Editing Moctezuma II (section)

===Indigenous accounts of omens and Moctezuma's beliefs===
{{multiple image|image1=Mujer Cihuacóatl advirtiendo a la gente de la destrucción de Tenochtitlán, en el folio 3r del siglo VIII.png|width1=120|caption1=[[Cihuacoatl]] warning with sadness about the destruction of the empire|image2=Mujer llorando advirtiendo sobre la destrucción de Tenochtitlán, en el folio 2v del libro XII.png|width2=150|caption2=A weeping lady wandering in the night warning of the destruction of Tenochtitlán|footer=Two depictions of the 6th omen in the Florentine Codex}}
[[Bernardino de Sahagún]] (1499–1590) includes in Book 12 of the [[Florentine Codex]] eight events said to have occurred before the arrival of the Spanish. These were purportedly interpreted as signs of a possible disaster, e.g. a comet, the burning of a temple, a crying ghostly woman, and others. Some speculate that the Aztecs were particularly susceptible to such ideas of doom and disaster because the particular year in which the Spanish arrived coincided with a "tying of years" ceremony at the end of a 52-year cycle in the Aztec calendar, which in Aztec belief was linked to changes, rebirth, and dangerous events. The belief of the Aztecs being rendered passive by their superstition is referred to by Matthew Restall as part of "The Myth of Native Desolation" to which he dedicates chapter 6 in his book ''[[Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest]]''.{{sfn|Restall|2003|loc=ch. 6}} These legends are likely a part of the post-conquest rationalization by the Aztecs of their defeat, and serve to show Moctezuma as indecisive, vain, and superstitious, and ultimately the cause of the fall of the Aztec Empire.{{sfn|Lockhart|1993|pp=17–19}}

[[File:Nezahualpilli advirtiendo a Moctezuma II sobre la destrucción de Tenochtitlán, en el folio 179r.png|thumb|left|Nezahualpilli (right) telling Moctezuma about the omens warning the destruction of the empire, according to the Durán Codex]]
According to 16th-century Spanish historian [[Diego Durán]], who was one of the most important chroniclers of the indigenous stories of the empire, Nezahualpilli was among those who informed Moctezuma of the imminent destruction of the empire by a foreign invader, warning him that omens confirming his fears will soon appear. This warning caused Moctezuma great fear and he made a series of erratic decisions immediately after, such as severe punishments against his soldiers for disappointing results after battles against the Tlaxcalans.{{sfn|Durán|1867|pp=479–481}}

[[File:Codex Duran, page 1.jpg|thumb|Depiction of the 4th omen, a large [[comet]] which was seen during daytime, depicted in the [[Durán Codex]]]]
Ethnohistorian [[Susan Gillespie]] has argued that the Nahua understanding of history as repeating itself in cycles also led to a subsequent rationalization of the events of the conquests. In this interpretation, the description of Moctezuma, the final ruler of the Aztec Empire before the Spanish conquest, was tailored to fit the role of earlier rulers of ending dynasties—for example, Quetzalcoatl, the mythical last ruler of the [[Toltec]]s.{{sfn|Gillespie|1989|loc=ch. 5}} In any case it is within the realm of possibility that the description of Moctezuma in post-conquest sources was coloured by his role as a monumental closing figure of Aztec history.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}