Moteuczoma
"Angry Lord"(more correctly spelt Motecuhzoma or Moctezuma, also seen as Montezuma)
There were two tlatoque ("the Ones Who Speaks", or Aztec 'emperors') of Tenochtitlán that bore this name:
- Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina, or Moctezuma I, the fifth tlatoani who ruled from 1440 to 1469.
- Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, or Motecuhzoma II, the ninth tlatoani who ruled from 1502 to 1520.
Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina I was an able and energetic ruler, who succeeded to the throne with an established record of successful military campaigns. During his reign, he consolidated Aztec domination of the Valley of Mexico, and subjugated neighbouring Huastec, Totonac and Mixtec territories. By the time of his death, the boundaries of the Aztec empire extended from the valleys of Mexico and Oaxaca to the Gulf Coast. The most spectacular expansion of the Templo Mayor also took place during Motecuhzoma I's reign.
The glyph for his name is an arrow piercing layers of clouds (Ilhuicamina means "Archer of the Sky).
Image: Motecuhzoma I, from the Codex Telleriano-Remensis. This image is in the public domain.
Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin II ("The Younger") is famous for being the tlatoani of the Aztec empire at the start of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The main sources about him are the chronicles compiled by Spanish conquistadors, whose accounts are contradictory and biased towards portraying him as a weak and harsh ruler who was superstitious and fearful of the Spanish invaders. Beneath the contradictions and historical bias, its hard to accurately ascertain anything definitive about him - even the true details of his death at the hands of the Spanish are unknown since different versions are given by different sources. However, pre-Conquest he was responsible for military campaigns that expanded the Aztec Empire to its widest extent and increased Tenochtitlán's domination of the Triple Alliance, revolutionized the tribute system, enhanced the Templo Mayor and undertook other building and religious projects in Tenochtitán - none of which is suggestive of the weak and indecisive ruler he has often been unfairly portrayed as.
The glyph for his name is a royal headdress and a nose plug ornament.
