Nezahualcoyotl as shown in the Codex Ixtlilxochitl, folio 106R, painted roughly a century after Nezahualcoyotl's death. Aztec codices (singular Codex) are Books written by Pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs

Nezahualcoyotl (pronounced [nesawaɬˈkojoːtɬ], (meaning "Coyote in fast" or "Coyote who Fasts" in Nahuatl)^[1](April 28, 1402 – June 4, 1472) was ruler (tlatoani) of the city-state of Texcoco in pre-Columbian Mexico. Nahuatl ( is a group of related languages and dialects of the Aztecan or Nahuan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family Events 1192 - Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title Events 781 BC - The first historic Solar eclipse is recorded in China. Tlatoani (tlàtoāni tɬaʔtoˈaːni plural nci tlàtòquê,) is the Nahuatl term for the ruler of an Altepetl, a Pre-Hispanic Texcoco ( Classical Nahuatl: Tetzco(hco, tetsˈkoʔko was a major Acolhua City-state in the central Mexican plateau region of Mesoamerica The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Unlike other high-profile Mexican figures from the century preceding the Spanish Conquest, Nezahualcoyotl was not a Mexica; his people were the Acolhua, another Nahuan people settled in the eastern part of the Valley of Mexico, settling on the eastern side of Lake Texcoco. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who achieved political The Acolhua are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in or around the year 1200 CE. Valley of Mexico is a highland Plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State Lake Texcoco (Lago de Texcoco was a natural Lake formation within the Valley of Mexico, a basin with an average Elevation of 2236 m Above

According to his descendants and biographers, Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl and Juan Bautista de Pomar, who lived a century after Nezahualcoyotl, he was something of a monotheist, honoring his god in a 10-level pyramidal temple. Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl (b between 1568 and 1580 Texcoco &mdash1648 Mexico City) was a Mexican Historian. Juan Bautista de Pomar (c 1535 &ndash 1590 was a historian and writer interested in Pre-Columbian Aztec history The roof of this shrine was gem-encrusted and no human sacrifices were permitted, only the offering of flowers and incense. Some researchers, however, believe that Ixtlilxochitl and Pomar were attempting to cast Nezahualcoyotl in a light more favorable to the Spanish colonial authorities.

Early life

Acolmiztli Nezahualcoyotl was the son of Ixtlilxochitl I and Matlalcihuatzin, the daughter of Huitzilihuitl. Ixtlilxochitl Ome Tochtli was the ruler ( Tlatoani) of the Acolhua city-state of Texcoco from 1409 to 1418 and the father of the famous "poet-king" Huitzilíhuitl ( Nahuatl language; English Hummingbird Feather) (d Though born heir to a throne, his youth was not marked by princely luxury. His father had set Texcoco against the powerful city of Azcapotzalco and its ruling tribe, the Tepanec. Azcapotzalco was a Pre-Columbian Nahua Altepetl (state in the Valley of Mexico, on the western shore of Lake Texcoco. Tepanecs or Tepaneca are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the late 12th or early 13th centuries In 1418, when the young prince was fifteen, the Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco, led by Tezozomoc, conquered Texcoco and Nezahualcoyotl had to flee into exile in Huexotzinco, returning to stay in Tenochtitlan in 1422. After Tezozomoc's son Maxtla became ruler of Azcapotzalco, Nezahualcoyotl returned to Texcoco, but had to go into exile a second time when he learned that Maxtla plotted against his life. Maxtla was a Tepanec ruler ( Tlatoani) of Azcapotzalco from 1426 to his death in 1428

The reconquest of Texcoco

Meanwhile the tenochca Tlatoani Itzcoatl requested help from the Huexotzincans against the tepanecs, Nezahualcoyotl visioned the opportunity to join a single military force. Tlatoani (tlàtoāni tɬaʔtoˈaːni plural nci tlàtòquê,) is the Nahuatl term for the ruler of an Altepetl, a Pre-Hispanic Itzcoatl (Itzcōhuātl|iʦ'koːwaːtɬ "Obsidian Serpent" was the fourth Tlatoani (emperor of the Aztecs ruling from 1427 (or 1428 In order to fight the mighty kingdom of Atzcapotzalco, Nezahualcoyotl answered the call and united to the coalition composed by the cities of Tenochtitlan, Tlacopan, Tlatelolco, Huexotzinco, Tlaxcala and Chalco. There are some towns in Mexico which are spelled "Tenochtitlán" like San Lorenzo Tlacopan (meaning "florid plant on flat ground" also called Tacuba, was a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican city-state situated on the western shore Tlaxcala (tlasˈkala is one of the 31 states of Mexico, located to the east of Mexico City. Chalco was a complex Pre-Columbian Nahua Altepetl or confederacy in central Mexico. He was offered support from insurgents inside Acolhuacan, and rebel Tepanecs from the principality of Coyohuacan. From Calpulalpan, an army of more than 100,000 men under the command of Nezahualcoyotl and other important tlatoanis headed towards Azcapotzalco, a military offensive that in 1428 reconquered Acolhuacan, capital of the kingdom of Texcoco.

The gigantic army was then divided into three parts. One army attacked Acolman to the north, the second Coatlinchan in the south, while a contingent led by Nezahualcoyotl himself was intended to attack Acolhuacan, but first provide support to the first two armies. Acolman de Nezahualtcóyotl is a municipality on the outskirts of Mexico City in México State approximately 24 miles (38 kilometres northeast of the city The coalition conquered Acolman and Otumba, but it just sacked them because of the sudden Tepanec siege of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco. Acolman de Nezahualtcóyotl is a municipality on the outskirts of Mexico City in México State approximately 24 miles (38 kilometres northeast of the city In an tactical move, the coalition army was united and then divided by two. One of them, Nezahualcoyotl's army, lead towards Texcoco sieging Acolhuacan while the other attacked and destroyed Azcapotzalco. At the time the armies met again, Nezahualcoyotl reclaimed Texcoco and attacked Acolhuacan from the North while the Tenochca and Tlacopan allies coming from Azcapotzalco, attacked from the south. The two armies simultaneously attacked the north and south of Acolhuacan until they gained the dominance of the main square. The armies then reunited began a series of attacks to isolated Tepanec posts throughout the territory of Texcoco. The defeat of the Tepanecs, and the cease of existence of the kingdom of Azcapotzalco gave rise to the Aztec Triple Alliance between Texcoco, Tenochtitlan and Tlacopan. This article refers to an alliance of three Aztec city-states Nezahualcoyotl was finally crowned Tlatoani of Texcoco in 1431.

Achievements

Monument to Nezahualcoyotl in the city of the same name

Revered as a sage and poet-king, Nezahualcoyotl drew a group of followers called the tlamatini, generally translated as "wise men". Tlamatini (plural tlamatinime) is a Nahuatl language word meaning "someone who knows something" generally translated as "wise man" These men were philosophers, artists, musicians and sculptors who pursued their art in the court of Texcoco.

Nezahualcoyotl is credited with cultivating what came to be known as Texcoco's Golden Age, which brought the rule of law, scholarship and artistry to the city and set high standards that influenced other cultures. Nezahualcoyotl designed a code of law based on the division of power, which created the councils of finance, war, justice and culture, the last actually called the council of music. Under his rule Texcoco flourished as the intellectual centre of the Triple Alliance and it possessed an extensive library that, tragically, did not survive the Spanish conquest. He also established an academy of music and welcomed worthy entrants from all regions of Mesoamerica. Mesoamerica or Meso-America (Mesoamérica is a Region extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, defined

Texcoco became known as "the Athens of the Western World" -- to quote the historian Lorenzo Boturini Bernaducci. Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci (1702 Como, Italy &mdash1753 Madrid) was a historian Antiquary and Ethnographer of New Spain Indeed, the remains of hilltop gardens, sculptures and a massive aqueduct system show the impressive engineering skills and aesthetic appreciation of his reign.

Many believe, however, that of all the creative intellects nurtured by this Texcocan "Athens," by far the greatest belonged to the king himself. He is considered one of the great designers and architects of the pre-Hispanic era. He is said to have personally designed the "albarrada de Nezahualcoyotl" ("dike of Nezahualcoyotl") to separate the fresh and brackish waters of Lake Texcoco, a system that was still in use over a century after his death.

Legacy

The date of Nezahualcoyotl's death is recorded as being June 4, 1472, survived by many concubines and an estimated 110 children. Events 781 BC - The first historic Solar eclipse is recorded in China. He was succeeded by his son Nezahualpilli as tlatoani of Texcoco. Nezahualpilli ( Nahuatl for "fasting prince" 1464-1515 was ruler ( Tlatoani) of the Mesoamerican city-state of Texcoco His great-grandson Juan Bautista de Pomar is credited with the compilations of a collection of Nahuatl poems. Juan Bautista de Pomar (c 1535 &ndash 1590 was a historian and writer interested in Pre-Columbian Aztec history Romances de los señores de la Nueva España, and with a chronicle of the history of the Aztecs. A variant of the Xiphophorus fish is named after Nezahualcoyotl. Xiphophorus is a Genus of Freshwater Fish in family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes.

Poetry

Nezahualcoyotl has been remembered as a poet. This is because a number of poems in the Classical Nahuatl language written in the 16th and 17th centuries have been ascribed to him. Classical Nahuatl (also known as Aztec, and simply Nahuatl) is a term used to describe the variants of the Nahuatl language that were spoken in the In fact this attribution is somewhat doubtful since Nezahualcoyotl died almost 50 years before the conquest and the poems were written down another fifty years after that. One of the writers who put Aztec Poems in writing, Juan Bautista de Pomar was a grandson of Nezahualcoyotl, and he may have attributed the poems to his grandfather. Juan Bautista de Pomar (c 1535 &ndash 1590 was a historian and writer interested in Pre-Columbian Aztec history

Poems attributed to Nezahualcoyotl's include:

• In chololiztli (The Flight)
• Ma zan moquetzacan (Stand Up!)
• Nitlacoya (I Am Sad)
• Xopan cuicatl (Song of Springtime)
• Ye nonocuiltonohua (I Am Wealthy)
• Zan yehuan (He Alone)
• Xon Ahuiyacan (Be Joyful)

The poem that begins "All the earth is a grave and nothing escapes it" is widely attributed to Nezahualcoyotl. However, the consensus opinion among historians is that he was almost certainly not the author as it contains ideas and language that were totally alien to his period.

One of his poems appears in tiny print on the face of the 100 peso note.

Amo el canto de zenzontle

Pájaro de cuatrocientas voces,

Amo el color del jade

Y el enervante perfume de las flores,

Pero más amo a mi hermano: el hombre.

I love the song of the mockingbird,

Bird of four hundred voices,

I love the color of the jadestone

And the enervating perfume of flowers,

But more than all I love my brother: man. The Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos, is the only Mockingbird commonly found in North America. Jade is an Ornamental stone. The term jade is applied to two different rocks that are made up of different Silicate minerals.

Notes

References

• Leon-Portilla, Miguel; Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World University of Oklahoma Press, October 2000. Miguel León-Portilla (born in Mexico City, February 22, 1926) is a Mexican anthropologist and historian and a prime authority on Nahuatl
• Prescott, William; The History of the Conquest of Mexico, Book 1, Chapter 6.
• Lee, Jongsoo; "A reinterpretation of Nahuatl poetics: Rejecting the image of Nezahualcoyotl as a peaceful poet" in Colonial Latin American Review, December 2003, Vol. 12 Issue 2, p 233-249.
• Curl, John; "The Flower-Songs of Nezahualcoyotl" in Ancient American Poets, Bilingual Press, 2005, ISBN 1-931010-21-8

External links

• http://www.ku.edu/~hoopes/506/Lectures/Aztecs.html
• http://www.economist.com/diversions/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2281561
• http://www.nndb.com/people/773/000095488/