Aztec

Origins and formation

The Aztec Empire, the Triple Alliance, was an alliance of three Nahua city-states: Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan. They ruled in and around the Valley of Mexico from 1428 until 1521, when Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés and their native allies defeated them. The people are most accurately called Mexica in the lead. A European name for one emperor is not those three cities.²

Defining periods

Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, called Moctezuma II in European sources and often Montezuma, lived from about 1466 to 29 June 1520. He was the ninth emperor and reigned from 1502 or 1503 to 1520. Through one of his two wives, Queen Tlapalizquixochtzin of Ecatepec, he was also king consort of that altepetl. The first contact between Mesoamerican civilizations and Europeans took place in his reign. He was killed during the initial stages of the Spanish conquest. The alliance’s end in the other lead is 1521, the year after his death. No Civilization VII essay covers this alliance, so none is linked.^{1 2}

Leaders

The Chinese update notes head a balance block with the ordinary name for the Aztec and tag a ball court as base game, with a different figure when Rise and Fall or Gathering Storm is present. They do not print Montezuma. The English notes do the same. His Chinese name in this essay is the standard reading. The building’s base-game tag is why the civilization’s pack is recorded as base game. It is not a sentence that names his portrait’s pack, so that pack stays unconfirmed. This essay does not copy the culture figures.^{3 4}

Legacy and interpretation

The alliance’s legacy in the lead is three cities from 1428 to 1521. Moctezuma’s legacy is the reign that met the Spanish and a death on 29 June 1520. The defeat of 1521 is the alliance’s end, not his coronation. Reading the European nickname as the whole of the Mexica would hide Tetzcoco and Tlacopan.^{1 2}

A closer look

The update’s Aztec line changes culture from a ball court. It is a balance number. This essay does not copy it. A court is not 29 June 1520.^{3 4}

In Civilization VI

The building is tagged base game. Montezuma’s pack stays unconfirmed, and his Chinese name is a standard reading. Keep 1428, 1502 or 1503, 29 June 1520, and 1521 apart. Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan are three cities. Moctezuma’s death comes during the first stage of the conquest. The alliance’s defeat is the next year. Cortés is named in the empire lead as the Spanish commander. The queen of Ecatepec is one of two wives, not a second emperor. The European nickname Montezuma is not a fourth city. The Mexica name in the empire lead is the people, not a correction of the death in 1520. The three cities remain three.^{1 2 4}