* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download The Aztec Empire
Survey
Document related concepts
Tlaxcala City wikipedia , lookup
Bernardino de Sahagún wikipedia , lookup
Texcoco, State of Mexico wikipedia , lookup
Tepotzotlán wikipedia , lookup
National Palace (Mexico) wikipedia , lookup
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire wikipedia , lookup
Templo Mayor wikipedia , lookup
Fall of Tenochtitlan wikipedia , lookup
Aztec warfare wikipedia , lookup
Aztec cuisine wikipedia , lookup
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture wikipedia , lookup
Aztec religion wikipedia , lookup
Transcript
2011 The Aztec Empire 900AD – 1500AD The Aztecs; from the initial colonization to the Spanish War. Rebecca Sherrington Woodleigh School 6/7/2011 An Introduction to the Aztecs The Aztecs were a civilisation living in Mexico between 1100AD and 1500AD. They were strong warriors, who, by 1400, owned most of Mexico (Fig. 1). Where they lived, there were active volcanoes, one of the largest called “Popacatapel”, meaning “smoking mountain”, and many mountains. The climate was quite hot and there were not many places with fertile soil, so towns, villages and cities developed near places such as the Valley of Mexico, where crops could grow. The Aztecs did not originate from Mexico, but they travelled Figure 1, The Aztec Empire there at about 1100AD, and by 1500 had about 15 million citizens living in 500 different towns, each slightly different groups with slightly different traditions. Figure 2, comparative timeline, Medieval Europe and Aztec Empire The Social and Political Side Each city-state in Mexico had its own noble family in charge. There were quite a few different nobles, for example an ahaw, meaning “the lord”, mahk’ina, meaning the “Great Sun Lord”, the tribal leader, the tlatoani, meaning “the speaker” and his deputy, a female noble, the cihuacoatl, meaning “snake woman”. Ordinary citizens were called macehualtin. To be a noble you had to be related to the ruler, but it was possible for a macehualtin to become of higher rank, like the rank of an army commander, priest or a “lawmaker”. If you had captured four live enemy soldiers in war and brought them back to be sacrificed. The Aztecs’ view on life could be considered sexist, but not quite as sexist as other religions. For example, although there were no female mahk’inas, but the wives of the lords and nobles tended to be very controlling, feeding the husband information and being very manipulative, coming up with ideas and influencing many of his decisions. The general role of a man was to be a farmer, fisherman or craftsman, while the role of a woman was to be a housewife and otherwise assist the husband in basically every aspect of his life, providing him with Figure 3, a macehualtin farmer children. Some richer families had slaves, people who were prisoners of war, criminals or people who gave their lives up to be slaves in return for food. Unlike other civilisations, not only was it compulsory to go to school, slave children were educated along with boys and girls, and slaves were given rights, such as they could marry and own land. Also, children of slaves were born free. The City of Tenochtitlan (te-noch-tit-lan) The city of Tenochtitlan was the capital of the Aztec empire. It was founded at approximately 1325AD. Being the capital, it was made not only the centre of government, but also the place where all the temples for sacrifice were built. Tenochtitlan was built on an island in the centre of Lake Texcoco (lake of the moon) (fig.4), but man-made cause-ways made of Figure 4, Location of Tenochtitlan pounded dirt and sand connected it to the mainland. Tenochtitlan was divided into four parts; Flowery Place, Mosquito Fen, Heron’s Home and, in the heart of the city, Sacred Precinct. Each section of the city was connected by causeways and canals. By 1500 it is estimated that 200 000 people inhabited Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was where most sacrifices and ceremonies took place. The Aztec Religion Figure 5, The Aztec Calendar stone The Aztec religion relied a lot on prophecy, astronomy and legend. They worshipped demanding gods, who were only appeased when someone had been sacrificed to them. If the Gods were not happy, they caused disasters, such as drought and famine. If they were happy, they allowed the Sun to rise and set every morning and night. The Aztecs believed that life was the most valuable of gifts, and so by the time the Spaniards arrived they were sacrificing around 20 000 victims per year. The Aztecs predicted the world had ended four times before, and with each there had been a rebirth, but the next time would be different. They thought the world would end in 1519 after a conflict between the gods, and this fear was intensified with the priests having worrying dreams, the sighting of comets and a solar eclipse. It was also predicted that every 52 years the world was in danger. To keep the Sun rising and the crops growing, all the fires were put out, and every citizen went inside. Then the priests would climb to the top of a hill and, the exact moment Venus appeared in the sky, rip out the heart of a sacrifice, then run around town relighting all the fires. This would keep the earth alive for 52 more years. There were many different ceremonies, during some the Aztecs actually ate the limbs of the sacrificed. Sacrifices occurred in temples, which emperors built during their reign to be buried in. When the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan was completed, 20 000 people were sacrificed in honour of its completion. There was so many people, it took 4 days to complete the killing. The Empire Expands The Aztecs had a very strong army force (fig 6). By the end of 1400 they controlled most of Mexico. The cities the Aztecs had captured, apart from being controlled by Aztec soldiers, were generally allowed to keep their own traditions. All the Aztecs asked in return was that the cities pay tribute to them. One major reason for all the war was that once a new emperor had been appointed it was his first act to participate in a war. Another factor is that the Figure 6, the Aztec Army Aztecs always needed new sacrifices, and the young fit males that tended to appear in wars were the best candidates. One more reason they fought was to control trade routes. The Demise of the Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire was finally over-thrown by the Spaniards, led by Cortes (Fig. 7). When the Spanish arrived, they were greeted as friends by the Aztecs. Cortes captured and tortured Tenochtitlan and its citizens. He rampaged through the cities destroying the religious statues and banning sacrifice. The Aztecs retaliated, killing two Spaniards. Cortes was furious. He kidnapped the tlatoani of Tenochtitlan, Montezuma. Cortes stayed in a palace where he and his men found a bricked-up door. After knocking it down he found a room filled with silver, gold and jewels. By this time, the Aztecs were furious toward the new-comers. Montezuma was sent out to calm his Figure 7, Hernán Cortés people, but this just resulted in them stoning him to death. Cortes was forced out of Tenochtitlan, but returned with reinforcements. Although outnumbered 150 to 1, Cortes was ruthless and slaughtered so many Aztecs that the rest surrendered. Cortes was named Governor of “New Spain”, and died in 1547. Bibliography http://aztecs.mrdonn.org/dailylife.html http://www.balagan.org.uk/war/new-world/mexico/painting_guide_aztec.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hern%C3%A1n_Cort%C3%A9s http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/cortez.htm http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://mayancalendar.com/images/ancient/aztecstone.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mayancalendar.com/ancient_longcount.html&usg=__XJlJ4fT2waUYAABQY_ywwKKOdg=&h=338&w=336&sz=40&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=nHjs52Lp2SvKXM:&tbnh=128&tbn w=127&ei=MIDtTe2CFo6SuAOVmKCmBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Daztec%2Bcalendar%2Bstone%26hl %3Den%26biw%3D1345%26bih%3D559%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=530&pa ge=1&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0&tx=95&ty=81 http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=ask&tab=ans&id=35 http://www.pronouncenames.com/pronounce/tenochtitlan http://www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/empmap1.gif Detrates, J. (1992). What Do We Know About the Aztecs, Simon & Schuster, London. MacDonald, F., (1998). Step Into the Aztec World, Lorenz, New York. Wood, T. (1992) The Aztecs, Hamlin, London