Moctezuma II, variant spellings include Montezuma, Motecuhzoma, Motēuczōmah and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlán, reigning from 1502 to 1520. The first contact between indigenous civilizations of Mesoamerica and Europeans took place during his reign, he was killed during the initial stages of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, when conquistador Hernán Cortés and his men fought to take over the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. During his reign the Aztec Empire reached its greatest size. Through warfare, Moctezuma expanded the territory as far south as Xoconosco in Chiapas and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, incorporated the Zapotec and Yopi people into the empire, he changed the previous meritocratic system of social hierarchy and widened the divide between pipiltin and macehualtin by prohibiting commoners from working in the royal palaces. The portrayal of Moctezuma in history has been colored by his role as ruler of a defeated nation, many sources describe him as weak-willed and indecisive.
The biases of some historical sources make it difficult to understand his actions during the Spanish invasion. Moctezuma had many wives and concubines but only two women held the position of queen – Tlapalizquixochtzin and Teotlalco, he was a king consort of Ecatepec because Tlapalizquixochtzin was queen of that city. His many children included Princess Isabel Moctezuma -- and sons Tlaltecatzin; the Nahuatl pronunciation of his name is. It is a compound of a noun meaning "lord" and a verb meaning "to frown in anger", so is interpreted as "he is one who frowns like a lord" or "he, angry in a noble manner."His name glyph, shown in the upper left corner of the image from the Codex Mendoza above, was composed of a diadem on straight hair with an attached earspool, a separate nosepiece and a speech scroll. The Aztecs did not use regnal numbers; the Aztec chronicles called him Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, while the first was called Motecuhzoma Ilhuicamina or Huehuemotecuhzoma. Xocoyotzin means "honored young one".
The descriptions of the life of Moctezuma are full of contradictions, thus nothing is known for certain about his personality and rule. The firsthand account of Bernal Díaz del Castillo's True History of the Conquest of New Spain paints a portrait of a noble leader who struggles to maintain order in his kingdom after he is taken prisoner by Hernán Cortés. In his first description of Moctezuma, Díaz del Castillo writes: The Great Montezuma was about forty years old, of good height, well proportioned and slight, not dark, though of the usual Indian complexion, he did not wear his hair long but just over his ears, he had a short black beard, well-shaped and thin. His face was rather long and cheerful, he had fine eyes, in his appearance and manner could express geniality or, when necessary, a serious composure, he was neat and clean, took a bath every afternoon. He had many women as his mistresses, the daughters of chieftains, but two legitimate wives who were Caciques in their own right, only some of his servants knew of it.
He was quite free from sodomy. The clothes he wore one day he did not wear again till four days later, he had a guard of two hundred chieftains lodged in rooms beside his own, only some of whom were permitted to speak to him. When Moctezuma was killed by being stoned to death by his own people "Cortés and all of us captains and soldiers wept for him, there was no one among us that knew him and had dealings with him who did not mourn him as if he were our father, not surprising, since he was so good, it was stated that he had reigned for seventeen years, was the best king they had in Mexico, that he had triumphed in three wars against countries he had subjugated. I have spoken of the sorrow. We blamed the Mercederian friar for not having persuaded him to become a Christian." The Florentine Codex, made by Bernardino de Sahagún, relied on native informants from Tlatelolco, portrays Tlatelolco and Tlatelolcan rulers in a favorable light relative to those of Tenochtitlan. Moctezuma in particular is depicted unfavorably as a weak-willed and indulgent ruler.
Historian James Lockhart suggests that the people needed to have a scapegoat for the Aztec defeat, Moctezuma fell into that role. Unlike Bernal Díaz, recording his memories many years after the fact, Cortés wrote his Cartas de relación to justify his actions to the Spanish Crown, his prose is characterized by simple descriptions and explanations, along with frequent personal addresses to the King. In his Second Letter, Cortés describes his first encounter with Moctezuma thus: Moctezuma came to greet us and with him some two hundred lords, all barefoot and dressed in a different costume, but very rich in their way and more so than the others, they came in two columns, pressed close to the walls of the street, wide and beautiful and so straight that you can see from one end to the other. Moctezuma came down the middle of this street with two chiefs, one on his right hand and the other on his left, and they were all dressed alike except that Moctezuma wore sanda
Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons is an English-Irish actor and model. He is known for his roles in Red Riding Hood, his first leading role in Bitter Harvest, The White Queen, The Host, Woman in Gold,The Riot Club, The Wife. Irons was born in Camden, London, on 17 October 1985, the son of English actor Jeremy Irons and Irish actress Sinéad Cusack, he is the grandson of actors Cyril Maureen Cusack. His brother, Samuel Irons, is a photographer. Through his mother, he is a half-brother of politician Richard Boyd Barrett. Irons attended the Dragon School in Oxford Bryanston School in Dorset, graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2008; as a dyslexic student, the teaching methods adopted by his school didn't suit his learning style, which resulted in him struggling through his school years, his father discouraged him from going into an acting career. While first starting off in acting, Irons worked as a barman. On 30 November 2019, he married fashion director for Tatler, in Oxfordshire.
The two had been engaged since 2013. In 2011, Irons played Henry in Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood, he was chosen to play Jared Howe in the 2013 film adaptation of The Host, based on Stephenie Meyer's novel of the same name. In the 2013 television series The White Queen, Irons took the leading role of Edward IV of England; the series, based on Philippa Gregory's best-selling historical novel series The Cousins' War, was broadcast weekly on BBC One, ending on 18 August 2013. Irons appeared in 2014 film The Riot Club, the film adaptation of Posh. In 2016, he starred in the ITV miniseries Tutankhamun as Howard Carter. In April 2017, producers announced Irons had been cast to play the role created by Robert Redford in Three Days of the Condor in a television series based on the movie. Irons has modelled for companies including Mango; as of 2012, he was on a modelling contract for Macy's I. N. C. Collection for Fall/Winter 2012 as reported on 15 August 2012 by The Huffington Post. In 2015, he was named one of GQ's 50 best-dressed British men.
Varsity Spirit Corp. is an American organization that sells cheerleading and dance apparel, trains cheerleaders and dancers at educational camps and hosts cheerleading competitions. The company is best known for organizing and staging large-scale cheerleading activities within the United States, it has origins that trace back to 1948. Since its founding, Varsity Spirit has become known for its involvement in the cheerleading industry. In 1980, it hosted the first cheerleading championship called the National High School Cheerleading Championship and as of 2015, three of Varsity Spirit's national championships are televised on the ESPN Networks, including the National High School Cheerleading Championship, the National College Cheerleading and Dance Team Championship and the National Dance Team Championship. Select divisions are aired live on ESPN 3. Varsity Spirit camps train 325,000 cheerleaders from colleges, high schools, middle schools, all star programs at 1,500 camps sessions around the United States.
In all, 475,000 cheerleaders and dance team members compete at Varsity Spirit events. Varsity Spirit was founded by Jeff Webb, a yell leader at the University of Oklahoma contemplating law school. While working in summers as a camp instructor for National Cheerleaders Association with Lawrence Herkimer, he decided to start Universal Cheerleaders Association. Webb had a vision to combine cheerleading with high energy entertainment and traditional school leadership, he founded UCA in 1974. Webb used marketing and promotional campaigns to increase cheerleading's profile. In 1983, ESPN first broadcast eight hours of Varsity's national championships, a relationship that continues to this day. In 2002, Webb was featured in a USA Today article entitled From Megaphones to Mega-Profits. Varsity worked on driving the development of an international phenomenon that now not only includes millions of young Americans, but a growing number of participants worldwide. In 2004, they announced a merger with National Cheerleaders Association to form the largest partnership in the cheerleading and dance team industry.
In June 2010, Jeff Webb was called upon Title IX Case: Quinnipiac University in the federal trial in Connecticut, as an expert witness to clarify if Competitive College Cheerleading was a Title IX Compliant Sport to allow for the Quinnipiac University Volleyball Team to be replaced by the less costlier Quinnipiac University All Girl Cheerleading Team as proposed by the Quinnipiac University Athletic Department. In 2011, Varsity merged with Herff Jones, the Indianapolis-based provider of graduation and educational products and services, such as class rings and jewelry, yearbooks and recognition tools, educational products. Jeff Webb was named President and COO in December 2012. Varsity Spirit requires a Safety Awareness class for all of its more than 350,000 cheerleading camp attendees and worked with the National Collegiate Athletic Association to require that all college programs are under the direction of a safety certified coach. For cheerleading safety, it partnered with the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators, a nonprofit risk management organization that has certified more than 20,000 coaches from its founding, is seen as the standard of cheerleading safety.
AACCA was founded in 1987 with initial funding from Varsity Spirit. Since 2006, Varsity Spirit has provided safety audits for several of the NCAA Basketball Conference tournaments, including the Big 10 and others, to ensure the cheerleading squads are in compliance with safety requirements; the NCAA's insurance company has only had a single catastrophic injury claim from cheerleading since 2006, when the NCAA partnered with Varsity and started requiring that coaches receive safety training like the AACCA course. Under the new safety program, both participant and coach training on technical cheerleading skills will emphasize learning in a progressive format, as well as on basic safety rules and limitations for games and practice. Training is provided at Varsity Spirit summer camps throughout the country; the National Federation of State High School Associations developed a Spirit Coaches Education Program in 2007, selected the AACCA Safety Course as the first course offering. Varsity Spirit's educational curriculum provides technical training in the more advanced safety modules presented by the NFHS.
In 2009, AACCA and Varsity Spirit announced stricter safety standards for all competitions, which addressed the proper environment and equipment for cheerleading activity and clarified the requirements for spotters on the competition floor. In May 2010, AACCA released new safety guidelines for elementary and junior high school teams. In 2011, Varsity Spirit covered the cost of the AACCA Safety Course for 200 coaches. In March 2011, Varsity Spirit supported USA Cheer as it developed the USA Cheer Safety Council in partnership with the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, founded by Dr. James Andrews, the renowned orthopedic surgeon. In 2011, Varsity Spirit began "Team Up for St. Jude," a fundraising campaign to support the children's research hospital. "Team Up for St. Jude" includes a letter writing Team Up for St. Jude Game Day events; as of January 2015, Varsity Spirit, through the Team Up for St. Jude Spirited by Varsity campaign, has contributed more than $2.6 million to St. Jude.
On July 8, 2019, Varsity Spirit’s parent company, Varsity Brands, was awarded the “Spirit of St. Jude” award for its commitment to the hospital’s mission to defeat childhood cancer. Since the campaign began, Varsity Brands has raised $8 million for St. Jude; the Sparkle Effect is a nonprofit organization that generates cheerleading and dance programs including stud