Montezuma II

/mon'teuh zooh"meuh/

c1470-1520, last Aztec emperor of Mexico 1502-20.

Also, Moctezuma.

[ < Sp < Nahuatl Moteuczomah, Motecuhzomah, equiv. to mo- reflexive pron. + teuc(tli) lord, nobleman + zomah frowned in anger, i.e., the one who became angry like a nobleman]

* * *

or Moctezuma II

born 1466

died с June 30, 1520, Tenochtitlán, near modern Mexico City

Ninth emperor of the Aztecs.

In 1502 he inherited from his uncle an empire of five to six million people that stretched from present-day Mexico to Nicaragua. Aztec belief in the prophesied return of the god Quetzalcóatl, whose description the conquistador Hernán Cortés resembled, contributed to his downfall. Cortés, who had made alliances with tribes eager to be rid of Aztec domination, held Montezuma prisoner in Tenochtitlán, and he died in custody.

* * *

▪ Aztec emperor

also spelled  Moctezuma  

born 1466

died , c. June 30, 1520, Tenochtitlán, within modern Mexico City

      ninth Aztec emperor of Mexico, famous for his dramatic confrontation with the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.

      In 1502 Montezuma succeeded his uncle Ahuitzotl as the leader of an empire that had reached its greatest extent, stretching to what is now Honduras and Nicaragua, but that was weakened by the resentment of the subject tribes to the increasing demands for tribute and victims for the religious sacrifices. Montezuma was commander of the army and organized extensive expeditions of conquest in deference to Huitzilopochtli, the god of war and of the sun. Through astrologers, the god instilled in the Emperor a kind of fatalism in the face of an uncertain future.

      The Aztecs feared and expected the return of another important diety, Quetzalcóatl, the white, bearded god who would rule over the empire. Instead, the white, bearded Cortés arrived; he was aware of this fear and used it to his advantage in his expedition across Mexico. Montezuma tried to buy off Cortés, but the Spaniard made alliances with those subject tribes who hated Aztec rule. Welcomed into the capital city of Tenochtitlán by Montezuma, Cortés realized it was a trap and, instead, made the Emperor his prisoner, believing that the Aztecs would not attack as long as he held Montezuma captive. Montezuma's submission to the Spaniards, however, had eroded the respect of his people. According to Spanish accounts, he attempted to speak to his subjects and was assailed with stones and arrows, suffering wounds from which he died three days later. The Aztecs, however, believed the Spaniards had murdered their emperor, and Cortés' force was nearly destroyed as it tried to sneak out of Tenochtitlán at night.

* * *