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Mar 27, 2024 · Montezuma II, ninth Aztec emperor of Mexico, famous for his dramatic confrontation with the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes. Montezuma became Cortes’s prisoner in Tenochtitlan. The Spanish claimed Montezuma died at the hands of his own people; the Aztecs believed that the Spanish murdered him.
He was killed during the initial stages of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire when conquistador Hernán Cortés and his men fought to take over the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. During his reign, the Aztec Empire reached its greatest size.
- Xochicueyetl
- Axayacatl
- 1502/1503–1520
- Cuitláhuac
Apr 2, 2014 · So when Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived in 1519, Montezuma saw some of his subjects turn against him. He was killed soon after, and the Aztec empire came to an end. QUICK FACTS
- Montezuma II Xocoyotzín, Emperor of The Aztecs
- Cortes and The Invasion of Mexico
- Capture of Montezuma
- Montezuma Captive
- Massacre of Toxcatl and Return of Cortes
- Death of Montezuma
- Aftermath of Montezuma's Death
- Sources
Montezuma had been selected to be Tlatoani (the word means "speaker") in 1502, the maximum leader of his people: his grandfather, father, and two uncles had also been tlatoque(plural of tlatoani). From 1502 to 1519, Montezuma had proven himself to be an able leader in war, politics, religion, and diplomacy. He had maintained and expanded the empire...
In 1519, Hernan Cortes and 600 Spanish conquistadors landed on Mexico's Gulf coast, establishing a base near the present-day city of Veracruz. They began slowly making their way inland, collecting intelligence from Doña Marina ("Malinche"), a woman enslaved by Cortes. They befriended disgruntled vassals of the Mexica and made an important alliance ...
The wealth of Tenochtitlan was astounding, and Cortes and his lieutenants began plotting how to take the city. Most of their plans involved capturing Montezuma and holding him until more reinforcements could arrive to secure the city. On November 14, 1519, they got the excuse they needed. A Spanish garrison left on the coast had been attacked by so...
Montezuma was still allowed to see his advisors and participate in his religious duties, but only with Cortes' permission. He taught Cortes and his lieutenants to play traditional Mexica games and even took them hunting outside of the city. Montezuma seemed to develop a sort of Stockholm Syndrome, in which he befriended and sympathized with his cap...
In May of 1520, Cortes had to go to the coast with as many soldiers as he could spare to deal with an army led by Panfilo de Narvaez. Unbeknownst to Cortes, Montezuma had entered into a secret correspondence with Narvez and had ordered his coastal vassals to support him. When Cortes found out, he was furious, greatly straining his relationship with...
Cortes returned to a palace under siege. Cortes could not restore order, and the Spanish were starving, as the market had closed. Cortes ordered Montezuma to reopen the market, but the emperor said that he could not because he was a captive and no one listened to his orders anymore. He suggested that if Cortes freed his brother Cuitlahuac, also hel...
With Montezuma dead, Cortes realized that there was no way he could hold the city. On June 30, 1520, Cortes and his men tried to sneak out of Tenochtitlan under cover of darkness. They were spotted, however, and wave after wave of fierce Mexica warriors attacked the Spaniards fleeing over the Tacuba causeway. About six hundred Spaniards (roughly ha...
Diaz del Castillo, Bernal. . Trans., ed. J.M. Cohen. 1576. London, Penguin Books, 1963.Hassig, Ross. Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988.Levy, Buddy. New York: Bantam, 2008.Thomas, Hugh. New York: Touchstone, 1993.- Richard Bevan
- He was something of a family man. Moctezuma could give the King of Siam a run for his money when it came to fathering children. Known for his countless wives and concubines, a Spanish chronicler claims he may have sired over 100 children.
- He doubled the size of the Aztec Empire. Despite portrayals of Moctezuma as indecisive, vain and superstitious, he doubled the size of the Aztec Empire.
- He was a good administrator. Moctezuma had a talent as an administrator. He set up 38 provincial divisions in order to centralize the empire. Part of his plans to maintain order and secure revenues was to send out bureaucrats accompanied by a military presence to make certain that tax was being paid by the citizens and that national laws were being upheld.
- Little tangible evidence documents his rule. Very little is known about Emperor Moctezuma or what it was like to rule over the Aztec kingdom. The Spanish Conquistadors’ destruction of the grand city Tenochtitlan, as well as its artefacts and art, left little information about the Aztec ruler for posterity.
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What do we really know about Moctezuma II (also called Montezuma), the Aztec emperor who met Hernan Cortes and saw the start of an incredible clash of civilizations? For centuries scholars have puzzled over the man - what he thought, what drove him, why he made the decisions he did.
The circumstances of Montezuma II's death remain surrounded by controversy and ambiguity. Some accounts suggest that he was stoned to death by his own people when he appealed for calm during the rebellion. Others propose that he was killed by the Spanish when he was no longer of use to them.
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