Tlacopan Explained

Conventional Long Name:	Tlacopan
Common Name:	Tlacopan
Common Languages:	Classical Nahuatl
Religion:	Aztec religion
Year Start:	1428
Year End:	1521
Event Start:	Formation of the Aztec Empire
Event End:	Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
Era:	Pre-Columbian
Coa Size:	70px
Image Map Caption:	This map Valley of Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest shows Tlacopan in relation to Tenochtitlan and other cities in the Valley of Mexico.
S1:	New Spain

Tlacopan, also called Tacuba, ('''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.

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]

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 (?–?)
• Totoquihuatzin (?–1519)
• Tetlepanquetzal (1519–1525),^{[5] [6]} son of Totoquihuatzin.

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.

• Don Antonio Cortés Totoquihuaztli the Elder (c. 1550–1574), descendant of the pre-colonial tlatoani. Made tlatoani after Isabel Moctezuma's death.

See also

• The other leaders of the Triple Alliance:
  • List of rulers of Tenochtitlan
  • List of rulers of Tetzcoco
• History of the Aztecs
• Other rulers to the south:
  • Maya monarchs
  • Mixtec rulers

Notes and References

1. Siméon, R. (1977). Diccionario de la lengua náhuatl o mexicana. México: Siglo Veintiuno.
2. León-Portilla, M. 1992, 'The Broken Spears: The Aztec Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico. Boston: Beacon Press,
3. Book: Truhart, Peter . Regents of Nations: America & Africa . 2000 . Saur . 978-3-598-21544-5 . 478 . en.
4. Book: Torres, Mónica Domínquez . Military Ethos and Visual Culture in Post-Conquest Mexico . 2017-07-05 . Routledge . 978-1-351-55819-8 . 154 . en.
5. Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxichotl, History of the Chichimeca Nation. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2019.
6. Book: Douglas, Eduardo de J. . In the Palace of Nezahualcoyotl: Painting Manuscripts, Writing the Pre-Hispanic Past in Early Colonial Period Tetzcoco, Mexico . 2012 . University of Texas Press . 978-0-292-74986-3 . 218 . en.
7. Book: Villella, Peter B. . Indigenous Elites and Creole Identity in Colonial Mexico, 1500–1800 . 2016 . Cambridge University Press . 978-1-107-12903-0 . 78–81 . en.