Who is montezuma ll

His lieutenant Pedro de Alvarado had attacked unarmed nobles at the Festival of Toxcatl, massacring thousands, and the city was out for Spanish blood. Cortes sent Montezuma to the rooftop to speak with his people and plead for calm, but they were having none of it. Instead, they attacked Montezuma, hurling stones and spears and firing arrows at him.

Montezuma was horribly injured before the Spanish could get him away. Montezuma died of his wounds a few days later, on June 29, According to some native accounts, Montezuma recovered from his wounds and was killed by the Spanish, but those accounts agree that he was at least grievously wounded by the people of Tenochtitlan.

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List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Christopher Minster. Professor of History and Literature. Christopher Minster, Ph. Updated December 06, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Minster, Christopher. He became the head of an empire that was expanded by his son and successor, Alexander the Great. Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II tried to strengthen the Habsburg empire with his enlightened reforms, but the changes he made were met with fierce opposition.

Olivia Rodrigo —. Megan Thee Stallion —. Bowen Yang —. The Spanish were no doubt anxious to justify the conquest of the empire.

The indigenous peoples themselves may have wanted someone to blame as well. For this reason, it's hard to get beyond the basics and really understand the man. The expansion of the empire In many ways, this emperor is believed to have been harsh in the ruling of his empire.

This may be the reason why Cortes was able to find allies among the cities of Mexico in his conquest. Many may have been happy for the chance to free themselves from the powerful Aztecs. But was it Moctezuma II that was really the target of this hate, or just the powerful Mexica culture? When it came to conquering and expansion, it was really the previous emperor that steals the spotlight - Ahuitzotl. The empire went through stages of expansion, and Ahuitzotl was the emperor in charge of the most recent one.

He more than doubled the area of dominance. One of the great generals that fought his battles, however, was his nephew - Moctezuma. When he came to power after Ahuitzotl's death, it was natural that his job should be to consolidate the power that had come so recently to the Aztecs. He strengthened the reign of himself and his nobles, though his conquests were not as widespread as the ruler before him.

It may be that he has been misjudged from his encounter and loss to the Spanish as indecisive, superstitious and capitulating. He ruled an empire of million people. Would that empire have continued a thousand years? Or was it already about to be torn apart by civil war?