Chapter 21 Flashcards
In November 1519, what did a small Spanish people do?
They entered Tenochitlan in search of gold as they had heard many reports about the wealth of the Empiire.
Who was the Spanish explorer that wrote about that Aztec Empire
Bernal Diaz del Castillo
What did Castillo write about teh city
It sat on the water of Lake Texcoco, connected to the surrounding land by three broad causeways and as in venice, canoes went into many other parts of the cities.
What were the two most impressive signts to Diaz.
The markets and temples of the city. The markets because of their size and the variety of goofd, and there was gold
How did the temples strick Bernal Diaz?
THe saw the rituals involving human sacrifice. It was hard for other foreigners to look at
During the 8th century, what was Mesoamerica in?
An era of war and conquest in the eight century CE.
Where was the great wealth?
It had accumuated in Teotihuacan. That was the largest early city in MesoAmerica
Attacks on Teotihuacan opened what?
A long era of militarization and empire building in Mesoamerica that lasted until Spanish forces conquered the region in the sixteenth century
During the 9th and 10th centuies after the collapse of Teotihuacan, what was the political map like?
Several regional states dominated portions of th ehigh central valley of Mexico.
Although successor states and their societies shared the religious and cultural traditions of Teotihuacan, what did they do?
They fought relentlessly among themselves
With the emergence of the __ and the later Mexica, much of the central region came under what?
Toltecs, Control
Where did the Toltecs come from?
They came from the arid land of mnorthewestern Mexico and settled mostly at Tula, about 50 km northwest of modern MExico City
How did the Toltecs survive in such unfertile land
They tapped the waters of the nearbyt River Tula to irrigate crops of maize, beans, peppers, tomatos, chiles, andcoton. At i
When was the Toltec’s high point, and what population did it support?
The toltec’s higjh point was between 950-1150. IT supported a population of about 60 thousand
What did the Toltecs maintain?
A powerful army that campaigned periodically throughout central Mexico. They built a compact regional state that maintained fortresses for some time
What did residents of the Toltec empire live in?
In stone, adobe, or mud, on spacious houses
The city of Tula became an important center for what
weaving, pottery, obsidian work and residents imported large quantities of jade, turquuoise, animal skins, exotic bird fethers and other luxury goods from elsewhere
Who did the toltecs maintain close relations with ?
With the Maya city of Chichen Irza
When did the Toltec empire start to face difficulties?
In 1125
Howwas the toltec empire aving difficulties?
It was conflicts between the ethnic groups and nomadic incursion that hurt it
When did the Toltec state collapse
1175
ARhaeological evidence suggests what about the Toltec state?
That Tula was destroyed by a fire about the same time.
What was one group of migrants that were drawn to Central MExico?
The mexica
What did the Mexica build?
THey built the Aztec empire
Where does the word Aztec derive from and what does it mean?
The word Axtec drrtives from Aztlan or the place of the seven legendary caves, which the MExica remembered as home of the ancestors
When did the Mexica arrive in Emxico?
in the middle of the 13th century
What reputation did the Emxica have?
The reputation of kidnapping women from nearby communities and seizing land already cultivated by others. Occasionally, they were forced to move
Arond 1345, what did the Mexica do?
They settled on anisland in a marshy region of Lake Texaco
What did Lake Texaco give?
It gave many fish, frogs,and water fowl.
What was the chinampa system?
The mexica put fertile muck from the lake’s bottom and then put it on the land known as chinampas
During the dry season, how did the Chinampa season work?
Cultivators tapped water from canals leading form the lake to their phots and in themperate climate, they grw maize, beans, squashes, tomatos, peppers, and chiles
What did the lake serve for the MExica
Natural defense
BY the 15th century, how were the Mexica
They were powerful enough to overcome their immediate neighbors and demand tribute from their new subjects
During the middle decades, under the military elite that ruled Tenochitlan, they launched many military campaigns. Who were some rulers?
Obsidian Serpent Itzacoatl (1428-1440) and Motecuzoma I (1440-1469_ je was also known as Moctezuma.
After conquoring the city and slaying many of its inhabitents, MOtexuzoma did what
Populated Oaxaca with colonits and the city became a pace for the MExica empire
When the Mexica turned their attention to wuere?
To the Gulf Coast whose tropical products made welcome trubute items in Tenochitlan. They also conquored other high plateaus. They made a joined force with two neighboring cities—Texcoco and Tlacopan
Where how much people did the Mexica conquor
12 mil
What was the main objective of the triple alliance?
IT was to exact tribute from subject peoples.
What did the Mexica recieve from nearby peoples?
textiles, rabbit fur blankets, embroidered clothes, jewelry and the obsidian knives.
What was the tribute owed by Tochtepec?
9600 cloacks, 1600 womens garments 200 loads of caoco, 16000 rubber bals etc
Ruling elites entrusted some of this tribute to who?
Officially recognied merchants who took them to distant lands and exchanged them forlocal products. These items included translucent jade, emeralds, tortoise shells, jaguar skins, parrot feathers, seashells, and game animals
What did the lowlands supply?
Cocoa and chocolate
What was the Aztec government system?
There was no elaborate administration. Instead, the MExica and their allies simply conquuered their subjects and assessed tribute leaving local governance and the collection of tribute in the hands of the conquered peoples.
Did the allies maintain military garrisons?
No, they did not keep a peranent standing army. They simply assembled foces as needed.
At the high poits of the Aztec empire, how much tribute flowed in?
489/ The population of the capital was about 200 thousand
The principal market had dealings in what?
It was in animal skins, cotton cloth, shoes, animals skins, turkeys, dogs, wild game, maize , beans,peppers cacao and fruits
More information survives about the MExica and their subjects than
about many other people from the pre Columbian era
Do some Mexica books survive?
Yes they do, they ofer a drect extimony abou tthe MExica way of life. TA great deal of information survives from lengthy interviews conducted by Snanish missionaries
What was the MExica social Structure
IT was ridgidly hierarchial with public honors and rewards going to the most militariy elite. The Mexica looked up at all Male people as warriors and the men of noble birth recieved careful instruction and intense training in military affairs
Where were Mexica honors showered on to?
The miliary elite. Accomplished warriers recieve ectensive land grants as well as tribute from ommoners fror their support.
The most successful warriors formed a council and what happened?
They selected the ruler and discussed public issues and filled government positions. They ate the best foods-turkey, pheasant, duck,d eer, boar, and rabit. They conumed many luxury items like vanilla and caoco.
How did dress relfect status?
Sumptuarly laws required commoners to wear coarse, burlaplike garments made out of henequen but permitted aristocrats to drape themselves in cototn . Warriors could wear brightly colored capes
Although women played no role in the Mexica society what did they do?
They wielded influce within their families and enjoyed high honor as mothers of wariors. They did not inherit property or hold official positions, And although tye were subject to control by the men of the house, they were in the market places.
What was the principal function of women
To bear children. And it was equal to being a warrior
In adddition to the military aristocracy
A priestly class also rankd among the MExica elite.
Priests received a special education in
calendrical and ritual lroea nd they presided over religious ceremonies tha tthe MExica viewed as crucial to the contiuation of their world
Whowas one priest that became a king
Motexcuzoma II
The bulk of th eMExica of commoners who lived in hamlets and cultivated chinampas were called what?
Calpulli.
Whatwre Calpulli?
They were clans or groups of families claiming descent form common ancestors. With the passage of time, they became less important. But tall of them lived in a similar communities and organized their own affairs
Did some people work on others fams
Yes, culvivators delivered periodic tribute payments to other state agenst who redistributed a portion of what they collected to the elite class.,
MExica artisians particularly did what?
They worked with gold, silver cotton textiles saand tropical bird feathers. Mercahtns sometimes specialized in long distance trae.
What did the Mexica speak?
The nahuatl language which had been the prevalent tongue in the region since th eitm eof the toltecs.
Most mesoamerican people played
a ball game and had a callender of 365 days
Who were the two Mexica gods
Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl
Who was Tezcatiloca
A powerful figure, th eigiver and taker of life and patron deity of warriors
Who was Quetzalcoatl?
he had a reputation for artisians, carts and agriculture
Life their predecessors, what did the MExica believe about their gods
Thet the gods hadd set the wold in motion through acts of individual sacrifice. By letting their blod flow, they had given moisture to the earth. To keep that going, the mexica people continued to perform acts of self sacrifice
Th eMExica priests also presided over the sacrificial killing of human victims in honor of what?
Huitzilopochtil. The patron deity.M likitary successes shoed that the god supported them
