Montezuma II | Biography, Aztec King Rule & Death
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ShowWas Montezuma II a good leader?
He was a ruler who knew how to expand his empire and took it to its peak. However, he led an opulent lifestyle away from the people and many tribes rebelled against him. When the Spanish arrived, he gave in to all their requests, and his lack of action led to the conquest of the Aztecs.
Was Montezuma the last Aztec emperor?
Montezuma was not the last Aztec emperor. After he died, Cuitlahuac was named emperor, but soon he died from smallpox. Cuauhtemoc then took the throne, but the Spanish captured him to finish the Conquest of Tenochtitlan.
Who was Montezuma and why was he important?
Montezuma II was one of the last Aztec emperors. Under his rule, the Aztec empire had its peak, conquering other tribes and expanding their territories. However, he allowed the Spanish to conquer them due to his religious superstition.
Table of Contents
ShowMontezuma II (1466-1520) was one of the last rulers of the great Aztec Empire before the arrival of the Spanish. Under his mandate, the city of Tenochtitlan managed to maintain its power and the domain it exercised over other peoples, who were obliged to pay tribute. Son of Emperor Axayacatl, he was elected high priest and, in 1502, succeeded his uncle, Ahuizotl, in the government of the Aztec empire. Devoutly religious, he ultimately provoked the Spanish conquest of the empire.
Who was Montezuma?
Montezuma II was born in Tenochtitlan (which is currently Mexico City) in 1466. His complete name was Mohtecuzoma II Xocoyotsin. It is said that Mohtecuzoma means in Nahuatl (the language spoken by the Aztecs) "the one who is angry." His nickname Xocoyotzin means "young." His grandfather was the Aztec king Montezuma Ilhuicamina, also known as Montezuma I. Therefore, the nickname and the regnal number II were used to differentiate him from his grandfather. He held the title of Huetlatoani, which in the Nahuatl language means "Great Ruler." The name Montezuma II is commonly used by English sources and literature. However, the most correct approximation from Spanish to Nahuatl is Moctezuma II. Both ways to spell his name are correct, and both are used all around the world in different sources.
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His grandfather, Montezuma I, passed away three years after Montezuma was born, and his father, Axayacatl, became the Aztec Huetlatoani. The Aztecs controlled territories such as Texcoco, Tlacopan. and Tlatelolco. Despite the lack of cohesiveness among their domains, they remained united by fear of Mexican repression and by their military rule. Montezuma II received military and religious training from the Aztec nobles. In 1481, his father died, and his uncle, Tizoc, succeeded him. Meanwhile, Montezuma had to complete his religious and military education. He became a priest before being the king of the Aztec empire. His uncle died, and later another uncle, Ahuizotl, became Huetlatoani. Montezuma began to gain military experience and was later appointed general. On the death of his uncle, he was elected, in 1502, as the ninth Huetlatoani. By then, the Aztec people already recognized him as a capable and prepared leader to continue consolidating the empire.
One of the first actions of his reign was to replace all government officials; they were replaced by young men from noble families. Montezuma II organized the empire into various provinces. He created a strong central administration and established a tax system. At the same time, he continued the military expansion initiated by his predecessors. However, he was unable to subdue the enemy peoples of Tlaxcala. He also failed in his expeditions to Guatemala and Nicaragua. Because of the expansion of its territory, he managed to establish trade routes between the empire and other civilizations.
He was a despotic king, which soon caused instability and discontent in his kingdom. He asked other tribes for human tributes to sacrifice them to the gods. Many tribes, like the Tlaxcalans, began to rebel against him. In this way, the Aztec empire began to dismantle in different areas. He reigned from 1502 until 1520, when the Spanish conquered the Aztecs.
Life of an Aztec King
As emperor of the Aztec empire, Montezuma II lived in the capital, Tenochtitlan. This was a city characterized by having been built between canals and being surrounded by the water of Lake Texcoco. Its constructions were emblematic. Aqueducts carried fresh water to the city's inhabitants. The Templo Mayor (Spanish for Main Temple) was the largest religious center in the city. This city was populated by different social classes. The lower classes were slaves. Then there were workers and farmers. In the middle class were the merchants. At the top, there were the warriors and the priests, and only above them, the Huetlatoani.
The Aztec leader lived an opulent life, surrounded by luxuries. Two years before the arrival of the Spaniards, Montezuma II had built the royal houses and a magnificent palace. It is said that the dimensions of the palace were such that it had twenty access doors. It also had three patios, and, in one of them, there was a fountain with water brought from Chapultepec (a lake near Tenochtitlan). Also, the palace had many rooms: one hundred chambers and one hundred baths. He also celebrated many feasts, for which dozens of different foods were prepared. To maintain that lifestyle, it is said that Montezuma had dozens of servants at his service twenty-four hours a day. He also surrounded himself with jewels and other precious resources, like quetzal feathers and other rare items from distant lands.
Montezuma II was a very religious person. He turned the figure of the Huetlatoani into something almost divine. For the same reason, he was a ruler who distanced himself from the people. He did not allow commoners to enter his palace, and only nobles had access. Also, servants were not allowed to watch him while eating. Only his family and some nobles were able to see him and talk to him. Officially, he had two wives, but he had hundreds of mistresses. Because of this, Montezuma II had many children, but his favorite one was Tecuichpo Ichcaxochitl, who, after the Spanish conquest, was baptized as Isabel Montezuma.
First Contact with the Spanish
By 1517, the Spanish crown began to launch a series of expeditions to what is now Mexico. These expeditions departed from Cuba. In them, the Spaniards had contact with different tribes and discovered different parts of this territory. There was a legend in which the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, who was highly revered, spent time among humans and left, flying to the shores of Veracruz. However, he promised that one day he would return. In 1518, Montezuma was informed of the presence of the ships of the Spanish explorer Juan de Grijalva off the Yucatan coast. The Aztec king sent emissaries and gifts to the foreigners, whom he assumed to be Quetzalcoatl's envoys sent to announce his return.
In 1519, the Hernan Cortes expedition landed in Veracruz. This date coincided with the one marked on the Aztec calendar as the return of Quetzalcoatl. Montezuma did not hesitate to identify the conqueror as the god. On November 8, 1519, he received him in Tenochtitlan and showered him with valuable gifts. Montezuma yielded to all of Cortes's requests. Gold, jewelry, food, and other valuable resources were provided. Montezuma II lodged Cortes and his men in his palace. The Spanish were Catholic and considered the religion of the Aztecs a heresy. The images of the Aztec gods were torn down and replaced by Christian images. Even Montezuma II agreed to be baptized. The submission of the Aztec king occurred because he believed that he should not anger the god Quetzalcoatl.
Prisoner of the Spanish
Although Cortes had the favor of Montezuma, the Aztec leader's courtiers, generals, and the Tenochtitlan inhabitants did not like the situation. On November 14, 1519, Cortes took Montezuma prisoner, worried that his fate depended on the will of the emperor. He kept him in power in a symbolic way, and Montezuma II thought that if he gave in to Cortes's wishes, he would eventually leave, but the Spanish did not leave and were dedicated to looting everything they could.
Suddenly, Cortes received the news that a contingent had arrived on the coast of Veracruz with the mission of arresting him. It was an expedition organized by Diego de Velázquez, governor of Cuba, and led by his nephew, Panfilo de Narvaez. Before they could organize in the coast, Cortes left for Veracruz with some of his men. Another group of men stayed on guard in Tenochtitlan, with Montezuma II still held as a hostage. During Cortes's absence, one of his generals, Pedro de Alvarado, remained in command.
How did Montezuma II Die?
The Aztecs asked Pedro de Alvarado for permission to hold a religious festival. At first, he agreed on the condition that no one should be armed. However, shocked by the brutality of the Aztec sacrifices and dazzled by the jewels and gold carried by the nobles, he decided to ambush them. When the festival was at its height, they closed the patio doors and killed all the participants.
In response to this event, the people rose up in arms. After Alvarado's massacre, Cortes returned from Veracruz. On June 29, 1520, Cortes asked Montezuma to calm the impetus of his people. When Montezuma appeared on the balcony of his palace to give a speech, the people began to throw stones and arrows at him as soon as he looked out.
There are various versions of Montezuma II's death. According to the Spanish version, Montezuma died as a result of his injuries. The Aztec version says that all the Aztec nobles who were imprisoned by the Spanish were executed for being no longer useful. Later, when the bodies were collected, Montezuma's body would show sword wounds.
When Montezuma II died, Cuitlahuac succeeded him as Aztec king, but he soon died from smallpox. Then the young Cuauhtemoc took the throne. On August 13, 1521, Cuauhtemoc was captured, which meant the definitive fall of Tenochtitlan into the hands of the Spanish. From this date, what now is Mexico became a Spanish colony, called New Spain, for three centuries from 1521 to 1821.
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The legacy and reputation of Montezuma II are full of contrasts. He was heir to an empire of vast proportions. As the Aztec leader, he increased the empire and established new trade routes, but he also stood out for his opulence and separation from the lower classes. He is also remembered in history as the ruler who succumbed to the Spanish. He did not offer much resistance to the Spanish conquerors to whom he surrendered. His people stoned him when he went out to ask that the invaders not be fought.
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Montezuma II (1466-1520) was one of the last Aztec emperors before the Spanish conquest. He was the son of Axayacatl and grandson of Montezuma I, both Aztec emperors. He received a military and a religious education. Before becoming king, he was a priest. He was elected in 1502 to take the throne and ruled for eighteen years, until 1520. Under his command, the Aztec empire reached its peak and expanded its territories, dominating other tribes. Montezuma II had a reign full of opulence and separation from the people. He was also a despotic ruler. He demanded human tributes to other tribes so he could sacrifice them to the gods, and many tribes rebelled against him. The city of Tenochtitlan was the capital of the empire and where he lived. It was a city full of impressive buildings, such as temples, the palace, and aqueducts to carry freshwater.
Due to his superstition about the return of Quetzalcoatl, he received the expedition of Hernan Cortes with open arms in 1519. Cortes and his men, blinded by ambition, decided to conquer Tenochtitlan. To control the Aztecs, they captured Montezuma II, keeping him as emperor and ruling through him. After the Spanish massacred the Aztecs at a religious festival, the people were enraged and rebelled against the Spanish. When Montezuma leaned out of his palace to ask them to calm down, he was stoned by his people and died of his injuries. Montezuma II went down in history as a ruler who led the Aztecs to their splendor but who did not know how to stand up against the Spanish, and because of him, the Aztecs were conquered.
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Video Transcript
The Aztec Empire
What comes to mind when you think of the empires of Central America? Human sacrifice, massive temples, powerful and vengeful gods, Spanish conquest? The Aztec Empire had all of these things and more. Located in the heart of Mexico, the city of Tenochtitlan became the heart of the Aztec Empire.
Built in the middle of a swampy lake, the Aztecs created a massive city with large roads and canals for trade. In fact, Aztec engineers were so advanced that they built large aqueducts, or large pipes, that brought fresh water into the city. The center of the city had a large marketplace, fantastic pyramids for the Aztec gods, and a place to play sports.
But Tenochtitlan was more than just the capital of the Aztec Empire; it was the home to the powerful kings that ruled the Aztecs and other tribes they conquered. From Tenochtitlan, the Aztec kings built their armies and created plans for war. They also demanded tributes, or payment from the people they conquered. Of the eleven kings that ruled the Aztecs, the most famous was Montezuma II, who was the ninth king of the Aztec Empire who ruled from 1502 to 1520.
Montezuma II
Montezuma II was born around the year 1466 in the city of Tenochtitlan. As a kid, he learned many of the subjects that students today learn in school, like science and astronomy. Of all of the things he studied, Montezuma loved religion the most and actually became a priest at one of Tenochtitlan's large temples before he became a king.
At the age of 36, Montezuma took the Aztec throne after his uncle, Ahuitzotl died. Ahuitzotl was an impressive ruler. During his time as emperor, he fought wars all over central America and doubled the size of the Aztec Empire. By the time Montezuma became the king, Aztec influence spread from Mexico into Nicaragua and Honduras.
The biggest issue for Montezuma as a new king was what to do with such a large empire. His uncle had spent so much time and effort expanding, but Montezuma's responsibility became maintaining that power. The peoples conquered by the Aztecs had to make payments to Tenochtitlan and to the king. These payments came in the form of gold, precious metals, foods, and different goods. Montezuma decided to increase the size of the tributes, and he also demanded that the conquered tribes pay him human tributes, too. Montezuma was very superstitious and very religious; the human tributes were used as sacrifices to please the gods.
Montezuma and the Spanish
Think for a second about what life in the Aztec Empire would be like for a conquered person. You have to make huge payments to a king you've probably never seen, and you have to pick someone from your village to be sacrificed; maybe a neighbor, a friend, or someone in your own family. How would you react? You probably wouldn't be very happy and would look for a way to overthrow the king. Well, this is exactly what some of these tribes decided to do. Montezuma was not popular outside of Tenochtitlan. In total, he was the ruler of over five million people. That's a lot of upset and angry followers!
In 1517, the tides turned against Montezuma when the Spanish conquistadors arrived. Hernan Cortes and his men slowly made their way to Tenochtitlan. As they traveled, they heard stories of Montezuma and realized how angry and upset some of the tribes were. Cortes decided to form alliances with these tribes. By the time Cortes reached Montezuma, he decided that the only way to get what he wanted was to capture the Aztec ruler.
Cortes used Montezuma as his puppet and managed to swindle gold and treasure from the Aztecs. Eventually, the Aztec people revolted against the Spanish and their weak leader. Montezuma's people threw rocks at him that caused wounds that might have caused his death. Montezuma died in June of 1520 and only two more Aztec kings ruled after him.
Lesson Summary
All right, let's take a moment or two to review. Montezuma II was the ninth king of the Aztec Empire who ruled from 1502 to 1520. During that time, he maintained the aqueducts, or large pipes that brought fresh water into the city. He increased taxes on his people and demanded more human tributes, which are generally considered to be payment from the conquered people, to be sacrificed to the gods. Many tribes conquered by the Aztecs disliked Montezuma and formed an alliance with Hernan Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors. Cortes captured Montezuma and ruled the Aztecs through him. Montezuma died in 1520 after his people threw rocks and stones at him.
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