Maxtla (

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

pronunciation: ''maštɬa'') was a

Tepanec The Tepanecs or Tepaneca are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the late 12th or early 13th centuries.The dates vary by source, including 1152 CE in Anales de Tlatelolco, 1210 from Chimalpahin, and 1226 from Ixtlilxo ...

ruler (''

tlatoani ''Tlahtoāni'' ( , "ruler, sovereign"; plural ' ) is a historical title used by the dynastic rulers of (singular ''āltepētl'', often translated into English as "city-state"), autonomous political entities formed by many pre-Columbian Nahuatl- ...

'') of

Azcapotzalco Azcapotzalco ( ; ; from ''wikt:azcapotzalli, āzcapōtzalli'' “anthill” + ''wikt:-co, -co'' “place”; literally, “In the place of the anthills”) is a Boroughs of Mexico City, borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. Azcap ...

from 1426 to his death in 1428.

Family

He was a son of the famous king Tezozomoc, who was a son of Acolnahuacatl and queen Cuetlaxochitzin. His mother was queen Tzihuacxochitzin I, daughter of the noble dignitary Huitzilaztatzin. He was a brother of the kings Aculnahuacatl Tzaqualcatl and

Quaquapitzahuac Quaquapitzahuac (died 1417) was the first ruler of the Aztec city of Tlatelolco (altepetl), Tlatelolco. His name, which means "Slender Horn", was pronounced in Classical Nahuatl, and is also spelled Cuacuauhpitzahuac, Cuacuapitzahuac, and Quaquau ...

and queens

Xiuhcanahualtzin Xiuhcanahualtzin was a Princess of Azcapotzalco and Queen regent, Queen of Tlatelolco (altepetl), Tlatelolco by marriage. Family She was a daughter of the king Tezozomoc (Azcapotzalco), Tezozomoc and Tzihuacxochitzin and sister of the king Quaquap ...

and Ayauhcihuatl. He was an uncle of

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Chimalpopoca Chimalpopoca ( for "smoking shield," ) or Chīmalpopōcatzin (1397–1427) was the third Emperor of Tenochtitlan (1417–1427). Biography Chimalpopoca was born to the Emperor Huitzilihuitl and Queen Ayauhcihuatl. Rule Chimalpopoca was cro ...

. His elder half-brother was Tayatzin.

Biography

Maxtla was installed as a ruler of

Coyoacán Coyoacán ( ; , Otomi: ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre- ...

. Upon Tezozomoc's death in the year Twelve Rabbit (1426), Tayatzin became a king, but Maxtla seized power at

, leaving the rulership of Coyoacán to his son Tecollotzin. Emperor Chimalpopoca of

Tenochtitlan , also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear, but the date 13 March 1325 was chosen in 1925 to celebrate the 600th annivers ...

allied with Tayatzin, and the two conspired to retake the throne and kill Maxtla. Friendly relations between Tenochtitlan and Azcapotzalco were thus replaced by insults and violent intrigue, apparently involving tit-for-tat assassination attempts. Maxtla sent Chimalpopoca a present of women's clothing, and later arranged his assassination. Tayatzin was killed, and Chimalpopoca decided to offer himself as a sacrifice at the altar of his father Huitzilíhuitl. When Maxtla laid siege to Tenochtitlan in 1428, Chimalpopoca's successor and uncle,

Itzcoatl Itzcoatl ( , "Obsidian Serpent", ) (c. 1380–1440) was the fourth king of Tenochtitlan, and the founder of the Aztec Empire, ruling from 1427 to 1440. Under Itzcoatl the Mexica of Tenochtitlan threw off the domination of the Tepanecs and esta ...

, repelled his forces with the aid of an alliance of city states, including Texcoco under Nezahualcoyotl and many former Tepanec allies, notably Tlacopan. These allied forces sacked Azcapotzalco and Maxtla was personally sacrificed by Nezahualcoyotl, potentially because of the death of Nezahualcoyotl's father at the hands of Azcapotzalco's forces. The victorious powers formalized their relationship in the Triple Alliance of

, Texcoco and Tlacopan, which would become the basis of the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire, also known as the Triple Alliance (, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ or the Tenochca Empire, was an alliance of three Nahuas, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states rul ...

Notes

{{reflist 1428 deaths Tlatoque of Azcapotzalco Year of birth unknown