Quiahuiztlan was one of the four ''

altepetl The ( , plural ''altepeme'' or ''altepemeh'') was the local, ethnically-based political entity, usually translated into English as "city-state", of pre-Columbian Nahuatl-speaking societiesSmith 1997 p. 37 in the Americas. The ''altepetl'' was ...

'' (polities) that made up the

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Tlaxcala Tlaxcala, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala, is one of the 32 federal entities that comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tlaxcala, 60 municipalities and t ...

. It is located in the modern city of

, Tlaxcala State,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

History

Quiahuiztlan in Tlaxcala State shares the same name as a settlement in modern Veracruz State that was occupied in the 16th century CE as part of the

Totonac The Totonac are an Indigenous people of Mexico who reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained quarters in Teotihuacán (a cit ...

culture. The two places are unrelated. The Quiahuztlan in modern Veracruz State has temples, ballcourt, plazas and residences, which are built on artificial and natural terraces on the fairly high relief flanks of the mountain. The site is most-likely famous for its association with the Spanish conquistador

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

.Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, Excavations conducted at Quiahuiztlan were conducted by Alfonso Medellín Zenil and Ramón Arellanos Melgarejo, from the

Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH, ''National Institute of Anthropology and History'') is a Federal government of the United Mexican States, Mexican federal government bureau established in 1939 to guarantee the researc ...

. In the early 16th century, Quiahuiztlan in Tlaxcala State briefly

seceded Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal is the c ...

from the confederation, and replaced its

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

priests with Dominican ones. Quiahuiztlan subsequently rejoined Tlaxcala, but the possibility of a repeat secession continued to be used as a political threat.

References

External links

INAH.gob.mx
Altepetl Archaeological sites in Veracruz Mesoamerican sites {{mesoamerica-stub