Nezahualcoyotl Acolmiztli ( , ), "Fasting Coyote" (April 28, 1402 â 1472) was tlatoani (king) of the Acolhua altepetl (city-state) of Texcoco from 1431 to his death in 1472, in pre-Columbian Mexico. He is noted for his achievements as a philosopher (tlamatini), warrior, architect and poet, earning him the nickname of "the Poet-King" (, in Spanish). His difficult younger years following his father's assassination, and his efforts to reconquer his realm after being taken over by the powerful Tepanec Empire turned him into a hero in pre-Columbian society. In order to defeat the Tepanec Empire, and its ruler Maxtla, he formed an alliance with the (kings) of Mexico-Tenochtitlan and Tlacopan (Itzcoatl and Totoquihuaztli I), becoming one of the founders of the Aztec Triple Alliance, commonly known as the Aztec Empire.
He was the legitimate son of Ixtlilxochitl I, the king of Texcoco who declared war on the Tepanec Empire approximately in 1415. Nezahualcoyotl was declared crown prince soon after the war started, and about four years later, when he was just 16 years old, he witnessed his father being assassinated by Tepanec warriors while attempting to flee Texcoco. Nezahualcoyotl spent several years of his life in exile, seeking refuge in Tlaxcallan and Tenochtitlan and evading assassination attempts. Following the death of the Tepanec emperor Tezozomoc, Maxtla took the throne and attempted to assassinate Nezahualcoyotl on multiple occasions, unsuccessfully. When Chimalpopoca, king of Tenochtitlan (and Nezahualcoyotl's uncle), was assassinated in 1427, Itzcoatl, his successor, launched a revolution to end Tepanec rule over Mexico. He and Nezahualcoyotl formed an alliance to defeat the Tepanecas, and after a series of combats, they managed to overthrow Maxtla, killing him and destroying the Tepanec Empire. With Itzcoatl's support, Nezahualcoyotl formally took Texcoco's throne in 1431, beginning a period of prosperity that would last until the 16th century.
He is credited with starting Texcoco's golden age. During his reign, Nezahualcoyotl led the construction of massive and impressive engineering projects, with a particular focus on hydraulic engineering, building aqueducts, flood-preventing structures and botanical gardens which worked for the benefit of the population of the Valley of Mexico for decades after his death. The remains of the botanical gardens of Texcotzingo serve as physical evidence of the impressive engineering skill and appreciation for nature the people of Texcoco developed during his rule. He also established a Hammurabi-like legal system consisting of 80 laws addressing matters such as robbery, adultery, military misconduct and more. Through conquest, Nezahualcoyotl managed to expand his realm's territory beyond that which his predecessors had ruled; his conquests were done along side the conquests of the rulers of Tenochtitlan (Itzcoatl, Moctezuma I and Axayacatl). Texcoco became a respected nation by its neighbors in the Valley of Mexico, being observed as a hub of intellectuals, engineers and legal experts, though the violence of his conquests is reflected in songs from the regions he attacked.
In the present, Nezahualcoyotl is best remembered for his poetry and the philosophical ideas reflected in the surviving works attributed to him. His poems address themes such as the ephemerality of human life and the "eternal" nature of "flower and song." Such poems continue being taught to Mexican children at schools, and have been praised for their beauty for centuries, in spite of the destruction of indigenous literature following the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Throughout the centuries following his death, many writers in Mexico and elsewhere wrote about his achievements, poetry and prosperous reign. Nevertheless, he has also been the subject of multiple myths and legends that may not be historically accurate. The very authorship of the poems historically attributed to him has been a subject of intense debate among scholars of Aztec culture, and it is believed that various elements of his biography may have been exaggerated to create a heroic narrative. Regardless, his biography was recorded on multiple pictorial documents, known as codices, and after the Spanish conquest it was preserved by his descendants and multiple historians who had access to these codices. Historians since the 19th century have referred to Nezahualcoyotl as a "Renaissance man of Aztec culture," and have compared Texcoco during his reign to Classical Athens.
The Nahuatl name Nezahualcoyotl is commonly translated as "Hungry Coyote" or "Fasting Coyote". More accurately, it means "Coyote With a Fasting Collar", from , meaning a collar made out of bands of paper twisted together. Collars of this kind were worn by those fasting to show others that they should not be offered food. William H. Prescott, who translates his name to "Hungry Fox", believes that Nezahualcoyotl gave himself this name in reference to his cunning, but also to the hardships he endured during the early years of his life.
One of the most important primary sources we possess to understand the history of pre-Columbian Texcoco is a manuscript painted sometime in the early 1540s, during the early colonial period in Mesoamerican history, known as the Codex Xolotl. It is a cartographic history document made in Texcoco, described by historian Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci as "a map of exquisite delicacy", as it is the most extensive of three Texcocan cartographic histories known to exist, the other two being the Mapa Quinatzin and the Tlohtzin Map, both of which were also made in the 1540s. An annotation in Spanish attributes the ownership of the Tlohtzin Map to a certain Don Diego Pimentel, who was a descendant of Nezahualcoyotl.
The Codex Xolotl probably adapted or copied from an early 15th-century manuscript which would have been commissioned by Nezahualcoyotl himself as a document to legitimize his rule "through stories about migrations, marriages, births, deaths, dynastic successions, usurpation, battles, treason, ambushes, murders, imprisonment, and so forth." All three of the mentioned documents (Xolotl, Quinatzin and Tlohtzin) are characterized by being written "without words," i.e. in iconic script, though this does not imply they cannot be read, as, while words are not recorded as they would be using an alphabet, they communicate meaning through the textual traditions of the people who made them, as finds in his study.
These manuscripts were used by historians such as Fray Juan de Torquemada and Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl in the 17th century, and continued changing hands following Ixtlilxóchitl's death, until ultimately arriving in Europe in the 1840s in the possession of a French scientist profoundly interested in Mexico's past, . All three of these manuscripts are currently housed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Analysis of the Codex Xolotl requires careful examination, however, as it was made with the intent of glorifying the descendants of King Xolotl, that is, the dynasty which ruled Texcoco, and thus probably underestimates the merit of other peoples who inhabited the Valley of Mexico who are described in the codex. Moreover, this codex also contributed to the creation of a narrative that turned Nezahualcoyotl into a near-invincible hero, who managed to escape from almost certain death on multiple occasions by outsmarting his adversaries, such as the Tepanec emperor Maxtla. This narrative was subsequently enhanced and exaggerated by later writers who used this codex as a source of information, adding their own narratives onto the already existing heroic tale.
Other pictorial manuscripts depicting some of Nezahualcoyotl's deeds include the Codex en Cruz (a Texcocan source), Codex Azcatitlan (a Mexica source), and the (another Texcocan source). These three documents in particular depict some of Nezahualcoyotl's conquests and his participation in Mexica conquests during the reign of Moctezuma I.
An enormous number of pre-Columbian manuscripts were destroyed in book burnings on two occasions. The first occurred approximately in 1430, when the ruling elite of Mexico-Tenochtitlan consolidated its power and destroyed old histories for containing "falsehoods" that "could have undermined the realm." The second, more infamous occasion occurred following the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521. Spanish missionaries gave themselves the objective of destroying any record that could remind the indigenous peoples of their pre-Christian past, burning the ancient texts in autos-da-fé. Nevertheless, chroniclers after the conquest created new manuscripts which were painted with a pre-Columbian style and adapted from the few ancient books that survived these book burnings.
Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, a 17th-century historian who spent much of his life documenting the pre-Columbian history of Texcoco, was a direct descendant of Nezahualcoyotl through his mother's family, and had access to and possession of several pictorial manuscripts documenting the city's history, including the Codex Xolotl, the Quinatzin Map, and the Tlohtzin Map, which he likely inherited from his maternal family. He used these documents to write his Spanish-language accounts of Texcoco's history. In addition to these pictorial manuscripts, Ixtlilxóchitl cited, in his History of the Chichimec people (, 1625), "the [historical] reports that the infantes [princes] of Tetzcoco, don Pablo, don Toribio, and don Hernando Pimentel [Nezahualcoyotzin], and Juan de Pomar, sons and grandsons of Nezahualpiltzintli, wrote."
Ixtlilxóchitl has been a controversial historian for centuries due to his notorious biases in favor of Texcoco's monarchy. As early as the 17th century, Mexican antiquarian Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora, who had access to the pictorial manuscripts and to Ixtlilxóchitl's works through the historian's son, had criticized him by writing an annotation in one of his own manuscripts:
Notably, Ixtlilxóchitl insisted that Nezahualcoyotl was one of the foremost philosophers in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, and describes him as an "open antagonist" of the indigenous Aztec religion, opposing the practice of human sacrifice which existed at the time and was commonly practiced in the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, and as skeptical about the indigenous gods. He, along with another direct descendant of Nezahualcoyotl named Juan Bautista Pomar, claims that such religious and philosophical ideas were represented in the poems attributed to the monarch. Furthermore, Pomar compiled, in the 1580s, many of Nezahualcoyotl's poems in his Romances de los señores de Nueva España as evidence for this claim. Modern historians agree that such ideas described by Pomar and Ixtlilxóchitl are of obvious European origin, and that some poems that were historically attributed to the monarch could not have been produced by him, due to having a nature of thought that is completely foreign to pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. As a consequence of this portrayal of Nezahualcoyotl as a skeptical philosopher, future historians had the tendency of writing about Nezahualcoyotl as a peaceful monarch whose ideas contrasted with the "barbarous" Mexica. Today, it is well understood that Nezahualcoyotl was a powerful warrior king who greatly expanded his kingdom's territory through conquest.
Nevertheless, the importance of Ixtlilxóchitl's work in reconstructing the pre-Columbian past is beyond doubt, and as biased as his points of view were with respect to Texcoco's monarchy, the relevance of his work has been acknowledged by researchers for centuries, such as 19th-century historians José Fernando RamÃÂrez and Alfredo Chavero, even if the latter believed the praise his works received was "exaggerated." Ixtlilxóchitl's work remains the most extensive source of information about Texcoco's history, describing its conflicts and the succession of its rulers over the course of centuries.
Another notable work from this era is the Codex Chimalpopoca, particularly one of the three sections it contains: the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, dated 1570. The Annals were written in Nahuatl by an anonymous author who went beyond just writing about his own nation (Cuauhtitlan), and built a comprehensive history of the Valley of Mexico. The text is notable for this reason, for the rare histories of several cities, and for its lengthy description of the Tepanec War, with a saga largely dedicated to Nezahualcoyotl. The sources used by the author included oral traditions from various informants, as well as pictorial documents in addition to them. He used these sources critically, dismissing those he found unreliable and adding disclaimers when necessary.
The three sections of the manuscript were originally written by different authors, but the whole manuscript was written by a single hand, approximately in the early 17th century, which has long been suspected to be that of Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl himself, despite not demonstrating familiarity with the codex in any of his own works. The original manuscript has unfortunately been lost since 1949, forcing modern historians analysing it to rely on a photographic facsimile published in 1945 by Primo Feliciano Velázquez, and a copy produced by Antonio de León y Gama in the 18th century, currently housed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (identified at this library as ms. Mexicain 312).
Born Acolmiztli, on the morning of April 28, 1402, he was the son of the king of Texcoco, Ixtlilxochitl Ome Tochtli, better known as Ixtlilxochitl I, who held the title of 6th Chichimec lord, and Matlalcihuatzin, the daughter of Huitzilihuitl and sister of Chimalpopoca, both of whom were tlatoque (kings) of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. According to Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, Nezahualcoyotl had a younger legitimate sister named Atotoztzin or Tozquentzin, as well as several siblings who were "illegitimate" due to being born out of concubines. One such concubine was Tecpaxochitl, daughter of Tezozomoc, king of Azcapotzalco and lord of the Tepanecas. Ixtlilxochitl refusing to accept Tecpaxochitl as his wife was considered an act of disrespect toward Tezozomoc, and has been described as one of the disrespectful actions that eventually led to the Tepanec War. Tecpaxochitl became the mother of several children, the first being Zihuaquequenotzin, the second being named Xiconocatzin or Ixhuezcatocatzin, and lastly Tilmatzin.
In spite of being "bastards," some of these children of concubines managed to obtain high positions in Texcoco's society. One such "bastard" was Zihuaquequenotzin, who was described by Alva Ixtlilxóchitl as a "great captain." Soon after being born, Nezahualcoyotl was assigned several tutors to educate him during the early years of his life, including one Huitzilihuitzin, "who at the time was a great philosopher," as Alva Ixtlilxóchitl describes.
Since the times of Ixtlilxochitl's coronation, there had been an ambient of tension between the Tepanecas of Azcapotzalco and the Acolhua of Texcoco, particularly due to the former people's intention of asserting their dominance over the Valley of Mexico. In spite of the tension, there was no war between Texcoco and Azcapotzalco during much of Ixtlilxochitl's reign, until Azcapotzalco launched a surprise attack on Iztapallocan, approximately on August 6, 1415, with the intention of taking over this territory and then attacking the court of Texcoco. The inhabitants of Iztapallocan successfully repelled the violent attack, but the site's provisional ruler was assassinated in an act of treason by a Tepanec sympathiser. Ixtlilxochitl received the news of the attack that same day, and personally marched with an army of 4,000 to come to the aid of the Iztapallocans in case of a second attack. The invading army, however, had retreated back to Azcapotzalco to request reinforcements. Upon being informed of the failure of the attack, the Tepanec king Tezozomoc ordered for the Mexica armies of Tenochtilan and Tlatelolco, among other allies of his, to join the war.
After these events that same year, Ixtlilxochitl organized a meeting with his military commanders the lords of his domains at Huexotla. Following the meeting, the monarch concluded that his son Nezahualcoyotl should be declared as crown prince, when he would have been 13 years old, and that war must be waged against the Tepanecas, laying siege to the city of Mexico via Lake Texcoco, and assaulting Azcapotzalco by land and the lake, with the army marching on land having to march through enemy Tepanec territory.
The lake assault ended in failure rather quickly. Tlacateotl, king of Tlatelolco, intercepted the Acolhua troops before they reached either Mexico or Azcapotzalco, forcing them to retreat back to Texcoco's shore. The war against the Tepanecas lasted four years, during which neither side had a notable advantage. Tezozomoc, observing this situation, took a cruel decision: to assassinate Ixtlilxochitl and his family by pretending to make a truce with Texcoco. The unsuspecting Ixtlilxochitl accepted the truce offer and lifted the siege of Azcapotzalco, ordering his troops to return to their homeland. Approximately on June 25, 1418, Tezozomoc attempted to convince Ixtlilxochitl to celebrate the newly established peace at the hunting field of Chiconauhtla, where he had set up an army in secrecy to capture Ixtlilxochitl and prince Nezahualcoyotl. Unbeknownst to Tezozomoc, one of Ixtlilxochitl's relatives observed the trap being set up and rapidly returned to Texcoco to alert the king. Subsequently, either by Ixtlilxochitl's order or by his own will, the relative traveled to Chiconauhtla dressed as the king, where he was attacked and seized by a party of men sent by Tezozomoc who discovered his true identity. He was later tortured to death under Tezozomoc's orders.
Ixtlilxochitl sent emissaries to the cities under his domain to gather soldiers to attack the Tepanecas, but to his dismay, he found that the majority of these cities were in open rebellion and had become Tezozomoc's allies. Only the lords of Huexotla, Iztapallocan and Cohuatepec came to his aid. The city of Texcoco was subsequently besieged for several days, after which Ixtlilxochitl took the decision to flee from the city, hiding in the woods along with his servants and several of his sons, including Nezahualcoyotl and Zihuaquequenotzin. Adding to the king's misfortune, approximately on July 10, Zihuaquequenotzin attempted to travel to Otompan to gather an army to defend his father, not knowing that the city had also abandoned its alliance with Ixtlilxochitl. Subsequently, he was lynched by a local mob in support of Tezozomoc.
On the morning of September 24, 1418, Ixtlilxochitl was informed that Tepanec warriors were approaching his location. The monarch understood what this meant: his death at the hands of these warriors was unavoidable. Upon realizing this, just prior to his death, the monarch ordered for his sons to be taken the woods to go into hiding. Three men took this task, named Huahuantzin, Xiconocatzin and Cuicuitzcatzin. Thus Nezahualcoyotl, along with his older brother Tzontecochatzin, escaped from the tragedy. According to Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, a lineal descendant of Nezahualcoyotl, the king addressed his son just before they were separated for the last time. In his last words, Ixtlilxochitl urged his son to not abandon his subjects, nor to forget about his Chichimec heritage, and finally, encouraged him to reclaim his kingdom and avenge him by fighting the Tepanecas. As Nezahualcoyotl remained hidden among the branches of a tree, he was able to see, to his horror, his father being butchered by the Tepanecas using spears, despite his initial resistance. The prince was 16 years old when this occurred.
Tezozomoc replaced Ixtlilxochitl with two lords to rule over Texcoco: a Toltec ruler named Tlotzin and a Chichimec ruler named Chicatzin, also known as Quinatzin.
Following his father's assassination, Nezahualcoyotl and his brother spent the following days fleeing, under the care of the three men, while seeking refuge throughout the local crags and gorges to avoid any potential assassins. According to the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, while hiding at Acalhuacan during one night, a companion named Coyohua encountered a boat with men sent by the future tlatoani of Tenochtitlan, Itzcoatl. He had sent a scouting party, composed of his own sons, to find and rescue the orphaned princes, as, through their mother, they were also members of the Mexica royal family, in spite of the war between the Mexica and Ixtlilxochitl. Coyohua informed the party that the princes were still alive, though their father was dead. Then they got onto the boat and sailed for Tenochtitlan.
Adding onto this story, historian Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci describes that Nezahualcoyotl was fleeing with the intention of taking refuge in Tlaxcallan, whose rulers had ties with the kings of Texcoco by sharing a common ancestor (Emperor ). Along the way, Nezahualcoyotl managed to encounter some family members, two of his natural brothers and two of his nephews, as well as several loyal subjects who were taking refuge. When he finally arrived at Tlaxcallan, entering via Huejotzingo, accompanied by these family members and the men taking care of him, he was happily received by the local rulers, but he was advised to keep his identity undisclosed and to remain hidden, so that Tezozomoc and his powerful army did not find his location. He remained in Tlaxcallan for several days, but decided to return to his former domains while disguised to gather as much information as possible.
During this time, as part of his actions to assert his dominion, Tezozomoc ordered for all of Ixtlilxochitl's former vassals to congregate at the plains of Cuauhyacac, a site located between Texcoco and Tepetlaoztoc. Once all the lords of Ixtlilxochitl's former domains congregated, one of Tezozomoc's military commanders climbed up to the summit of an ancient Toltec temple, to inform them all that Tezozomoc was their new lord. The commander then added that whoever managed to capture Nezahualcoyotl, dead or alive, and brought him before the king would be rewarded. As Codex Xolotl illustrates, Nezahualcoyotl at the time was hiding on the hill of the site, along with his servant Huitziltetzin, where he was able to observe and hear the announcement. Nezahualcoyotl then understood his life was truly in danger, and became more careful thereafter to avoid being identified, while still blending in with the common people to hear any rumors and news about himself.
In 1419, it is recorded that Nezahualcoyotl, disguised and travelling across Chalco to gather information on the site, which was allied with Tezozomoc, killed a woman named Citlamiyauh (or Tziltomiauh) while she was attending her agave plantation, to produce aguamiel. Two versions of this story are told. One story, told by Boturini and Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, claims that Nezahualcoyotl became exhausted and thirsty during the travel, and upon encountering the plantation and the woman attending it, he begged her for her aguamiel. Citlamiyauh immediately recognized Nezahualcoyotl under his disguise, and attempted to alert the locals of his presence. Nezahualcoyotl failed to talk his way out of the situation, and fearing that he would be killed or captured if she continued further, and that he'd be chased if he attempted to flee, he hastily grabbed a macuahuitl and decapitated her. The second story, told by Fray Juan de Torquemada (found dubious by Boturini), claims that the woman gave refuge to Nezahualcoyotl in her own home. The woman, a wealthy plantation owner in this version of the story, was supposedly using her agave to illegally produce and sell large quantities of pulque, an alcoholic beverage. Nezahualcoyotl quickly noticed this, and knowing the laws imposed by his predecessors, he became enraged. He exclaimed that, while he was certainly fleeing from the powerful Tezozomoc, he could not tolerate those who broke the laws established to keep society stable, considering alcohol to be one of the greatest threats to society. Thus, he killed her, and fled from the scene right after, fearing that the ruler of Chalco would put him to death despite his justification.
For the reasons stated earlier, the Mexica nobility and royalty of Tenochtitlan was sympathetic towards Nezahualcoyotl in spite of having contributed to his father's death. According to Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, in 1423, his aunts in Tenochtitlan proved vital for the young prince's survival, coming up with a plan to bring him to Tenochtitlan without putting his life at risk. They would enter the city of Azcapotzalco, accompanied by the female nobility of both cities, with gifts of jewels and precious feathers, to bribe and personally convince Tezozomoc to pardon Nezahualcoyotl. Tezozomoc, who was taken by surprise by this visit, accepted to have a dialogue with these nobles. After offering their gifts, they argued that Nezahualcoyotl, as a crown prince of a great kingdom, did not deserve the treatment he was undergoing; they informed the monarch of the miserable conditions under which the prince lived since his father was killed, being forced to constantly escape from death's grasp, unable to rest no matter where he went, a lifestyle unworthy of a member of royalty. Tezozomoc thus agreed to spare Nezahualcoyotl's life, but under the condition that he would remain at house arrest in the city of Tenochtitlan, strictly under his watch.
Nezahualcoyotl gladly took the opportunity to move to Tenochtitlan as soon as possible. During the years he spent in Tenochtitlan, Nezahualcoyotl most likely received a Mexica-styled education. He was probably educated at the Calmecac, whose students were usually enrolled when they were 15 years old. His exposure to Mexica culture and education would later influence Texcoco's legal system, using Tenochtitlan as a model for his own city. During Nezahualcoyotl's stay in the city, a growing number of supporters for him began to appear, but they kept their support secret to avoid alerting the Azcapotzalco court. As part of the agreement, two years passed in which Nezahualcoyotl did not set foot outside Tenochtitlan, but the diplomatic actions of his aunts gradually contributed to his freedom. Subsequently, he was allowed to exit Tenochtitlan to return to his home city of Texcoco, where he was allowed to stay in the palace of Cilan, which belonged to his parents, the kings of Texcoco.
A legend written in the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, likely from around the time the orphaned princes were in Tenochtitlan, claims that one day, when Nezahualcoyotl fell into the water while he was playing, sorcerers seized him and brought him to the summit of the Poyauhtecatl, the "hill of subtle mists." There, they anoited him ceremoniously with "flood and blaze," that is, with the spirit of war, and told a prophecy: "You shall be the one. We ordain your fate, and by your hand a nation [Azcapotzalco] shall be destroyed." Then, he was brought back to the very spot he was taken from.
Another legend, attributed to a colonial-era indigenous noble named Don Alonso Axayaca, tells a story of Tezozomoc having two nightmares about Nezahualcoyotl in late 1426 or early 1427. In the first nightmare, Nezahualcoyotl transformed into a golden eagle, which devoured his entrails and his heart. In the second nightmare, he transformed into a jaguar, which butchered his feet. Horrified by these nightmares, Tezozomoc consulted his priests to understand their meaning. Subsequently, Tezozomoc gathered three of his sonsâÂÂMaxtla, Tayauh and AtlatocaycpaltzinâÂÂand explained to them that his death was rapidly approaching due to his extraordinary age, and then added that in order to rule the land without interference, they had to kill Nezahualcoyotl, quickly and without difficulty, because if they let him live, he would rule the whole land and destroy their empire.
After Tezozomoc's son Maxtla became ruler of Azcapotzalco, Nezahualcoyotl returned to Texcoco, but had to go into exile a second time when he learned that Maxtla plotted against his life.
As the tlatoani Itzcoatl of Tenochtitlan requested help from the Huexotzincans against the Tepanecs, Nezahualcoyotl envisioned a single military force in order to fight the mighty kingdom of Azcapotzalco. After being offered support from insurgents inside Acolhuacan and rebel Tepanecs from Coyohuacan, Nezahualcoyotl joined the war. He called for a coalition consisting of many of the most important pre-Hispanic cities of the time: Tenochtitlan, Tlacopan, Tlatelolco, Huexotzinco, Tlaxcala and Chalco.
The war was declared a shared and single effort, and the coalition army of more than 100,000 men under the command of Nezahualcoyotl and other important tlatoque headed towards Azcapotzalco from the city of Calpulalpan. This began the military offensive that would reconquer Acolhuacan in 1428.
The campaign was divided into three parts. One army attacked Acolman to the north and the second Coatlinchan to the south. A contingent led by Nezahualcoyotl himself was intended to attack Acolhuacan, only after providing support, upon request, to the first two armies. The coalition conquered Acolman and Otumba, sacking them only due to the sudden Tepanec siege of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco.
In a tactical move, the three armies united again and then divided into two. One of them, under Nezahualcoyotl, headed towards Texcoco, laying siege to Acolhuacan on its way, while the other attacked and destroyed Azcapotzalco. At the time the armies met again, Nezahualcoyotl reclaimed Texcoco and decided to conquer Acolhuacan, entering from the north while the Tenochca and Tlacopan allies coming from Azcapotzalco attacked from the south. The two armies simultaneously attacked Acolhuacan from two directions until they controlled the city's main square.
After their victory, the coalition began a series of attacks on isolated Tepanec posts throughout the territory of Texcoco. The defeat of the Tepanecs and the total destruction of the kingdom of Azcapotzalco gave rise to the Aztec Triple Alliance between Texcoco, Tenochtitlan, and Tlacopan. Nezahualcoyotl was eventually crowned Tlatoani of Texcoco in 1431.
A decade later, eager to produce a noble heir, Nezahualcoyotl married Azcalxochitzin after the death of her first husband, King Cuahcuauhtzin of Tepechpan.
After his ascension to the Acolhua throne, Nezahualcoyotl participated in multiple military campaigns along with the other members of the Triple Alliance, specifically with Itzcoatl, Moctezuma I and Axayacatl, tlatoque (kings) of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, and Totoquihuaztli I, king of Tlacopan. He's credited with the conquests of the cities of Coatepec, Acolman, Teotihuacan and Zempoala (in the modern-day state of Hidalgo), which he conquered along with Moctezuma. The Relaciones geográficas of Zempoala and Epazoyucan, from 1580, claim that both cities were under Acolhua domain until Nezahualcoyotl's reign, when he transferred the domain of Zempoala to Itzcoatl, along with half of the tribute paid to the Acolhua by Epazoyucan.
Nezahualcoyotl's conquests are depicted in some pictorial documents along with Mexica conquests. One such document is the Codex Azcatitlan, which depicts his conquest of Tulancingo, in modern-day Hidalgo, which took place in 1450, according to Chimalpahin. Nezahualcoyotl's presence in the contents of Codex Azcatitlan, a Mexica document, demonstrates his closeness to the Mexica, as the ' (painter-scribe) of each region usually focused exclusively on the history of their own city or nation when they wrote their histories. Nezahualcoyotl's presence in the document, thus, demonstrates that the scribe of Codex Azcatitlan considers his military deeds as part of Mexica history. Other conquests are shown in other codices, such as the Codex en Cruz, which depicts Nezahualcoyotl appointing Cocopin as the ruler of Tepetlaoztoc in 1431.
The most detailed and iconic illustration of the Códice de Xicotepec, an Acolhua document dating to the 1560s or 1570s, depicts an army of Acolhua warriors attacking a natural Huastec fortress built atop a hill in the year 1444, capturing and killing the defeated defenders. Multiple researchers have identified the central figure of the illustration as Nezahualcoyotl, fighting along with his son Cipactli. interprets the scene as Nezahualcoyotl's conquest (or reconquest) of Tuxpan and Xiuhcoac, two great provinces of the Huastec region, as described by Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl. The scene would imply the campaign was executed exclusively by Nezahualcoyotl using his Acolhua forces, as Moctezuma did not show interest in the Huastec region until the 1450s. However, according to an alternative interpretation proposed by , due to discrepancies in the name glyphs identifying the warriors, the depicted figure is not Nezahualcoyotl, but rather a sovereign named "Xolotl." Additionally, Offner finds that the toponym of the conquered site is Tuzapan. In this interpretation, "Xolotl" would appear as a founder of Xicotepec sometime between 1438 and 1443, as shown in another illustration of the manuscript. Stresser-Péan's earlier analysis of this other illustration led him to conclude that Nezahualcoyotl and Cipactli had arrived at Xicotepec between 1438 and 1443, perhaps in response to conflicts in the region, and that they returned in 1444 to wage war on the Huastecs. Stresser-Péan further adds that Nezahualcoyotl may have eventually imposed Cipactli as ruler of Xicotepec, reigning from 1451 to 1478.
Nezahualcoyotl's participation in the conquest of Chalco, which occurred in 1454 according to the Codex en Cruz, is mentioned several times in a lengthy poem from that region, simply entitled , which means War song:
The Annals of Cuauhtitlan tell a story of a military campaign organized by Nezahualcoyotl which ended in complete failure, in the year 1468: after Nezahualcoyotl finished the construction of his temple at Texcotzingo, which began construction in 1454, he implored Moctezuma to wage war against the Tzompanca, Xilotzinca, and "some" Citlaltepeca, to bring captives to sacrifice for the dedication ceremony. Moctezuma subsequently told the ruler of Cuauhtitlan to put the Tzompanca "under guard" at the Citlaltepetl (Hill of the Star). Just as Nezahualcoyotl's army prepared the assault, however, a group of women and children took it upon themselves to "be eagles and jaguars," climbing to the top of the Citlaltepetl to liberate the Tzompanca and Xolitzinca. The following morning, the unprepared Acolhua were suddenly attacked and forced into "the water at Citlaltepec." The Acolhua were routed and chased into a ravine. "Seeing this, many of the Acolhuaque were terrified, for the ravine was on fire, and the flames were rising toward them." The Acolhua army was finished off, ending Nezahualcoyotl's campaign.
According to Motolinia, Nezahualcoyotl practiced his strict laws judiciously and imposed them on all his subjects. He purportedly killed four of his sons for their sexual relationships with his concubines. Cities conquered by the Aztec Empire paid tribute that was distributed among three kings. Fourteen cities in the region of Acolhuacan were under Nezahualcoyotl, including Otompan, Huexotla, Coatlinchan, Chimalhuacan, Tepetlaoztoc, Chiauhtla, Tezoyucan, Teotihuacan, Acolman, Tepechpan, Chiconauhtlan, Xicotepec, Cuauhchinanco, and Tollantzinco.
Nezahualcoyotl, himself half Mexica, adopted the Mexica religious and legal systems in Acolhuacan to help in the reconstruction of his city. Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl claims he enacted eighty laws addressing issues such as treason, robbery, adultery, homicide, alcohol abuse, misuse of inheritances, and military misconduct. The Mapa Quinatzin depicts the majority of crimes and punishments described by Ixtlilxóchitl, including the hanging of a robber for stealing or breaking into a house, as an example. It is recorded that Nezahualcoyotl enacted these laws with such severity that even some of his close family members were sentenced to death due to crimes of various types, including several of his own sons for crimes such as incest or adultery, regardless of their social status or wartime achievements. Due to the nature of this legal system, Nezahualcoyotl has been referred to by modern historians as "the Hammurabi of the New World," in reference to the Code of Hammurabi.
He established several councils in Texcoco to deal with different legal and political matters, such as a Council of War (), which dealt with all military matters, including punishing military misconduct, presided by his eldest son Acapipioltzin and his son-in-law Quetzalmamalitzin (ruler of Teotihuacan, assigned by Nezahualcoyotl), who held the titles of Tlacochcalcatl or ; a Council of Government or Justice, which dealt with government officials and legal matters of both the nobility and commoners, presided by two of his brothers, Cuauhtlehuanitzin and Ichantlatocatzin; a Council of Music, which seemingly possessed two academies: one for poets and another for historians, astrologers and other arts, presided by his son Xochiquetzaltzin; and a Council of , which dealt with the tribute that was given to Texcoco from subjugated cities, presided by his son Hecahuehuetzin.
Colonial era chroniclers from Texcoco such as Juan Bautista Pomar and Ixtlilxóchitl claimed that Nezahualcoyotl's legal system was the most "civilized" in the Triple Alliance, linking his legal system with his supposed "peaceful and civilized" philosophical beliefs which contrasted with the "warlike and bloodthirsty" Mexica. These chroniclers insist that the Mexica of Tenochtitlan imitated Texcoco's legal system, with many similarities being found between the legal systems of these two major cities.
rejects this idea, finding that Pomar and Ixtlilxóchitl are the only writers who claim that Tenochtitlan imitated Nezahualcoyotl's legal system, finding no evidence for this claim in other sources. While Ixtlilxóchitl's description of Nezahualcoyotl's laws is supported by other documents, such as the Mapa Quinatzin, other writers based in Texcoco, such as Fray Toribio de Benavente (also known as MotolinÃÂa) and Fray Juan de Torquemada, claim that such laws were widespread across the Triple Alliance and New Spain, finding little distinction between Texcoco's and Tenochtitlan's legal systems. Lee believes an idea contrary to Pomar and Ixtlilxóchitl, suggesting that Nezahualcoyotl used Tenochtitlan's legal system as a model for his own. His conclusion comes from the fact that he lived in Tenochtitlan during his younger years while taking refuge from the Tepanecas, suggesting that he may have received a Mexica-styled education during this period, perhaps at the Calmecac, the school of the Mexica nobility. Furthermore, it is recorded in the Anales de Tlatelolco that Nezahualcoyotl required and requested the assistance of the Mexica under the leadership of Itzcoatl and Quauhtlatoa to rebuild Texcoco and its government after the Tepanec war.
Despite his skepticism and the exaggerations of colonial-period writers, Lee does acknowledge Nezahualcoyotl's efforts in rebuilding Texcoco's legal system after reconquering it, a system which had been lost due to the war against the Tepanecas, making him "an important legislator and legal system builder Texcocan history, but not in all of Anáhuac." He concludes that "as a rebuilder of the city-state, his efforts were key to restoring and maintaining Texcocan social, political, and religious order." The judges of Texcoco under the rule of Nezahualcoyotl and his son Nezahualpilli were highly respected by the Mexica, to the extent that, according to MotolinÃÂa, they sent legal cases to Texcoco with the purpose of letting them reach a verdict and declare sentences, except in cases related to warfare.
Nezahualcoyotl is claimed to have belonged to a group of sages known as the tlamatinime, plural word for , which translates to "he who knows something." These were described as great thinkers in pre-Hispanic Nahua society who taught their extensive knowledge to the youth, communicating via their amoxtli (pictorial books) and songs. Modern historians have referred to Nezahualcoyotl as a "Renaissance man of Aztec culture" due to his reputation as a man of many talents.
Nezahualcoyotl is credited with cultivating what came to be known as Texcoco's golden age, which brought the rule of law, scholarship and artistry to the city and set high standards that influenced surrounding cultures. Nezahualcoyotl designed a code of law based on the division of power, which created the councils of finance, war, justice and culture (the last actually called the "Council of Music"). Texcoco became home to an extensive library that did not survive the Spanish conquest; and under his leadership, massive and impressive engineering projects were built across the Valley of Mexico, including an aqueduct system in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, among other monumental projects which have left remains that have marveled visitors and observers for centuries, such as Texcotzingo, which, as historian William H. Prescott writes, shows "Nezahualcoyotl's fondness for magnificence."
The above shows that during Nezahualcoyotl's reign, Texcoco flourished as an intellectual and cultural hub in Mesoamerica. Diego Durán described the people of Texcoco as "careful and political in everything, informed and rhetorical, their language is beautiful, elegant and clean." Diego Muñoz Camargo, likewise, referring to their way of speaking Nahuatl, stated that "the Mexican language is taken as the mother tongue, and the Texcocan language is courtly and refined." Texcoco has been called "the Athens of Anáhuac", to quote the Italian-born historian Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci.
Centuries after his death, historians worldwide continued to write about Nezahualcoyotl's achievements. Prescott, a 19th-century historian from the United States, wrote, similarly to Boturini, that "Tezcuco claimed the glory of being the Athens of the Western world. Among the most illustrious of her bards was the emperor himself,âÂÂfor the Tezcucan writers claim this title for their chief, as head of the imperial alliance." This author also compared Nezahualcoyotl with Solomon and David, the wisest kings described in the Bible, though finds that this comparison appears from an image of the monarch that was created by chroniclers such as Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl in an attempt to portray the culture of Texcoco as "peaceful and civilized" and make the Mexica seem "more powerful but barbarous" by comparison.
Nevertheless, Lee also recognizes Nezahualcoyotl's achievements in rebuilding his kingdom following the Tepanec war:
<blockquote>Nezahualcóyotl was a great ruler in Texcocan history because he not only restored his lost nation, but also expanded Texcocan territory far beyond the area his ancestors had ruled. With the help of the Mexicas and his alliance with them, Nezahualcóyotl was able to quickly make his nation second only to Tenochtitlan.</blockquote>
The historical records claim that Nezahualcoyotl proposed and was even personally in charge of several impressive works of hydraulic engineering during his reign, having executed some of the most important works of this time during the 15th century. There is no direct evidence that these works were actually designed by him or that he personally supervised their construction, but he demonstrated great interest for large-scale civic engineering problems throughout the course of his reign. These works were not limited to his own kingdom, but to the territories of the Triple Alliance in general, and they served to benefit the general population by solving problems which affected the lives of the people living within this territory. The population continued to enjoy the results of his work decades after his death.
The Dike of Nezahualcoyotl (), also known as the "Dike of the Indians" (), was a major work of hydraulic engineering which divided the waters of Lake Texcoco in two, built around 1445 or 1449, when Moctezuma I, tlatoani of Mexico-Tenochtitlan (a city built in the middle of the lake), asked for his assistance to create a system to prevent his city from flooding due to the occasional overflow of lake, in response to a major flood which is recorded to have occurred in 1442 or 1446, the first major flood in the recorded history of the city. Nezahualcoyotl's response to Moctezuma's request was to "build an immense dike, which starting from Atzacoalco, reached Iztapalapa."
The resulting dike was built with the assistance of workers from various parts of the Valley of Mexico. Francisco Javier Clavijero records that the inhabitants of Azcapotzalco, Coyohuacan and Xochimilco were tasked with bringing "several thousands" of thick wooden logs, while other locations provided the necessary rocks for the construction, and that the construction itself was executed by the inhabitants of Tacuba, Iztapalapa, Colhuacan and Tenayuca. He also claims that the monarchs and the "magnates" themselves "set an example of hard work" to motivate the workers, with the goal of finishing construction faster, "in what otherwise would have taken many years to finish."
The dike was approximately long, tall and wide (sources vary on its exact measurements. Some sources claim its length was approximately and its height was , while measurements of its width vary significantly. It is difficult to analyse the mechanics and measuments of the structure because it has not existed since the late 16th or early 17th centuries). According to the historical sources, the "thick wooden piles were stuck to the ground forming a hollow fence, inside the fence, big rocks and sand were deposited between the piles."
concluded in their study on the reliability of the dike, based on the historical descriptions (using the aforementioned measurements) and environmental information, that its probability of failure was approximately 1 every 333 years provided specific initial conditions, including that the water level at the foot of the dike, at the beginning of the wet season, did not exceed . This probability, however, is sensitive to this initial water level, and becomes 8 times larger if the initial water level is 2 metres. There is, however, much uncertainty regarding both the lacustrine system and the dike, which makes it difficult to make a precise analysis on the reliability of the structure, and unfortunately, significant factors, such as the initial water level and the amount of area of the Lake Texcoco sub-basin which acted as a tributary area, are unknown to us. Nevertheless, the results of the study show that the indigenous engineers who worked on this project "had a deep understanding of the lacustrine system" and that "the Aztecs were known as the great hydraulic engineers of pre-Hispanic Mexico."
This dike is considered the most important and impressive flood-preventing work in the history of Tenochtitlan. However, its destruction began in the year of 1521 due to the beginning of the Siege of Tenochtitlan, as Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés ordered its destruction to give way to the brigantines that besieged the city. Because the Spanish did not possess the indigenous knowledge on the workings of the city built in the middle of Lake Texcoco, major floods in Mexico City due to lake overflow became an issue throughout the following centuries, starting in the year 1553. The historical record claims that the dike never failed during its approximately 70 years of operation, a claim which seems to be supported by recent analysis of its reliability from an engineering perspective.
The last major work of hydraulic engineering in Tenochtitlan built under orders of Nezahualcoyotl was the Chapultepec aqueduct, which was intended to bring the fresh waters of Chapultepec to Tenochtitlan, to the comfort of his uncle Moctezuma I. This project began construction, according to Chimalpahin, in the year 1454 (1 Rabbit in the Aztec calendar) and concluded in 1466 (13 Rabbit), though the Annals of Cuauhtitlan claim its construction began much sooner, in 1463 (12 House). Chimalpahin recorded the opening as follows: <blockquote>Year 13 Rabbit, 1466. It was then when the water came to Mexico City, taken from Chapoltépec, a work which the Tetzcucas had been contracted for under orders of Nezahualcoyotzin. The works took 13 years to be concluded.</blockquote>
This was actually the second aqueduct in the city's history built for this purpose. The first began construction around the year 1418, during the reign of Chimalpopoca. However, this first aqueduct was built out of mud mounds supported by wooden stakes, on top of various artificial islands apart, thus it gradually worn away by the water it carried, and it was finally destroyed in the great flood of the 1440s some 30 years after its creation.
The aqueduct built by Nezahualcoyotl solved the issues which the first aqueduct had. His aqueduct was built higher to make it flood resistant; had two parallel channels, each of which, according to Hernán Cortés himself, was "two paces broad and about as high as a man," to ensure it could deliver clean water, even if either of the two channels required maintenance and cleanup; and it was built using resistant materials such as lime and stone, on top of a sand, lime and rock foundation. A project of such a scale was highly ambitious and required careful planning, and when a similarly ambitious project was carried out during the reign of Ahuitzotl in 1499 (decades after Nezahualcoyotl's death), to build an aqueduct fed by the springs of Coyoacán, it resulted in catastrophic failure the following year, creating a major flood which possibly led to the monarch's death, despite being worked on by "the best masons to be found in the provinces."
In what is now the town of San Nicolás Tlaminca, in Texcoco, State of Mexico, the remains of the botanical gardens of Texcotzingo (alternatively spelled as Tetzcotzinco) are to be seen. They are some of the best-preserved remains of monumental Aztec architecture. According to the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, Nezahualcoyotl designed his palace on the hill of Texcotzingo around the year 1456 (1 Rabbit) and took 13 years to finish, a year after the Chapultepec aqueduct was finished. wrote regarding this work that: <blockquote>the great achievement substantiating Nezahualcoyotl's multiple talents as political manipulator, sensitive intellectual, civil engineer, and designer of monumental gardens is Texcotzingo, offering evidence as solid as the rock into which his pools and reception rooms were built.</blockquote>
The water management system of the gardens was built using a complex of canals, aqueducts and reservoirs carved in rock, which brought water from several springs located around Cerro Tláloc, with a particular spring located at Cerro Yeloxochitl acting as the source of the entire system, in addition to another possible source from the spring of Texapo, south of the town of . The water was delivered at an elevation of about below the summit of the hill. The complex has several circular-shaped reservoirs, three are known to exist at the hill of Texcotzingo and one at the hill of Metecatl. At least one of them, almost entirely monolithic, is suspected to have been used exclusively by the ruler as a ritual or recreational bath, due to its relatively small size (its volume capacity is 1,016 litres, compared to the 12,601 litres the largest reservoir can hold) and due to a seat carved inside of it, though not all researchers agree that it functioned as a bath, some arguing that it probably functioned as part of an irrigation system for the garden. This reservoir is popularly called the "Tenayuca Bath" () or "King Nezahualcoyotl's Bath" (). The largest reservoir, due to its size, is called the "Queen's Bath" (), which used to be decorated with three frog sculptures, each representing a member of the Triple Alliance, but they have been stolen.
The largest remaining aqueduct in the site, connecting the hills of Texcotzingo and Metecatl, has a length reaching , a width of and a maximum height of 3 metres, and it is known that it was gradually raised and expanded during the pre-Hispanic period. The water of the aqueduct splits into two smaller canals at the western end. These canals circle the central part of Texcotzingo hill. were able to estimate the average water velocity of these aqueducts and canals. They estimated that the water at hill of Metecatl traveled at a velocity of about per second (m/s), on the aqueduct that connects the two hills the flow velocity was about /s and in the main canal of Texcotzingo it was about /s. The extremely high flow velocity at Metecatl prompted the creation of a water control mechanism. A structure known as consisting of at least three uneven floor levels and three shallow reservoirs, which is located at the eastern end of the aqueduct and covers an area of about , may have been used to reduce the slope of the canals and dispose of excess water via drainage.
Besides the engineering marvel, the gardens of Texcotzingo located on the terraces which surrounded (and still surround) the hill were decorated with flowers and trees of many sorts, which were brought from areas conquered by the Acolhua in the form of tribute. These plants were frequently used for religious and medicinal purposes, and were notable for the smell of their flowers. Species included: macpalxochitl (also known as Mexican hand tree), yolloxochitl (Mexican magnolia), eloxochitl (Magnolia dealbata), cacaloxochitl (Plumeria rubra), cacaoxochitl (Theobroma cacao) cacahuaxochitl (Quararibea funebris), tzompancuahuitl (colorines), and many more. Because these exotic species required human attention and care, most of them disappeared from Texcotzingo following the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Only native species and macpalxochitl specimens which have adapted to their environment can still be seen. This, however, is not to say that the site has lost its natural diversity, because the natural habitat of Texcotzingo is still home to many species of plants and flowers which bloom across the seasons of the year.
While Nezahualcoyotl's achievements as a warrior, legislator and architect, and his difficult younger years made him a famous figure in the pre-Hispanic period, today he is best remembered as a great poet and philosopher whose fame was greater than that of any other poet of his time, even when compared to his fellow poet-monarchs. Miguel León-Portilla claims that Nezahualcoyotl was a tlamatini, literally "the one who knows," a sage. One poem from Culhuacan demonstrates the praise he received from his contemporaries:
The , sages, were Nahua philosophers, theologists and scholars. A sage was described as "he who possesses the (book) and the and the black and red inks," and one of the roles they possessed in society was to teach young people "all their songs, their divine songs, , following the contents of their books." This manner of teaching was known as , meaning "to follow the road or sequence registered in the book." Additionally, Miguel León-Portilla states that a "meditates and tells about the enigmas of man on earth, the beyond, and the gods," subsequently making poetry their ordinary form of expression, "like several of the pre-Socratic thinkers." Religious authorities banned many ancient songs from being performed following the Spanish conquest of Mexico, but they did not successfully stop all of these ancient songs from being recited by the indigenous peoples. Nevertheless, some Christian priests admired the expressions of ancient Nahua poetry, and, according to León-Portilla, "they were to their eyes ... as worthy of preservation as had been the compositions of other 'pagans' such as the Romans and Greeks."
Pre-Hispanic poems created by the peoples of Mesoamerica could be preserved in the 16th and 17th centuries by means of oral tradition and memory combined, according to León-Portilla, with pictorial documents, known as codices. Nahuatl writing, although limited in many aspects, could be used to write down dates, places, names, attributes of deities and abstract concepts. Thus, despite its limitations, it is possible to "read" and transcribe the meaning of pictorial documents in latin characters. In the context of poetry, "priests, sages, rulers and young students in the native schools and temples" learning these pre-Hispanic poems could use these documents to memorise and recite poems, passing them down to the generations that came after them. The usage of codices to memorise poems is attested by 16th-century writers such as Bernardino de Sahagún, a Franciscan linguist-ethnographer, though he refers specifically to divine chants which were taught at the Calmecac, the higher education school for the children of the nobility and priesthood. Nezahualcoyotl's poems, however, were not religious in nature; the poems attributed to him may not have been written down like divine chants were. The primary method of learning poems in the pre-Hispanic period, as attested by other writers of the period, was through memory and dance.
Nezahualcoyotl's poems, as well as many other poems from various authors, known or anonymous, post-conquest and pre-conquest, are preserved mainly in two colonial-era manuscripts. the Cantares Mexicanos and the Romances de los señores de Nueva España. The Cantares manuscript was written in the late 16th century, sometime between 1585 and 1597, but its contents appear to have been copied from now-lost originals which would have been produced in the 1550s, 1560s and 1570s, possibly by indigenous informants who collected the manuscript's poems for Bernardino de Sahagún. The Romances were preserved with the Relación of Juan Bautista Pomar, which was composed in 1582. Therefore, the Romances may have been originally compiled in the same time period, though the surviving manuscript is believed to be from the 17th century. According to León-Portilla, poems attributed to Nezahualcoyotl include, among others:
A consistent theme exhibited in many of the poems attributed to the monarch is the ephemerality of human life. One iconic stanza attributed to him exhibiting this theme, which is part of a larger poem, is the following:
Nezahualcoyotl's awareness of time and change, or âÂÂ"that which leaves us," as León-Portilla writesâÂÂis shown in many poems and verses attributed to him, where he observes that everything on earthâÂÂâÂÂis merely transitory; not even gold and jade are safe from the passage of time, let alone human beings, who are more fragile. This fact causes Nezahualcoyotl's grief, but it also leads to him finding his own way to live, which is through "flower and song"âÂÂ, the Nahuatl metaphor for poetry, which he believed to be eternal, unlike anything material. This is demonstrated in poems which were performed in the palaces of Mexico and Acolhuacan. The following stanza is from the same poem quoted above, which is a dialogue between Nezahualcoyotl and a nameless singer:
Ephemerality is not a subject unique to the poems of Nezahualcoyotl, and it seems to have been a rather popular subject among Nahua poets in general. An anonymous Huexotzincan poet even used the same metaphors as Nezahualcoyotl in one of the poems featured in the Cantares. Ephemerality is also featured in Mexica poems, though their authors use different metaphors to convey similar ideas.
Contrary to popular belief, Nahuatl poetry was not always peaceful; warfare and sacrifice were common themes featured in various poems. War was taken as a necessity for pre-Hispanic rulers in order to obtain captives, which were sacrificed as a means of nourishing the gods with their blood, so that the universe can continue. As the result, the people of central Mexico regarded taking captives in war as a truly admirable act, and at the same time, warriors had the desire to be sacrificed themselves. This necessity and desire was reflected occasionally in the works of Nahua poets, and Nezahualcoyotl was not an exception. ÃÂngel MarÃÂa Garibay and José Luis MartÃÂnez RodrÃÂguez attribute the following stanza to the king:
In this song, Nezahualcoyotl praises the obsidian-knife deathâÂÂâÂÂand war deathâÂÂâÂÂof sacrificial victims to the gods; victims who are described as "flowers." This song, rather explicitly, was conceived with the intention of promoting war and sacrifice.
Although many poems have historically been attributed to Nezahualcoyotl, it is difficult to tell for certain which of the surviving ones were actually composed by him, if any. As early as the 1880s, some Mexican writers, such as Alfredo Chavero, had openly questioned the authorship of these poems, claiming that "the truth is, we know no specimens of the ancient poetry, and those, whether manuscript or printed, which claim to be such, date from after the Conquest." Daniel Garrison Brinton, in response, wrote in 1890 that he did believe the poems to be of pre-conquest origin, "written down shortly after the Nahuatl language had been reduced to the Spanish alphabet."
In the collections of the Cantares Mexicanos and the Romances de los señores de Nueva España, several poems are referred to as "Song of Nezahualcoyotl" ( in the Cantares, in the Romances), implying that he's the author or main subject. Additionally, several poems, within their own content, mention Nezahualcoyotl explicitly as their singer (e.g. "I that am Nezahualcoyotl"), which historians such as ÃÂngel MarÃÂa Garibay find as sufficient evidence that such poems were composed by the monarch. However, this does not necessarily mean that these songs were composed by Nezahualcoyotl. In fact, a poem entitled "Song of Nezahualpilli" () is explicitly stated to have been composed by a singer named Tececepouhqui, not by Nezahualpilli. Moreover, Tececepouhqui never mentions himself in the content of the poem. This makes arguments such as Garibay's stand on shaky ground, and demonstrates, according to , that it is not possible to confirm that the (kings) of the Aztec Empire actually composed the songs historically attributed to them.
The above, however, is not evidence that the poems in question could not have been composed by Nezahualcoyotl or that poet-kings did not exist. Don Baltasar Toquezcuauhyo, tlatoani (king) of Colhuacan, is specifically referred to as a composer in the Cantares, serving as an example of a ruler who was certainly a poet, even though the importance of Colhuacan after the Spanish conquest did not come close to Texcoco's during Nezahualcoyotl's reign. Furthermore, in the pre-Hispanic period did dance and sing, and, as Sahagún stated, they would try to "learn a new song," though their material was prepared by professional singers.
Notably, Bierhorst observes that the majority of 16th-century historians who wrote about Nezahualcoyotl did not describe him as a poet. Among the earliest historians to have clearly described him as such are Fray Juan de Torquemada and Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl (the latter of which was a direct descendant of his), in the 17th century. Juan Bautista Pomar (also a descendant) may have thought of him as a composer earlier, in the late 16th century. The authorship of the poems historically attributed to Nezahualcoyotl remains a subject of serious debate among scholars of Aztec culture.
Nezahualcoyotl's reputation as a famous philosopher, and lack of knowledge of indigenous sources, resulted in post-conquest writers creating fantasies about his religious beliefs which contradict the reality of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. Various writers described him as a monotheist who was openly skeptical about Aztec religion, claiming that he discovered "the One and Only God, the cause of all things." Modern researchers generally agree that such ideas are fantasies of obvious European origin, presumably created for the purpose of converting the indigenous peoples into Christianity, using Nezahualcoyotl's reputation as a skilled leader.
One such writer who supported the monotheist idea was historian William H. Prescott, using Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl as his source; this historian wrote the following story: Nezahualcoyotl, despite being married for some years, failed to have a child with his wife, to his grievance; his priests came to the conclusion that the only remedy was to perform human sacrifices to satisfy the gods. Nezahualcoyotl reluctantly accepted, but the sacrifices proved to be in vain, promting him to exclaim that "these idols of wood and stone can neither hear nor feel; much less could they make the heavens, and the earth, and man, the lord of it. These must be the work of the all-powerful, unknown God, Creator of the universe, on whom alone I must rely for consolation and support." At Texcotzingo, after fasting, praying and making offerings of copal, and aromatic herbs and gums for 40 days, he converted to monotheism, openly professing his new faith and building a temple dedicated to "the unknown God, the Cause of causes," where no images were allowed inside, and human or blood sacrifices were strictly forbidden. This same sort of story was written by one of Nezahualcoyotl's descendants, Juan Bautista Pomar, in 1582.
The practice of human sacrifice, which had long existed in Mesoamerica before the formation of the Aztec Empire, had been enhanced and encouraged in the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan by Tlacaelel, as part of his religious and political reforms, increasing the number of sacrficies to nourish the gods. Nezahualcoyotl, along with the (sages) in general, has typically been presented as a figure whose ideas differed from Tlacaelel's "mystical-warrior vision," being portrayed as a ruler who opposed the practice.
argues that these notions of Nezahualcoyotl that portray him as a peaceful monotheist who opposed human sacrifice are historically inaccurate, rejecting the idea of separating the rulers of Texcoco from the Mexica rulers. He argues that the duties and obligations of pre-conquest rulers, as described by historial documents such as the Florentine Codex, were to maintain "the existing political, religious, and cultural order," doing so by arranging wars, rewarding the achievements of accomplished warriors, rehearsing the sacrficie of captives, and ordering dancing and singing. Thus, Nezahualcoyotl's duties as ruler were far from opposing the religious establishment; rather, he had the obligation to maintain it. Furthermore, Nezahualcoyotl was established as ruler of Texcoco with the support of his uncle Itzcoatl, the king of Tenochtitlan, in addition to the fact that he based himself on the religious and legal systems of Tenochtitlan to re-establish order in his own nation.
After his death in 1472, Nezahualcoyotl was succeeded by his son Nezahualpilli, who ruled until his death in 1515. He obtained a similar reputation as his father as an enlightened poet and skilled administrator. Reports on Nezahualpilli's family, however, are often contradicting, but it is generally agreed that he had a large number of children (145 by some accounts) and that his successors were sons of Mexica noblewomen. A civil war in Acolhuacan (the region ruled by Texcoco) erupted following Nezahualpilli's death, as his sons fought over the throne. Ixtlilxochitl II challenged the election of Cacamatzin, nephew of Emperor Moctezuma II of TenochtitilanâÂÂwho supported by their brother CoanacochâÂÂas his successor. After a series of combats, the three brothers agreed to let Cacamatzin rule Texcoco while Ixtlilxochitl received tribute the territories he occupied, which were the northern half of Acolhuacan, governed from the city of Otompan. Additionally, Coanacoch would rule the south of the region.
In 1519, Spanish soldiers led by conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived in the region. Using indigenous allies gathered by exploiting local politics and rivalries, Cortés soon imprisoned Emperor Moctezuma in his own palace and eventually attacked Tenochtitlan. Moctezuma's arrest infuriated Cacamatzin, who tried to attack the Spanish, but he was also imprisoned. On Moctezuma's advice, Cortés installed Nezahualpilli's son Cuicuitzcatl as ruler of Texcoco, but he was rejected as illegitimate, and the lords of Acolhuacan elected the anti-Spanish Coanacoch to rule. Over the course of the conquest, Cacamatzin and Cuicuitzcatl were killed, and Coanacoch fled to Tenochtitlan, where he fought alongside Cuauhtémoc, the last Mexica monarch. In Coanacoch's absence, Cortés appointed another of Nezahualpilli's sons to rule in his place. This ruler, who became a key Spanish ally, was baptized as Fernando Cortés Tecocoltzin (named after the conquistador, who was his baptismal sponsor).
On August 13, 1521, the Spanish conquest of Mexico was fulfilled after Cuauhtémoc finally surrendered. Both him and Coanacoch were allowed to keep their position as a rulers. Coanacoch was baptized under the name of Pedro de Alvarado Coanacochtzin, named after conquistador Pedro de Alvarado. Though he was allowed to continue holding the position of tlatoani (king), he was held captive by Cortés, and Ixtlilxochitl still controlled the northern part of Acolhuacan. In 1525, under the suspicion of forming a conspiracy to kill Cortés during his expedition to Honduras, Coanacoch was executed along with Cuauhtémoc and the ruler of Tlacopan. Ixtlilxochitl II, who was baptized as Don Fernando Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl, became the uncontested ruler of Texcoco, with Cortés's blessing, until his death in 1531.
Almost immediately after the Spanish conquest, the Spanish authorities gave the title of "governors" () or caciques to the who succeeded their pre-conquest ancestors in the rulership of the local polities, and, through decrees, their rights to possess certain plots of land, possess and use certain weapons, etc., were confirmed. However, this system was built in a confusing and non-solid manner due to the Spanish lack of understanding of indigenous government systems, and over the course of the decades following the second half of the 16th century, the indigenous nobility gradually lost its prestige and some of its members sold their land. By the early 19th century, as Alexander von Humboldt observed, a was almost indistinguishable from any indigenous person belonging to the tributary class, describing them as "presenting the same lack of manners and the same lack of civilization as the common people."
Ixtlilxochitl's daughter, Doña Ana Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl, married the of Teotihuacan, Don Francisco Verdugo Quetzalmamalitzin Huetzin. They were the great-grandparents of Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, a historian who dedicated much of his life, in the 17th century, to documenting the pre-Hispanic history of Texcoco, making his work the most extensive source of information on the subject, in spite of his controversial writings regarding his ancestors. Another historian, Juan Bautista Pomar, was also a descendant of Nezahualcoyotl, but he was not considered eligible for succession for being son of Nezahualpilli's illegitimate daughter Doña MarÃÂa Ixtlilxóchitl, who was married to the Spanish Antonio de Pomar. Doña MarÃÂa Ixtlilxóchitl was the daughter of one of Nezahualpilli's slaves. This historian was notable for his , from 1582, one of the works he sent to King Philip II of Spain.
The descendants of Ixtlilxochitl and Coanacoch would enter legal disputes decades after they died. Much like their forefathers, the disputes were over claims to patrimony. Such was the case of a lawsuit filed in 1576 by Doña Francisca Verdugo, Ixtlilxochitl's granddaughter, and her Spanish husband Juan Grande, against her second cousin Don Francisco Pimentel, son of Hernando Pimentel Nezahualcoyotzin, and governor of Texcoco, himself son of Coanacoch. While Don Francisco's claim for the of Texcoco was disputed, he did later serve as governor of the city.
After the 16th century, the line of Nezahualcoyotl's descendants becomes less clear. In 1627, Doña Juana Pimentel was of Texcoco and sold a plot of land to her son-in-law Don Juan Pimentel, who lived in Mexico City. She wrote that she inherited the land from her father Don Diego, and described herself as a great-great-granddaughter of Nezahualcoyotl, but her exact connection with her ancestors is not entirely clear. In 1795, the of Texcoco, Pablo José Pimentel and Pablo Marcial Pimentel, were described as illiterate in a legal document, agreeing with Humboldt's statement that by this time the indigenous nobility had lost its high status in society.
Up to the 19th century in Mexico, the ancient indigenous nobility continued to exist and claim their rights to possess certain territories that belonged to their ancestors, albeit the members of this late indigenous nobility often did not possess the fortune or the land that their ancestors possessed, due to the gradual loss of prestige and land that took place after the 16th century.
As late as 1855, two descendants of Nezahualcoyotl, Doña Guadalupe Carrillo Pimentel and Doña MarÃÂa Antonia Güemes Pimentel, requested a notary public to copy and certify various historical documents they possessed to obtain the territories that belonged to the monarch and his son Nezahualpilli. These two ladies were members of the Pimentel family, which possessed the of Texcoco. The first ruler of Texcoco under this family name was Don Antonio Pimentel Tlahueliltzin (or Tlahuelitlotzin), son of Nezahualpilli, and therefore grandson of Nezahualcoyotl. He ruled until he died of illness during an epidemic which killed the majority of Texcoco's indigenous population in 1545, and was succeeded by his nephew Hernando Velásquez, also known as Hernando Pimentel Nezahualcoyotzin, who was son of Coanacochtli (ruler of Texcoco executed in 1525 by conquistador Hernán Cortés) and would rule for nearly 20 years. Before Antonio Pimentel became ruler, his brother Carlos Ometochtzin had ruled, but notably he was publicly executed by the Inquisition at the great plaza of Mexico City in 1539.
Another notable person who claimed to be a descendant of Nezahualcoyotl was Josefa Varela y RodrÃÂguez, a woman from Texcoco, described as dark-skinned, "indigenous of pure blood" (), who became the only indigenous woman to become part of the imperial entourage of Empress Charlotte of Mexico in the 1860s (during the Second Mexican Empire), serving as her maid of honour. She was daughter of the otherwise unknown Santiago Varela, and despite her position in the empire, she was born in poverty. Historians have not confirmed her claim of being a descendant of the Poet King, but it is plausible that her claim was truthful. As early as the 18th century, the majority of members of the indigenous nobility were already described as "impoverished." Following the fall of the empire in 1867, she continued claiming to be a descendant of Nezahualcoyotl up to the year 1905 at the very least.
The date of Nezahualcoyotl's death is recorded as being June 4, 1472. He was survived by many concubines and an estimated 110 children. He was succeeded by his son Nezahualpilli as tlatoani of Texcoco.
Nezahualcoyotl's reputation as a hero turned him into a highly respected figure by the indigenous population throughout the course of the 15th and 16th centuries, even after the Spanish conquest in 1521. Judging from 16th-century documents, it would seem that colonial religious authorities were confused about Nezahualcoyotl and mistook historical remembrance for idolatry, due to how the indigenous people praised him for his deeds decades after his death:
The quote above refers to a portrait of Nezahualcoyotl created under his supervision which was located at the summit of the hill of Texcotzingo. Like various other sculptures, it was destroyed by Bishop Juan de Zumárraga on July 7, 1539, "in a manner such that they would no longer be remembered," following reports of "idolatrous acts" at the hill. Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, writing nearly 70 years after this incident, described the destroyed portrait as a sculpted rock which illustrated the most notable of Nezahualcoyotl's deeds, as well as his supposed coat of arms at the centre, of which he offered a detailed description. As observes, Alva Ixtlilxóchitl attempts to use heraldry to portray indigenous royalty as equivalent to Spanish royalty.
Still in the 1570s, Nezahualcoyotl's belongings, such as "his statue, his shield, banners, trumpets, flutes, weapons" and more which he used during warfare and festivals, were still "preserved with great religious respect" by the people of Texcoco as relics.
As observes, the name of Nezahualcoyotl had become virtually synonymous with old Nahuatl poetry by the 18th century in Mexico, to the point that he became a "necessary" topic of discussion for writers on Mexican antiquities. His fame had reached the extent that apparent forgeries appeared, as was the infamous case of a poem printed in 1778 which includes phrases such as "All the round world is but a sepulchre." This poem, despite being a forgery based on an Otomi folk poem, was picked up by historians such as William H. Prescott in the 19th century.
In 1868, in a post-war environment following years of foreign invasion and civil war, a group of young Mexican students, many of them teenagers, formed the Sociedad Nezahualcóyotl, initially as a poetic project which had the objective of creating a unique form of literature, reforming the theatre and promoting literary publications. The society was supported by Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, a distinguished and influential writer, who described its members as "young, hard-working and enthusiastic students who do not give up and who will eventually reach the heights of fame."
Centuries after his death, Nezahualcoyotl continues to be an influential figure in modern Mexican education and philosophy. His poems are taught to Mexican children as part of their primary education, as a way of introducing Spanish-speaking children to indigenous languages and cultures, and to connect them with the country's pre-Hispanic past. Additionally, the Nezahualcóyotl Award () was created in 1993 as an award ceremony celebrating indigenous literature in Mexico with the purpose of "stimulating the literary creativity of the indigenous writers of Mexico"; it has been regarded as "the most prestigious literary award in Mexico and Latin America for indigenous writers."
His great-grandson Juan Bautista Pomar is credited with the compilation of a collection of Nahuatl poems, Romances de los señores de Nueva España, and with a chronicle of the history of the Aztecs. The freshwater fish Xiphophorus nezahualcoyotl is named after Nezahualcoyotl. Nezahualcoyotl appears on the former 100 peso banknote of Mexico.
The municipality of Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico, which began to be populated in the mid-1940s by people from several states and was officially declared as a municipality on April 20, 1963, is named after the monarch.
Elsewhere in Latin America, numerous poets have been inspired by the works attributed to Nezahualcoyotl and their philosophy. Ernesto Cardenal, a famous poet from Nicaragua, incorporated indigenous traditions in his work and, according to , "perpetuates the image of Nezahualcoyotl as a peaceful and civilized poet-king opposed to the Mexicas" in his work entitled Homenaje a los indios americanos (1972) and its expanded version, Los ovnis de oro (1992).