Intro

Hello and welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

I’m Jans, your Mnemonic Man, and today's episode will be on another empire that was devastated by the Spanish conquistadores, along with their introduced diseases, the Aztecs.

The Aztec Empire was a Mesoamerican civilisation that was formed after a ‘Triple Alliance’ of city states in the valley of Mexico. Originally a nomadic tribe called the Mexica, they eventually settled on an island in Lake Texcoco, where they founded their capital, Tenochtitlan, in 1325.

Tenochtitlan grew to be one of the biggest cities in the world, helped through its military conquest and powerful alliances. Conquered peoples were left to their own rule, rather than direct control; however were subjugated and forced to pay regular tribute.

The Aztecs even prolonged wars for two main reasons: firstly, to help provide constant training for Aztec soldiers, and secondly, it served as a source to gather combatants for religious sacrifice.

The Aztec religion was based upon existing Mesoamerican belief systems that had existed for thousands of years prior. It was primarily polytheistic with male and female gods, and to keep these gods happy, they made many sacrifices, which included humans. Apparently, I heard that their motto was “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything!”

They were skilled in agriculture and developed floating gardens called chinampas to grow their crops, extensive canals, and elaborate causeways. Along with this, and to which I am extremely grateful for, they were the first people to discover chocolate and made the first hot chocolate drink, similar to what we have today.

Also, a note just before we begin, both Mexico and Moctezuma will be pronounced in the English version rather than the Spanish, which is Mexico and Moctezuma.

Today’s mnemonic will be on the Aztecs, top six facts.

So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mexico-Butterfly-Aztec-Warrior.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

The Aztecs were Native American people who lived in Mesoamerica. They ruled the Aztec Empire from the 14th century to the 16th century.

The name "Aztec" comes from the phrase "people from Aztlan". Legends say that Aztlan was the first place the Aztecs ever lived. "Aztlan" means "place of the herons" in the Nahuatl language.[2]p. 8

Often the term "Aztec" refers just to the people of Tenochtitlan. This was a city on an island in Lake Texcoco.

These people called themselves the Mexica which is why the country is called Mexico, or the Nahua which is why their language is called Nahuatl.

This civilization lived in central Mexico between the 14th and 16th centuries.

Their capital city was Tenochtitlan, built where Mexico City stands today. The Aztec civilization ended when Spanish forces conquered them in 1521.

Before the Spanish Empire conquered them, the indigenous people lived in many separate city-states. These were small cities with farmland around them.

Each state had its own ruler. Around 1100 AD, these city-states started to fight each other for power and control of the area's resources.

Historians think the Aztecs came to central Mesoamerica around 1200. They came from what is now northwest Mexico.

By 1325, the Aztecs had built Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco. Tenochtitlan became a city-state that gradually became more and more powerful.

By about 1400, three city-states had grown into small empires. In 1428, these two empires fought the Tepanec War for control of the area.

The Texcoco empire made an alliance with some other powerful city-states, including Tenochtitlan, and won the war. These allies were supposed to share power equally as they started to gain control of more land.

However, by 1430, Tenochtitlan became the most powerful member of the alliance. It became the capital city of the Aztec Empire, and its ruler became the 'high king' of the Empire.

Extracted from: [https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztecs]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aztec_solar_or_Mexica_calendar_01.jpg

Mnemonic

The Aztecs – Top 6 Facts Mnemonic – MAATTT

(Picture Moctezuma and the Aztecs rolling out the welcoming mat to Cortés and the Spanish conquistadores as they did)

1. Moctezuma was their most famous leader

2. Aztec Empire existed from 1300 to 1521

3. Aztec Empire was crushed by the Spanish Conquistadores in 1521, led by Cortés

4. They called themselves the Mexica

5. They spoke the language Nahuatl

6. The capital city was Tenochtitlan

Five Fun Facts

1. The Aztec people would not have used the name Aztec. The word Aztec refers to the people of Aztlan, which was the ancestral home of the Aztecs. This was thought to be located in Northern Mexico or the southwestern United States. The Aztec people referred to themselves as the ‘Mexica.’

2. The Mexica spoke the Nahuatl language and migrated down to the Basin of Mexico around 1250 AD. As most of the fertile land had been taken, they moved to an island in Lake Texcoco, where an eagle nested upon a cactus, eating a snake. Sound familiar? They saw this as a prophecy, and thus Tenochtitlan was founded on the island in 1325.

3. Three city-states had emerged, but in 1426, the Tepanec ruler died, and his overly ambitious son inherited the throne. He tried to mitigate the power of the Aztecs, but unfortunately for him was crushed and forced into subjugation and made to pay tribute.

4. Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities in the world by 1500. The city’s population was over 200,000 by the early 16th century, with only Paris and Constantinople being bigger at the time. While the Aztecs lacked metallurgy for warfare, they were extremely advanced in architecture, art, and astronomy. Two notable structures included the Templo Mayor, their main temple, and the 24-ton Aztec Sun Stone, which was rediscovered in 1790.

5. The Aztec empire was crushed by the Spanish conquistadores and their allies in 1521. This is the famous incident with Moctezuma, where initially the Spanish conquistador Cortés was initially friendly with Moctezuma, but subsequently took him hostage and imprisoned him, in order to gain control of the city and its riches. After fighting broke out after the killing of Aztec nobles, Moctezuma was killed, and Cortés sacked the city. Along with the attack from Spanish conquistadores, smallpox devastated the indigenous population, with about a quarter dying from the disease.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aztec_Human_Sacrifice.jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. Which modern-day city was the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan located?

Q.2. Were Aztec warriors known to eat dead enemies? Yes or No

Q.3. What crop was the principle Aztec crop? Options are wheat, rice, or maize

Bonus Q. How many calendars did the Aztecs use? Options are 2, 3, or 4

Bonus Q. Where would Aztecs bury a dead family member? Options are under their house or under the main temple

Mnemonic Recap

Aztecs – Top 6 Facts Mnemonic – MAATTT

(Picture Moctezuma and the Aztecs rolling out the welcoming mat to Cortés and the Spanish conquistadores as they did)

1. Moctezuma was their most famous leader

2. Aztec Empire existed from 1300 to 1521

3. Aztec Empire was crushed by the Spanish Conquistadores in 1521, led by Cortés

4. They called themselves the Mexica

5. They spoke the language Nahuatl

6. The capital city was Tenochtitlan

Three Question Quiz Answers

Q.1. Which modern-day city was the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan located?

A. Mexico City

Q.2. Were Aztec warriors known to eat dead enemies? Yes or No

A. Yes. But only in extreme situations when they had no food left

Q.3. What crop was the principle Aztec crop? Options are wheat, rice, or maize

A. Maize. They even had a god for it called Centeotl, which translates to “Maize Cob Lord.”

Bonus Q. How many calendars did the Aztecs use? Options are 2, 3, or 4

A. Two calendars were used, a 260-day cycle for rituals and a 365-day cycle for the civil year

Bonus Q. Where would Aztecs bury a dead family member? Options are under their house or under the main temple

A. Under their house, as they believed in maintaining a connection with their ancestors

The ‘Day of the Dead’ also originated with the Aztecs, which is now a popular tradition in Mexico, that celebrates the dead and reminds people that we shouldn’t fear death.

Word of the Week

teratoid

[ ter-uh-toid ]

adjective

resembling a monster

Example

The fact that Moctezuma was seen as teratoid by the Tlaxcalans and others, this leveraged Cortes’s chances of victory with their assistance.

Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]

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