Jump to content

Tlaxcala (Nahua state)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Madman2001 (talk | contribs) at 04:51, 26 August 2006 (fixing a couple of errors). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
This article is about the pre-columbian Nahua city state of Tlaxcala. For other uses see Tlaxcala (disambiguation).
Picture from the History of Tlaxcala showing Cortés meeting with the Tlaxcallan messengers. Their conversation is translated by Doña Malinche.

Tlaxcala, (in Nahuatl Tlaxcallān (Nahuatl for "place of the maize tortillas") is a pre-Columbian city state of central Mexico. Tlaxcala was never subdued by the Aztec empire against which it was in a state of perpetual war, often called flowery wars. During the Spanish conquest of Mexico, Tlaxcala allied with the Spaniards against the Aztecs, supplying a large contingent for -- and at times the majority of -- the Spanish-led army that eventually destroyed the Aztec empire.

As a result of their alliance with the Spaniards, Tlaxcala had a somewhat privileged status within Spanish colonial Mexico.

Sources

Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo describes the first battle between the Spanish force and the Tlaxcalteca as surprisingly difficult and mentions that they probably would not have survived, had not Xicotencatl the Elder persuaded the Tlaxcallan warleader, his son Xicotencatl the Younger, that it would be better to ally with the newcomers than to kill them. Xicotencatl the Younger was later hanged by Cortes for desertion in April 1521 during the siege of Tenochtitlan. Xicotencatl is the name of many present day places in Mexico as well as a family name.

Diego Muñoz Camargo's History of Tlaxcala (Lienzo de Tlaxcala), written on or before 1585, is an illustrated codex describing the conquest of Mexico. It was painted by Tlaxcalteca artists under Spanish supervision.

Crónica Mexicayotl was written by Fernando Alvarado Tezozómoc, in Nahuatl and Spanish, in the first decades after the conquest.

References

  • Alvarado Tezozomoc, Fernando. "Crónica Mexicana". Manuel Orozco y Berra. Leyenda. México, 1944
  • Hassig, Ross (2001) "Xicotencatl: rethinking an indigenous Mexican hero", Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl, UNAM (Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl).
  • Muñoz Camargo, Diego. "Historia de Tlaxcala". Alfredo Chavero. México, 1982 (1892) .
  • Gibson Charles. "Tlaxcala en el siglo XVI". Gobierno del estado de Tlaxcala. Fondo de cultura económica. México, 1991.

See also

Spanish language description of the historiography of Tlaxcala

Stub icon

This article related to indigenous Mesoamerican culture is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tlaxcala_(Nahua_state)&oldid=71948839"