Juan Velázquez Tlacotzin

Juan Velázquez Tlacotzin was an Aztec leader in Tenochtitlan, during the final decades of the Aztec Empire. He then was the first post-Spanish conquest indigenous ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1525 to 1526.

Tlacotzin in the Aubin Codex

Biography

Aztec era

Tlacotzin was a Cihuacoatl (counselor) during the rule of Moctezuma II and of Cuauhtémoc.

Spanish era

Tlacotzin was captured and later tortured by Hernán Cortés, along with Cuauhtémoc, to reveal the location of Royal Treasures and gold of the Imperial Family.

After the execution of Emperor Cuauhtémoc he was chosen as Cuauhtemoc's successor by Hernán Cortés. Immediately after the execution of Cuauhtemoc, Cortés ordered Tlacotzin be dressed as a Spaniard, given a sword and a white horse as symbols of his new position as Aztec ruler. Tlacotzin was also baptized by the Spanish as don Juan Velásquez.

Although Tlacotzin was to govern like a tlatoani, his non-noble birth (and lack of connection to the previous royal dynasty) as well as him not going through the traditional investiture ceremony meant that he was regarded by the Nahua subjects as cuauhtlatoani ("eagle ruler"; a non-dynastic interim ruler) instead.[1]

He accompanied Cortés on his three-year expedition, but died in 1526 (8 Tochtli) while on it, of an unknown sickness in Nochixtlan. Cortés immediately chose Andrés de Tapia Motelchiuh as his successor.

See also

References
  1. Diel, Lori Boornazian (2009). The Tira de Tepechpan: Negotiating Place under Aztec and Spanish Rule. Austin: University of Texas Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 978-0-292-78228-0.


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