Nezahualcoyotl (tlatoani)

Pictorial documents

One of the most important primary sources we possess to understand the history of pre-Columbian Texcoco is a manuscript painted sometime in the early 1540s, during the early colonial period in Mesoamerican history, known as the Codex Xolotl. It is a cartographic history document made in Texcoco, described by historian Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci as "a map of exquisite delicacy", as it is the most extensive of three Texcocan cartographic histories known to exist, the other two being the Mapa Quinatzin and the Tlohtzin Map, both of which were also made in the 1540s. An annotation in Spanish attributes the ownership of the Tlohtzin Map to a certain Don Diego Pimentel, who was a descendant of Nezahualcoyotl.^[5]

The Codex Xolotl probably adapted or copied from an early 15th-century manuscript which would have been commissioned by Nezahualcoyotl himself as a document to legitimize his rule "through stories about migrations, marriages, births, deaths, dynastic successions, usurpation, battles, treason, ambushes, murders, imprisonment, and so forth." All three of the mentioned documents (Xolotl, Quinatzin and Tlohtzin) are characterized by being written "without words," i.e. in iconic script, though this does not imply they cannot be read, as, while words are not recorded as they would be using an alphabet, they communicate meaning through the textual traditions of the people who made them, as Douglas (2010) finds in his study.^[6]

These manuscripts were used by historians such as Fray Juan de Torquemada and Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl in the 17th century to write a significant number of works,^[7] and continued changing hands following Ixtlilxóchitl's death, until ultimately arriving in Europe in the 1840s in the possession of a French scientist profoundly interested in Mexico's past, Joseph Aubin [es; fr]. All three of these manuscripts are currently housed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.^[8]

Analysis of the Codex Xolotl requires careful examination, however, as it was made with the intent of glorifying the descendants of King Xolotl, that is, the dynasty which ruled Texcoco, and thus probably underestimates the merit of other peoples who inhabited the Valley of Mexico who are described in the codex.^[9] Moreover, this codex also contributed to the creation of a narrative that turned Nezahualcoyotl into a near-invincible hero, who managed to escape from almost certain death on multiple occasions by outsmarting his adversaries, such as the Tepanec emperor Maxtla. This narrative was subsequently enhanced and exaggerated by later writers who used this codex as a source of information, adding their own narratives onto the already existing heroic tale.^[7]

Other pictorial manuscripts depicting some of Nezahualcoyotl's deeds include the Codex en Cruz (a Texcocan source), Codex Azcatitlan (a Mexica source), and the Códice de Xicotepec (another Texcocan source). These three documents in particular depict some of Nezahualcoyotl's conquests and his participation in Mexica conquests during the reign of Moctezuma I.^[10]

An enormous number of pre-Columbian manuscripts were destroyed in book burnings on two occasions. The first occurred approximately in 1430, when the ruling elite of Mexico-Tenochtitlan consolidated its power and destroyed old histories for containing "falsehoods" that "could have undermined the realm." The second, more infamous occasion occurred following the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521. Spanish missionaries gave themselves the objective of destroying any record that could remind the indigenous peoples of their pre-Christian past, burning the ancient texts in autos-da-fé. Nevertheless, chroniclers after the conquest created new manuscripts which were painted with a pre-Columbian style and adapted from the few ancient books that survived these book burnings.^[11]

Colonial-era works

Family and early education

Born Acolmiztli, on the morning of April 28, 1402,^{[note 1]} he was the son of the king of Texcoco, Ixtlilxochitl Ome Tochtli, better known as Ixtlilxochitl I, who held the title of 6th Chichimec lord, and Matlalcihuatzin, the daughter of Huitzilihuitl and sister of Chimalpopoca, both of whom were tlatoque (kings) of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.^[22] According to Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, Nezahualcoyotl had a younger legitimate sister named Atotoztzin or Tozquentzin, as well as several siblings who were "illegitimate" due to being born out of concubines.^[23] One such concubine was Tecpaxochitl, daughter of Tezozomoc, king of Azcapotzalco and lord of the Tepanecas. Ixtlilxochitl refusing to accept Tecpaxochitl as his wife was considered an act of disrespect toward Tezozomoc, and has been described as one of the disrespectful actions that eventually led to the Tepanec War. Tecpaxochitl became the mother of several children, the first being Zihuaquequenotzin, the second being named Xiconocatzin or Ixhuezcatocatzin, and lastly Tilmatzin.^[24]

In spite of being "bastards," some of these children of concubines managed to obtain high positions in Texcoco's society. One such "bastard" was Zihuaquequenotzin, who was described by Alva Ixtlilxóchitl as a "great captain."^[25] Soon after being born, Nezahualcoyotl was assigned several tutors to educate him during the early years of his life, including one Huitzilihuitzin, "who at the time was a great philosopher," as Alva Ixtlilxóchitl describes.^[26]

Ixtlilxochitl's war on the Tepanecas and assassination

Since the times of Ixtlilxochitl's coronation, there had been an ambient of tension between the Tepanecas of Azcapotzalco and the Acolhua of Texcoco, particularly due to the former people's intention of asserting their dominance over the Valley of Mexico. In spite of the tension, there was no war between Texcoco and Azcapotzalco during much of Ixtlilxochitl's reign, until Azcapotzalco launched a surprise attack on Iztapallocan, approximately on August 6, 1415,^{[note 2]} with the intention of taking over this territory and then attacking the court of Texcoco. The inhabitants of Iztapallocan successfully repelled the violent attack, but the site's provisional ruler was assassinated in an act of treason by a Tepanec sympathiser. Ixtlilxochitl received the news of the attack that same day, and personally marched with an army of 4,000 to come to the aid of the Iztapallocans in case of a second attack. The invading army, however, had retreated back to Azcapotzalco to request reinforcements. Upon being informed of the failure of the attack, the Tepanec king Tezozomoc ordered for the Mexica armies of Tenochtilan and Tlatelolco, among other allies of his, to join the war.^[31]

After these events that same year, Ixtlilxochitl organized a meeting with his military commanders the lords of his domains at Huexotla. Following the meeting, the monarch concluded that his son Nezahualcoyotl should be declared as crown prince, when he would have been 13 years old, and that war must be waged against the Tepanecas, laying siege to the city of Mexico via Lake Texcoco, and assaulting Azcapotzalco by land and the lake, with the army marching on land having to march through enemy Tepanec territory.^{[30][note 3]}

The lake assault ended in failure rather quickly. Tlacateotl, king of Tlatelolco, intercepted the Acolhua troops before they reached either Mexico or Azcapotzalco, forcing them to retreat back to Texcoco's shore. The war against the Tepanecas lasted four years, during which neither side had a notable advantage. Tezozomoc, observing this situation, took a cruel decision: to assassinate Ixtlilxochitl and his family by pretending to make a truce with Texcoco. The unsuspecting Ixtlilxochitl accepted the truce offer and lifted the siege of Azcapotzalco, ordering his troops to return to their homeland.^[34] Approximately on June 25, 1418,^{[note 4]} Tezozomoc attempted to convince Ixtlilxochitl to celebrate the newly established peace at the hunting field of Chiconauhtla, where he had set up an army in secrecy to capture Ixtlilxochitl and prince Nezahualcoyotl. Unbeknownst to Tezozomoc, one of Ixtlilxochitl's relatives observed the trap being set up and rapidly returned to Texcoco to alert the king. Subsequently, either by Ixtlilxochitl's order or by his own will, the relative traveled to Chiconauhtla dressed as the king, where he was attacked and seized by a party of men sent by Tezozomoc who discovered his true identity. He was later tortured to death under Tezozomoc's orders.^[36]

Ixtlilxochitl sent emissaries to the cities under his domain to gather soldiers to attack the Tepanecas, but to his dismay, he found that the majority of these cities were in open rebellion and had become Tezozomoc's allies. Only the lords of Huexotla, Iztapallocan and Cohuatepec came to his aid. The city of Texcoco was subsequently besieged for several days, after which Ixtlilxochitl took the decision to flee from the city, hiding in the woods along with his servants and several of his sons, including Nezahualcoyotl and Zihuaquequenotzin. Adding to the king's misfortune, approximately on July 10,^{[note 5]} Zihuaquequenotzin attempted to travel to Otompan to gather an army to defend his father, not knowing that the city had also abandoned its alliance with Ixtlilxochitl. Subsequently, he was lynched by a local mob in support of Tezozomoc.^[38]

On the morning of September 24, 1418,^{[note 6]} Ixtlilxochitl was informed that Tepanec warriors were approaching his location. The monarch understood what this meant: his death at the hands of these warriors was unavoidable. Upon realizing this, just prior to his death, the monarch ordered for his sons to be taken the woods to go into hiding. Three men took this task, named Huahuantzin, Xiconocatzin and Cuicuitzcatzin. Thus Nezahualcoyotl, along with his older brother Tzontecochatzin, escaped from the tragedy.^[41] According to Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, a lineal descendant of Nezahualcoyotl, the king addressed his son just before they were separated for the last time. In his last words, Ixtlilxochitl urged his son to not abandon his subjects, nor to forget about his Chichimec heritage, and finally, encouraged him to reclaim his kingdom and avenge him by fighting the Tepanecas. As Nezahualcoyotl remained hidden among the branches of a tree, he was able to see, to his horror, his father being butchered by the Tepanecas using spears, despite his initial resistance. The prince was 16 years old when this occurred.^[42]

Tezozomoc replaced Ixtlilxochitl with two lords to rule over Texcoco: a Toltec ruler named Tlotzin and a Chichimec ruler named Chicatzin, also known as Quinatzin.^[43]

Life in exile

Following his father's assassination, Nezahualcoyotl and his brother spent the following days fleeing, under the care of the three men, while seeking refuge throughout the local crags and gorges to avoid any potential assassins. According to the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, while hiding at Acalhuacan during one night, a companion named Coyohua encountered a boat with men sent by the future tlatoani of Tenochtitlan, Itzcoatl. He had sent a scouting party, composed of his own sons, to find and rescue the orphaned princes, as, through their mother, they were also members of the Mexica royal family, in spite of the war between the Mexica and Ixtlilxochitl. Coyohua informed the party that the princes were still alive, though their father was dead. Then they got onto the boat and sailed for Tenochtitlan.^[44]

Adding onto this story, historian Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci describes that Nezahualcoyotl was fleeing with the intention of taking refuge in Tlaxcallan, whose rulers had ties with the kings of Texcoco by sharing a common ancestor (Emperor Tlotzin [es; nah]). Along the way, Nezahualcoyotl managed to encounter some family members, two of his natural brothers and two of his nephews, as well as several loyal subjects who were taking refuge. When he finally arrived at Tlaxcallan, entering via Huejotzingo, accompanied by these family members and the men taking care of him, he was happily received by the local rulers, but he was advised to keep his identity undisclosed and to remain hidden, so that Tezozomoc and his powerful army did not find his location. He remained in Tlaxcallan for several days, but decided to return to his former domains while disguised to gather as much information as possible.^[45]

During this time, as part of his actions to assert his dominion, Tezozomoc ordered for all of Ixtlilxochitl's former vassals to congregate at the plains of Cuauhyacac, a site located between Texcoco and Tepetlaoztoc. Once all the lords of Ixtlilxochitl's former domains congregated, one of Tezozomoc's military commanders climbed up to the summit of an ancient Toltec temple, to inform them all that Tezozomoc was their new lord. The commander then added that whoever managed to capture Nezahualcoyotl, dead or alive, and brought him before the king would be rewarded. As Codex Xolotl illustrates, Nezahualcoyotl at the time was hiding on the hill of the site, along with his servant Huitziltetzin,^{[note 7]} where he was able to observe and hear the announcement.^[47] Nezahualcoyotl then understood his life was truly in danger, and became more careful thereafter to avoid being identified, while still blending in with the common people to hear any rumors and news about himself.^[48]

In 1419,^{[note 8]} it is recorded that Nezahualcoyotl, disguised and travelling across Chalco to gather information on the site, which was allied with Tezozomoc, killed a woman named Citlamiyauh (or Tziltomiauh) while she was attending her agave plantation, to produce aguamiel. Two versions of this story are told. One story, told by Boturini and Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, claims that Nezahualcoyotl became exhausted and thirsty during the travel, and upon encountering the plantation and the woman attending it, he begged her for her aguamiel. Citlamiyauh immediately recognized Nezahualcoyotl under his disguise, and attempted to alert the locals of his presence. Nezahualcoyotl failed to talk his way out of the situation, and fearing that he would be killed or captured if she continued further, and that he'd be chased if he attempted to flee, he hastily grabbed a macuahuitl and decapitated her. The second story, told by Fray Juan de Torquemada (found dubious by Boturini), claims that the woman gave refuge to Nezahualcoyotl in her own home. The woman, a wealthy plantation owner in this version of the story, was supposedly using her agave to illegally produce and sell large quantities of pulque, an alcoholic beverage. Nezahualcoyotl quickly noticed this, and knowing the laws imposed by his predecessors, he became enraged. He exclaimed that, while he was certainly fleeing from the powerful Tezozomoc, he could not tolerate those who broke the laws established to keep society stable, considering alcohol to be one of the greatest threats to society. Thus, he killed her, and fled from the scene right after, fearing that the ruler of Chalco would put him to death despite his justification.^[50]

Refuge in Tenochtitlan

For the reasons stated earlier, the Mexica nobility and royalty of Tenochtitlan was sympathetic towards Nezahualcoyotl in spite of having contributed to his father's death. According to Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, in 1423,^{[note 9]} his aunts in Tenochtitlan proved vital for the young prince's survival, coming up with a plan to bring him to Tenochtitlan without putting his life at risk. They would enter the city of Azcapotzalco, accompanied by the female nobility of both cities, with gifts of jewels and precious feathers, to bribe and personally convince Tezozomoc to pardon Nezahualcoyotl. Tezozomoc, who was taken by surprise by this visit, accepted to have a dialogue with these nobles. After offering their gifts, they argued that Nezahualcoyotl, as a crown prince of a great kingdom, did not deserve the treatment he was undergoing; they informed the monarch of the miserable conditions under which the prince lived since his father was killed, being forced to constantly escape from death's grasp, unable to rest no matter where he went, a lifestyle unworthy of a member of royalty. Tezozomoc thus agreed to spare Nezahualcoyotl's life, but under the condition that he would remain at house arrest in the city of Tenochtitlan, strictly under his watch.^[51]

Nezahualcoyotl gladly took the opportunity to move to Tenochtitlan as soon as possible. During the years he spent in Tenochtitlan, Nezahualcoyotl most likely received a Mexica-styled education. He was probably educated at the Calmecac, whose students were usually enrolled when they were 15 years old. His exposure to Mexica culture and education would later influence Texcoco's legal system, using Tenochtitlan as a model for his own city.^[52] During Nezahualcoyotl's stay in the city, a growing number of supporters for him began to appear, but they kept their support secret to avoid alerting the Azcapotzalco court. As part of the agreement, two years passed in which Nezahualcoyotl did not set foot outside Tenochtitlan, but the diplomatic actions of his aunts gradually contributed to his freedom. Subsequently, he was allowed to exit Tenochtitlan to return to his home city of Texcoco, where he was allowed to stay in the palace of Cilan, which belonged to his parents, the kings of Texcoco.^[53]

A legend written in the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, likely from around the time the orphaned princes were in Tenochtitlan, claims that one day, when Nezahualcoyotl fell into the water while he was playing, sorcerers seized him and brought him to the summit of the Poyauhtecatl, the "hill of subtle mists." There, they anoited him ceremoniously with "flood and blaze," that is, with the spirit of war, and told a prophecy: "You shall be the one. We ordain your fate, and by your hand a nation [Azcapotzalco] shall be destroyed." Then, he was brought back to the very spot he was taken from.^[54]

Another legend, attributed to a colonial-era indigenous noble named Don Alonso Axayaca, tells a story of Tezozomoc having two nightmares about Nezahualcoyotl in late 1426 or early 1427. In the first nightmare, Nezahualcoyotl transformed into a golden eagle, which devoured his entrails and his heart. In the second nightmare, he transformed into a jaguar, which butchered his feet. Horrified by these nightmares, Tezozomoc consulted his priests to understand their meaning. Subsequently, Tezozomoc gathered three of his sons—Maxtla, Tayauh and Atlatocaycpaltzin—and explained to them that his death was rapidly approaching due to his extraordinary age, and then added that in order to rule the land without interference, they had to kill Nezahualcoyotl, quickly and without difficulty, because if they let him live, he would rule the whole land and destroy their empire.^[55]

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.

Prelude: Maxtla's reign

Nezahualcoyotl hides from Maxtla's assassins at a chia field. Historical landscape painting by Luis Coto [es], 1865. The hill in the background has been identified as Texcotzingo as seen from the north, but according to the historical record, this event took place at the south.^[56]

Depiction of Nezahualcoyotl hiding among chia plants in the Codex Xolotl (c. 1541) as an elderly woman attending the field speaks to him (at the top of the picture).

Under Maxtla's reign, Nezahualcoyotl became forced to move into exile and evade assassination attempts from the Tepanecs once again.

In 1427, Tezozomoc, king of Azcapotzalco and lord of the Tepanecs, died after an extraordinarily lengthy rule (the Codex Xolotl makes the rather improbable claim that he ruled for 180 or 188 years,^[57] and the Annals of Cuauhtitlan similarly claim he ruled for 131 years).^[58] Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl recorded the date of his passing as the morning of March 24, 1427.^{[note 10]} Before his passing, he had selected his sons to rule different altepeme (city-states) after his death, declaring that his son Tayauh, also known as Quetzalayatzin,^[61] would become his successor as king of Azcapotzalco, while Maxtla, his older brother, would keep his position as ruler of Coyohuacan.^[62] Tezozomoc's funerary ceremonies lasted three days; Nezahualcoyotl and his brother Tzontecochatzin were present during his cremation ceremony, along with Maxtla, Tayauh and the Mexica kings of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco, Chimalpopoca and Tlacateotl.^[63]

Maxtla, who appears in the historical record as tyrannical and short-tempered, could not tolerate not being chosen as his father's successor in the throne despite being older than his brother Tayauh, as it was tradition that the eldest sons should inherit the throne.^[64] By means of force, he took the throne of Azcapotzalco away from his younger brother, defying his father's will. According to both the Annals of Cuauhtitlan and the Codex Xolotl, Chimalpopoca, king of Tenochtitlan, attempted to form a conspiracy with Tayauh to kill Maxtla and restore Azcapotzalco's rightful ruler.^[61] Maxtla's spies heard about the conspiracy, and subsequently, Maxtla killed his brother and imprisoned Chimalpopoca, throwing him into a jailhouse (cuauhcalli).^[65] The story of Chimalpopoca's death differs significantly between the available sources, as the ruling classes of Tenochtitlan formed an "official history" which benefitted their interests, and which is present in the majority of surviving sources;^[66] this article will address the Acolhua (Texcocan) perspective, as told in works such as the Codex Xolotl and those of Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl (which are no less partisan than the "official history"),^[67] and modern historical analysis on the subject.

Chimalpopoca's death and the Tenochtitlan uprising

The "official history" of Chimalpopoca's death formed by the ruling elite of Tenochtitlan has remained a popular narrative throughout the centuries in spite of its "suspicious" nature.^[68] This official history, present in Tenochca and Acolhua sources, insists that Chimalpopoca was killed under Maxtla's orders, though the circumstancces vary between the Tenochca and Acolhua narratives.

According to the iconography of the Codex Xolotl, Maxtla justified the killing of his brother citing "the laws of my great-grandfather Xolotl and his ancestors." Subsequently, Nezahualcoyotl and his brother Tzontecochatzin chose to go to Azcapotzalco to visit Chimalpopoca, who was in prison.

Chimalpopoca died after these events. The circumstances of his death remain unclear due to the contradictions present in the sources. In the "official version," Maxtla sent assassins to Chimalpopoca's palace, killing him.^{[note 11]} An alternative explanation, although found in the minority of sources, describes that Chimalpopoca committed suicide by hanging himself.^[71] Santamarina Novillo (1998) proposed a theory he called the "coup thesis" (tesis golpista) in which he suggests, based on a handful of sources and the complicated political situation of the time, that Chimalpopoca was killed in a coup d'état orchestrated by Itzcoatl, Moctezuma I and the ruler of the Tepanec city of Tlacopan, Acolnahuacatl.^[72] In any case, Maxtla was accused of killing Chimalpopoca, as well as Tlatelolco's ruler Tlacateotl. Once Itzcoatl became the king of Tenochtitlan, the deaths of these rulers became the casus belli that justified launching a revolution against the Tepanecs. Although the Mexica were vassals of the Tepanecs, there was an increasing sentiment of independence among the Mexica, which became more notable as Tenochtitlan gained more political and military power. If Maxtla did order Chimalpopoca's assassination, it may have been in response to the increasing power that the Mexica were gathering through their military exploits, perceiving it as a threat to his nation.

The reconquest

As the tlatoani Itzcoatl of Tenochtitlan requested help from the Huexotzincans against the Tepanecs, Nezahualcoyotl envisioned a single military force in order to fight the mighty kingdom of Azcapotzalco. After being offered support from insurgents inside Acolhuacan and rebel Tepanecs from Coyohuacan, Nezahualcoyotl joined the war. He called for a coalition consisting of many of the most important pre-Hispanic cities of the time: Tenochtitlan, Tlacopan, Tlatelolco, Huexotzinco, Tlaxcala and Chalco.

The war was declared a shared and single effort, and the coalition army of more than 100,000 men under the command of Nezahualcoyotl and other important tlatoque headed towards Azcapotzalco from the city of Calpulalpan. This began the military offensive that would reconquer Acolhuacan in 1428.

The campaign was divided into three parts. One army attacked Acolman to the north and the second Coatlinchan to the south. A contingent led by Nezahualcoyotl himself was intended to attack Acolhuacan, only after providing support, upon request, to the first two armies. The coalition conquered Acolman and Otumba, sacking them only due to the sudden Tepanec siege of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco.

In a tactical move, the three armies united again and then divided into two. One of them, under Nezahualcoyotl, headed towards Texcoco, laying siege to Acolhuacan on its way, while the other attacked and destroyed Azcapotzalco. At the time the armies met again, Nezahualcoyotl reclaimed Texcoco and decided to conquer Acolhuacan, entering from the north while the Tenochca and Tlacopan allies coming from Azcapotzalco attacked from the south. The two armies simultaneously attacked Acolhuacan from two directions until they controlled the city's main square.

After their victory, the coalition began a series of attacks on isolated Tepanec posts throughout the territory of Texcoco. The defeat of the Tepanecs and the total destruction of the kingdom of Azcapotzalco gave rise to the Aztec Triple Alliance between Texcoco, Tenochtitlan, and Tlacopan. Nezahualcoyotl was eventually crowned Tlatoani of Texcoco in 1431.

A decade later, eager to produce a noble heir, Nezahualcoyotl married Azcalxochitzin after the death of her first husband, King Cuahcuauhtzin of Tepechpan.^[73]

Engineering projects

The historical records claim that Nezahualcoyotl proposed and was even personally in charge of several impressive works of hydraulic engineering during his reign, having executed some of the most important works of this time during the 15th century. There is no direct evidence that these works were actually designed by him or that he personally supervised their construction, but he demonstrated great interest for large-scale civic engineering problems throughout the course of his reign.^[100] These works were not limited to his own kingdom, but to the territories of the Triple Alliance in general, and they served to benefit the general population by solving problems which affected the lives of the people living within this territory. The population continued to enjoy the results of his work decades after his death.

Dike of Nezahualcoyotl

The Dike of Nezahualcoyotl (Albarradón de Nezahualcóyotl), also known as the "Dike of the Indians" (Albarrada de los Indios), was a major work of hydraulic engineering which divided the waters of Lake Texcoco in two, built around 1445 or 1449, when Moctezuma I, tlatoani of Mexico-Tenochtitlan (a city built in the middle of the lake), asked for Nezahualcoyotl's assistance to create a system to prevent his city from flooding due to the occasional overflow of lake, in response to a major flood which is recorded to have occurred in 1442 or 1446, the first major flood in the recorded history of the city. Nezahualcoyotl's response to Moctezuma's request was to "build an immense dike, which starting from Atzacoalco, reached Iztapalapa."^[101]

The resulting dike was built with the assistance of workers from various parts of the Valley of Mexico. Francisco Javier Clavijero records that the inhabitants of Azcapotzalco, Coyohuacan and Xochimilco were tasked with bringing "several thousands" of thick wooden logs, while other locations provided the necessary rocks for the construction, and that the construction itself was executed by the inhabitants of Tacuba, Iztapalapa, Colhuacan and Tenayuca. He also claims that the monarchs and the "magnates" themselves "set an example of hard work" to motivate the workers, with the goal of finishing construction faster, "in what otherwise would have taken many years to finish."^[102]

The dike was approximately 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) long, 8 metres (26 ft) tall and 3.5 metres (11 ft) wide (sources vary on its exact measurements. Some sources claim its length was approximately 14.5 kilometres, which is 9.0 mi, and its height was 4 metres, which is 13 ft, while measurements of its width vary significantly. It is difficult to analyse the mechanics and measuments of the structure because it has not existed since the late 16th or early 17th centuries). According to the historical sources, the "thick wooden piles were stuck to the ground forming a hollow fence, inside the fence, big rocks and sand were deposited between the piles."^[103]

Torres-Alves & Morales-Nápoles (2020) concluded in their study on the reliability of the dike, based on the historical descriptions (using the aforementioned measurements) and environmental information, that its probability of failure was approximately 1 every 333 years provided specific initial conditions, including that the water level at the foot of the dike, at the beginning of the wet season, did not exceed 1 metre (3 ft 3 in). This probability, however, is sensitive to this initial water level, and becomes 8 times larger if the initial water level is 2 metres. There is, however, much uncertainty regarding both the lacustrine system and the dike, which makes it difficult to make a precise analysis on the reliability of the structure, and unfortunately, significant factors, such as the initial water level and the amount of area of the Lake Texcoco sub-basin which acted as a tributary area, are unknown to us.^{[note 16]} Nevertheless, the results of the study show that the indigenous engineers who worked on this project "had a deep understanding of the lacustrine system" and that "the Aztecs were known as the great hydraulic engineers of pre-Hispanic Mexico."^[105]

This dike is considered the most important and impressive flood-preventing work in the history of Tenochtitlan. However, its destruction began in the year of 1521 due to the beginning of the Siege of Tenochtitlan, as Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés ordered its destruction to give way to the brigantines that besieged the city. Because the Spanish did not possess the indigenous knowledge on the workings of the city built in the middle of Lake Texcoco, major floods in Mexico City due to lake overflow became an issue throughout the following centuries, starting in the year 1553.^[106] The historical record claims that the dike never failed during its approximately 70 years of operation, a claim which seems to be supported by recent analysis of its reliability from an engineering perspective.^[107]

Texcotzingo

Main article: Texcotzingo

In what is now the town of San Nicolás Tlaminca, in Texcoco, State of Mexico, the remains of the botanical gardens of Texcotzingo (alternatively spelled as Tetzcotzinco) are to be seen. They are some of the best-preserved remains of monumental Aztec architecture.^[111] According to the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, Nezahualcoyotl designed his palace on the hill of Texcotzingo around the year 1456 (1 Rabbit) and took 13 years to finish, a year after the Chapultepec aqueduct was finished.^[112] Evans (2010) wrote regarding this work that:^[113]

the great achievement substantiating Nezahualcoyotl's multiple talents as political manipulator, sensitive intellectual, civil engineer, and designer of monumental gardens is Texcotzingo, offering evidence as solid as the rock into which his pools and reception rooms were built.

The water management system of the gardens was built using a complex of canals, aqueducts and reservoirs carved in rock, which brought water from several springs located around Cerro Tláloc, with a particular spring located at Cerro Yeloxochitl, approximately 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of Texcotzingo, acting as the source of the entire system, in addition to another possible source from the spring of Texapo, south of the town of Santa Catarina del Monte [es]. The reconstructed route from the Yeloxochitl, mentioned in historical documents, is 19.5 km (12.1 mi) long, whereas the route from Texapo is 7.9 km (4.9 mi) long.^[114] The water was delivered at an elevation of about 55 metres (180 ft) below the summit of the hill.^[115] The complex has several circular-shaped reservoirs, which have been described as "the most impressive and well-known features of Tetzcotzinco's water management system"; three are known to exist at the hill of Texcotzingo and one at the hill of Metecatl. At least one of them, almost entirely monolithic, is suspected to have been used exclusively by the ruler as a ritual or recreational bath, due to its relatively small size (its volume capacity is 1,016 litres, compared to the 12,601 litres the largest reservoir can hold) and due to a seat carved inside of it,^[116] though not all researchers agree that it functioned as a bath, some arguing that it probably functioned as part of an irrigation system for the garden.^[117] This reservoir is popularly called the "Tenayuca Bath" (Baño de Tenayuca) or "King Nezahualcoyotl's Bath" (Baño del Rey [Nezahualcóyotl]). The largest reservoir, due to its size, is called the "Queen's Bath" (Baño de la Reina), which used to be decorated with three frog sculptures, each representing a member of the Triple Alliance, but they have been stolen.^[118][117]

The largest remaining aqueduct in the site, connecting the hills of Texcotzingo and Metecatl, has a length reaching 170 metres (560 ft), a width of 3 metres (9.8 ft) and a maximum height of 3 metres, and it is known that it was gradually raised and expanded during the pre-Hispanic period. The water of the aqueduct splits into two smaller canals at the western end. These canals circle the central part of Texcotzingo hill. Prusaczyk, Juszczyk & Martínez Garcida (2023) were able to estimate the average water velocity of these aqueducts and canals. They estimated that the water at hill of Metecatl traveled at a velocity of about 3.84 metres (12.6 ft) per second (m/s), on the aqueduct that connects the two hills the flow velocity was about 1.02 m (3+1/3 ft)/s and in the main canal of Texcotzingo it was about 0.85 m (2+3/4 ft)/s. The extremely high flow velocity at Metecatl prompted the creation of a water control mechanism. A structure known as Fuente A consisting of at least three uneven floor levels and three shallow reservoirs, which is located at the eastern end of the aqueduct and covers an area of about 1,065 m² (11,460 sq ft), may have been used to reduce the slope of the canals and dispose of excess water via drainage.^[119]

Besides the engineering marvel, the gardens of Texcotzingo located on the terraces which surrounded (and still surround) the hill were decorated with flowers and trees of many sorts, which were brought from areas conquered by the Acolhua in the form of tribute. These plants were frequently used for religious and medicinal purposes, and were notable for the smell of their flowers. Species included: macpalxochitl (also known as Mexican hand tree), yolloxochitl (Mexican magnolia), eloxochitl (Magnolia dealbata), cacaloxochitl (Plumeria rubra), cacaoxochitl (Theobroma cacao) cacahuaxochitl (Quararibea funebris), tzompancuahuitl (colorines), and many more. Because these exotic species required human attention and care, most of them disappeared from Texcotzingo following the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Only native species and macpalxochitl specimens which have adapted to their environment can still be seen. This, however, is not to say that the site has lost its natural diversity, because the natural habitat of Texcotzingo is still home to many species of plants and flowers which bloom across the seasons of the year.^[120]

Panorama of the "Queen's Bath," the largest reservoir of the Texcotzingo complex.

Poetic themes

Ephemerality of human life

A consistent theme exhibited in many of the poems attributed to the monarch is the ephemerality of human life. One iconic stanza attributed to him exhibiting this theme, which is part of a larger poem, is the following:^[127]

Tiazque yehua xonahuiacan niquittoa o nineçahualcoyotl huia cuix oc nelli nemohua o a in tlalticpac y hui ohuaye
Annochipa tlalticpac çan achica ye nican ohuaye ohuaye, Tel ca chalchihuitl no xamani no teocuitlatl in tlapani oo quetzalli poztequi yahui oyahue. anochipa tlalticpac. çan achica ye nican ohuaya.

We're to pass away. I say, "Be pleasured!"—I that am Nezahualcoyotl. Ah, do we truly live on earth?
Not forever on earth, but briefly here. Even jades are shattered. Gold, broken. Ah! plumes, splintered. Not forever on earth, but briefly here.

— Cantares Mexicanos, fol. 17r, translated by John Bierhorst (1985).

Nezahualcoyotl's awareness of time and change, or cahuitl—"that which leaves us," as León-Portilla writes—is shown in many poems and verses attributed to him, where he observes that everything on earth—tlalticpac—is merely transitory; not even gold and jade are safe from the passage of time, let alone human beings, who are more fragile. This fact causes Nezahualcoyotl's grief, but it also leads to him finding his own way to live, which is through "flower and song"—in xochitl in cuicatl, the Nahuatl metaphor for poetry, which he believed to be eternal, unlike anything material.^[128] This is demonstrated in poems which were performed in the palaces of Mexico and Acolhuacan.^[129] The following stanza is from the same poem quoted above, which is a dialogue between Nezahualcoyotl and a nameless singer:^[130]

Maoc xoyaticay oc xoncuepontica yn tlalticpac y timolinia tepehui xochitl timotzetzeloa yohuaya ohuaya, ahtlamiz noxochiuh ahtlamiz nocuic yn noconyayehuaya çan nicuicanitl huia xexelihuiya moyahua yaho coçahuaya xochitl ça ye oncalaquilo çaquan calitica ohuaya ohuaya

Live and blossom here on earth. As you move, shaking, flowers fall. Eternal are the flowers, eternal are the songs that I, the singer, lift. Parceled out, dispersing, they turn to gold: the troupial enters the house.

— Cantares Mexicanos, fol. 16v, translated by John Bierhorst (1985).

Ephemerality is not a subject unique to the poems of Nezahualcoyotl, and it seems to have been a rather popular subject among Nahua poets in general. An anonymous Huexotzincan poet even used the same metaphors as Nezahualcoyotl in one of the poems featured in the Cantares. Ephemerality is also featured in Mexica poems, though their authors use different metaphors to convey similar ideas.^[131]

Authorship

Although many poems have historically been attributed to Nezahualcoyotl, it is difficult to tell for certain which of the surviving ones were actually composed by him, if any. As early as the 1880s, some Mexican writers, such as Alfredo Chavero, had openly questioned the authorship of these poems, claiming that "the truth is, we know no specimens of the ancient poetry, and those, whether manuscript or printed, which claim to be such, date from after the Conquest." Daniel Garrison Brinton, in response, wrote in 1890 that he did believe the poems to be of pre-conquest origin, "written down shortly after the Nahuatl language had been reduced to the Spanish alphabet."^[134]

In the collections of the Cantares Mexicanos and the Romances de los señores de Nueva España, several poems are referred to as "Song of Nezahualcoyotl" (Ycuic neçahualcoyotzin in the Cantares, de Neçahualcoyotzin in the Romances), implying that he's the author or main subject. Additionally, several poems, within their own content, mention Nezahualcoyotl explicitly as their singer (e.g. "I that am Nezahualcoyotl"), which historians such as Ángel María Garibay find as sufficient evidence that such poems were composed by the monarch.^[135] However, this does not necessarily mean that these songs were composed by Nezahualcoyotl. In fact, a poem entitled "Song of Nezahualpilli" (Ycuic neçahualpilli) is explicitly stated to have been composed by a singer named Tececepouhqui, not by Nezahualpilli. Moreover, Tececepouhqui never mentions himself in the content of the poem. This makes arguments such as Garibay's stand on shaky ground, and demonstrates, according to Bierhorst (1985), that it is not possible to confirm that the tlatoque (kings) of the Aztec Empire actually composed the songs historically attributed to them.^[136]

The above, however, is not evidence that the poems in question could not have been composed by Nezahualcoyotl or that poet-kings did not exist. Don Baltasar Toquezcuauhyo, tlatoani (king) of Colhuacan, is specifically referred to as a composer in the Cantares, serving as an example of a ruler who was certainly a poet, even though the importance of Colhuacan after the Spanish conquest did not come close to Texcoco's during Nezahualcoyotl's reign. Furthermore, tlatoque in the pre-Hispanic period did dance and sing, and, as Sahagún stated, they would try to "learn a new song," though their material was prepared by professional singers.^[137]

Notably, Bierhorst observes that the majority of 16th-century historians who wrote about Nezahualcoyotl did not describe him as a poet. Among the earliest historians to have clearly described him as such are Fray Juan de Torquemada and Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl (the latter of which was a direct descendant of his), in the 17th century. Juan Bautista Pomar (also a descendant) may have thought of him as a composer earlier, in the late 16th century. The authorship of the poems historically attributed to Nezahualcoyotl remains a subject of serious debate among scholars of Aztec culture.^[138]

Religious beliefs

Nezahualcoyotl's reputation as a famous philosopher, and lack of knowledge of indigenous sources, resulted in post-conquest writers creating fantasies about his religious beliefs which contradict the reality of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. Various writers described him as a monotheist who was openly skeptical about Aztec religion, claiming that he discovered "the One and Only God, the cause of all things." Modern researchers generally agree that such ideas are fantasies of obvious European origin,^[139] presumably created for the purpose of converting the indigenous peoples into Christianity, using Nezahualcoyotl's reputation as a skilled leader.^[140]

One such writer who supported the monotheist idea was historian William H. Prescott, using Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl as his source; this historian wrote the following story: Nezahualcoyotl, despite being married for some years, failed to have a child with his wife, to his grievance; his priests came to the conclusion that the only remedy was to perform human sacrifices to satisfy the gods. Nezahualcoyotl reluctantly accepted, but the sacrifices proved to be in vain, promting him to exclaim that "these idols of wood and stone can neither hear nor feel; much less could they make the heavens, and the earth, and man, the lord of it. These must be the work of the all-powerful, unknown God, Creator of the universe, on whom alone I must rely for consolation and support." At Texcotzingo, after fasting, praying and making offerings of copal, and aromatic herbs and gums for 40 days, he converted to monotheism, openly professing his new faith and building a temple dedicated to "the unknown God, the Cause of causes," where no images were allowed inside, and human or blood sacrifices were strictly forbidden.^[141] This same sort of story was written by one of Nezahualcoyotl's descendants, Juan Bautista Pomar, in 1582.^[142]

The practice of human sacrifice, which had long existed in Mesoamerica before the formation of the Aztec Empire, had been enhanced and encouraged in the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan by Tlacaelel, as part of his religious and political reforms, increasing the number of sacrficies to nourish the gods. Nezahualcoyotl, along with the tlamatinime (sages) in general, has typically been presented as a figure whose ideas differed from Tlacaelel's "mystical-warrior vision," being portrayed as a ruler who opposed the practice.^[143]

Lee (2003) argues that these notions of Nezahualcoyotl that portray him as a peaceful monotheist who opposed human sacrifice are historically inaccurate, rejecting the idea of separating the rulers of Texcoco from the Mexica rulers. He argues that the duties and obligations of pre-conquest rulers, as described by historical documents such as the Florentine Codex, were to maintain "the existing political, religious, and cultural order," doing so by arranging wars, rewarding the achievements of accomplished warriors, rehearsing the sacrficie of captives, and ordering dancing and singing. Thus, Nezahualcoyotl's duties as ruler were far from opposing the religious establishment; rather, he had the obligation to maintain it. Furthermore, Nezahualcoyotl was established as ruler of Texcoco with the support of his uncle Itzcoatl, the king of Tenochtitlan, in addition to the fact that he based himself on the religious and legal systems of Tenochtitlan to re-establish order in his own nation.^[144]

Controversial marriage with Azcalxochitzin

Azcalxochitzin was a Mexica noblewoman, daughter of a nobleman named Temictzin and granddaughter of the kings of Tenochtitlan, related to Chimalpopoca and Huitzilihuitl, and she would become the mother of Tetzauhpiltzintli and Nezahualpilli, as Nezahualcoyotl's principal wife.^[160] However, her marriage with Nezahualcoyotl was not planned, for she was meant to marry the ruler of Tepechpan, Cuacuauhtzin. Tepechpan was a city under the domains of Texcoco, and its rulers were loyal subjects of Nezahualcoyotl. In fact, according to Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl and the Codex Xolotl, Nezahualcoyotl restored the rightful ruler of the city after the Tepanec War.^[161] Despite this, however, "blinded by jealousy and love"^[162] (or rather as punishment for disloyalty),^[163] Nezahualcoyotl took the decision of assassinating Cuacuauhtzin, despite his demonstrations of loyalty, in order to marry his fiancée.

According to Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, this assassination was performed in secret, and the only historians who knew about it, according to this author, were "his son and grandsons," who strongly condemned him for this action, though this author minimizes the assassination by stating that "they [the historians] don't find any other [condemnable] thing" despite the "wicked and abominable" nature of the act.^[162] The Tira de Tepechpan, a manuscript from the second half of the 16th century,^[164] seemingly confirms, at least partly, the story told by Ixtlilxóchitl, the document shows that Cuacuauhtzin died just three years after being enthroned, and that his death was not due to natural causes.^[165]

As Alva Ixtlilxóchitl "colourfully" tells,^[166] Nezahualcoyotl was not yet married by the time he met Azcalxochitzin, and thus had no legitimate heir to the throne, despite having many children from the concubines in his palace. He initially had the intention of marrying a daughter of the lords of Huexotla or Coatlinchan, until he made a visit to the city of Tepechpan, where he had a banquet with its ruler Cuacuauhtzin. It was during this banquet when he met Azcalxochitzin, who was not yet married to Cuacuauhtzin due to her young age (according to Fray Juan de Torquemada, she was 17 years old when this banquet took place).^[167] Ixtlilxóchitl claims Nezahualcoyotl immediately fell in love with the young woman, and thus, he secretely plotted Cuacuauhtzin's assassination after returning to Texcoco. He plotted an arranged battle between Tlaxcallan and Tepechpan, falsely accusing Cuacuauhtzin of "committing a serious crime" (delito grave) to justify his killing. When Cuacuauhtzin was subsequently notified of the battle that was to take place, he was bewildered, but chose to obey his orders as a loyal vassal.^[168]

The following stanza is part of a poem attributed to Cuacuauhtzin, which he supposedly performed during a banquet before his final battle:^[169]

canelpȃ toyazque yn ayc timiquizq maçȃ nichalchihuitl niteocuitlatl o çȃ ye o nipiçȃloz nimamalihuaz i tlatilan o çã noyoli yo çã ye nicuacuauhtzin çã ninentlamatia yo aye yo ahuayo ohuiya
mochalchiuhteponaz moxiuhqcholiquiquiçin tocoyapiçãya çȃ ye tiyoyotzinni oyahualaçic a oya moqueçãco ya y cuicanitla yyohuiya
...
y ma ya moyolo motoma y ma ya moyolo ma açintinemiya tinechcocoliya tinechmiquitlani yn onoya ye ychȃn in onopulihui aca çã yoquic oo noca tihualichocani nonopolihui noca tihualycnotlamati çȃ tinocni o çã ye niyao çã ye niyauh ye ychan ohuaya ohuaya

"Where might we go, so as never to die? Though I be jade, or gold, I'll be smelted, or drilled on the mound." Ah! I'm born, I, Cuacuauhtzin, and I grieve.
Your precious log drums! You blow your conch for turquoise swans, you, Yoyontzin. The singer arrives, he appears.
...
"Let your hearts be set free, let your hearts come forth. You loathe me, and you want me dead. When I've gone to His home, when I've perished, then perhaps you'll weep for me, you'll grieve for me, O friend. I go, I'm off to His home.

According to Diel (2008), Cuacuauhtzin appears to have been aware of Nezahualcoyotl's treachery by declaring "You loathe me, and you want me dead," yet, as his duty and obligation as a vassal, he still chose to go to battle knowing he would not survive, declaring "When I've gone to His home, when I've perished, then perhaps you'll weep for me" and "I go, I'm off to His home."^[163]

Cuacuauhtzin ended up being killed in the battle as had been planned; the Tira de Tepechpan records that his death occurred in the year 3 Reed, 1443.^[165] Sometime after, Nezahualcoyotl's wedding with Azcalxochitzin took place, in a ceremony where the lords of Tenochtitlan and Tlacopan, Moctezuma I and Totoquihuaztli I, were present along with many other lords. The plot to assassinate Cuacuauhtzin was kept in complete secrecy, only known by Nezahualcoyotl's closest family members.^[171]

Miguel León-Portilla found a song attributed to Nezahualcoyotl in which he seemingly expresses guilt and regret for his actions that led to Cuacuauhtzin's death with the following line:^[172]

Nitlayocoyay nicnotlamatiya çã nitepiltzin nineçahualcoyotl huiya xochitica yeehuã cuicatica niquimilnamiqui tepilhuão a yn oyaque yehua teçoçomoctzino yehuã qua'quauhtzin a ohuaya ohuaya

I suffer and grieve, I, Prince Nezahualcoyotl. With flowers, with songs, I recall the departed Princes Tezozomoc and Cuacuauhtzin.

16th and 17th centuries

Post-conquest descendants

On August 13, 1521, the Spanish conquest of Mexico was fulfilled after Cuauhtémoc finally surrendered. Both him and Coanacoch were allowed to keep their position as a rulers. Coanacoch was baptized under the name of Pedro de Alvarado Coanacochtzin, named after conquistador Pedro de Alvarado. Though he was allowed to continue holding the position of tlatoani (king), he was held captive by Cortés, and Ixtlilxochitl still controlled the northern part of Acolhuacan. In 1525, under the suspicion of forming a conspiracy to kill Cortés during his expedition to Honduras, Coanacoch was executed along with Cuauhtémoc and the ruler of Tlacopan. Ixtlilxochitl II, who was baptized as Don Fernando Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl, became the uncontested ruler of Texcoco, with Cortés's blessing, until his death in 1531.^[180]

Almost immediately after the Spanish conquest, the Spanish authorities gave the title of "governors" (gobernadores) or caciques to the tlatoque who succeeded their pre-conquest ancestors in the rulership of the local polities,^{[note 20]} and, through decrees, their rights to possess certain plots of land, possess and use certain weapons, etc., were confirmed. However, this cacicazgo system was built in a confusing and non-solid manner due to the Spanish lack of understanding of indigenous government systems, and over the course of the decades following the second half of the 16th century, the indigenous nobility gradually lost its prestige and some of its members sold their land. By the early 19th century, as Alexander von Humboldt observed, a cacique was almost indistinguishable from any indigenous person belonging to the tributary class, describing them as "presenting the same lack of manners and the same lack of civilization as the common people."^[183]

Ixtlilxochitl's daughter, Doña Ana Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl, married the cacique of Teotihuacan, Don Francisco Verdugo Quetzalmamalitzin Huetzin. They were the great-grandparents of Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, a historian who dedicated much of his life, in the 17th century, to documenting the pre-Hispanic history of Texcoco, making his work the most extensive source of information on the subject, in spite of his controversial writings regarding his ancestors.^[184] Another historian, Juan Bautista Pomar, was also a descendant of Nezahualcoyotl, but he was not considered eligible for succession for being son of Nezahualpilli's illegitimate daughter Doña María Ixtlilxóchitl, who was married to the Spanish Antonio de Pomar. Doña María Ixtlilxóchitl was the daughter of one of Nezahualpilli's slaves. This historian was notable for his Relación de Tezcoco, from 1582, one of the works he sent to King Philip II of Spain.^[185]

The descendants of Ixtlilxochitl and Coanacoch would enter legal disputes decades after they died. Much like their forefathers, the disputes were over claims to patrimony. Such was the case of a lawsuit filed in 1576 by Doña Francisca Verdugo, Ixtlilxochitl's granddaughter, and her Spanish husband Juan Grande, against her second cousin Don Francisco Pimentel, son of Hernando Pimentel Nezahualcoyotzin, cacique and governor of Texcoco, himself son of Coanacoch. While Don Francisco's claim for the cacicazgo of Texcoco was disputed, he did later serve as governor of the city.^[186]

After the 16th century, the line of Nezahualcoyotl's descendants becomes less clear. In 1627, Doña Juana Pimentel was cacica of Texcoco and sold a plot of land to her son-in-law Don Juan Pimentel, who lived in Mexico City. She wrote that she inherited the land from her father Don Diego, and described herself as a great-great-granddaughter of Nezahualcoyotl, but her exact connection with her ancestors is not entirely clear. In 1795, the caciques of Texcoco, Pablo José Pimentel and Pablo Marcial Pimentel, were described as illiterate in a legal document, agreeing with Humboldt's statement that by this time the indigenous nobility had lost its high status in society.^[187]

Later descendants

Up to the 19th century in Mexico, the ancient indigenous nobility continued to exist and claim their rights to possess certain territories that belonged to their ancestors, albeit the members of this late indigenous nobility often did not possess the fortune or the land that their ancestors possessed, due to the gradual loss of prestige and land that took place after the 16th century.^[189]

As late as 1855, two descendants of Nezahualcoyotl, Doña Guadalupe Carrillo Pimentel and Doña María Antonia Güemes Pimentel, requested a notary public to copy and certify various historical documents they possessed to obtain the territories that belonged to the monarch and his son Nezahualpilli. These two ladies were members of the Pimentel family, which possessed the cacicazgo of Texcoco. The first ruler of Texcoco under this family name was Don Antonio Pimentel Tlahueliltzin (or Tlahuelitlotzin), son of Nezahualpilli, and therefore grandson of Nezahualcoyotl. He ruled until he died of illness during an epidemic which killed the majority of Texcoco's indigenous population in 1545—leaving only 18,000 survivors out of the 100,000 inhabitants the city possessed in 1519—, and was succeeded by his nephew Hernando Velásquez, also known as Hernando Pimentel Nezahualcoyotzin, who was son of Coanacochtli (ruler of Texcoco executed in 1525 by conquistador Hernán Cortés) and would rule for nearly 20 years. Before Antonio Pimentel became ruler, his brother Carlos Ometochtzin had ruled, but notably he was publicly executed by the Inquisition at the great plaza of Mexico City in 1539.^[190]

Another notable person who claimed to be a descendant of Nezahualcoyotl was Josefa Varela y Rodríguez, a woman from Texcoco, described as dark-skinned, "indigenous of pure blood" (de pura raza indígena), who became the only indigenous woman to become part of the imperial entourage of Empress Charlotte of Mexico in the 1860s (during the Second Mexican Empire), serving as her maid of honour.^{[note 21]} She was daughter of the otherwise unknown Santiago Varela, and despite her position in the empire, she was born in poverty. Historians have not confirmed her claim of being a descendant of the Poet King, but it is plausible that her claim was truthful. As early as the 18th century, the majority of members of the indigenous nobility were already described as "impoverished." Following the fall of the empire in 1867, she continued claiming to be a descendant of Nezahualcoyotl up to the year 1905 at the very least.^[193]

Remembrance in the 15th and 16th centuries

Nezahualcoyotl's reputation as a hero turned him into a highly respected figure by the indigenous population throughout the course of the 15th and 16th centuries, even after the Spanish conquest in 1521. Judging from 16th-century documents, it would seem that colonial religious authorities were confused about Nezahualcoyotl and mistook historical remembrance for idolatry, due to how the indigenous people praised him for his deeds decades after his death:^[7]

A una legua del pueblo [Tepetlaoztoc] se vee oy con estraña Magestad el puesto que tenia el demonio tiranizado para su honra. Es un cerro que se llama Tezcuçingo, donde el gran poder de los Reyes de Tezcu-co se avia singularizado en servicio del demonio. En lo mas alto deste cerro estaba el famoso ídolo que llamavan Zaualcoittl [Nezahualcóyotl] ... Esta figura representava a un Indio grande ayunador, a quien tuvieron por santo

A league from the town (Tepetlaoztoc), one can now see with strange majesty the spot where the tyrannical demon was honoured. It's a hill called Tezcuçingo, where the great power of the Kings of Tezcuco was singularly devoted to the service of the demon. At this hill's summit was the famous idol they called Zaualcoittl (Nezahualcoyotl) ... This figure represented a great Indian who practiced fasting, whom they held as a saint

The quote above refers to a portrait of Nezahualcoyotl created under his supervision which was located at the summit of the hill of Texcotzingo. Like various other sculptures, it was destroyed by Bishop Juan de Zumárraga on July 7, 1539, "in a manner such that they would no longer be remembered," following reports of "idolatrous acts" at the hill. Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, writing nearly 70 years after this incident, described the destroyed portrait as a sculpted rock which illustrated the most notable of Nezahualcoyotl's deeds, as well as his supposed coat of arms at the centre, of which he offered a detailed description.^{[note 22]} As Hajovsky (2015) observes, Alva Ixtlilxóchitl attempts to use heraldry to portray indigenous royalty as equivalent to Spanish royalty.^[194]

Still in the 1570s, Nezahualcoyotl's belongings, such as "his statue, his shield, banners, trumpets, flutes, weapons" and more which he used during warfare and festivals, were still "preserved with great religious respect" by the people of Texcoco as relics.^[7]

Late colonial period and 19th century

As Bierhorst (1985) observes, the name of Nezahualcoyotl had become virtually synonymous with old Nahuatl poetry by the 18th century in Mexico, to the point that he became a "necessary" topic of discussion for writers on Mexican antiquities. His fame had reached the extent that apparent forgeries appeared, as was the infamous case of a poem printed in 1778 which includes phrases such as "All the round world is but a sepulchre." This poem, despite being a forgery based on an Otomi folk poem, was picked up by historians such as William H. Prescott in the 19th century.^[195]

In 1868, in a post-war environment following years of foreign invasion and civil war, a group of young Mexican students, many of them teenagers, formed the Sociedad Nezahualcóyotl, initially as a poetic project which had the objective of creating a unique form of literature, reforming the theatre and promoting literary publications. The society was supported by Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, a distinguished and influential writer, who described its members as "young, hard-working and enthusiastic students who do not give up and who will eventually reach the heights of fame."^[196]

Contemporary Mexico and Latin America

Centuries after his death, Nezahualcoyotl continues to be an influential figure in modern Mexican education and philosophy. His poems are taught to Mexican children as part of their primary education, as a way of introducing Spanish-speaking children to indigenous languages and cultures, and to connect them with the country's pre-Hispanic past.^[198] Additionally, the Nezahualcóyotl Award (Premio Nezahualcóyotl) was created in 1993 as an award ceremony celebrating indigenous literature in Mexico with the purpose of "stimulating the literary creativity of the indigenous writers of Mexico";^[199] it has been regarded as "the most prestigious literary award in Mexico and Latin America for indigenous writers."^[200] Because of the beautiful quality of the poems historically attributed to him, he is typically referred to as "the Poet-King" (Rey Poeta) in Mexican literature.^[201]

His great-grandson Juan Bautista Pomar is credited with the compilation of a collection of Nahuatl poems, Romances de los señores de Nueva España, and with a chronicle of the history of the Aztecs. The freshwater fish Xiphophorus nezahualcoyotl is named after Nezahualcoyotl. Nezahualcoyotl appears on the former 100 peso banknote of Mexico.^[202]

The municipality of Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico, which began to be populated in the mid-1940s by people from several states and was officially declared as a municipality on April 20, 1963, is named after the monarch.^[203]

Elsewhere in Latin America, numerous poets have been inspired by the works attributed to Nezahualcoyotl and their philosophy. Ernesto Cardenal, a famous poet from Nicaragua, incorporated indigenous traditions in his work and, according to Lee (2003), "perpetuates the image of Nezahualcoyotl as a peaceful and civilized poet-king opposed to the Mexicas" in his work entitled Homenaje a los indios americanos (1972) and its expanded version, Los ovnis de oro (1992).^[204]