia de México says sister, but many other sources say daughter.

References

Álvarez, José Rogelio, ed. (1987). Enciclopedia de México (in Spanish). vol. 7 (Edición especial, 2nd. ed.). México, D.F.: Compañía Editora de Enciclopedias de México, and Secretaría de Educación Pública. ISBN 968-6234-00-4. OCLC 183190717.

Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, Domingo de San Antón Muñón (1997) [c.1621]. Codex Chimalpahin, vol. 2: society and politics in Mexico Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco, Texcoco, Culhuacan, and other Nahua altepetl in central Mexico; the Nahuatl and Spanish annals and accounts collected and recorded by don Domingo de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin (continued). Civilization of the American Indian series, no. 226. Arthur J.O. Anderson and Susan Schroeder (eds. and trans.), Susan Schroeder (general ed.), Wayne Ruwet (manuscript ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-2950-1. OCLC 36017075.

García Puron, Manuel (1984). México y sus gobernantes: biografías, vol. 1: México indígena -- la conquista -- el virreinato. Biblioteca mexicana, no. 32. with revisions by Salvador Rivero y Martínez (Revised ed.). México, D.F: Joaquín Porrúa. OCLC 11543389. (Spanish)

León-Portilla, Miguel, ed. (1980). Native Mesoamerican Spirituality: Ancient myths, discourses, stories, doctrines, hymns, poems from the Aztec, Yucatec, Quiché-Maya and other sacred traditions. edited with a foreword, introd., and notes by Miguel León-Portilla; translations by Miguel León-Portilla [et al.] ; preface by Fernando Horcasitas. New York: Paulist Press. ISBN 0-8091-0293-5. OCLC 6450751.

Orozco Linares, Fernando (2005). Gobernantes de México: desde la época prehispánica hasta nuestros días (in Spanish) (16th impression, 3rd revised ed.). México, D.F.: Panorama Editorial. ISBN 968-38-0260-5. OCLC 78272361.

Smith, Michael E. (2003). The Aztecs (2nd edn. ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-23015-7. OCLC 48579073.

External links

• Huitzilihuitl entry on The Visual History Project
•  "Huitzilihuitl". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1892.