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Acamapichtli (Meaning Handful of reeds in the Nahuatl language) was tlatoani (ruler) of the Aztecs (or Mexica) of Tenochtitlan, and founder of the Aztec imperial dynasty. He became ruler in 1376 and reigned for 19 years. For the Spanish language as spoken in Mexico, see Mexican Spanish. ... A tlatoani was a member of the Aztec nobility. ... The word Aztec is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. ... Tenochtitlan, looking east. ... // Events March – The treaty between England and France is extended until April of 1377. ...

Acamapichtli was not a native of Tenochtitlan. Blood relationships between rulers were an important aspect of politics in 14th century Mexico, and as relative newcomers, the Mexica were at a disadvantage. On the death of Tenoch in 1375, the elders of the Mexica calpultin decided to elect a tlatoani who could secure the fledgling city's position through ties to powerful groups in the region. They sent a delegation to the leaders of Culhuacan. Although the Culhua had only recently ejected the Mexica from Tizaapan, some intermarriage had taken place between the two peoples during their period of association. Acamapichtli was the product of one such union. His father, Opochtzin, was a Mexica leader, while his mother Atotoztli was the daughter of the Culhua tlatoani, Nauhyotl. He also had ties to the Acolhua of Coatlinchan. In addition to these concrete ties, the Culhua nobility claimed direct descent from the Toltecs, making their bloodline particularly prestigious. Tenoch was a ruler of the Azteca during the fourteenth century. ... Events October 24 - Valdemar IV of Denmark dies and is succeeded by his grandson Olaf III of Denmark. ... Calpulli is the Nahuatl term for a group of families (or a single large family) that usually had a particular function in the Pre-Columbian society (such as priests, warriors, etc. ... Culhuacan or Colhuacan was one of the Nahuatl-speaking pre-Columbian city-states of the Valley of Mexico. ... The Acolhua are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in or around the year 1200 CE.[1] The Acolhua were a sister culture of the Aztecs (or Mexica) as well as the Tepanec, Chalca, Xochimilca and others. ... The Toltecs (or Toltec or Tolteca) were a Pre-Columbian Native American people who dominated much of central Mexico between the 10th and 12th century AD. Their language, Nahuatl, was also spoken by the Aztecs. ...

Acamapichtli began his rule as cihuacóatl (governor). At the time of his designation he was 20 years old, living in Texcoco with his mother. After his acceptance of the throne, he was brought to Tenochtitlan and made his entry into the city with great pomp. He married Ilancueitl, daughter of the then ruler of Culhuacán, Acolmiztli. Texcoco was a major site and city-state in the central Mexican plateau region of Mesoamerica during the Late Postclassic period of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology. ...

To integrate these ties with the city of Tenochtitlan, Acamapichtli took a wife from each Tenochtitlan calpulli (in addition to his first wife, the Culhua noble Ilancuetl). Calpulli is the Nahuatl term for a group of families (or a single large family) that usually had a particular function in the Pre-Columbian society (such as priests, warriors, etc. ...

In the same year, Tenochtitlan's sister city of Tlatelolco also installed an outsider as tlatoani — Cuacuapitzahuac, son of Tezozómoc, tlatoani of the Tepanec city of Azcapotzalco, the other major power in the region. Tlaltelolco is an area in Mexico City, centered on the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, a square surrounded on three sides by an excavated Aztec pyramid, the 17th century church Templo de Santiago, and the modern office complex of the Mexican foreign ministry. ... The Tepanec are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the late 12th or early 13th centuries. ... Azcapotzalco (Place of the ants in Nahuatl) is one of the 16 delegaciones (boroughs) into which Mexicos Federal District is divided. ...

Despite Acamapichtli's Culhua ancestry, his city rapidly fell into the Tepanec orbit and became a tributary of Azcapotzalco. During his reign Mexica forces fought for Azcapotzalco against various city states, notably Chalco, and were eventually allowed to wage war on their own. Expeditions were sent against Cuauhnahuac (modern Cuernavaca) and Xochimilco. Chalco de Díaz Covarrubias is a municipality located in Southen México State, and considered part of Mexico City despite is located in the outsides of it. ... Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. ... Xochimilco within the Federal District Chalupa boats at the floating gardens of Xochimilco. ...

Tribute was due to the Tecpanec rulers every full moon, a tribute said to be oppressive and capricious. In spite of the hostility of Azcapotzalco, Tenochtitlan progressed. The island on which the city was situated (and the only territory subject to its rule) was enlarged to the east with the addition of dirt and rock. The Mexica were careful, however, to maintain a proper distance from the mainland, for defensive purposes in the event of war.

Built in the middle of Lake Texcoco, Tenochtitlan suffered from limited farmland. Acamapichtli built up the city's agricultural base by expanding the chinampa system ("floating" gardens) around the island, and by capturing lakeshore chinampas from other cities, particularly Xochimilco. He also made improvements to the city's architecture — the earliest excavated level of the Great Pyramid, Temple II, dates to his reign. Lake Texcoco is a lake in Mexico. ... Chinampas is an Aztec term referring to a method of ancient Mesoamerican agriculture through floating gardens—small, rectangle-shaped areas of fertile arable land used for agriculture in the Xochimilco region of the Basin of Mexico. ... Xochimilco within the Federal District Chalupa boats at the floating gardens of Xochimilco. ... The Great Pyramid or Templo Mayor was the main temple of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City). ...

During his reign, the city was divided into four neighborhoods or calpullis: Moyotlán in the southwest; Zoquipan in the southeast; Cuecopan in the northwest; and Atzacualco in the northeast. Houses of cane and reeds were replaced with houses of stone. A great temple, or teocalli, was also constructed. It is said that during his reign, the first Aztec laws were made. Calpulli is the Nahuatl term for a group of families (or a single large family) that usually had a particular function in the Pre-Columbian society (such as priests, warriors, etc. ... Teocalli, from the Nahuatl language meaning temple, refers to a spirally-terraced pyramidal structure surmounted by a temple containing images of the gods in ancient Mexico. ...

In 1382, Acamapichtli was named tlatoani. He was crowned with even more pomp than before, at the altar of Huitzilopochtli. He ascended the steps accompanied by the highest-ranking warriors. He was anointed with oil and water by the chief priest, who placed on his head the crown or xiuhuitzolli. This same ceremony was repeated in all the subsequent Aztec coronations, with the difference that, from 1427, the new tlatoani was accompanied by the rulers of Texcoco and Tlacopan, the other two towns of the Aztec Triple Alliance. Year 1382 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... // Huitzilopochtli, as depicted in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis. ... Events Lincoln College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is founded. ... Texcoco was a major site and city-state in the central Mexican plateau region of Mesoamerica during the Late Postclassic period of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology. ... Tlacopan means florid plant on flat ground or also named Tacuba was one of the mesoamericans kingdoms of the prehispanic age Triple Alianza (together with Tenochtitlan and Texcoco). ... The Aztec Triple Alliance, also known as The Aztec Empire, was an alliance of three Aztec city-states: Tenochtitlán; Texcoco; and Tlacopán. ...

Acamapichtli was an astute politician who strengthened his position more by alliances with his neighbors than by wars (of which there were only two or three during his reign). He avoided difficulties with the more powerful rulers, in the case of Tezozómoc, by paying the demanded tribute. Tezozómoc asked for a chinampa cultivated with beautiful flowers, and the Aztecs formed one, raised the flowers, and floated the chinampa to him over the lake.

Acamapichtli's first wife bore him no children, so he took another wife, a daughter of the ruler of Tetepango. She was the mother of Huitzilíhuitl, who succeeded to the throne after the death of his father. Another son of Acamapichtli, Itzcóatl, also became tlatoani in 1427. He was the son of a beautiful slave Acamapichtli had bought in the market of Azcapotzalco. She was of noble birth, but had been captured and enslaved. Although tlatoani was not strictly a hereditary title, candidates were clearly restricted to a small class of princes, and all later Aztec rulers descended from Acamapichtli. Huitzilíhuitl (died circa 1417) was the second Tlatoani, or Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan. ... Itzcoatl (Obsidian Serpent in Nahuatl) was the fourth tlatoani (emperor) of the Aztecs, ruling from 1427 (or 1428) to 1440, the period when the Mexica (as the Aztecs called themselves) threw off the domination of the Tepanecs and laid the foundations for the eventual Aztec Empire. ...

Before his death, Acamapichtili called together the chiefs of the four neighborhoods into which he had divided the city, and asked them to elect his successor. Before the death of Acamapichtili, they chose his eldest son Huitzilíhuitl. Acamapichtili approved the election, and then died. After the death of his father, Huitzilíhuitl consolidated his power by ordering a new election, with more electors, including important warriors and priests.

The Spanish colonial historians Diego Durán, Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl, and Fernando Alvarado Tezozómoc each mention another Acamapichtli, who occupied the throne of Culhuacan in 1324. Diego Durán (c. ... Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl (1568?-1648). ... Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc was a Mexican historian and descendent of the pre-Columbian lineage that ruled the Aztec empire. ... Events Publication of Defensor pacis by Marsilius of Padua Mansa Kankan Musa I, ruler of the Mali Empire arrives in Cairo on his hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. ...

References

• (Spanish) "Acamapichtili", Enciclopedia de México, v. 1. Mexico City: 1987.
• (Spanish) García Puron, Manuel, México y sus gobernantes,, v. 1. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrua, 1984.
• (Spanish) Orozco Linares, Fernando, Gobernantes de México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985, ISBN 968-38-0260-5.
• (Spanish) Tezozómoc, Fernando Alvarado, Crónica mexicana. 1891.
• (Spanish) Tezozómoc, Fernando Alvarado, Crónica mexicayotl. 1949.

The Crónica Mexicayotl is a chronicle of the Aztec empire written in the Nahuatl language by Fernando Alvarado Tezozómoc around 1598. ... This is a list of the tlatoque of Mexico Tenochtitlan, often referred to as Aztec emperors. Category: ... Huitzilíhuitl (died circa 1417) was the second Tlatoani, or Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan. ...

External links

• Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske and Stanley L. Klos. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889