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

DECEMBER, 17 1790: THE STONE OF THE FIVE ERAS

The Sun Stone or The Stone of the Five Eras

The Sun Stone, Stone of the Five Eras, or sometimes called Aztec calendar stone is a late post-classic Mexica sculpture housed in the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, and is perhaps the most famous work of Aztec sculpture. 

The stone is 358 centimetres in diameter and 98 centimetres thick, and it weighs about 24 tons. Shortly after the Spanish conquest, the monolithic sculpture was buried in the Zócalo, or main square of Mexico City. It was rediscovered on December 17, 1790 during repairs on the Mexico City Cathedral.

Following its rediscovery, the calendar stone was mounted on an exterior wall of the Cathedral, where it remained until 1885. Most scholars think that the stone was carved some time between 1502 and 1521, though some believe that it is several decades older than that.

More information: Museo Nacional de Antropología, México DF

The sculpted motifs that cover the surface of the stone refer to central components of the Mexica cosmogony. In the center of the monolith is the face of the solar deity, Tonatiuh, which appears inside the glyph for movement, Nahuatl: ollin, the name of the current era. The central figure is shown holding a human heart in each of his clawed hands, and his tongue is represented by a stone sacrificial knife (Tecpatl).

Jacqueline Kennedy and The Sun Stone, 1962

The four squares that surround the central deity represent the four previous suns or eras, which preceded the present era, 4 Movement, Nahuatl: Nahui Ollin. Each era ended with the destruction of the world and humanity, which were then recreated in the next era.

The top right square represents 4 Jaguar, Nahuatl: Nahui Ocelotl, the day on which the first era ended, after having lasted 676 years, due to the appearance of monsters that devoured all of humanity.

The top left square shows 4 Wind, Nahuatl: Nahui Ehecatl, the date on which, after 364 years, hurricane winds destroyed the earth, and humans were turned into monkeys.

The bottom left square shows 4 Rain, Nahuatl: Nahui Quiahuitl. This era lasted 312 years, before being destroyed by a rain of fire, which transformed humanity into turkeys.

The bottom right square represents 4 Water, Nahuatl: Nahui Atl, an era that lasted 676 years and ended when the world was flooded and all the humans were turned into fish.

More information: Secretaría de Cultura, México DF

Placed among these four squares are three additional dates, 1 Flint, 1 Rain, and 7 Monkey, and a Xiuhuitzolli, or ruler's turquoise diadem, glyph. It has been suggested that these dates may have had both historical and cosmic significance, and that the diadem may form part of the name of the Mexica ruler Moctezuma II.

The exact purpose and meaning of the Calendar Stone are unclear. Archaeologists and historians have proposed numerous theories, and it is likely that there are several aspects to its interpretation.

Joseph visiting The Stone of the Five Eras

The earliest interpretations of the stone relate to its use as a calendar. 

In 1792, two years after the stone's unearthing, Mexican anthropologist Antonio de León y Gama wrote a treatise on the Aztec calendar using the stone as its basis. Some of the circles of glyphs are the glyphs for the days of the month. Some of the symbols may represent the five ages that the Mexica believed the earth had passed through.

Another aspect of the stone is its religious significance. One theory is that the face at the center of the stone represents Tonatiuh, the Aztec deity of the sun. It is for this reason that the stone became known as the Sun Stone. Richard Townsend proposed a different theory, claiming that the figure at the centre of the stone represents Tlaltecuhtli, the Mexica earth deity who features in Mexica creation myths. Modern archaeologists, such as those at the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, believe it is more likely to have been used primarily as a ceremonial basin or ritual altar for gladiatorial sacrifices, than as an astrological or astronomical reference.

More information: The Aztec History

Yet another characteristic of the stone is its possible geographic significance. The four points may relate to the four corners of the earth or the cardinal points. The inner circles may express space as well as time.

Lastly, there is the political aspect of the stone. It may have been intended to show Tenochtitlan as the center of the world and therefore, as the center of authority.

 When you think about archaeology, archaeology is the only field 

that allows us to tell the story of 99 percent of our history prior to 3,000 B.C. and writing. 

Sarah Parcak