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Ecatzin Popocatzin
Ecatzin Popocatzin as governor of Tlatelolco, depicted in the Florentine Codex.
Governor of Tlatelolco
Tenure	c. 1523—1526
Predecessor	Pedro Temilo
Successor	Juan Ahuelítloc

Ecatzin Tlacatécatl Tlapanécatl Popocatzin (Nahuatl pronunciation: [eˈkat͡sin̥ t͡ɬakaˈteːkat͡ɬ t͡ɬapaˈneːkat͡ɬ popoˈkat͡sin̥]), alternatively called Tlappanecatl Hecatzin, or just Ecatzin Popocatzin without including his titles, baptized as Don Martín Ecatl (when the Nahuatl honorific suffix -tzin is not included), was a 16th-century Mexica warrior and politician who served as the second governor of Tlatelolco during the early years of Spanish rule over Mexico. He is most known for his military role during the Siege of Tenochtitlan in 1521, part of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, considered as one of the most notable defenders of the city, particularly for his actions during the Battle of Colhuacatonco, which resulted in him becoming considered a hero and seemigly gave him an almost holy reputation among the Mexica.

He was among the Mexica nobles who were sent to Spain after the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the year 1528, when the Spanish captain Hernán Cortés returned to Spain for the first time since the beginning of his expedition into Mesoamerica in 1519. He likely received various honors as he got to meet the King Carlos I, also known as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, in person.

Biography

Little is known of Ecatzin's life before the Spanish conquest of Mexico other than that he was a high noble who lived in the calpolli (neighborhood) of Atezcapan in Tlatelolco, Tenochtitlan, and was highly expirienced in the military. At the time of the conquest, he held the titles of tlacateccatl (lit. "person from the place where people are cut up"; roughly equivalent to a general) and tlappanecatl (lit. "Tlapanec"; probably a calpixqui, a type of military official in charge of tribute collection and campaign organization), and the military Otomi rank, one of the highest ranks in the Mexica military hierarchy, achieved through capturing at least five or six warriors in the battlefield, including warriors deemed as highly ferocious, that is, from places which heavily resisted the Mexica during war, such were Atlixco, Huejotzingo and Tliliuhquitepec at the time of the conquest. In addition, for the title of tlaccatecatl he would've been required to capture two of these highly ferocious warriors after capturing his fourth prisoner.

Military actions during the Spanish conquest of Mexico

See also: Spanish conquest of Mexico, Fall of Tenochtitlan, and Battle of Colhuacatonco

On May 1521, the Siege of Tenochtitlan began, 2 years after the Spanish captain Hernán Cortés arrived at Mexico in 1519. Though initially relations between the Mexica and the Spanish were friendly, tensions slowly built up as the Spanish made alliances with Mexico's enemies, including the Republic of Tlaxcala, and eventually imprisoned the huey tlatoani (emperor) Moctezuma II. These tensions exploded when another captain named Pedro de Alvarado comitted a massacre in the central plaza of Tenochtitlan during the feast of Toxcatl in May 1520, starting the war between the Spanish, together with their allies, and the Mexica. The Spanish numbered only a few hundreds of soldiers initially, at their peak they numbered over 1300 soldiers, but their alliances with Tlaxcala and various rebellious states across the empire allowed the Spaniards to have an allied army numbering about 150,000 soldiers by the time of the siege, with over 24,000 within the Spanish camps surrounding the city, according to the Spanish soldier and chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo, while they themselves numbered about 700 soldiers.

Some records suggest that Ecatzin already mistrusted the Spaniards before the war began. In the Aubin Codex (which is a Tenochca source, not a Tlatelolca source), it is said that while Cortés was in Cempoala fighting against the troops of Pánfilo de Narváez, Ecatzin warned Moctezuma against celebrating the feast of Toxcatl without having armed guards protecting the attendees, reminding him of the Cholula massacre, but this advice was ignored by him, resulting in Alvarado committing the massacre.

The emperor at the time of the siege, Cuauhtémoc, strongly defended the city against the Spanish despite their logisitical and technological superiority. The Mexica struggled as the city of Tenochtitlan faced famine as a result of the blockade and a smallpox epidemic, a disease previously unknown in the Americas introduced through European contact, which killed a large portion of the population. As the siege went on the population of Tenochtitlan was evacuated to Tlatelolco. Throughout the month of June however the Spanish made little progress, as the Mexica's new tactics turned the siege into a tactical and strategic stalemate, though the Mexica struggle increased as time went on to the point that both men and women filled the Mexica ranks and the city faced large destruction after each engagement with the Spanish, engagements that became constant and were fought both during the day and the night.

Battle of Colhuacatonco

Scenes of the Battle of Colhuacatonco illustrated in the Florentine Codex. The picture at the bottom shows Ecatzin capturing a Spanish banner while wielding a Spanish sword.

On June 30, Hernán Cortés took the decision to perform a massive assault into the market of Tlatelolco, the most important cultural and economic center of the city, which, if captured, would allow the Spaniards and their allies to take control of most of the city's remains. Defending the market was a high priority for the Mexica. The assault that day became known as the Battle of Colhuacatonco, as the main Spanish force, commanded by Cortés himself, would attack through this calpolli to enter Tlatelolco through Atezcapan. Ecatzin, as a result, received the command of the troops of this area to defend it.

When the assault began, Ecatzin's plan was to lure the Spaniards and their thousands of allies into a vulnerable location through a feigned retreat to ambush them, though even then the fighting was chaotic. The Spanish became confident of their advance, perhaps overconfident. While their allies were fighting the Mexica fiercely and the Spanish artillery and arquebuses disrupted the Mexica battle formations, they sang together and played drums cheerfully. Once they entered the site of Tliloacan, in Atezcapan, The Spanish troops came to a sudden halt. The reason of this remains unclear. Ecatzin exploited this and ordered for hundreds of his warriors hidden within the site's buildings to ambush the Spaniards and their allies. In the fighting, it is said that Ecatzin managed to capture a flag bearer, cutting off his arms to take the Spanish banner. It was then either torn to pieces along with three other flags in front of the Spaniards to taunt them or shown in a tzompantli (wall of skulls) displaying Spanish heads. Cortés himself was caught off-guard and was almost captured, but he was rescued and fled the scene afterwards. Cortés' defeat allowed the troops to attack the other Spanish divisions entering the city, forcing all of them to retreat in a matter of a few hours. This victory is regarded as one of the most important Mexica victories through the conquest. Dozens of Spaniards were captured, some accounts numbering over 60 of them, most of them in the area where Ecatzin was, and about 2000 of their indigenous allies were either killed or captured. All of the prisoners were sacrificed afterwards.

Illustrations of Codex Azcatitlan depicting the Battle of Colhuacatonco (left) and Mexica citizens retreating the city at the end of the war.

For this victory, Ecatzin was honored as a hero, and some records even claim that he was solely responsable for the victory achieved that day. In some later illustrations, such is the case of Codex Azcatitlan, it appears that Ecatzin was depicted in an almost holy manner by Mexica artists. In an illustration of the codex, which is highly symbolic, what is believed to be a depiction of him is seen wearing a tunic with symbols that represent turbulent water, with one side being red and another implied to be blue. This appears to be reminiscent the waters described coming off a spring in the legend of the foundation of Tenochtitlan, which symbolize human sacrifice. Additionally, he appears fighting a Spanish soldier with a shield depicting the Sun, identifying him as Pedro de Alvarado, known as "Tonatiuh" (the Sun) among the Mexica. Thus the painting may represent Ecatzin as the holy defender of Tenochtitlan's waters, fighting against a new Sun, a new era, manifested through Alvarado.

The Spaniards and their allies suffered their worst losses in a year in this battle alone and most of their allies deserted with the exception of a very few. Though a few important commanders remained, the number of soldiers that chose to stay was insignificant. This lead many Mexica citizens to believe that the war was won. They celebrated throughout the following days with songs and dances, opening up the roads that had been closed due to the siege. At the same time, combats continued as the Mexica continued to raid the Spanish camps and the Spanish brigantines and camps cut off the city from the outside world. However, the Spanish eventually recovered by the middle of July as, coincidentally, they received a resupply of soldiers, gunpowder and weapons from a ship that had just landed at their camp in Vera Cruz. In addition, many of the allies who had deserted came back in support of the Spaniards after several days. Mexica resistance couldn't last for long, as famine and disease had taken a serious toll on the Mexica forces. Cortés, though reluctantly, also became more aggresive with his tactics, and now, rather than trying to preserve the city, he sought to destroy as much of it as possible in each assault by burning down all the buildings he could and filling the canals with their rubble, thus creating a more useful ground for his soldiers, using conscripted Indigenous laborers from allied sites to perform this task so that the soldiers could focus on the battle. While the Mexica continued to reopen the canals and rebuild structures during the night, they now found difficulty achieving this as their forces became weaker as the siege dragged on.

Later battles

Around the first day of August, the Spanish entered the Tlatelolco market for the first time, as Pedro de Alvarado launched a surprise attack into the market square. His cavalry disturbed the unprepared Mexica warriors; as, despite their restricted usefulness on the city streets, the horses were highly effective within large plazas; and set Huitzilopochtli's temple on fire as the Castilian flag flew at its summit after killing many of the warriors defending the plaza, to the dismay of the Mexica witnesses. In another entrance to the market, the Spanish and their allies proceeded to sack the area. By this point, seven eighths of the city laid in ruin, with only a portion of Tlatelolco, the neighborhoods of Atenantitlan and Telpochcaltitlan at the northeastern shores, remaining strong enough to resist. Eventually Yacacolco was also lost to the Spanish and Tlaxcalan forces, despite the fierce resistance put by its commanders. These, in turn, made sure to evacuate all the civilians from there to the site of Amaxac further north, between the neighborhoods of Atenantitlan and Telpochcaltitlan.

Ecatzin, throughout the last few days of the war, continued to play a leading role in the city's defense. A few days after the first Spanish entrance at the market, Ecatzin's life was threatened when warriors from Tliliuhquitepec (a country neighboring the Republic of Tlaxcala) and Atetemollan attacked the neighborhood of Atezcapan once more in an attempt to neutralize him, entering the neighborhood through a narrow passageway between the houses that went to the house of a local noble named Tlacatzin. Ecatzin defended the neighborhood and narrowly escaped capture, as he was seized by several warriors, but was quickly rescued by his men, albeit with a wound in his thigh. This conflict occurred right after a battle that had taken place in the copal marketplace at Amaxac. After being repelled by forces under the command of , these warriors saw their opportunity to enter through this passageway.

Throughout this occupation, some of the invaders even looted the city and raped and massacred civilians in the thousands, including women and children, a slaughter which continued several days after the war was already over. Though Spanish records say Cortés prohibited the Spaniards from performing such atrocities and that the Native allies disobeyed his orders, Indigenous accounts claim some Spanish soldiers did participate in the looting and slaughter. On August 13, Cuauhtémoc finally surrendered to the Spanish while he and other citizens tried to flee through canoe. The Spanish conquest was complete, and for three centuries, Mexico, over which New Spain was built, would remain under Spanish control until it obtained its independence in 1821. Throughout the period of Spanish rule, specially after the arrival of the first Spanish priests at New Spain in 1524, the Spaniards began an effort to impose their own culture into Mesoamerica onto the defeated Mexica, which intensified as time went on with the destruction of temples, books and other treasures. Though the Spaniards did not do the most amount of work during the war, they certainly became the dominant power of the region.

Life after the conquest

Ecatzin succeeded Temilotzin, a personal friend of Cuauhtémoc and another notable defender of the city, as governor of Tlatelolco, becoming governor for three years. Exactly when he became governor is not entirely clear. Robert H. Barlow proposed that he begun his governorship in 1523 and ended in 1526, proposing that, though an approximate, it's more likely than the period of 1528 to 1531 proposed by other historians. He was succeeded by Temilotzin's son Juan Ahuelítloc.

After the conquest, Ecatzin was among the nobles that were taken to the Spanish conquest of Honduras. It was there when he witnessed Cuauhtémoc's execution in 1525 after he was suspected of conspiring against the Spaniards. The execution was controversial among natives and Spaniards alike, as both Spanish and indigenous sources are divided on whether such a conspiracy actually existed or not.

Travel to Spain and return to Mexico

Indigenous American nobles and entertainers sent by Hernán Cortés to Spain as portrayed by Christoph Weiditz, who got to see them in person, c. 1530. The pictures drawn by Weiditz, along with minor additions made decades later, appear to stereotypically combine elements of the attire of Mexica nobles and Brazilian Tupinambá people, which makes identifying the depicted persons difficult, though some of the illustrations definitely do depict Mexica persons (such as the ball players pictured here). When Ecatzin arrived at the Spanish royal court he, like the rest of those brought there, probably would've worn Spanish clothes gifted to him befitting his status and rank instead of his traditional Mexica garments, as was custom in the Hapsburg court.

In the year 1528, Ecatzin traveled to Spain. Shortly after Cortés made his expedition into Honduras, he was adviced by some of his friends to present himself to the Spanish king to defend himself against the charges presented against him by his political rivals. For this voyage, he chose to bring a good portion of the lands' fortunes, some of the captains who participated in the conquest of Mexico and several indigenous nobles, as a way to impress the Spanish royal court. Many of these nobles would have wished to see the king in person, as some of them would've wished to be granted privileges and lands, and even those that didn't go for this purpose would've understood the importance of meeting the king in person. This was not the first time Cortés had sent indigenous peoples to Spain, as he had previously sent a group of six people in October 1519. A later visit of two Mexica nobles to the king in 1526 resulted in both being granted an encomienda, being paid tribute from given Native communities, which would've been the precedent for which many other nobles were willing to meet the Spanish king.

According to a section of the Annals of Tlatelolco probably written by someone who personally knew him, Ecatzin snuck into Cortés' ship along with his friend Temilotzin, who had also fought the Spanish fiercely during the siege of Tenochtitlan. However, Doña Marina, Cortés' advisor and translator, managed to find them on the ship and proceeded to interrogate them (though other sources claim she wasn't present in this voyage). There they explained that they were both afraid of Cortés for being willing to execute a lord as powerful as Cuauhtémoc, which was the reason they entered the ship in such a manner. They were then explained that the ship would sail to Spain to visit the king Carlos I himself, and were both threatened to be put to death for the Spaniards they killed during the conquest of Mexico, to which they were not startled. Though Ecatzin accepted being taken to Spain and Cortés was eager to send them both, Temilotzin suffered a mental breakdown six days into the voyage and became severely homesick, jumping off deck presumably as an act of suicide.

On May, they arrived at the port of Palos in Seville, finally reaching Spain, with a group numbering about 70 other Natives, including 7 important nobles and royalty, 15 lesser nobles and about 30 entertainers, like ballgame players and jugglers. Initially upon their arrival they met little enthusiasm, for the population was not prepared for their arrival. While Cortés stayed for a brief period of time at the Franciscan monastery of La Rábida, he notified the royal court that he entered Spain and was now heading there, which grew interest regarding his actions in the Americas. Throughout the rest of the travel Cortés met various persons of high importance in Spanish society and sent letters to the Spanish court which further increased excitement of his arrival. Cortés arrived at Toledo along with the group of Natives to show his achievements. They showed up with great fanfare at the court of the king, who was highly impressed at this entrance. Cortés returned to New Spain in 15 July 1530, but Ecatzin remained some time in Spain, where he lived for five years, returning to Mexico likely in the year 1533. While in Spain he was baptized with the name Martín.

After returning to Mexico, he was given land ownership over the site of Tziuhcóhuac, a site somewhere in the same region as Tlatlauquitepec, becoming tlatoani of the site, probably as some sort of reward granted by the king of Spain himself.

References

Bibliography

• Caso, Alfonso (1956). "Los barrios antiguos de Tenochtitlán y Tlatelolco" [The ancient neighborhoods of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco] (PDF). Memorias de la Academia Mexicana de la Historia (in Spanish). 15 (1): 7–62. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2022.
• Sahagún, Bernardino de (1577). Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España [General history of the things of New Spain] (in Spanish and Nahuatl).
• Díaz del Castillo, Bernal (2011) [1632]. Serés, Guillermo (ed.). Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España [True history of the conquest of New Spain] (PDF) (in Spanish). Real Academia Española-Galaxia Gutenberg-Círculo de Lectores.
• Hassig, Ross (1994). Mexico and the Spanish conquest. New York: Longman Publishing. ISBN 0582068290.
• Prem, Hanns J.; Dyckerhoff, Ursula (1997). "Los Anales de Tlatelolco: una colección heterogénea" (PDF). Estudios de cultura náhuatl (in Spanish). 27. Ciudad de México: UNAM: 181–207. ISSN 0071-1675. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
• Prescott, William H. (1844). History of the Conquest of Mexico. Vol. 3. London: Richard Bentley. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
• Rajagopalan, Angela Herren (2019). Portraying the Aztec Past: The Codices Boturini, Azcatitlan, and Aubin. Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 9781477316078. LCCN 2018003954.

• Restall, Matthew. Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest. pp. 113–114.

New Article

The Tepanec War was a major civil war fought in 1427 between the forces of the Tepanec empire and Mexica and Acolhua. The alliance bewteen the Mexica, under the leadership of king Itzcóatl of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, and the Acolhua, under the leadership of king Nezahualcóyotl of Texcoco, would result in the formation of the Aztec Triple Alliance when the city of Tlacopan joined them later, thus beginning the Mexica Empire, which would become the most powerful nation in Mesoamerica for nearly a century until the Spanish conquered the empire in 1521.

The Alcolhua had been previously invaded by the Tepanecs in 1418 during the reign of Tezozómoc. The king of Texcoco during this period, and thus de facto king of the Acolhua people, Ixtlilxóchitl I, was killed in the invasion and his teenage son, Nezahualcóyotl, was forced to flee to Huejotzingo, where he remained refuged for several years. Some time after, in 1426, the king of Tenochtitlan, Chimalpopoca, was killed. The cause of his death varies between sources. Historian Diego Durán claimed that Chimalpopoca, being the grandson of Tezozómoc, requested for various contructions to be built for Tenochtitlan's people, and though Tezozómoc was happy to fulfill his grandson's requests, the court of Azcapotzalco, capital of the empire, was outraged, and eventually one of Tezozómoc's sons, Maxtla, took control of the Tepanec military and sent spies to assasinate Chimalpopoca and his infant heir, and soon placed the entire city of Tenochtitlan under siege. Tezozómoc died soon after, supposedly of aguish as he saw his empire falling apart and his grandson being killed by one of his own sons. Another story claimed that the people of Tenochtitlan rose up against Chimalpopoca and had him executed. When Chimalpopoca's uncle, Itzcóatl, took power soon after, he at first tried to find ways to somehow make peace with the Tepanecs, but failed, and under the advice of his cihuacóatl, Tlacaélel, total war against the Tepanecs was declared.

A delegation was sent from Tenochtitlan to Huejotzingo, understanding that the son of Ixtlilxóchitl I was refuged there, to propose him to join their side and rebel against the Tepanecs and reconquer his kingdom. Nezahualcóyotl accepted the proposal and later went to Tenochtitlan to join Itzcóatl.

The fighting was instense and lasted over three months, but eventually the rebel forces managed to enter Azcapotzalco and captured the city, forcing Maxtla to flee. After the city was captured the city of Tlacopan joined the rebels' side, forming the Triple Alliance. While in exile, Maxtla attempted to raise an army in Coyoacán to reconquer Azcapotzalco, but he was caught by the Acolhua and met with a battle. Maxtla lost this fight and supposedly Nezahualcóyotl himself killed him afterwards.

The alliance formed as a result of this war would become the beginning of the Mexica Empire, which would soon become the most powerful nation of the entire region, specially once the empire was consolidated and major territorial expansion took place several years later during the rule of Moctezuma I.