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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Montezuma II Biography MONTEZUMA (II), XOCOYOTZIN (1466-1520). The last Aztec ruler and Emperor of Mexico. The fact that he was an able general and a priest, of the temple of the war god Huitzilopochtli brought about his election to the throne in 1503 and he was crowned amidst festivities and human sacrifices. He was of a haughty character and readily espoused the cause of the ancient nobility against the more recently created nobles. Furthermore, his despotic rule and oppressive taxation served to alienate the merchants and poorer classes. During his reign he was occupied with expeditions of conquest, suppression of revolts, erection of temples, and extensive immolations of human victims. He undertook many campaigns against Tlascala, but never succeeded in subjecting this nation to Mexico. Better success attended his efforts towards the south, where he extended the rule of Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua. His reign was full of signs and omens which were interpreted as indicating the end of the Aztec power, and the arrival of Cortés and the Spaniards was considered as the fulfillment of the national tradition that Quetzalcoatl, a tribal divinity or hero, would return from the rising sun, white in color and bearded. This caused Montezuma to pursue a weak and vacillating course, although he endeavored by diplomacy and rich presents to prevent the Spaniards from coming to Mexico City. He met the invaders outside the city with more gifts and made no resistance to their entry (Nov. 8, 1619). He was soon made a prisoner by Cortés, and the loss of leadership paralyzed the natives and allowed the Spaniards to make their position secure. The Mexicans, refusing longer to endure the actions of the Spaniards, revolted under the leadership of Cuitlahuatzin, Montezuma's brother. In the hope of quelling the uprising Cortés induced Montezuma to address the natives from the roof of the house occupied by the invaders, but the only result was that the subjects showered their sovereign with stones and arrows. Montezuma died a, few days later, either from his wounds or at the hands of the Spaniards who now knew him to be of no further use to their cause. Consult Kingsborough, Antiquities of Mexico, vol. ix (London, 1548), and H. H. Bancroft, Native Races (San Francisco, 1874-82). The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XVI (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 176-177. |