Editing Moctezuma II (section)

====Policies and other events during his reign====
During his government, he applied multiple policies that centered the government of the empire on his person, though it is difficult to tell exactly to which extent those policies were applied, as the records written about such policies tend to be affected by propaganda in favor of or against his person.{{refn|group=N.B.|name=Ixtlilxochitl|An example of this is Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, an important chronicler whose writings were likely influenced by his own opinions and propaganda. He was a direct descendant of the ''tlatoani'' Ixtlilxochitl II,<ref>{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando de Alba|year=1900}}</ref> who allied with the Spanish conquistadors during the conquest of the empire because of his rivalry with Moctezuma and his decisions, and it is possible his opinions of Moctezuma were highly biased because of this event.}}

According to Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, among Moctezuma's policies were the replacement of a large portion of his court (including most of his advisors) with people he deemed preferable, and increasing the division between the commoner and noble classes, which included the refusal to offer certain honors to various politicians and warriors for being commoners.{{sfn|de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl|1892|p=310}} He also prohibited any commoners or [[illegitimate child]]ren of the nobility from serving in his palace or high positions of government. This was contrary to the policies of his predecessors, who did allow commoners to serve in such positions.{{sfn|Vazquez Chamorro|1981|p=210}}

Moctezuma's [[elitism]] can be attributed to a long conflict of interests between the nobility, merchants, and warrior class. The struggle occurred as the result of the conflicting interests between the merchants and the nobility and the rivalry between the warrior class and the nobility for positions of power in the government. Moctezuma likely sought to resolve this conflict by installing [[Despotism|despotist]] policies that would settle it.{{sfn|Vazquez Chamorro|1981|p=208}} However, it is also true that many of his elitist policies were put in place because he did not want to "work with inferior people", and instead wanted to be served by and interact with people he deemed more prestigious, both to avoid giving himself and the government a bad reputation and to work with people he trusted better.{{sfn|Durán|1867|p=417}} However, some of his policies also affected the nobility, as he had intentions of reforming it so that it would not pose a potential threat to the government; among these policies was the obligation of the nobility to reside permanently in Tenochtitlan and abandon their homes if they lived elsewhere.{{sfn|Vazquez Chamorro|1981|p=211}}

Regarding his economic policies, Moctezuma's rule was largely affected by natural disasters in the early years. As mentioned before, the famine during his first years as ''tlatoani'' resulted in a temporary increase in tribute in some provinces to aid the population. Some provinces, however, ended up paying more tribute permanently, most likely as the result of his primary military focus shifting from territorial expansion to stabilization of the empire through the suppression of rebellions. Most of the provinces affected by these new tributary policies were in the [[Valley of Mexico]]. For example, the province of [[Amaquemecan]], which formed part of the [[Chalco (altépetl)|Chalco]] region, was assigned to pay an additional tribute of stone and wood twice or thrice a year for Tenochtitlan's building projects.{{sfn|Vazquez Chamorro|1981|p=209}} This tributary policy eventually backfired, as some of the empire's subjects grew disgruntled with Moctezuma's government and launched rebellions against him, which eventually resulted in many of these provinces—including Totonacapan (under the ''de facto'' leadership of [[Chicomacatl]]), Chalco and [[Mixquic]] (which were near Tenochtitlan)—forming alliances with [[Spain]] against him.{{sfn|Díaz del Castillo|2011|pp=141, 499}}

The famine at the beginning of his rule also resulted in the abolishment of the ''huehuetlatlacolli'' system, which was a system of [[serfdom]] in which a family agreed to maintain a ''tlacohtli'' ([[slave]] or serf) perpetually. This agreement also turned the descendants of the ones who agreed into serfs.{{sfn|Vazquez Chamorro|1981|p=211}}

During his campaign against [[Jaltepec]] and Cuatzontlan ([[#Territorial expansion|''see below'']]), he made negotiations with the [[Tlatelolca]] to obtain the weapons and resources needed. As a result of these negotiations, Tlatelolco was given more sovereignty; they were permitted to rebuild their main temple which was partially destroyed in the [[Battle of Tlatelolco]] in a civil war during [[Axayácatl]]'s reign, act largely independently during military campaigns, and be absolved from paying tribute.{{sfn|Durán|1867|pp=435–437}}{{sfn|Vazquez Chamorro|1981|p=210}}

Many of these policies were planned together with his uncle [[Tlilpotonqui]], ''[[Cihuacoatl (position)|cihuacoatl]]'' of Mexico and son of [[Tlacaelel]], at the beginning of his reign,{{sfn|Durán|1867|p=417}} while others, such as his tributary policies, were created as the result of various events, like the famine which occurred at the beginning of his rule. His policies, in general, had the purpose of centralizing the government in his person through the means of implementing policies to settle the divide between the nobility and commoners and abolishing some of the more [[feudal]] policies of his predecessors, while also making his tributary policies more severe to aid the population during natural disasters and to compensate for a less expansionist focus in his military campaigns.{{sfn|Vazquez Chamorro|1981|p=211}}

Most of the policies implemented during his rule would not last long after his death, as the empire fell into Spanish control on 13 August 1521 as a result of the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire]], one year after he died.{{sfn|Díaz del Castillo|2011|p=621}} The new Spanish authorities implemented their laws and removed many of the political establishments founded during the pre-Hispanic era, leaving just a few in place. Among the few policies that lasted was the divide between the nobility and the commoners, as members of the pre-Hispanic nobility continued to enjoy various privileges under the [[Viceroyalty of New Spain]], such as land ownership through a system known as ''cacicazgo''.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Pedro|last=Carrasco|title=Las tierras de dos indios nobles en Tepeaca en el siglo XVI|trans-title=The lands of two Indian nobles in Tepeaca in the 16th century|journal=Tlalocan: A Journal of Source Materials on the Native Cultures of Mexico|publisher=University of California|location=Los Angeles|volume=4|issue=2|pages=97–119|year=1963|language=es|url=https://revistas-filologicas.unam.mx/tlalocan/index.php/tl/article/view/314/312|doi=10.19130/iifl.tlalocan.1963.314|access-date=25 January 2022|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Patricia|last=Cruz Pazos|title=Cabildos y cacicazgos: alianza y confrontación en los pueblos de indios novohispanos|trans-title=Cabildos and cacicazgos: alliance and confrontation at pueblos de indios from New Spain|journal=Revista Española de Antropología Americana|publisher=Universidad Complutense de Madrid|volume=34|pages=149–162|year=2003|url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/REAA/article/download/REAA0404110149A/23445|access-date=25 January 2022}}</ref>