Huejotzingo
Huejotzingo (modern Nahuatl pronunciation is a small city and municipality located just northwest of the city of Puebla, in central Mexico. The settlement’s history dates back to the pre-Hispanic period, when it was a dominion, with its capital a short distance from where the modern settlement is today. Modern Huejotzingo is located where a Franciscan monastery was founded in 1525, in 1529, the monks moved the indigenous population of Huejotzingo to live around the monastery. Today, Huejotzingo is known for the production of alcoholic apple cider and fruit preserves, as well as its annual carnival; this carnival is distinct as it centers on the re-enactment of several historical and legendary events related to the area. The largest of these is related to the Battle of Puebla, with about 2,000 residents representing French and Mexican forces that engage in mock battles over four days; the Franciscans founded the monastery of San Miguel Arcángel in 1525, in an area outside of the pre-Hispanic settlement of Huejotzingo.
That settlement was located on higher ground, closer to the slopes of Iztaccíhuatl, in what is now known as San Juan Loma. Its early founding makes it one of the oldest monasteries in the Americas, one of the first four Franciscan monasteries established in New Spain, it was dedicated to the Archangel Michael, who would become the patron of the Spanish settlement of Huejotzingo and is the current patron of the modern municipality. The current building is the third to have been built on the site; the first was a modest construction that lasted from 1524 to 1529. In 1529, the Franciscans under Juan de Alameda moved the indigenous settlement to an area next to the monastery. Legend states that it was because the friars were tired of making the climb to the indigenous village for evangelization purposes, it was however, to take advantage of indigenous labor to construct a larger monastery. The first monastery was demolished and a second complex was built in its place between 1529 and 1539. However, this building would not survive either, except for old plans and part of a foundation and walls, which were found during renovation work in 1980.
The third and current complex was begun in 1544 and completed in 1570, built under the direction of Juan de Alameda. Construction ended when Alameda died, he was buried in the monastery. In the colonial era, it was described as being as luxurious as the church of San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo and one of the most beautiful in Mexico. Since the complex has survived a number of earthquakes with little damage. In the 1990s, it became one of fourteen monasteries around the Popocatepetl volcano declared a World Heritage Site; the state of Puebla promotes tourism of the monastery through its "Franciscan Route," which connects it with other 16th-century Franciscan monasteries in Calpan and Cholula. The basic elements of the complex are the atrium with its corner chapels called "capillas posas," cloister, main church, it is all constructed on a rectangular platform that measures 14,400m2 and rises six meters above the adjacent land. The complex is isolated from the outside by a thick stone atrium wall topped by merlons.
These merlons are repeated on the walls of the cloister. These merlons are not the typical European style, their form is similar to elements found in various pre-Hispanic constructions. The thick walls and narrow windows made the complex a fortress, not only to protect the monks from hostile native populations but to provide the local community with a shelter in case of attack; the atrium of the monastery faces west, towards the main plaza of the modern city. Between this plaza and the main access there is a small plaza. From this small plaza, one climbs a series of stairs to the atrium gate, an arcade of three arches with decorations in relief; the atrium is rectangular, measuring sixty meters long. The most elaborate feature of the atrium is the four chapels embedded in each of the area’s four corners, constructed around 1550, they were used for processions for the storage of the Host for processions, but they were used as chapels to serve the many indigenous of the area in the 16th century. They are elaborately decorated with the Franciscan coat of arms, cords like those worn by Franciscan monks with tassels and other symbols.
This decorative feature can be seen in other parts of the complex as well. In the center of the atrium, on the pathway between the main atrium entrance and the entrance to the church, there is an atrium cross. Most histories of the monastery, but not all, state that this atrium cross is not the original, but rather used to belong to one of the corner chapels; the cross is done in sandstone and imitates two knotty tree trunks, with a crown of thorns at the foot. The monastery has associated with it a system of aqueducts to bring water here from the Xopanac River. Remnants of it can be seen today; the architecture of the large church and monastery area is a mix of medieval and Renaissance styles, with Plateresque and Moorish elements standing out. The Plateresque is evident in the large smooth areas with little ornamental work on the facade and north side of the church; this side has a portal decorated with thistles. The entrance to the church is flanked by tall classical columns, whose capitals support a narrow cornice to form an alfiz.
This is decorated with seven anagrams in Greek and Latin. Moorish influence is seen in the door arch of the main portal; the interior has only one nave. There are remnants of frescos on the walls, the best preserved of which show a precession of men in hoods, called "Los encapuchados"; the main altar is one of the few from the 16th century that remain in Mexico
Thames & Hudson
Thames & Hudson is a publisher of illustrated books on art, architecture and visual culture. With its headquarters in London, England, it has a sister company in New York and subsidiaries in Melbourne and Hong Kong. In Paris, it has a further subsidiary company, engaged in the distribution of English-language books and a sister company, Éditions Thames & Hudson, it has been an independent, family-owned company since its founding in 1949. Thames & Hudson's World of Art series is well-known. In particular, A Concise History of Painting: From Giotto to Cézanne by Michael Levey published in 1962, is a classic and authoritative introduction to the history of European art from the beginnings of perspective in Italy to the foundations of modern art at the start of the 20th century. Thames & Hudson employs some 200 people worldwide in the London headquarters, with an annual publishing programme that releases 180 books a year on art, architecture, three-dimensional design, gardens and textiles, history, travel and interiors, popular culture.
Thames & Hudson was established by Walter Neurath, born in Vienna in 1903, his wife Eva Neurath. He left that city, where he ran an art gallery and published illustrated books with an emphasis on education, arriving in London in 1938, he worked as production director of Adprint, a business established by fellow Viennese émigré Wolfgang Foges. Neurath and Foges went on to pioneer the concept of what is today known as book packaging, in which book ideas are conceived, commissioned and sold to publishers in different markets in their own languages and under their own imprints in order to create large print-runs and lower unit production costs. Neurath’s concept was the first sign of many innovations that through Thames & Hudson he would introduce to the world of publishing. Wishing to take co-edition book packaging further and recognizing the need to amortize the high production costs of illustrated books, Neurath established his own publishing house, incorporating offices in London and New York in the autumn of 1949.
Thus arose the company name, Thames & Hudson, the rivers represented by two dolphins symbolizing friendship and intelligence, one facing east, one west, suggesting a connection between the Old World and the New. Eva Neurath, who had arrived in London in 1939 from Berlin and worked alongside Neurath at Adprint, co-founded the company as partner. Among the ten titles that were published in Thames & Hudson’s first publication season in 1950, English Cathedrals, with photographs by Swiss Martin Hürlimann, was the first and most successful. A testament to the company’s strong belief from the start in the longevity of books, it remained in print until 1971. Appearing in the first year of publication was Albert Einstein’s Out of my years, an early indication of the publication programme’s breadth. With the gradual and successful expansion of the list, which grew from ten titles in 1950 to 144 in print in 1955, the company outgrew its High Holborn offices and moved in 1956 to a Georgian townhouse at 30 Bloomsbury Street, just off Bedford Square the epicentre of London publishing activity.
The company remained at that address expanding to five houses, until 1999. In 1958, Thames & Hudson launched what is one of its best-known series, the World of Art, which for the subsequent decades provided the backbone of its varied list. Characterized by their pocketable size and black spines – "little black artbooks" – the series expanded in just seven years to include 49 titles. More than fifty years over 300 titles have appeared in the series, many remain in print today. Other major series that imparted depth and prestige to the list were Ancient People and Places, edited by Glyn Daniel, who from the 1950s helped to pioneer a wider interest in archaeology, on television and in book form. More than 100 titles were published in the series over a 34-year period; the large-format Great Civilizations series, published from 1961, featured contributions by such esteemed academics as Alan Bullock, Asa Briggs, Hugh Trevor-Roper, A. J. P. Taylor, John Julius Norwich. On Thames & Hudson’s tenth anniversary, the UK publishing industry magazine, The Bookseller, described the company as "neither wedded to eclecticism nor dedicated to mass appeal, produced some of the most ambitious picture books published... and have sold them in a number which ten years ago would have been considered improbable and at prices which have won the surprised gratitude of thousands of readers."
Throughout its history, Thames & Hudson has led production innovation: 1958, for example, saw one of the earliest examples of the close creative integration of photographer, editor and production director working to produce a unified artist’s book, in Thrones of Earth and Heaven, in a large print-run. In 1964 the company’s production director introduced what are today known as ‘French folds’, dust jackets that are folded over on top and bottom to protect their edges. In 1974, in what The Times described as "a 1,000-year-old publishing coup", Thames & Hudson painstakingly reproduced The Book of Kells, making a commercial edition of the little-seen illuminated manuscript available around the world for the first time. In 2004 a four-volume monograph on Pritzker Prize–winning architect Zaha Hadid was published, featurin
Mexico City
Mexico City, or the City of Mexico, is the capital of Mexico and the most populous city in North America. Mexico City is one of the most important financial centres in the Americas, it is located in the Valley of Mexico, a large valley in the high plateaus in the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 meters. The city has 16 boroughs; the 2009 population for the city proper was 8.84 million people, with a land area of 1,485 square kilometers. According to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments, the population of Greater Mexico City is 21.3 million, which makes it the largest metropolitan area of the Western Hemisphere, the eleventh-largest agglomeration, the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world. Greater Mexico City has a GDP of $411 billion in 2011, making Greater Mexico City one of the most productive urban areas in the world; the city was responsible for generating 15.8% of Mexico's GDP, the metropolitan area accounted for about 22% of total national GDP.
If it were an independent country, in 2013, Mexico City would be the fifth-largest economy in Latin America, five times as large as Costa Rica and about the same size as Peru. Mexico’s capital is both the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by Native Americans, the other being Quito, Ecuador; the city was built on an island of Lake Texcoco by the Aztecs in 1325 as Tenochtitlan, completely destroyed in the 1521 siege of Tenochtitlan and subsequently redesigned and rebuilt in accordance with the Spanish urban standards. In 1524, the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as México Tenochtitlán, as of 1585, it was known as Ciudad de México. Mexico City was the political and financial center of a major part of the Spanish colonial empire. After independence from Spain was achieved, the federal district was created in 1824. After years of demanding greater political autonomy, residents were given the right to elect both a Head of Government and the representatives of the unicameral Legislative Assembly by election in 1997.
Since, the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution has controlled both of them. The city has several progressive policies, such as abortion on request, a limited form of euthanasia, no-fault divorce, same-sex marriage. On January 29, 2016, it ceased to be the Federal District, is now known as Ciudad de México, with a greater degree of autonomy. A clause in the Constitution of Mexico, prevents it from becoming a state, as it is the seat of power in the country, unless the capital of the country were relocated elsewhere; the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was founded by the Mexica people in 1325. The old Mexica city, now referred to as Tenochtitlan was built on an island in the center of the inland lake system of the Valley of Mexico, which it shared with a smaller city-state called Tlatelolco. According to legend, the Mexicas' principal god, indicated the site where they were to build their home by presenting a golden eagle perched on a prickly pear devouring a rattlesnake. Between 1325 and 1521, Tenochtitlan grew in size and strength dominating the other city-states around Lake Texcoco and in the Valley of Mexico.
When the Spaniards arrived, the Aztec Empire had reached much of Mesoamerica, touching both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. After landing in Veracruz, Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés advanced upon Tenochtitlan with the aid of many of the other native peoples, arriving there on November 8, 1519. Cortés and his men marched along the causeway leading into the city from Iztapalapa, the city's ruler, Moctezuma II, greeted the Spaniards. Cortés put Moctezuma under house arrest. Tensions increased until, on the night of June 30, 1520 – during a struggle known as "La Noche Triste" – the Aztecs rose up against the Spanish intrusion and managed to capture or drive out the Europeans and their Tlaxcalan allies. Cortés regrouped at Tlaxcala; the Aztecs thought the Spaniards were permanently gone, they elected a new king, Cuitláhuac, but he soon died. Cortés began a siege of Tenochtitlan in May 1521. For three months, the city suffered from the lack of food and water as well as the spread of smallpox brought by the Europeans.
Cortés and his allies landed their forces in the south of the island and fought their way through the city. Cuauhtémoc surrendered in August 1521; the Spaniards razed Tenochtitlan during the final siege of the conquest. Cortés first settled in Coyoacán, but decided to rebuild the Aztec site to erase all traces of the old order, he did not establish a territory under his own personal rule, but remained loyal to the Spanish crown. The first Spanish viceroy arrived in Mexico City fourteen years later. By that time, the city had again become a city-state, having power that extended far beyond its borders. Although the Spanish preserved Tenochtitlan's basic layout, they built Catholic churches over the old Aztec temples and claimed the imperial palaces for themselves. Tenochtitlan was renamed "Mexico"; the city had been the capital of the Aztec empire and in the colonial era, Mexico City became the capital of New Spain. The viceroy of Mexico or vice-king lived in the viceregal palace on Zócalo; the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishopric of New Spain, was const
Viperidae
The Viperidae is a family of venomous snakes found in most parts of the world, with the exception of Antarctica, Hawaii, New Zealand, various other isolated islands, north of the Arctic Circle. All have long, hinged fangs that permit deep penetration and injection of snake venom. Four subfamilies are recognised, they are known as viperids. The name "viper" is derived from the Latin word vipera, -ae meaning viper from vivus and parere, referring to the trait viviparity common in vipers but not in snakes at large. All viperids have a pair of long solenoglyphous fangs that are used to inject venom from glands located towards the rear of the upper jaws, just behind the eyes; each of the two fangs is at the front of the mouth on a short maxillary bone that can rotate back and forth. When not in use, the fangs fold back against the roof of the mouth and are enclosed in a membranous sheath; this rotating mechanism allows for long fangs to be contained in a small mouth. The left and right fangs can be rotated independently.
During a strike, the mouth can open nearly 180° and the maxilla rotates forward, erecting the fangs as late as possible so that the fangs do not become damaged, as they are brittle. The jaws close upon impact and the muscular sheaths encapsulating the venom glands contract, injecting the venom as the fangs penetrate the target; this action is fast. Viperids use this mechanism for immobilization and digestion of prey. Pre-digestion occurs. Secondarily, it is used for self-defense, though in cases with nonprey, such as humans, they may give a dry bite. A dry bite allows the snake to conserve their precious reserve of venom, because once it has been depleted, it takes time to replenish, leaving the snake vulnerable. In addition to being able to deliver dry bites, vipers can inject larger quantities of venom into larger prey targets, smaller amounts into small prey; this causes the ideal amount of pre-digestion for the lowest amount of venom. All vipers have keeled scales, a stocky build with a short tail, due to the location of the venom glands, a triangle-shaped head distinct from the neck.
The great majority have vertically elliptical, or slit-shaped, pupils that can open wide to cover most of the eye or close completely, which helps them to see in a wide range of light levels. Vipers are nocturnal and ambush their prey. Compared to many other snakes, vipers appear rather sluggish. Most are holding eggs inside their bodies, where they hatch inside and emerge living. However, a few lay eggs in nests; the number of young in a clutch remains constant, but as the weight of the mother increases, larger eggs are produced, yielding larger young. Viperid snakes are found in the Americas and Eurasia. In the Americas, they are native from south of the 48th parallel, through the United States, Central America, into South America. In the old world, viperids are located everywhere except Siberia and the continent of Australia; the adder, a viperid, is the only venomous snake found in Great Britain, is found north of the Arctic Circle in Norway and Sweden. Viperid venoms contain an abundance of protein-degrading enzymes, called proteases, that produce symptoms such as pain, strong local swelling and necrosis, blood loss from cardiovascular damage complicated by coagulopathy, disruption of the blood-clotting system.
Death is caused by collapse in blood pressure. This is in contrast to elapid venoms that contain neurotoxins that disable muscle contraction and cause paralysis. Death from elapid bites results from asphyxiation because the diaphragm can no longer contract. However, this rule does not always apply. Proteolytic venom is dual-purpose: firstly, it is used for defense and to immobilize prey, as with neurotoxic venoms; this is an important adaptation. Due to the nature of proteolytic venom, a viperid bite is a painful experience and should always be taken though it may not prove fatal. With prompt and proper treatment, a bite can still result in a permanent scar, in the worst cases, the affected limb may have to be amputated. A victim's fate is impossible to predict, as this depends on many factors, including the species and size of the snake involved, how much venom was injected, the size and condition of the patient before being bitten. Viper bite victims may be allergic to the venom and/or the antivenom.
These snakes can decide. The most important determinant of venom expenditure is the size of the snake; the species is important, since some are to inject more venom than others, may have more venom available, strike more or deliver a number of bites in a short time. In predatory bites, factors that influence the amount of venom injected include the size of the prey, the species of prey, whether the prey item is held or released; the need to label prey for chemosensory relocation after a bite and release may play a role. In defensive bites, the amount of venom injected may be determined by the
Tlaxcala (Nahua state)
Tlaxcala was a pre-Columbian city and state in central Mexico. During the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Tlaxcala allied with the Spaniards against the Aztecs, supplying a large contingent for – and at times the majority of – the Spanish-led army that destroyed the Aztec empire; the Tlaxcalans arrived in Central Mexico during the Late Postclassic. They first settled near Texcoco in the valley of Mexico, between the settlement of Cohuatlinchan and the shore of Lake Texcoco. After some years the Tlaxcallans were driven out of the valley of Mexico and moved to the east, splitting into three groups along the way. While one group continued north towards the modern state of Hidalgo and another remained in the vicinity of Texcoco, a third group arrived to the modern valley of Tlaxcala, where they established the city of Tepetícpac Texcallan under the leadership of Culhuatecuhtli Quanex. Over the subsequent years, the Tlaxcallan state expanded with the foundations of Ocotelulco and Tizatlán; the fourth major settlement, was founded by members of the Tlaxcallan group that had remained in the valley of Mexico.
Ancient Tlaxcala was a republic ruled by a council of between 200 chief political officials. These officials gained their positions through service to the state in warfare, as a result came from both the noble and commoner classes. Tlaxcala was never conquered by the Aztec empire, but was engaged in a state of perpetual war, the so-called flower wars or garland wars. Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo describes the first battle between the Spanish force and the Tlaxcalteca as difficult, he writes that they would not have survived, had not Xicotencatl the Elder, Maxixcatzin, persuaded Xicotencatl the Younger- the Tlaxcallan warleader- that it would be better to ally with the newcomers than to kill them. Xicohtencatl the Younger was condemned by the Tlaxcaltecan ruling council and hanged by Cortés for desertion in April 1521 during the siege of Tenochtitlan; as a result of their alliance with the Spaniards, Tlaxcala had hidalgo privileged status within Spanish colonial Mexico. After the Spanish conquered Tenochtitlan and the rest of Mexico, Tlaxcala was allowed to survive and preserve its pre-Columbian culture.
In addition, as a reward to the Tlaxcalans unyielding loyalty to the Spanish, the city and its inhabitants escaped the pillaging and destruction following the Spanish conquest. Due to protracted warfare between the Aztecs and the Tlaxcala, the Tlaxcala were eager to exact revenge, soon became loyal allies of the Spanish. After the Spanish were expelled from Tenochtitlan, the Tlaxcala continued to support their conquest. Tlaxcala assisted the Spanish in the conquest of Guatemala. Following the Spanish Conquest, Tlaxcala was divided into four fiefdoms by the Spanish corregidor Gómez de Santillán in 1545; these fiefdoms were Ocotelolco, Quiahuiztlan and Tizatlan. At this time, four great houses or lineages emerged and claimed hereditary rights to each fiefdom and created fictitious genealogies extending back into the pre-Columbian era to justify their claims. During the colonial period, the Tlaxcalan people were regarded as being of higher status and received better treatment compared to the other indigenous peoples of New Spain.
However, the indigenous population, living in Tlaxcala were reduced to a small minority. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, in 1625 the city of Tlaxcala had only 700 people, compared to a population of 300,000 a century earlier, owing to epidemics and the work of digging the canal of Nochistongo to drain the Valley of Mexico. Tlaxcaltec - Nahuatl for inhabitants of Tlaxcala Tlaxcala - the present day Mexican state Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala - the present day capital of the state of Tlaxcala Diego Muñoz Camargo's History of Tlaxcala, written in or before 1585, is an illustrated codex describing the conquest of Mexico, it was painted by Tlaxcalteca artists under Spanish supervision. Crónica Mexicayotl was written by Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc, in Nahuatl and Spanish, in the last decades of the 16th century. Alvarado Tezozomoc, Fernando. Crónica Mexicana. Mexico: Manuel Orozco y Berra, Leyenda. Fargher, Lane F. Richard E. Blanton and Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza. Egalitarian Ideology and Political Power in Prehispanic Central Mexico: The Case of Tlaxcallan.
"Latin American Antiquity," 21:227-251. Gibson, Charles. Tlaxcala in the Sixteenth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press. Hassig, Ross. "Xicotencatl: rethinking an indigenous Mexican hero", Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl, UNAM. Hicks, Frederic. Land and Succession in the Indigenous Noble Houses of Sixteenth-Century Tlaxcala. Ethnohistory, 56:4, 569–588. Muñoz Camargo, Diego. Historia de Tlaxcala. Alfredo Chavero. México. Restall, Matthew. Invading Guatemala: Spanish and Maya Accounts of the Conquest Wars. University Park, Pennsylvania, USA: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-02758-6. OCLC 165478850. Spanish language description of the historiography of Tlaxcala Article in Sciencemag about archeological findings at Tizatlan
Xipe Totec
In Aztec mythology and religion, Xipe Totec or Xipetotec was a life-death-rebirth deity, god of agriculture, the east, spring, silversmiths and the seasons. Xipe Totec was known by various other names, including Tlatlauhca, Tlatlauhqui Tezcatlipoca and Youalahuan; the Tlaxcaltecs and the Huexotzincas worshipped a version of the deity under the name of Camaxtli, the god has been identified with Yopi, a Zapotec god represented on Classic Period urns. The female equivalent of Xipe Totec was the goddess Xilonen-Chicomecoatl. Xipe Totec connected agricultural renewal with warfare, he flayed himself to give food to humanity, symbolic of the way maize seeds lose their outer layer before germination and of snakes shedding their skin. Without his skin, he was depicted as a golden god. Xipe Totec was believed by the Aztecs to be the god, his insignia included the pointed cap and rattle staff, the war attire for the Mexica emperor. He had a temple called Yopico within the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. Xipe Totec is associated with pimples and eye diseases, plague.
Xipe Totec has a strong relation to diseases such as smallpox and eye sickness and if someone suffered from these diseases offerings were made to him. This deity is of uncertain origin. Xipe Totec was worshipped in central Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest, was known throughout most of Mesoamerica. Representations of the god have been found as far away as Mayapan in the Yucatán Peninsula; the worship of Xipe Totec was common along the Gulf Coast during the Early Postclassic. The deity became an important Aztec god as a result of the Aztec conquest of the Gulf Coast in the middle of the fifteenth century. In January 2019, Mexican archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History confirmed that they had discovered the first known surviving temple dedicated to Xipe Totec in the Puebla state of Mexico; the temple was found. The Popolucas built the temple in an area called Ndachjian-Tehuacan between AD 1000 and 1260 prior to Aztec invasion of the area. Xipe Totec appears in codices with his right hand upraised and his left hand extending towards the front.
Xipe Totec is represented wearing flayed human skin with the flayed skin of the hands falling loose from the wrists. His hands are bent in a position that appears to hold a ceremonial object, his body is painted yellow on one side and tan on the other. His mouth, neck and legs are sometimes painted red. In some cases, some parts of the human skin covering is painted yellowish-gray; the eyes are not visible, the mouth is open and the ears are perforated. He had vertical stripes running down from his forehead to his chin, running across the eyes, he was sometimes carrying a container filled with seeds. One Xipe Totec sculpture was carved from volcanic rock, portrays a man standing on a small pedestal; the chest has an incision, made in order to extract the heart of the victim before flaying. It is that sculptures of Xipe Totec were ritually dressed in the flayed skin of sacrificial victims and wore sandals. In most of Xipe Totec sculptures, artists always make emphasis in his sacrificial and renewal nature by portraying the different layers of skin.
Xipe Totec emerging from rotting, flayed skin after twenty days symbolised rebirth and the renewal of the seasons, the casting off of the old and the growth of new vegetation. New vegetation was represented by putting on the new skin of a flayed captive because it symbolized the vegetation the earth puts on when the rain comes; the living god lay concealed underneath the superficial veneer of death, ready to burst forth like a germinating seed. The deity had a malevolent side as Xipe Totec was said to cause rashes, pimples and eye infections; the flayed skins were believed to have curative properties when touched and mothers took their children to touch such skins in order to relieve their ailments. People wishing to be cured made offerings to him at Yopico; the annual festival of Xipe Totec was celebrated on the spring equinox before the onset of the rainy season. This festival took place in March at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Forty days before the festival of Xipe Totec, an Indian slave, captured at war was dressed to represent the living god, honored during this period.
This occurred in every ward of the city. The central ritual act of "Tlacaxipehualiztli" was the gladiatorial sacrifice of war prisoners, which both began and culminated the festival. On the next day of the festival, the game of canes was performed in the manner of two bands; the first band were those who took the part of Xipe Totec and went dressed in the skins of the war prisoners who were killed the previous day, so the fresh blood was still flowing. The opposing band was composed of daring soldiers who were brave and fearless, who took part in the combat with the others. After the conclusion of this game, those who wore the human skins went around throughout the whole town, entering houses and demanding that those in the houses give them some alms or gifts for the love of Xipe Totec. While in the houses, they sat down on sheaves of tzapote leaves and put on necklaces which were made of ears of corn and flowers, they h
Mexica
The Mexica (Nahuatl: Mēxihcah, Nahuatl pronunciation: or Mexicas were a Nahuatl-speaking indigenous people of the Valley of Mexico, known today as the rulers of the Aztec Empire. This group was known as the Culhua-Mexica in recognition of its kinship alliance with the neighboring Culhua, descendants of the revered Toltecs, who occupied the Toltec capital of Tula from the tenth through twelfth centuries; the Mexica were additionally referred to as the "Tenochca", a term associated with the name of their altepetl and Tenochtitlan's founding leader, Tenoch. The Mexica established a settlement on an island in Lake Texcoco. A dissident group in Mexico-Tenochtitlan separated and founded the settlement of Mexico-Tlatelolco with its own dynastic lineage; the name Aztec was coined by Alexander von Humboldt who combined "Aztlan", their mythic homeland, "tec",'people of'. The term Aztec is used broadly to refer not only to the Mexica, but to the Nahuatl-speaking peoples or Nahuas of the Valley of Mexico and neighboring valleys.
After about 1200 CE, various nomadic peoples entered the Valley of Mexico, including the Mexica. When they arrived, they "encountered the remnants of the Toltec empire." There were other groups. Given the Mexica's religious beliefs, it is said that they were searching for a sign which one of their main gods, had given them. Over time, the Mexica separated Huitzilopochtli from Tezcatlipoca, another god, more predominantly idolized, redefining their relative realms of power, reshaping the myths, making him politically superior; the Mexica were to find "an eagle with a snake in its beak, perched on a prickly pear cactus." Wherever they saw, where they were meant to live. They continuously searched for the symbol, they happened to stumble upon Lake Texcoco, where they saw it. There was an island on the lake. There, "they took refuge... naming their settlement Tenochtitlan." Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325, but other researchers and anthropologists believe the year to be 1345. A dissident group of Mexica separated from the main body and settled in a location to the north of Tenochtitlan.
Calling their new home Tlatelolco, the Tlatelolca were to become Tenochtitlan's persistent rivals in the Valley of Mexico. The Mexica were a Nahua people, who founded their two city-states and Tlatelolco, on raised islets in Lake Texcoco in 1325 and 1337, respectively. After the rise of the Aztec Triple Alliance, the Tenochca Mexica, the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan, assumed a dominant position over their two allied city-states and Tlacopan. Only a few years after Tenochtitlan was founded, the Mexica dominated the political landscape in Central Mexico until being defeated by the Spanish and their indigenous allies enemies of the Mexica, in 1519; the Mexica, once established in Tenochtitlan, built grand temples for different purposes. The Templo Mayor, nearby buildings, associated sculptures and offerings are rich in the symbolism of Aztec cosmology that linked rain and fertility, warfare and imperialism with the sacred mission to preserve the sun and the cosmic order; the Templo Mayor was special for many reasons since it was "the site of large-scale sacrifices of enemy warriors which served intertwined political and religious ends."
The Templo Mayor was a double pyramid-temple dedicated to Tlaloc, the ancient Central Mexican rain god, Huitzilopochtli, the Mexica tribal numen, who, as the politically-dominant deity in Mexico, was associated with the sun. The Mexica are eponymous of the place name Mexico Mēxihco, it refers to the interconnected settlements in the valley that became the site of what is now Mexico City, which held natural and population advantages, as the metropolitan center of the region of the future Mexican state. In the end, "the Mexica of Tenochtitlan were conquered by the Spanish conquistadors under Fernando Cortés in 1521."The area was expanded upon in the wake of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and administered from the former Aztec capital as New Spain. Like many of the peoples around them, the Mexica spoke Nahuatl which, with the expansion of the Aztec Empire, became the lingua franca in other areas, dominating the Tarascan language, Purépecha; the form of Nahuatl used in the 16th century, when it began to be written in the Latin alphabet introduced by the Spanish, became known as Classical Nahuatl.
Nahuatl is still spoken today by over 1.5 million people in Mexico
