Xicotencatl
Xicotencatl in the Lienzo de Tlaxcala
Tlatoani of Tizatlan
Reign? - 1522
PredecessorXayacamach
SuccessorXicotencatl II
Bornc. 11 House (1425)
Diedc. 4 Rabbit (1522)
IssueXicotencatl II
Doña Lucía
María Luisa Tecuelhuetzin
FatherAztahua

Xicotencatl I or Xicotencatl the Elder (c. 11 House (1425) – c. 4 Rabbit (1522)[1]) was a long-lived tlatoani (king) of Tizatlan, a Nahua altepetl within the pre-Columbian confederacy of Tlaxcala, in what is now Mexico.

Etymology

His Nahuatl name, pronounced [ʃiːkoʔˈteːŋkatɬ], is sometimes spelled Xicohtencatl. In 1519 he was baptized as Lorenzo Xicotencatl or Don Lorenzo de Vargas.[2]: 311–312 

Biography

At the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire he was very old and of poor health. He was instrumental in aligning the Tlaxcala with Hernán Cortés' Spaniards.[2]: 174–176, 307, 353 

Tlaxcalan historian Diego Muñoz Camargo wrote of him that he was more than 120 years old and that he could only see Cortés if he had someone lift his eyelids for him. He also writes that he had more than 500 wives and concubines and consequently a large number of children, including Xicotencatl II and the wife of Jorge de Alvarado - Doña Lucía. His great-grandson Captain Don Joaquin Buenaventura de la Paz was the founder of the Tlaxcalan settlement of San Esteban de Nueva Tlaxcala near Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico in the year 1591.

When his son plotted to seize Tlaxcala in Chichimecatecle's absence during the Siege of Tenochtitlan, Xicontencatl I told Cortés that "his son was wicked and he would not vouch for him, and begging Cortés to kill him." This Cortés ordered and Xicotencatl II was hanged.[2]: 357–358 

Poetry

One song or poem attributed to Xicotencatl is known.[3] It is recorded in the Cantares mexicanos (fols. 57v.–58r.), a collection of Nahuatl songs probably compiled in the last third of the 16th century for Bernardino de Sahagún,[4] and concerns the flower wars conducted between Tlaxcala and the states of the Aztec Triple Alliance.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ León-Portilla (1992): p. 232.
  2. 1 2 3 Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, ISBN 0140441239
  3. ↑ León-Portilla (1992): p. 236.
  4. ↑ León-Portilla (1992): pp. 25–26.

References

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