Acamapichtli

Acamapichtli (Aztec for handful of arrows ; † 1391 ) was the first historically secured ruler of the Aztec city ​​of Tenochtitlán from 1376 to 1391 .

Acamapichtli is believed to have been the son of an Aztec nobleman and a woman from Colhuacán . His family traced their ancestry back to an influential Toltec family.

Soon after their arrival and the founding of Tenochtitlán , the Aztecs decided to allow themselves to be ruled by a tlatoani ("great speaker") in the future , as was often the case with the other peoples in the Valley of Mexico at that time. Previously, with the Aztecs, political power had been divided between a relatively weak leader and the heads of the peasant associations ( calpolli ). The new system seemed more efficient to the Aztecs, as it concentrated power and also seemed superior in military terms.

The residents of Tenochtitlán chose Acamapichtli as their first tlatoani in order to obtain urgently needed food by establishing their first diplomatic relations with another city. During his reign he could not completely break the power and the struggles of the leaders of the calpolli among one another, but he could weaken it decisively. By marrying several women from the old upper class, he also established an extensive network of family ties, from which the later Aztec elite developed.

In 1375 the first war between the city of Tenochtitlán and Chalco began , probably a flower war to capture enemy warriors for victims, which lasted twelve years. Both sides tried for eight years not to kill enemy warriors, but rather this war should be used to display their own power. Even in the period that followed, only common warriors were killed; if nobles were captured, they were released while the rest were sacrificed.

On behalf of the Tepaneks , Acamapichtli also carried out some military campaigns, for example on the south bank of Lake Texcoco , which was secured in this way for the Empire of the Tepaneks. Among other things, the city of Xochimilco fell into their hands. Then the Aztec warriors moved west and conquered the Tolocán Valley for their overlords .

literature

• Hanns J. Prem : The Aztecs. Culture - history - religion . Publishing house CHBeck, Munich 2006.
• Ross Hassig: Aztec Warfare. Imperial Expansion and Political Control. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 1988. ISBN 0-8061-2121-1 .