True Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Stories Part VI

Moctezuma II Part II

Rebellions

During his reign, multiple rebellions were suppressed by the use of force and often ended with violent results. As mentioned previously, the first campaign during his reign, which was done in honor of his coronation, was the suppression of a rebellion in Nopallan (today known as Santos Reyes Nopala) and Icpatepec (a Mixtec town that no longer exists which was near Silacayoapam), both in modern-day Oaxaca. The prisoners taken during this campaign were later used as slaves or for human sacrifice.

After Mexico suffered a humiliating defeat at Atlixco during a flower war against Huejotzingo (see below), many sites in Oaxaca rebelled, likely under the idea that the empire's forces were weakened. However, Moctezuma was able to raise an army numbering 200,000 and marched over the city of Yancuitlan (today known as Yanhuitlan), a city which had been previously conquered by Tizoc, and conquered Zozollan in the process. Abundant territorial expansion was carried out following this.

Another notable rebellion occurred in Atlixco (in modern-day Puebla), a city neighboring Tlaxcala which had previously been conquered by Ahuizotl. This rebellion occurred in 1508, and was repressed by a prince named Macuilmalinatzin. This wasn't the first conflict that occurred in this region, as its proximity with Tlaxcala and Huejotzingo would cause multiple conflicts to erupt in this area during Moctezuma's reign.

A large series of rebellions occurred in 1510, likely as a result of astrological predictions halting some Mexica military operations to a degree. Moctezuma would try to campaign against these rebellions one at a time throughout the following years, campaigning against territories in Oaxaca, including Icpatepec again, in 1511 or 1512. Some of these revolts occurred as far south as Xoconochco (today known as Soconusco) and Huiztlan (today, Huixtla), far down where the Mexican-Guatemalan border is today. These territories were highly important to the empire and had been previously conquered by his predecessor Ahuizotl, thus Moctezuma had to maintain them under his control. These revolts occurred in so many locations that the empire wasn't able to deal with all of them effectively.

Territorial expansion

The empire's expansion during Moctezuma's rule was mainly focused on southwestern Mesoamerican territories, in Oaxaca and modern-day Guerrero. The earliest conquests in this territory were held by Moctezuma I.

The first important conquest during Moctezuma's rule occurred in the year 1504 when the city of Achiotlan (today known as San Juan Achiutla) was conquered. This war, according to some sources, was supposedly mainly caused by "a small tree which belonged to a lord of the place which grew such beautiful flowers Moctezuma's envy couldn't resist it," and when Moctezuma asked for it, the lord of the city refused to offer it, thus starting the war. After the conquest, this tree was supposedly taken to Tenochtitlan. The second conquest occurred in Zozollan, a place neighboring east of Achiutla, on 28 May 1506, during the campaign against the Yanhuitlan rebellion. This conquest had a particularly violent result, as a special sacrifice was held after the campaign where the prisoners captured in Zozollan were the victims. "The Mexicans killed many of the people from Zozola which they captured in war," according to old sources.

In the year 1507, the year of the New Fire Ceremony, abundant military action occurred. Among the towns that are listed to have been conquered this year are: Tecuhtepec (from which multiple prisoners were sacrificed for the ceremony), Iztitlan, Nocheztlan (an important town northeast of Achiutla), Quetzaltepec, and Tototepec.

The conquest of Tototepec formed part of the conquests of some of the last few Tlapanec territories of modern-day Guerrero, an area which had already been in decline since Moctezuma I began his first campaigns in the region and probably turned the Kingdom of Tlachinollan (modern-day Tlapa) into a tributary province during the rule of Lord Tlaloc between 1461 and 1467 (though the kingdom wouldn't be invaded and fully conquered until the reign of Ahuizotl in 1486, along with Caltitlan, a city neighboring west of Tlapa). In between the years of 1503 and 1509, a campaign was launched against Xipetepec, and another was launched (as mentioned previously) in 1507 against Tototepec, which had previously been a territory conquered by Tlachinollan in the mid-14th century. The campaign in Tototepec occurred as the result of a large group of Mexica merchants sent by Moctezuma being killed after they attempted to trade for some of the resources of the area on his behalf. During the conquest of Tototepec, two important Mexica noblemen, Ixtlilcuechahuac and Huitzilihuitzin (not to be confused with the tlatoani of this name), were killed. All the population of Tototepec, except for the children, was massacred by the Mexica forces, and about 1350 captives were taken. Another campaign was launched in 1515 to conquer Acocozpan and Tetenanco and reconquer Atlitepec, which had been previously conquered by Ahuizotl in 1493.