Moctezuma, The Great Aztec Ruler?

Moctezuma Moctezuma was the great Aztec Ruler, and grandson to the first leader of Tenochtitlan. He was born around 1397 and died in 1469. He did not gain chiefdom until 1440, at the age of 29. He is most known for his expansion of Aztec territory, Tenochtitlan, and his penchant for human sacrifices. He played a very important role for the Aztecs, and the only reason they got as far as they did was because of him. Moctezuma was the son of Huitzilhuitl and Miahuaxihuitl, princess of Cuernavaca. He had numerous amounts of siblings, due to the fact that his father had multiple wives. His father was the king of the Aztecs before his passing. After his death Moctezuma’s older brother, Chimalpopoca took charge as leader of the Aztecs. However, …show more content…
After Chimalpopoca’s passing, this militia group chose Itzcoatl to be the future ruler of the Aztecs. Moctezuma shared control of General of the Army with Itzcoatl’s nephew during his reign as king. Moctezuma finally gained control as leader of the Aztecs after Itzcoatl’s death. Something interesting about Moctezuma is he had the title of “Great Speaker”, while all other rulers before him only had the title “Speaker”. This was because he represented all tribes that gave him tribute. It has absolutely nothing due to the fact that he wanted to be different, because why be just the “Speaker” when you could be the “Great Speaker”. He was coronation ceremony was an enormous and lavish celebration. After all you only get coroneted once, so why not make a big …show more content…
He was able to keep the triple alliance by agreeing to share all war winnings by three. This way all nations gained more than they lost. With Tlacaelel’s helpful advice, Moctezuma had a temple sent to be built to honor their most important god, Huitzilopochtli. He is the god of the sun, war, and hummingbirds, because those things go so well together. It took years to complete the temple, and it was finally put to use in 1455. The Aztecs had demolished the Huaxtec and their army. They soon became the first of many, to be sacrificed to Huitzilopochtli in their shiny new temple. Moctezuma then went to war with the Chalcas, under the influence of Tlacaelel. The war lasted over 20 years with Moctezuma as commander in the Army. This was of course Tlacaelel’s idea, saying a leader should always lead his army into war as his first movement as king, because it is of course a wonderful idea to lead an army into battle without really knowing them. As their king they would always protect him from danger, it is not like they just met him or anything like that. After the Chalcas were defeated, they were sacrificed to the Sun God in