Editing Cuitláhuac

{{Short description|Tenth Tlatoani of Tenochtitlan}}
{{About|the ruler of Tenochtitlan}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Cuitláhuac
| image        = Cuitlahuac2.jpg
| caption      = Cuitláhuac in the ''[[Primeros Memoriales]]''.
| succession   = ''[[Huey Tlatoani]]'' of the [[Aztec Empire]] <br> [[List of Tenochtitlan rulers|''Tlatoani'' of Tenochtitlan]]
| reign        = [[Aztec calendar|2 Flint]]<br>1520
| predecessor  = [[Montezuma II]]
| successor    = [[Cuauhtémoc]]
| successor2   = Ixhuetzcatocatzin (Alonso)
| spouse       = A daughter of Moteixcahuia Quauhtlehuanitzin
| issue        = Ixhuetzcatocatzin (Alonso)<br>Ana<br>Luisa<br>two others
| father       = [[Axayacatl]]
| mother       = A daughter of Cuitlahuac I
| birth_date   = c. 1476
| death_date   = [[Aztec calendar|2 Flint]] (1520; aged 44)
}}
'''Cuitláhuac''' ({{IPA|es|kwiˈtlawak|-|Cuitlahuac1.ogg}}, {{audio|Kuitlawatsin.ogg|modern Nahuatl pronunciation}}) (c. 1476 – 1520)<ref>For year of birth, see entry for [http://sites.estvideo.net/malinal/1.hist/CU.html#CUITLAHUAC "CUITLAHUAC"], ''Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl classique'' (Wimmer 2006).</ref>  or '''Cuitláhuac''' (in Spanish orthography; {{langx|nah|Cuitlāhuac}},<ref>Wimmer (2006).</ref> {{IPA|nah|kʷiˈt͡ɬaːwak}}, honorific form: '''Cuitlahuatzin''') was the 10th ''[[Huey Tlatoani]]'' (emperor) of the [[Aztec]] city of [[Tenochtitlan]] for 80 days during the year [[Aztec calendar|Two Flint]] (1520).<ref name="cha">Chimalpahin (1997): pp. 56–57, 164–165, 216–217.</ref> He is credited with leading the resistance to the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire|Spanish and Tlaxcalteca conquest]] of the [[Mexica]] Empire, following the death of his kinsman [[Moctezuma II]].

==Biography==
Cuitláhuac was the eleventh son of the ruler [[Axayacatl]] and a younger brother of [[Moctezuma II]], the late Emperor of [[Tenochtitlan]], who died during the Spanish occupation of the city.<ref>Chimalpahin (1997): pp. 148–151.</ref> His mother's father, also called [[Cuitlahuatzin I|Cuitlahuac]], had been ruler of [[Iztapalapa]],<ref>Chimalpahin (1997): pp. 42–43.</ref> and the younger Cuitláhuac also ruled there initially.<ref>Chimalpahin (1997): pp. 50–51.</ref>  Cuitláhuac was an experienced warrior and an adviser to Moctezuma, warning him not to allow the Spaniards to enter Tenochtitlan. [[Hernán Cortés]] imprisoned both Moctezuma and Cuitláhuac. Cortes had to leave the city in order to meet a Spanish force sent by Diego Velasquez, Spanish governor of Cuba.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-06-04 |title=The Spanish Conquest |url=https://www.mexperience.com/lifestyle/history-of-mexico/spanish-conquest/ |access-date=2024-12-20 |language=en-US}}</ref> Following the massacre of Aztec elites when Cortés was away from Tenochtitlan, the [[Mexica]] besieged the Spanish and their indigenous allies. Cuitláhuac was released on the pretense to reopen the market to get food to the invaders. Moctezuma was stoned to death after trying to tell his people to withdraw from the battle between the Aztecs and the Spanish,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-06-04 |title=The Spanish Conquest |url=https://www.mexperience.com/lifestyle/history-of-mexico/spanish-conquest/ |access-date=2024-12-20 |language=en-US}}</ref> and Cuitláhuac was elected ''tlatoani'' following the flight of the Spaniards and their allies from Tenochtitlan on June 30, 1520.  Some sources claim he was serving in that role even before Moctezuma's death.<ref>Burkhart, Louise. "Cuitlahuac" in ''Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture'' vol. 2, pp. 339–40.</ref> 

Cuitláhuac was ritually married to Moctezuma's eldest daughter, a ten- or eleven-year-old girl, who later was called [[Isabel Moctezuma]].<ref>Chipman, Donald E. (2005). Moctezuma's Children: Aztec Royalty Under Spanish Rule, 1520–1700. Austin: University of Texas Press, pp. 40–41 {{ISBN|0-292-70628-6}}. {{OCLC|5713428}}</ref>

[[File:Cuauhtláhuac.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Cuitláhuac]]
Cuitláhuac ruled just 80 days, perhaps dying from [[smallpox]]<ref name="cha"/> that had been introduced to the [[New World]] by an African suffering from the disease who was part of [[Pánfilo de Narváez]]'s expedition to capture Cortés. However, he played a really important role in the Aztec empire, and was best known for leading the Aztec resistance against the Spanish invaders. The early sources do not explicitly say from what he succumbed.<ref>Burkhart, "Cuitlahuac", p. 340.</ref> Immediately after Cuitláhuac's death, [[Cuauhtémoc]] was made the next ''tlatoani''.<ref name="cha"/>

==Legacy==
The modern [[municipio (Mexico)|Mexican municipality]] of [[Cuitláhuac, Veracruz]] and the [[Mexico City Metro]] station [[Metro Cuitláhuac]] are named in honor of Cuitláhuac. The [[asteroid]] 2275 Cuitláhuac is also named after this ruler.

There is an Avenue in Mexico City Called Cuitláhuac (Eje 3 Norte) that runs from Avenue Insurgentes to Avenue Mexico-Tacuba and that is part of an inner ring; also many streets in other towns and villages in Mexico are so called.

==See also==
{{Portal|Mexico|Biography}}
*[[List of Tenochtitlan rulers]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |author=Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, Domingo de San Antón Muñón |author-link=Chimalpahin |year=1997 |orig-year=c.1621 |title=Codex Chimalpahin, vol. 1: society and politics in Mexico Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco, Texcoco, Culhuacan, and other Nahua altepetl in central Mexico; the Nahuatl and Spanish annals and accounts collected and recorded by don Domingo de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin |others=[[Arthur J.O. Anderson]] and Susan Schroeder (eds. and trans.), Susan Schroeder (general ed.), Wayne Ruwet (manuscript ed.) |series=Civilization of the American Indian series |number=225 |location=Norman |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |isbn=978-0-8061-2921-1 |oclc=36017075}}
* {{cite web |author=Wimmer, Alexis |year=2006 |url=http://sites.estvideo.net/malinal/nahuatl.page.html |title=Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl classique |format=online version, incorporating reproductions from ''Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl ou mexicaine'' [1885], by [[Rémi Siméon]]|access-date=2010-09-15}} {{in lang|fr|nah}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Tlatoani]] of [[Itztapalapan]]|years=}} 
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Tlatoani of Tenochtitlan]]|years=1520}} 
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{{Tenochtitlan rulers}}{{Authority control}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuitlahuac}}
[[Category:Aztec nobility]]
[[Category:Tenochca tlatoque]]
[[Category:16th-century monarchs in North America]]
[[Category:16th-century indigenous leaders of the Americas]]
[[Category:1470s births]]
[[Category:1520 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from smallpox]]
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