Cuauhtémoc

Cuauht?moc (also Cuauhtemotzin or Guatimozin; also written Cuauhtemoc without the diacritical mark) was the last Aztec ruler (Tlatoani) of Tenochtitl?n and the last "Aztec Emperor". The name means "descending eagle", from Nahuatl cuauhtli (eagle) and temoc (descent); by extension it can be interpreted as "setting sun".

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He lived c. 1502 - February 26, 1525. Cuauht?moc took power in 1520 as successor of Cuaitl?huac and was a nephew of the emperor Moctezuma II, and his young wife was one of Moctezuma's daughters. He ascended to the throne as his city was being besieged by the Spanish and devastated by an epidemic of smallpox. He was about 18 years of age at the time. Probably after the killings in the main temple, there were few Aztec captains available.

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On August 13, 1521, Cuauht?moc went to call for reinforcements from the countryside to aid the falling Tenochtitl?n, after eighty days straight of urban warfare against the Spanish. Of all the nahuas, only tlatelolcas remained loyal and the surviving Tenochcas look for refugee in Tlatelolco where even women took part in the battle. Cuauht?moc was captured while crossing Lake Texcoco in disguise, he surrendered to Hern?n Cort?s, he offered him his knife and asked to be killed. Thus the great Aztec civilization came to an end.

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Cuauht?moc was tortured by having his feet put to a fire, along with Tetlepanquetzal, the Tlatoani of Tacuba, but even so they refused to divulge information about the treasures the Spanish coveted. Cort?s took him on his trip to Honduras, perhaps because he feared Cuauht?moc could lead an insurrection. Some Indian chronicles record that Cuauht?moc had tried to warn other towns of the intentions of the conquerers along the way to Honduras, but he was denounced because they were also afraid of the Aztecs. Bernal D?az del Castillo described a more elaborate version of a conspiracy. Cort?s eventually ordered Cuauht?moc hanged on 26 February 1525.

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The modern-day Mexican town of Ixcateopan in Guerrero state is home to an ossuary purportedly containing Cuauht?moc's remains.

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Many places in Mexico are named in honour of Cuauht?moc. These include Ciudad Cuauht?moc in Chihuahua and the Cuauht?moc borough of the Mexican Federal District. There is also a Cuauht?moc station on the Mexico City metro. Cuauht?moc is also a popular given name for Mexican boys, one of the few non-Spanish given names to be so.

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Cuauht?moc is also the name of a training ship belonging to the Mexican Navy.

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Cervecer?a Cuauht?moc is a major Mexican brewery.

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Aztec: :The word "Aztec" is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. This article deals with the historical Aztec civilization, not with modern-day Nahuatl speakers. For other uses of the word, see Aztec (disambiguation)....

Tlatoani: A tlatoani (plural tlatoque) was a member of the Aztec nobility. Tlatoani is Nahuatl and literally means "speaker". The word tlatoani is often used to refer to the Hueyi Tlatoani "great speaker", the Aztec "emperor"....

Nahuatl: Nahuatl (, with stress on the first syllable) is a group of related languages and dialects of the Nahuan (traditionally called "Aztecan") branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Collectively they are spoken by an estimated Nahua people, most of whom live in Central Mexico. All Nahuan languages a...

Cuauhtémoc related Images and Photos (experimental)

MLS Cuauhtemoc Blanco