Nezahualcoyotl
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- This article is about the Texcocan philosopher-king. For the modern-day city of Texcoco in the state of México, see Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl.
Nezahualcoyotl (pronounced [neˌtsawaɬ'kojo:tɬ]) (meaning "Coyote in fast" or "Coyote who Fasts" in Nahuatl)[1](1402 – 1472) was ruler (tlatoani) of the city-state of Texcoco in pre-Columbian Mexico. 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.
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. 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.
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[edit] Early life
Acolmiztli Nezahualcoyotl was the son of Ixtlilxochitl I and Matlalcihuatzin, the daughter of Huitzilihuitl. 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. 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.
Meanwhile the aztec Tlàtoani Itzcoatl requested help from the Huexotzincans against Azcapotzalco, Nezahualcoyotl seized the opportunity to join forces with the Tenochca against the Tepanecs. He created an international force to fight Atzcapotzalco, composed by Chalco, Tlaxcallan, Huexotzinco, Mexico Tenochtitlan, insurgents inside Acolhuacan, and rebel Tecpanecs from the principality of Coyohuacan. He established the headquarters of the army at Calpulalpan. From there, he directed the reconquest of his country, Acolhuacan, and his capital, Texcoco. Mexica and Tecpaneca rebels did not participate in this phase of the war.
The gigantic army was then divided into three parts. One army attacked Acolman in the north, the second Coatlinchan in the south, while the third, led by Nezahualcoyotl himself, was to aid the first two. The two armies simultaneously attacked the north and south of Acolhuacan, while Nezahualcoyotl aided both of them. Once the north and south were taken, the armies reunited and attacked Tecpanec posts at Texcoco. Nezahualcoyotl reclaimed Texcoco and attacked Azcapotzalco from the north, while the Tenocha, with allies from Tlacopan, attacked from the south. The defeat of the Tepanecs gave rise to the Aztec Triple Alliance between Texcoco, Tenochtitlan and Tlacopan. Nezahualcoyotl was finally crowned Tlatoani of Texcoco in 1431.
[edit] Achievements
Revered as a sage and poet-king, Nezahualcoyotl drew a group of followers called the tlamatini, generally translated as "wise men". 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.
Texcoco became known as "the Athens of the Western World" -- to quote the historian Lorenzo Boturini Bernaducci. 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.
[edit] Legacy
The date of Nezahualcoyotl's death is recorded as being June 4, 1472, survived by many concubines and an estimated 110 children. He was succeeded by his son Nezahualpilli as tlatoani of Texcoco.
His great-grandson Juan Bautista de Pomar is credited with the compilations of a collection of Nahuatl poems. Romances de los señores de la Nueva España, and with a chronicle of the history of the Aztecs.
[edit] The poetry of Nezahualcoyotl
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. 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.
- "Is It You?", a short poem by Nezahualcoyotl, can be found in Wikisource.
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.
[edit] Notes
- ^ The name is often spelled with a tz or accented as in Spanish: Nezahualcóyotl or Netzahualcóyotl), Layman's pronunciation of the name Nezahualcoyotl: nets-a-wall-COY-oatl.
[edit] Miscellaneous
A variant of the Xiphophorus fish is named after Nezahualcoyotl.
[edit] References
- Leon-Portilla, Miguel; Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World University of Oklahoma Press, October 2000.
- 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.
[edit] External links
- http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/english/cultura_y_sociedad/fiestas_y_tradiciones/detalle.cfm?idsec=15&idsub=66&idpag=947
- 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/
| Preceded by Ixtlilxochitl I |
Tlatoani of Texcoco 1431–1472 |
Succeeded by Nezahualpilli |
