AZ-001 Moctezuna Xocoytzin (c. 1466 – 29 June 1520)

MOCTEZUMA XOCOYOTZIN was the ninth TLATOANI or ruler of the Aztec Empire, reigning from 1502 0r 1503 to 1520. The first contact between thre indigenous civilizations of Mesoamerica and Europeans took place during his reign, and he was killed during the initial stages of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, when conquistador Hernan Cortes and his men fought to take over the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan.

During his reign the Aztec Empire reached its greatest size. Through warfare, Moctezuma expanded the territory as far south as Xoconosco in Chiapas and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and incorporated the Zapotec and Yopi people into the Empire. He changed the previous meritocratic system of social hierarchy and widened the divide between PIPILTIN (nobles) and MACEHUALTIN (commoners) by prohibiting commoners from working in the royal palaces.

Though two other Aztec rulers succeeded Moctezuma after his death, their reigns were short-lived and the empire quickly collapsed under them. Historical portrayals of Moctezuma have mostly been colored by his role as ruler of a defeated nation, and many sources have described him as weak-willed, superstitious, and indecisive

Scale 1:30 / 60MM