Tlacopan
Tlacopan, also called Tacuba, (Classical Nahuatl: Tlacōpan, [t͡ɬaˈkóːpan̥]) was a Tepanec / Mexica altepetl on the western shore of Lake Texcoco. The site is today the neighborhood of Tacuba, in Mexico City.
Tlacopan | |||||||
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1428–1521 | |||||||
Glyph
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Common languages | Classical Nahuatl | ||||||
Religion | Aztec religion | ||||||
Historical era | Pre-Columbian | ||||||
• Formation of the Aztec Empire | 1428 | ||||||
1521 | |||||||
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Etymology
The name comes from Classical Nahuatl tlacōtl, "stem" or "rod" and -pan, "place in or on" and roughly translates to "place on the rods"),[1]
History
Tlacopan was a Tepanec subordinate city-state to nearby altepetl, Azcapotzalco.
In 1428, after its successful conquest of Azcapotzalco, Tlacopan allied with the neighbouring city-states of Tenochtitlan and Texcoco, thus becoming a member of the Aztec Triple Alliance and resulting in the subsequent birth of the Aztec Empire.[2]: xxxviii
Aculnahuacatl Tzaqualcatl, the son of the Tepanec ruler, Tezozomoc, was installed as tlatoani of Tlacopan until his death in c.1430. Throughout its existence, Tlacopan was to remain a minor polity within the Triple Alliance. It received only a fifth of tribute earned from joint campaigns with its more powerful allies.
In 1521, The Aztec Empire collapsed as a result of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, led by Hernán Cortés and his native Tlaxcallan allies. Over the next few centuries, Tlacopan has been assimilated into the sprawling mega-metropolis of Mexico City. The archæological site of Tlacopan is located in Tacuba, within the present-day municipality of Miguel Hidalgo.
Rulers of Tlacopan
- Aculnahuacatl Tzaqualcatl (c. 1427)[3]
- Totoquihuaztli I (c. 1428), often considered the first tlatoani of Tlacopan; co-founder of the Aztec Triple Alliance.[4]
- Chimalpopoca (?–?)[3]
- Totoquihuatzin (?–1519)[3]
- Tetlepanquetzal (1519–1525),[5][6] son of Totoquihuatzin.[6]
Tlacopan was mostly leaderless from 1526 to 1550; the de facto ruler was Isabel Moctezuma since the city was part of her encomienda.[7] Business in the city were handled by various appointed governors and nobles unrelated to the previous dynasty.[6]
- Don Antonio Cortés Totoquihuaztli the Elder (c. 1550–1574), descendant of the pre-colonial tlatoani. Made tlatoani after Isabel Moctezuma's death.[7]
References
- Siméon, R. (1977). Diccionario de la lengua náhuatl o mexicana. México: Siglo Veintiuno.
- León-Portilla, M. 1992, 'The Broken Spears: The Aztec Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico. Boston: Beacon Press, ISBN 978-0807055014
- Truhart, Peter (2000). Regents of Nations: America & Africa. Saur. p. 478. ISBN 978-3-598-21544-5.
- Torres, Mónica Domínquez (2017-07-05). Military Ethos and Visual Culture in Post-Conquest Mexico. Routledge. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-351-55819-8.
- Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxichotl, History of the Chichimeca Nation. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2019.
- Douglas, Eduardo de J. (2012). In the Palace of Nezahualcoyotl: Painting Manuscripts, Writing the Pre-Hispanic Past in Early Colonial Period Tetzcoco, Mexico. University of Texas Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-292-74986-3.
- Villella, Peter B. (2016). Indigenous Elites and Creole Identity in Colonial Mexico, 1500–1800. Cambridge University Press. pp. 78–81. ISBN 978-1-107-12903-0.