Texcoco
Encyclopedia : T : TE : TEX : Texcoco
Texcoco is a city in México State, Mexico, located to the east of Mexico City at . The city stands at about 2,250 meters above sea level. In 2003 Texcoco had an estimated population of about 109,000 people. Historically, the name of the city has sometimes been rendered as Tezcuco.
Texcoco is most noted for its membership in the Aztec Triple Alliance. At the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, it was the one of the largest and most pretigious cities in central Mexico, second only to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. A survey of Mesoamerican cities estimated that pre-Conquest Texcoco had a population of 24,000 and occupied an area of 450 hectares.Smith (2005), p. 411.
The city also has impressive Spanish Colonial Style architecture, including a large convent and the cathedral built atop the base of a Pre-Columbian pyramid.
History
Texcoco was founded in the 12th century, on the eastern shore of Lake Texcoco, probably by the Chichimecs. In or about 1337, the Acolhua, with Tepanec help, expelled Chichimecs from Texcoco and Texcoco became the Acolhua capital city, taking over that role from Coatlinchan.In 1418, Ixtlilxochitl I, the tlatoani (ruler) of Texcoco, was dethroned by Tezozomoc of Azcapotzalco. Ten years later, in 1428, Ixtlilxochitl's son, Nezahualcoyotl allied with the Aztecs to defeat Tezozomoc's son and successor, Maxtla. Texcoco and the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan, with the Tepanecs of Tlacopan, subsequently formalized their association as the Triple Alliance.
Texcoco thereby became the second most important city in the eventual Aztec empire, by agreement receiving two-fifths of the tribute collected.
Texcoco was known as a center of learning within the empire, and had a famed library including books from older Mesoamerican civilizations.
Rulers of Texcoco
Nezahualcoyotl (1403 - 1473) was a noted poet, philosopher, and patron of the arts. He also had a large botanical and zoological garden, with specimens of plants and animals from throughout the empire and from the more distant lands with which the Empire traded.Nezahualcoyotl's son Nezahualpilli (1464-1515) continued the tradition of patronizing the arts.
In 1520 the troops of Hernán Cortés occupied the city and killed Cacamatzin, Nezahualpilli's son and the last independent tlatoani, installing Ixtlilxochitl II as a puppet ruler. Cortés made Texcoco his base and employed Texcoco warriors in the Siege of Tenochtitlan.
Subsequent history
From 1827 to 1830 Texcoco was the capital of México State.Footnotes
References
External link
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