Page:Historia Verdadera del Mexico profundo.djvu/176

 The mexica history can be divided into three very short periods. The first period occurred from their arrival, as nomadic barbarians, to the Anahuac Valley the 12th century and their power seizure with the Itzcóatl Tlatoani in 1424, where Tlacaelel begins his political career while still was very young. The second period covers Tlacaelel as Cihuacoátl, influence and hegemony over several Tlatoanis (Itzcóatl, Moctezuma I (the elder), Axayacatl, Tízoc and Ahuizotl) until his death in 1480. The third period, from Tlacaelel death to the fall of Tenochtitlan.

The mexicas did not have time to reconstitute the Tlacaelel ideology. In the last period, before the spanish invasion, there was a stream of senior civil and religious leaders that proposed returning to an ideology and religion closer to the ancient Toltec. This situation further aggravated the conflict of the ruling class at the time of the arrival of Cortés, because the Tlacaelel thought followers wanted to exterminate the intruders and those who wanted to return to the Toltec ancient Quetzalcoatl doctrine, asked that Cortés was received as Quetzalcoatl’s ambassador.

The truth is that the mexicas lacked time to mature and polish their ideology and religion. In some fields, especially art, the mexicas not only matched the skill of the ancient Toltecs, but as can be seen today, especially in the Mexica Hall of the National Anthropology and History Museum, in some cases they exceed the Toltec masters.

Mexica Tlatoanis Chronology.

There were some known mexica rulers, before Tenochtitlan is founded, under the lordship of Azcapotzalco, since they were Azcapotzalco tributaries, who allowed them to live in the lands of their lordship, upon their arrival to the Mexico valley. These original Tlatoanis were:

Iztacmixcohuatl