CUAUHTÉMOC, THE LAST AZTEC EMPEROR (TLATOANI)

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Cuauhtémoc, the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan who was killed on the order of conquistador Hernán Cortés on a day like today in 1525.

Cuauhtémoc, also known as Cuauhtemotzín, Guatimozín, or Guatémoc, was the Aztec ruler (tlatoani) of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, making him the last Aztec Emperor.

The name Cuauhtemōc means one who has descended like an eagle, and is commonly rendered in English as Descending Eagle, as in the moment when an eagle folds its wings and plummets down to strike its prey. This is a name that implies aggressiveness and determination.

Cuauhtémoc took power in 1520 as successor of Cuitláhuac and was a cousin of the late emperor Moctezuma II.

His young wife, who was later known as Isabel Moctezuma, was one of Moctezuma's daughters. He ascended to the throne when he was around 25 years old, while Tenochtitlan was being besieged by the Spanish and devastated by an epidemic of smallpox brought to the Americas by Spanish conquerors. After the killings in the Great Temple, there were probably few Aztec captains available to take the position.

Cuauhtemoc's date of birth is unknown, as he does not enter the historical record until he became emperor. He was the eldest legitimate son of Emperor Ahuitzotl and may well have attended the last New Fire ceremony, marking the beginning of a new 52-year cycle in the Aztec calendar.

When Cuauhtemoc was elected tlatoani in 1520, Tenochtitlan had already been rocked by the invasion of the Spanish and their indigenous allies, the death of Moctezuma II, and the death of Moctezuma's brother Cuitlahuac, who succeeded him as ruler, but died of smallpox shortly afterwards. In keeping with traditional practice, the most able candidate among the high noblemen was chosen by vote of the highest noblemen, and Cuauhtemoc assumed the rulership.

More information: ThoughtCo.

Although under Cuitlahuac Tenochtitlan began mounting a defense against the invaders, it was increasingly isolated militarily and largely faced the crisis alone, as the numbers of Spanish allies increased with the desertion of many polities previously under its control.

Cuauhtémoc called for reinforcements from the countryside to aid the defense of Tenochtitlan, after eighty days of warfare against the Spanish. Of all the Nahuas, only Tlatelolcas remained loyal, and the surviving Tenochcas looked for refuge in Tlatelolco, where even women took part in the battle. Cuauhtémoc was captured on August 13, 1521, while fleeing Tenochtitlán by crossing Lake Texcoco with his wife, family, and friends.

He surrendered to Hernán Cortés along with the surviving pipiltin (nobles).

Cuauhtémoc, now baptized as Fernando Cuauhtémotzín, continued to hold his position under the Spanish, keeping the title of tlatoani, but he was no longer the sovereign ruler. He ordered the construction of a renaissance-style two-storied stone palace in Tlatelolco, in which he settled after the destruction of Tenochtitlan; the building survived and was known as the Tecpan or palace.

In 1525, Cortés took Cuauhtémoc and several other indigenous nobles on his expedition to Honduras, as he feared that Cuauhtémoc could have led an insurrection in his absence. While the expedition was stopped in the Chontal Maya capital of Itzamkanac, known as Acalan in Nahuatl, Cortés had Cuauhtémoc executed for allegedly conspiring to kill him and the other Spaniards.

Cuauhtémoc, Coanacoch, and Tetlepanquetzal were hanged.

The modern-day town of Ixcateopan in the state of Guerrero is home to an ossuary purportedly containing Cuauhtémoc's remains.

Cuauhtemoc is the embodiment of indigenist nationalism in Mexico, being the only Aztec emperor who survived the conquest by the Spanish Empire and their native allies.

He is honored by a monument on the Paseo de la Reforma, his face has appeared on Mexican coins, banknotes, and he is celebrated in paintings, music, and popular culture.

Many places in Mexico are named in honour of Cuauhtémoc. These include Ciudad Cuauhtémoc in Chihuahua and the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City. Smaller towns include Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Veracruz and Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chiapas.

More information: Ancient Origins

Our Sun has gone down
Our Sun has been lost from view
and has left us
in complete darkness
But we know it will return again
that it will rise again
to light us anew
But while it is there in
the Mansion of Silence
Let’s join together, let’s embrace each other
and in the very center of our being hide
all that our hearts love
and we know is the Great Treasure.

Let us hide our Temples
our schools, our sacred soccer game
our youth centers
our houses of flowery song
so that only our streets remain.

Our homes will enclose us
until our New Sun rises.

Most honorable fathers
and most honorable mothers,
may you never forget to guide your young ones
teach your children, while you live
how good it has been and will be.

Until now our beloved Anahuac
sheltered and protected our destinies
that our ancestors
and our parents enthusiastically received
and seeded in our being.

Now we will instruct our children
how to be good
They will raise themselves up and gain strength
and as goodness make real their great destiny
in this, our beloved mother Anahuac.

Cuauhtémoc

FREDEN I STOLBOVA, PEACE BETWEEN RUSSIA & SWEDEN

After the recent news about Russia and Ukrania, The Grandma has been reading about the Treaty of Stolbovo, a treaty between the Russian Tsardom and the Swedish Empire that was signed on a day like today in 1617.

The Treaty of Stolbovo, in Swedish Freden i Stolbova, was a peace treaty that ended the Ingrian War (Ingermanländska kriget), which had been fought between the Swedish Empire and the Russian Tsardom between 1610 and 1617. After nearly two months of negotiations, representatives from Sweden and Russia met at the now-derelict village of Stolbovo, south of Lake Ladoga, now in Volkhovsky District.

The meeting took place on 9 March [O.S. 27 February] 1617. From the outset, Sweden had gone into the negotiations with very high ambitions and hopes of fulfilling the old dream of making all Russian trade pass through Swedish territory. As a consequence of that ambition, the Swedes originally demanded far-reaching territorial gains into western Russia, including the important northern port of Arkhangelsk.

However, King James I of England sent a delegation to mediate, and the United Provinces did the same, mostly to ensure that Arkhangelsk did not fall into Swedish hands, which would have made the extensive trade between Western Europe and Russia far more difficult.

Arkhangelsk did not change hands in the resulting treaty, partly because of the Dutch and the English efforts but mostly because Russia finally managed to unite under Tsar Michael I of Russia.

As word reached Russia that the Swedish war against Poland might soon be over, the Russians really became serious in the negotiations to avoid Sweden's renewal of the war effort on only one front.

More information: Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library

The Kingdom of England was officially credited with brokering the peace through its mediator, John Mericke (c.1559-1638/9), but the Dutch efforts were also very important. After the war, the leader of the Dutch delegation, Reinoud van Brederode (1567–1633), was granted the title of baron and given the barony of Wesenberg (Rakvere) in Estonia by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.

In the resulting peace treaty, the Russian tsar and Swedish king agreed to the following terms:

-Sweden gained the province of Kexholm in Karelia and the province of Ingria, including the fortress of Nöteborg, now Shlisselburg, Russia.

-Russia renounced all claims to Estonia and Livonia and would pay Sweden war indemnities of 20,000 rubles.

-Novgorod and other Swedish territorial gains during the war would be returned to Russia.

-Sweden had the right to keep all spoils of war collected before 20 November 1616.

-The city of Gdov was to remain in Swedish hands until the peace had been confirmed and the borders fully established.

-Sweden recognised Michael Romanov as the rightful Russian tsar and ended further Swedish claims in the Russian throne.

-Russia was allowed free trade at normal trade tariffs, which ensured that Sweden would not completely cripple Russia.

-Russia was allowed to establish merchant houses in Stockholm, Reval (Tallinn) and Viborg, and Sweden was allowed to establish merchant houses in Novgorod, Pskov and Moscow.

More information: Baltic Worlds

When the peace treaty is signed,
the war isn't over for the veterans, or the family.
It's just starting.

Karl Marlantes

FATS DOMINO, ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF ROCK 'N ROLL

Today, The Grandma is relaxing at home. She has decided to listen to some music and she has chosen Fats Domino, the American pianist and singer-songwriter who was born on a day like today in 1928.

Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928-October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist and singer-songwriter.

One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orleans to a French Creole family, Domino signed to Imperial Records in 1949. His first single The Fat Man is cited by some historians as the first rock and roll single and the first to sell more than 1 million copies.

Domino continued to work with the song's co-writer Dave Bartholomew, contributing his distinctive rolling piano style to Lloyd Price's Lawdy Miss Clawdy (1952) and scoring a string of mainstream hits beginning with Ain't That a Shame (1955).

Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 US pop hits. By 1955, five of his records had sold more than a million copies, being certified gold.

Domino was shy and modest by nature but made a significant contribution to the rock and roll genre.

Elvis Presley declared Domino a huge influence on me when I started out and described him as the real king of rock 'n' roll. The artist himself did not define his work as rock and roll, saying of the genre It wasn't anything but the same rhythm and blues I'd been playing down in New Orleans.

Four of Domino's records were named to the Grammy Hall of Fame for their significance: Blueberry Hill, Ain't That A Shame, Walking to New Orleans and The Fat Man.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of its first group of inductees in 1986. The Associated Press estimates that during his career, Domino sold more than 110 million records.

More information: Fats Domino Official

Antoine Domino Jr. was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, the youngest of eight children born to Antoine Caliste Domino (1879-1964) and Marie-Donatille Gros (1886-1971). The Domino family was of French Creole background, and Louisiana Creole was his first language. Like most such families, the Dominos were Catholic.

Antoine was born at home with the assistance of his grandmother, a midwife. His name was initially misspelled as Anthony on his birth certificate. His family had recently arrived in the Lower Ninth Ward from Vacherie, Louisiana. His father was a part-time violin player who worked at a racetrack.

He attended the Louis B. Macarty School, leaving to start work as a helper to an ice delivery man.

Domino learned to play the piano in about 1938 from his brother-in-law, the jazz guitarist Harrison Verrett. By age 14, Domino was performing in New Orleans bars.

In 1947, Billy Diamond, a New Orleans bandleader, accepted an invitation to hear the young pianist perform at a backyard barbecue.

Domino was signed to the Imperial Records label in 1949 by owner Lew Chudd, to be paid royalties based on sales instead of a fee for each song. He and producer Dave Bartholomew wrote The Fat Man, a toned down version of a song about drug addicts called Junker Blues; the record had sold a million copies by 1951.

Featuring a rolling piano and Domino vocalizing wah-wah over a strong backbeat, The Fat Man is widely considered the first rock-and-roll record to achieve this level of sales. In 2015, the song would enter the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Domino moved to ABC-Paramount Records in 1963. The label dictated that he record in Nashville, Tennessee, rather than New Orleans. He was assigned a new producer (Felton Jarvis) and a new arranger (Bill Justis).

In 1986, Domino was one of the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. Domino's last album for a major label, Christmas Is a Special Day, was released in 1993.

As Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans in August 2005, Domino chose to stay at home with his family, partly because his wife, Rosemary, was in poor health. His house was in an area that was heavily flooded.

Domino was rumored to have died, and his home was vandalized when someone spray-painted the message RIP Fats. You will be missed.

On September 1, the talent agent Al Embry announced that he had not heard from Domino since before the hurricane struck. Later that day, CNN reported that Domino had been rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. Until then, even family members had not heard from him since before the storm. Embry confirmed that Domino and his family had been rescued. The family was then taken to a shelter in Baton Rouge, after which they were picked up by JaMarcus Russell, the starting quarterback of the Louisiana State University football team, and the boyfriend of Domino's granddaughter. He let the family stay in his apartment.

The Washington Post reported that on September 2, they had left Russell's apartment after sleeping three nights on the couch. We've lost everything, Domino said, according to the Post.

More information: Rock's Back Pages Library

By January 2006, work to gut and repair Domino's home and office had begun. In the meantime, the Domino family resided in Harvey, Louisiana.

Domino was scheduled to perform at the 2006 Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans. However, he was suffering from anxiety and was forced to cancel the performance, but he did appear to offer the audience an on-stage greeting.

In 2006 Domino's album Alive and Kickin' was released to benefit the Tipitina's Foundation, which supports indigent local musicians and helps preserve the New Orleans sound. The album consists of unreleased recordings from the 1990s and received great critical acclaim.

In September 2007, Domino was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

Domino died on October 24, 2017, at his home in Harvey, Louisiana, at the age of 89, from natural causes, according to the coroner's office.

Domino was one of the biggest stars of rock and roll in the 1950s, but he was not convinced that this was a new genre.

In 1957, Domino said: What they call rock 'n' roll now is rhythm and blues. I've been playing it for 15 years in New Orleans.

According to Rolling Stone, this is a valid statement ... all Fifties rockers, black and white, country born and city bred, were fundamentally influenced by R&B, the black popular music of the late Forties and early Fifties.

More information: CBC

Well, I wouldn't want to say that I started it (rock 'n' roll),
but I don't remember anyone else before me playing that kind of stuff.

Fats Domino