Tizoch: Tenochtitlan's tlatoani who lasted least in power and died poisoned by his brother

Before the arrival of the Spaniards in the great city of Tenochtitlan, Mexican society was perfectly organized. There were from people who made up the common society, to the nobles, who were rulers, priests and some other people.

From its foundation, until its fall, there were tlatoanis who led society. The first tlatoani of the great Tenochtitlan was Acamapichtli, and the last was Cuauhtémoc. Other names also stand out such as Moctezuma, who received Hernán Cortes and his men, or Cuitláhuac, who led the Mexican people when they won the battle known as The Sad Night to the Spaniards.

However, there were some other Tlatoanis who stood out for various things. In total, in Tenochtitlan, there were 11 Tlatoanis, from its foundation in 1325, until its fall in 1521.

Tizoc was one of the Tlatoanis of Tenochtitlan. His name means “the one who makes sacrifice”, although it can also be interpreted as “the one who does penance” or “the one who bleeds”. It is commonly depicted with a leg that shows scars, although it is also found as a stone pierced by a maguey spike or a bone. There is no record of your date of birth. He was the grandson of Moctezuma I, or Moctezuma Ilhuicamina, because his mother was the daughter of that tlatoani, and his father, Tezozomoc, was the son of Itzcóatl, the fourth Mexican ruler. He was also the brother of Axayacatl, his predecessor, and of Ahuizotl, who replaced him on the throne after his death.

Despite having received from his predecessor a thriving and expanding empire, Tizoc is considered the least effective of the Tlatoque Mexica in terms of military successes. Not only did he carry out few limited campaigns, but he suffered inconceivable defeats in previous times. It was so much the discontent with the poverty of the results that his reign proved to be the shortest of the lords before the arrival of Cortes, lasting only five years.

According to some accounts, after the death of his brother Axayácatl, Tenochtitlan's throne was offered to Tlacaélel, but he rejected it. That this happened is unlikely, since its influence had somewhat declined since the reign of Axayácatl, and it was too old at the time of the election of the new tlatoani. Tizoc, who like some of his predecessors, had held the post of Tlacochcalcatl under the command of the deceased king, seemed a better option because of his ancestry, since he was Axayacatl's older brother, and because of his experience in military affairs.

Tizoc launched an inaugural campaign in the region of Itzmiquilpan and Metztitlan, whose main purpose was to capture enemies who would sacrifice themselves during the investiture ceremony. The choice of objective was not appropriate; these peoples enjoyed a position that, despite their inferiority, allowed them to adequately resist, and in the end, although the Mexicas proclaimed their victory, they lost 300 warriors and returned with 40 prisoners to Tenochtitlan.

Two years after his coronation, Tizoc embarked on a campaign towards the Gulf Coast to subdue peoples who had rebelled, a situation that would recur, as the taxpayers sought to take advantage of Tizoc's apparently weak military capacity.

In contrast to his scarce military coats of arms, Tizoc introduced some rules regarding obtaining merit; for example, henceforth only those who captured a soldier from Huexotzingo, famous for his skill, would receive the highest warrior insignia. In fact, it was a way to control the increasing number of warriors rising up the social ladder thanks to their merits in battle.

Clearly, Tizoc's policy, aimed more at subjecting rebellions than at increasing Mexican power, caused the discontent of Tenochtitlan's nobility. The ruler died before exceeding five years of his reign, most likely at the hands of his own court, whose members would have poisoned him. Some sources point out that his brother and successor, Ahuizotl, who was Cuauhtémoc's father, was the instigator of the plot that led to his death by poisoning.

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