The Metaphorical Underpinnings of Aztec History

Abstract

The article discusses the 1473 civil war between the two polities that formed the capital of the Aztec empire, Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco, as presented in the Codex Durán. I argue that the literal, European-style rendition of the events of the war includes remnants of the pre-Conquest symbolic thought behind those events' original choreography. The remnants indicate that the war was staged to follow the outlines of the story of the battle between the god Huitzilopochtli (“Hummingbird, Left”) and his sister Coyolxauhqui (“Bells, Painted”) at the mountain site of Coatepetl (“Serpent Mountain”), an allegory for the rise and fall of powerful rulers. I also suggest that the enemy king and his second in command, after being thrown from the Tlatelolco Templo Mayor, were buried in the funerary vessels beside the Great Coyolxauhqui Stone discovered in 1978 at the base of the Tenochtitlan Templo Mayor, proved by the war to be the “true” and only Coatepetl.

Chalchiuhnenetzin—between Myth and History: Symbolic Aspects of the Aztec Noblewomen of This Name

“…This division resonates perfectly with the explanation of the symbolic aspects of the war between the two cities made by Chinchilla Mazariegos (2011), who emphasizes the importance of the hour, precisely at dawn, when the confrontation between Axayacatl and Moquihuixtli took place. The battle between the two Mexica rulers may thus be interpreted as a repetition of the myth of the birth of Huitzilopochtli, the Sun, on top of the mountain Coatepec, where he first had to defeat his sister, Coyolxauhqui, the Moon, to proclaim his rule over the world (Umberger 2007:11–29).What is more, there are many other myths present in different Mesoamerican communities, which in slightly different versions recount the same story of the destruction of a monstrous creature who was trying to shadow the light of the Sun and so claim its power (Chinchilla Mazariegos 2011:82–84).…”

“…The Tenochca throne was given to Axayacatl against the will of some of the aristocracy, while Nezahualpilli, then only a child, succeeded to rulership in Tetzcoco. Thus, it seemed a perfect moment for Moquihuixtli, the Tlatelolca ruler, to attempt to take over the hegemony in the region (Umberger 2007:12).…”

“…Chinchilla Mazariegos (2011) and Umberger (2007) expertly demonstrate how Mesoamerican cosmogonic myths merged with the historical event of the conquest of Tlatelolco by Mexico Tenochtitlan. Battcock (2009:215–234) analyzes a similar subject, the representations and symbolical aspects of distinct narrations of the death of Maxtla, while the authors of the book El héroe entre el mito y la historia (Navarette Linares and Olivier 2000) deal with similar processes for other famous Mesoamerican personalities such as Nezahualcoyotl (Lesbre 2000:21–55) or Tlahuicole (Graulich 2000a:89–99).…”

The Art of War: Imagery of the Upper Temple of the Jaguars, Chichen Itza

“…Yet if Cloud Serpent/Mixcoatl was the title of an important leader during the Late Postclassic period, it seems to have gone largely unremarked by later chroniclers. The Codex Mendoza f. 17v lists a mixcoatl tlacatecuhtli as military governor of Tetenanco, while the title of mixcoatl tlailotlacteuctli is given to a war chief in the Anales de Tlatelolco (Umberger 2007). Barlow (1987:41) also mentions that the mixcoatl tlailotlaque were inspectors of the Aztec markets.…”

“…Nicholson and Quiñones Keber (1983:94–97) maintained these were produced as acts of “conscious archaism” recalling the Aztec's Toltec heritage, although the details of costume recall Mixteca-Puebla iconographic conventions just as strongly. Umberger (2007) recently argued that the bones found within were the remains of Moquihuix and Teconal, leaders of the rebellious Tlatelolcans. Umberger associates Moquihuix with the feathered serpent vase and Teconal, his war chief, with the Mixcoatl vessel (as she notes [2007:15], the latter may have had the title mixcoatl tlailotlacteuctli ).…”