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Aztec Empire's territorial organization in 1519. Originally, the Aztec empire was a loose alliance between three cities: Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and the most junior partner, Tlacopan. As such, they were known as the 'Triple Alliance.' This political form was very common in Mesoamerica, where alliances of city-states were ever fluctuating.
The Aztecs [a] (/ ˈ æ z t ɛ k s / AZ-teks) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to the 16th centuries.
Like many of the peoples around them, the Mexica spoke Nahuatl which, with the expansion of the Aztec Empire, became the lingua franca in other areas. [32] The form of Nahuatl used in the 16th century, when it began to be written in the Latin alphabet introduced by the Spaniards , became known as Classical Nahuatl .
Thus the Aztec Empire had its largest geographical extent when the Spaniards arrived in 1519. Some sources claim that Moctezuma II, and the Aztecs, believed the arriving Spanish to be linked to the supposed return of an exiled god, Quetzlcoatl , who was supposed to return pale and bearded.
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.
La Noche Triste ("The Night of Sorrows", literally "The Sad Night"), was an important event during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, wherein Hernán Cortés, his army of Spanish conquistadors, and their native allies were driven out of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.
Tlacaelel I (1397 [2] – 1487) (Classical Nahuatl: Tlācaēllel Nahuatl pronunciation: [t͡ɬaːkaˈeːlːel], "Man of Strong Emotions," from "tlācatl," person and "ēllelli," strong emotion) was the principal architect of the Aztec Triple Alliance and hence the Mexica (Aztec) empire.
The Tlaxcaltec of Tlaxcala initially resisted the Spanish but soon joined the conquest effort as a crucial ally against the Aztec Empire. After the fall of Tenōchtitlan in 1521, the Spanish increasingly demanded that altepetl rulers publicly destroy their figures of deities (referred to as idols by the Spanish) and whitewash temple walls.