THE TOLTEC PERIOD.
The Nahua Occupation of Mexico in the Sixth and Seventh
Centuries -- Condition of Anáhuac -- The Mixcohuas and
Chichimec Culhuas -- The Toltecs at Tulancingo and Tollan
-- Establishment of a Monarchy and Choice of a King,
710-720 A.D. -- Kingdoms of Culhuacan and Quauhtitlan --
The Teoamoxtli -- Prophecies and Death of Hueman -- Birth
of Quetzalcoatl -- Foundation of the Empire, 856 A.D. --
Alliance between Culhuacan, Otompan, and Tollan -- Reign
of Topiltzin Ceacatl Quetzalcoatl at Tollan -- Excesses of
Huemac II., or Tecpancaltzin -- Xochitl, the King's Mistress
-- Fulfillment of the Prophet's Predictions -- Toveyo's
Adventures -- Plagues sent upon the Toltecs -- Famine and
Pestilence -- Reign of Acxitl, or Topiltzin -- Debauchery
of King, Nobles, and Priests -- Tokens of Divine Wrath --
Foreign Invaders -- Final Overthrow of the Toltec Empire.
The sixth and seventh centuries of our era saw the Nahua power,
represented by the various Toltec Chichimec tribes, transferred
from Central America to the Mexican plateaux, with its centre about
the lakes of the valley. The general nature of this transfer we may
comprehend from what has been said in the preceding chapter; of its
details we know little or nothing. Each tribe that rose to national
prominence in Anáhuac during the succeeding centuries, preserved a
somewhat vague traditional memory of its past history, which took the
form in every case of a long migration from a distant land. In each of
these records there is probably an allusion to the original southern
empire, its disruption, and the consequent tribal scattering; but at
the same time most of the events thus recorded relate apparently to
the movements of particular tribes in and about Anáhuac at periods
long subsequent to the original migration and immediately preceding
the final establishment of each tribe. The Toltec version of this
common record has already been given, down to the establishment of
one of the many exiled tribes--the Toltecs proper--at Tulancingo just
north-east of the valley of Mexico. The annals of other Nahua tribes,
the Chichimecs, Nahuatlacas, Tepanecs, Acolhuas, and Aztecs--all of
which may be regarded to a great extent as different versions of the
same common record--will be presented in a future chapter with all
their particulars, fabulous or historical, so far as they have been
preserved. The migrations narrated may all be supposed to date back to
a common beginning, but are arranged by the authorities chronologically
according to the dates of their termination.
We have seen the Olmec tribes established for several centuries on
the eastern plateaux, or in the territory now constituting the states
of Puebla and Tlascala. Cholula was the Olmec capital, a flourishing
city celebrated particularly for its lofty pyramid crowned with a
magnificent temple built in honor of Quetzalcoatl. Teotihuacan within
the valley of Anáhuac had long been as it long continued to be the
religious centre of all the Nahua nations. Here kings and priests
were elected, ordained, and buried. Hither flocked pilgrims from
every direction to consult the oracles, to worship in the temples of
the sun and moon, and to place sacrificial offerings on the altars of
their deities. The sacred city was ruled by the long-haired priests
of the Sun, famous for their austerity and for their wisdom. Through
the hands of these priests, as the Spanish writers tell us, yearly
offerings were made of the first fruits of all their fields; and each
year at harvest-time a solemn festival was celebrated, not unattended
by human sacrifice. It is true that the Spanish authorities in their
descriptions of Teotihuacan and the ceremonies there performed, refer
for the most part to the Toltec rather than the pre-Toltec period;
but it has been seen in the preceding chapter that this city rose
to its position as the religious centre of the Nahuas in Mexico long
before the appearance of the Toltecs, and there is no evidence of any
essential change in its priesthood, or the nature of its theocratic
rule.[IV-1] No national name is applied in tradition to the people that
dwelt in Teotihuacan at this period, although the Totonacs claim to
have built the pyramids before they were driven eastward by Chichimec
tribes. Tabasco, Vera Cruz, and Tamaulipas were occupied by Xicalancas,
Totonacs, and Huastecs, respecting whom little more than their names
is known. Southward in Oajaca were already settled the Miztecs and
Zapotecs. The Otomís, a very numerous people, whose primitive history
is altogether unknown, occupied a large part of the valley of Mexico,
and the surrounding mountains, particularly toward the north and
north-west. There were doubtless many other tribes in Mexico when the
later Nahua nations came, particularly in the north and west, which
tribes were driven out, at least from the most desirable locations,
subjected, or converted and partially civilized by the new-comers; but
such tribes have left no traces in history.[IV-2]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: ANÁHUAC IN THE SIXTH CENTURY.]
During the sixth and seventh centuries we must imagine Anáhuac and the
adjoining territory on the north and west, for a broad but unknown
extent, as being gradually occupied by numerous Nahua nations of
varying power and numbers and of varying degrees of civilization. Some
were originally or soon became in their new homes wild hunting tribes,
powerful but rude, the terror of their neighbors; others settled in
the fertile valleys, lived by agriculture, and retained much of their
original culture. The more powerful nations, probably the most advanced
in culture as well, established themselves in and about the valley of
Mexico, where their capitals were soon flourishing cities, and where
all branches of aboriginal art received more attention than elsewhere
and were correspondingly developed. These central peoples became known,
perhaps at once, but more probably at a later date, as Toltecs, a
name which, whatever its original derivation and signification, became
synonymous with all that is skillful and excellent in art. On the other
hand the outside Nahua nations, many of which had lost in their new
life something of the true Nahua polish, and all of whom were regarded
more or less as barbarians by their more favored brothers of the lake
shores, were from this time known as Chichimecs, whatever may have been
the original application of that name.
[Sidenote: THE MIXCOHUAS.]
It has been remarked that little or nothing is known of the events that
occurred during these two centuries, during which the whole western
section of the country came into possession of numerous Nahua tribes,
as the eastern section had done long before, and as the whole country
remained down to the Spanish Conquest; for there is little evidence
of any subsequent migrations from or into Mexico. Ixtlilxochitl and
the Spanish writers, Torquemada, Vetancvrt, Clavigero, Duran, Veytia,
and the rest, confine their attention to the Toltecs proper, their
migration from Huehue Tlapallan to Tulancingo, which I have already
narrated, their subsequent removal to Tollan, the establishment
of their monarchy, and the succession of their kings. According to
these authors, the Toltecs met no opposition, Tollan had no rivals
nor allied capitals. Brasseur de Bourbourg, however, finds in the
_Codex Chimalpopoca_, already alluded to,[IV-3] and the _Memorial
de Culhuacan_,[IV-4] another similar chronologic record in the Nahua
language, a slight account of some of the other nations that settled in
Anáhuac at this period, even prior to the establishment of the Toltecs
at Tollan. These two documents are the chief authorities for the whole
Toltec period, and since neither of them has ever been published,
nothing remains but to accept the version given by the abbé.[IV-5] The
Mixcohuas were the first of the new tribes that came into notice in the
annals. They first appear at Chalchiuhapan, afterwards Tlascala, but
soon present themselves before the priests of Teotihuacan to receive
their sanction and become 'vassals of the Sun.' Faithless to the vows
taken at the sacred city, the new-comers, instead of establishing
themselves peaceably in the land, proved at first a torment to the
older inhabitants and a source of great anxiety to the priests who had
encouraged their coming; but the first bands of Mixcohuas were finally
subdued and forced to submit to the requirements of the priests of the
Sun by the aid of other succeeding but kindred bands of Chichimecs.
Thus the first epoch of Nahua occupation was one of strife, during
which the name of Mixcohuatl, or Mixcohuatl Mazatzin, 'the hunter,' is
most prominent; together with those of Xiuhnel and Mimich, who defeat
the Olmecs at Huitzilapan. The united bands under Mixcohuatl are known
in the tradition as Chichimec Culhuas, the founders of the city of
Culhuacan on the lake shore, who in a period of sixteen years--from
670 to 686, according to the authorities--became masters of nearly the
whole region south and east of the lakes.[IV-6] At about the same time the
province of Quauhtitlan, 'land of forests,' north-west of the lakes,
seems to have been occupied by another Chichimec nation--for all are
known in the traditions as Chichimecs whenever they are alluded to as
coming from without the valley, but become good Toltecs as soon as they
acquire a degree of power within its limits. Chicon Tonatiuh, 'seven
suns,' is named as the leader of this nation, and the chief cities of
the province were Huehuetocan, 'city of old men,' and Macuexhuacan,
'city of necklaces.'
[Sidenote: FOUNDATION OF TOLLAN.]
Meanwhile the exiles from Huehue Tlapallan were tarrying at Tulancingo,
where they had arrived toward the end of the seventh century,[IV-7]
and where--contrary to the advice of their prophet Hueman, if we may
credit the tradition--weary with their long wanderings, they lived
from sixteen to twenty years in a house which they built sufficiently
large to accommodate them all. During their stay they sent out parties
to make settlements in the adjoining territory, as had been their
custom wherever they had stopped in their long migration. Finally they
listened to the counsels of the venerable Hueman, and, still under the
command of their seven chiefs, transferred their home to Xocotitlan on
the river Quetzalatl, since called Tula, Tullanatl, or Montezuma, where
they founded the city of Tollan,[IV-8] where now stands the little village
of Tula, about thirty miles north-west of the city of Mexico. According
to Brasseur the Otomí city that stood here before the coming of the
Toltecs was called Mamhéni. It cannot be supposed that the Otomís
yielded up their fertile valley to the strangers without a struggle;
but the relation of this struggle like that of many a subsequent one in
which the Toltecs must have engaged in order to establish and maintain
their power, seems to have been intentionally omitted in the native
annals as recorded by the Spanish writers.
During the first six years of their stay in the valley of the
Quetzalatl, the Toltecs gave their attention to the building of the new
city, and the careful cultivation of the surrounding lands; at least
such is the account given by Ixtlilxochitl and those who have followed
him; but, according to Brasseur's interpretation, they spent the six
years in the conquest of the province and siege of the ancient city
which they re-named Tollan. Up to this time the exiles from Huehue
Tlapallan had lived under the command of the rebel princes Chalcaltzin
and Tlacamihtzin with their five companions acting as chiefs of the
different families,[IV-9] but all acting under the directions of Hueman
the prophet. The great age attributed to both prophet and chiefs,
who for over a century at the least had directed the wanderings of
their people, does not, of course merit serious discussion, since
it cannot be literally accepted. The most natural, yet a purely
conjectural, interpretation of the tradition is that a line or family
of chieftains is represented by its founder or by its most famous
member; and that by Hueman is to be understood the powerful priesthood
that ruled the destinies of the Toltecs, from the earliest days to
the fall of their empire. The government was a theocratic republic,
each chief directing the movements of his band in war and, so far as
such direction was needed, in peace, but all yielding, through fear of
the gods or veneration for their representatives, implicit obedience
to the counsels of their spiritual leader in all matters of national
import. But in the seventh year after their arrival in Tollan, when
the republic was yet in a state of peace and prosperity, undisturbed
by foreign or internal foes, the chiefs convened an assembly of the
heads of families and the leading men. The object of the meeting was
to effect a change in the form of their government, and to establish a
monarchy. The motive of the leaders, as represented by the tradition,
was a fear of future disturbances in a commonwealth governed by so many
independent chieftains. They recommended the election of an absolute
monarch, offering to surrender their own power and submit to the rule
of whatever king the people might choose. The members of the convention
acquiesced in the views of the chieftains, and approved the proposed
change in their form of government. An election being next in order,
a majority expressed their preference for one of the seven chiefs to
occupy the new throne.
[Sidenote: A MONARCHY ESTABLISHED.]
At this stage of the proceedings Hueman addresses the meeting; though
entertaining the highest opinion of the character, ability, and
patriotism of the candidates proposed, he deems it his duty to oppose
their election. He reminds the people that the main object of the
proposed change was to secure a peaceable and independent possession of
their new country; that the Chichimecs had pursued and already caused
them much trouble; that much was to be feared from their confirmed
hostility; that their foes were not far distant, and would very likely
invade the country at no very distant day. He recommended as the most
efficient means of avoiding future strife, that an embassy with rich
presents be sent to the Chichimec monarch, asking for a son or other
near relative who should be crowned king of the Toltecs. An express
stipulation must, however, be required on the part of the Chichimec
king that the Toltecs should ever be a perfectly free and independent
people, owing no allegiance whatever to the Chichimecs, although
the two powers would enter into an alliance for mutual defense and
assistance. The advice of the aged and venerated counsellor was of
course accepted without objection; in fact, as pictured by the Spanish
writers, Toltec history is for the most part but a record of sage
counsels of wise rulers cheerfully acquiesced in by an appreciative
and obliging people. Ambassadors of the highest rank, laden with
gifts of value, were dispatched by the shortest routes to the court
of Huehue Tlapallan--notwithstanding the implied vicinity of some
Chichimec nations--where Icauhtzin[IV-10] occupied the throne. The mission
was entirely successful. The second son of the king, still a young
man, whose name in his own country is unknown, was with the required
stipulations, brought back by the embassy and crowned at Tollan under
the name of Chalchiuh Tlatonac,[IV-11] 'shining precious stone.'
The young king, by reason of his fine personal appearance, his
character, intelligence and amiability, seems to have greatly pleased
from the first the people over whom he was called to rule. The events
related above, the settlement at Tollan and the connection of the first
king, must be attributed to the first quarter of the eighth century,
between 710 and 720.[IV-12] Immediately after the accession of the young
monarch, a law was established by him and his counsellors to the
effect that no king should reign more than fifty-two years, but at the
expiration of this term should abdicate in favor of his eldest son,[IV-13]
whom he might, however, still serve as adviser. Should the king die
before the allotted time had elapsed, it was provided that the state
should be ruled during the unexpired term by magistrates chosen by the
people. In addition to the inherent improbability of such extraordinary
legislation, it should be noted that subsequent events, even as related
by Ixtlilxochitl, do not in all cases agree with it. Its meaning can
only be conjectured; it is noticeable, however, that the time allotted
to each reign was exactly a cycle of fifty-two years, and it is not
altogether unlikely that a custom prevailed of alluding in the pictured
annals to each cycle by the name of the most famous king whose reign
fell within the period. The next event, and the only one particularly
recorded in the reign of Chalchiuh Tlatonac, was his marriage.
Realizing the importance of providing for heirs that the dynasty might
be perpetuated, he left the choice of a wife entirely to his subjects,
much to their satisfaction, as indicating a desire on the part of
royalty to please the people. The choice fell upon a beautiful daughter
of Acapichtzin. The latter had himself been a favorite candidate for
royal honors when a kingdom was first proposed, and was thus rewarded
by seeing his daughter raised to the dignity of first Toltec queen. The
Olmec, Xicalanca, and other Toltec nations had voluntarily given their
allegiance to the monarch of Tollan, who reigned long and prosperously
for fifty-two years, when he died and was buried in the chief temple in
7 Acatl, or about 771 A.D.[IV-14]
[Sidenote: THE KINGDOM OF TOLLAN.]
Thus in the record preserved by the Spanish writers, all participation
in the new monarchy by other Chichimec Toltec tribes than those in and
about Tollan, is altogether ignored. The Olmecs and other pre-Toltec
nations are represented as having voluntarily offered their allegiance,
new towns founded by colonists sent out from Tollan and Tulancingo
became of course tributary to the new kingdom, and it is even admitted
that powerful Chichimec nations were established not far distant, and
were regarded with some anxiety in view of probable future events until
the danger was averted by the selection of a Chichimec prince as king,
and the consequent transformation of their rivals into allies. The
absence of any further mention of these allied and friendly nations
throughout the whole period of Toltec history is certainly most
extraordinary, and might be sufficient in itself to arouse a suspicion
that in the records from which this account was drawn the kingdom of
Tollan was given unmerited prominence, while its allies and rivals were
intentionally denied their share in the glories of the Toltec empire.
This suspicion seems to be to a considerable extent confirmed by the
two Nahua documents already referred to.[IV-15] These authorities relate
substantially the same course of events as the others, and refer them
to approximately the same date; they tell us of the original theocratic
republic ruled by independent chieftains who were subordinate to a
central sacerdotal power; the determination finally reached to adopt
a monarchical form of government; and the choice of a king, who
does not seem to have been one of the tribal chieftains. But they
attribute these acts to several more or less closely allied nations,
of which that established at Tollan was only one, and not the chief.
The sacerdotal supremacy attributed to the priesthood of Tollan under
the name of Hueman, was really exercised by the priests of the sun at
Teotihuacan; there were the deliberations held; and there probably did
the first king receive the rites of coronation. The leading nation in
Anáhuac at the time was that of the Chichimec Culhuas under Mixcohuatl
Mazatzin; those at Tollan and Quauhtitlan, and perhaps others whose
name has not been preserved, having been less powerful allies. The
choice of the chiefs fell upon Nauhyotl, or Nauhyotzin, as the first
Toltec king, and having been crowned probably at Teotihuacan, he
established his capital at Culhuacan, then, as for a long time after
the metropolis of Anáhuac, in 11 Calli, or 721 A.D. Of Nauhyotl's
family and previous rank nothing is known. Whether he was a prince
high in rank in a foreign land, identical with the Chalchiuh Tlatonac
of Ixtlilxochitl, or, as Brasseur conjectures, sprung from the union
of a native princess of the pre-Toltec tribes and a Chichimec Culhua
chief, we have no means of determining. He was the first, so far as
can be known, to assume the titles Tlatoani and Topiltzin,[IV-16] both of
which endured to the time of the Conquest, the former signifying 'lord'
or 'monarch,' and implying the highest rank in matters temporal, as
the latter in matters spiritual, corresponding very nearly with that
of 'pope' in Catholic countries. The close connection between church
and state in all the Nahua nations has been frequently pointed out in
this work; as the Abbé Brasseur says, "the empire and the priesthood
were one, and the ritual was the base of the throne. In order to firmly
establish the monarchy, and ensure the fruits of their conquests, the
Toltecs must rule not only the bodies but the conscience of their
subjects. Where persuasion and the imposing spectacle of religious
ceremonies were of no avail, violence and terror were resorted to,
and insensibly the peoples of Mexico adopted the civilization of their
masters together with their superstitious rites."[IV-17]
[Sidenote: KINGDOM OF QUAUHTITLAN.]
In 725 Chicon Tonatiuh, assumed the title of Tlatoani and became king
of Quauhtitlan, probably in some degree subordinate to the king at
Culhuacan. The first mention by these authorities of a king in Tollan
is to the effect that Mixcohuatl Mazatzin was called to that throne
in 752. Meantime one of Mixcohuatl's sons, named Texcatlipocatl,
afterwards deified as Tezcatlipoca, had founded the dominion of
Tezcuco, and another son, named like his father Mixcohuatl, but
better known and afterwards worshiped as Camaxtli, had continued the
conquests of the Mixcohuas on the eastern plateau of Huitzilapan, or
Tlascala.[IV-18] In 753 Chicon Tonatiuh, who had died two years before,
was succeeded in Quauhtitlan by Xiuhnel; the new king was murdered
soon after by his subjects, or as the tradition has it, was stabbed
through the liver by a native woman in whose arms he was sleeping.
A revolt followed, by which the Toltec power in that province was
temporarily overthrown by the aboriginal inhabitants, whoever they
may have been. In 767 Nauhyotl, king at Culhuacan, died and was
succeeded by Totepeuh, identical with Mixcohua Camaxtli, also known
as Nonohualcatl, and whose father was at the time reigning at Tollan.
Early in the reign of Totepeuh a wide-spread war is vaguely reported
as having been waged chiefly in the regions outside the valley. In
this war the original inhabitants of the country, the Toltec tribes
already settled there, and newly arrived Chichimec bands are vaguely
mentioned as the combatants; Xochitzin, a beautiful princess possessed
of supernatural powers, or at least holding communication with the
gods and regarded as an oracle, was the prime mover in this war;
Huactli was the most prominent leader, in full sympathy apparently
with the Toltec sovereign; and at the end of the strife Huactli married
Xochitzin and became king of the re-established dominion of Quauhtitlan
in 804. Thirteen years later after a long reign Mixcohuatl Mazatzin,
king of Tollan, died. He had been a very famous warrior, one of the
most prominent of all the Toltec chieftains in Anáhuac, and was in
after years worshiped as one of the gods of war.[IV-19] His successor was
Huetzin, whom Brasseur conjectures to have been a son of the late king
and identical with Tezcatlipoca.
[Sidenote: THE TEOAMOXTLI, OR DIVINE BOOK.]
Returning now to the other version of Toltec history we learn that
after the death of the first king of Tollan, his son Ixtlilcuechahuac
mounted the throne.[IV-20] His reign, like that of his predecessor, was
peaceful and prosperous; but the only event recorded was a meeting of
all the sages under the direction of the aged Hueman, which took place
only a few years before the end of the second king's term of office.
At this assembly there were brought forward all the Toltec records
reaching back to the earliest period of their existence, and from
these documents, after a long conference and the most careful study,
the _Teoamoxtli_, or 'book of God,' was prepared. In its pages were
inscribed the Nahua annals from the time of the deluge, or even from
the creation; together with all their religious rites, governmental
system, laws and social customs; their knowledge respecting agriculture
and all the arts and sciences, particular attention being given to
astrology; and a complete explanation of their modes of reckoning time
and interpreting the hieroglyphics. To the divine book was added a
chapter of prophecies respecting future events and the signs by which
it should be known when the time of their fulfillment was drawing near.
After the completion of the Teoamoxtli, Hueman, now three hundred
years old, announced his approaching end and made known to the Toltecs
their future. After ten cycles had elapsed from the time when they
left Huehue Tlapallan, they were to be ruled by a king whose right to
the royal power would not be undisputed among his subjects. From his
mother's womb he would have certain personal peculiarities by which
he might be known; his curly hair would assume the form of a mitre
or tiara. The earlier years of his reign were to be years of great
prosperity; his rule would be wise, just, and able. In middle life
the king would abandon the ways of wisdom and virtue, giving himself
up to all manner of vice leading infallibly to disaster; and worst of
all his subjects would imitate his vicious conduct and share in his
misfortunes. Great calamities were to come upon the Toltecs, sent by
Tloque Nahuaque, the great God, and like unto these with which their
ancestors were afflicted in the remote past. Finally the kingdom was to
be destroyed by civil wars, and the king, driven from his possession,
after nearly all his subjects had perished, was to return to the
ancient home of their race, there in his later years to become once
more wise and discreet. Yet a sign was not denied this fated people;
for certain unnatural phenomena were to announce their destruction
as drawing nigh. When the rabbit should have horns like a deer, and
the humming-bird be found with spurs, and stones yield fruit; when
the priests of the temples should forget their vows of chastity with
noble ladies, pilgrims to the shrines of the god--then might they
look for the fulfillment of Hueman's predictions; for lightnings and
hail and snow, for famine and pestilence and devouring insects, to be
followed by desolating wars. For such as escaped these disasters, or
for their descendants, another visitation of divine wrath was reserved
in the form of a foreign people from the east, who ten cycles later
were to take possession of the country in fulfillment of the words of
the ancient prophet Quetzalcoatl. No further information is given of
Hueman's death or of Ixtlilcuechahuac's rule.
Huetzin, the third king, was crowned, according to Veytia's chronology,
in 823,[IV-21] a date that very nearly agrees with that given in the
other version, or 817. Totepeuh,[IV-22] the fourth, elsewhere mentioned
as second king at Culhuacan, took the throne from his father after
fifty-two years; and handed it down after a like period to his
own son Nacaxoc,[IV-23] the fifth monarch at Tollan, who was in turn
succeeded by Mitl in 979.[IV-24] These reigns, the last of which lasted
fifty-nine years, were marked by the occurrence of no event specially
important, though in all great progress was made, new towns founded,
old cities beautified, and new temples built, including one of great
magnificence at Quauhnahuac (Cuernavaca, possibly Xochicalco) and
another at Tollan intended to rival that of the Sun at Teotihuacan,
which city is incidentally admitted to have surpassed Tollan in extent
and magnificence. During this period the Toltec power was firmly
established over a broad territory, and there were yet no tokens of
approaching destruction.[IV-25]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: TOTEPEUH KING OF TOLLAN.]
[Sidenote: VENGEANCE OF QUETZALCOATL.]
In the annals of Culhuacan we left Totepeuh on the throne. His first
military expedition was directed towards the eastern plateau, where
Chalchiuhapan, later Tlascala, seems to have been founded at about
this time, and where this king was afterwards worshiped under his name
of Camaxtli. In his next expedition, to the province of Huitznahuac,
he encountered, defeated after many fruitless attempts, and finally
married a bold princess Chimalman, who fought entirely naked at the
head of a body of amazons. The conquest of Cuitlahuac next claimed
his attention, for this was the only city on the lakes that had been
able to withstand the power of his father and predecessor. To this
city and this period Brasseur traces back the foundation of the Nahual
Teteuctin, an order of chivalry, whence proceeded the highest titles
of learning and nobility, down to the coming of the Spaniards.[IV-26]
Queen Chimalman, becoming enceinte immediately after marriage, dreamed
that she bore in her bosom a chalchiuite, or precious stone, and
decided to name her son, predestined to a glorious career, Quetzalcoatl
Chalchiuitl. At his birth, which occurred nine months later, the heir
was named also Ceacatl, probably from the day on which he was born. In
addition to his mother's dream and the auguries drawn from it, the fact
that Ceacatl Quetzalcoatl united in his veins the noblest blood of the
Toltecs and the pre-Toltec peoples, gave special import to his birth,
and the event was celebrated with great pomp at Culhuacan, and gifts of
great value were sent from all directions.[IV-27] 839 is the approximate
date to which Ceacatl Quetzalcoatl's birth is referred; his mother
died in childbed, and the child was entrusted to the king's sister
Cohuatl, a priestess of the temple, perhaps the same as Cihuacoatl,
or Cioacoatl, afterwards deified as the goddess of childbirth.[IV-28]
In 845 King Totepeuh Nonohualcatl himself, now far advanced in years,
was murdered by conspiring nobles under the leadership of Apanecatl,
Zolton, and Cuilton; he was succeeded by Yohuallatonac, and at the same
time Ihuitimal,--a name that bears no resemblance to that of Huetzin's
successor according to the Spanish writers,--took Huetzin's place on
the throne of Tollan. Brasseur believes that Huetzin left Tollan to
become king at Culhuacan, and that he was the same as Yohuallatonac.
It must be noted that the confused state of the aboriginal annals is
due not only to the incompleteness of the native records--many having
been destroyed--and the errors of interpreters, but also largely to
the unfortunate custom of the Nahua peoples of giving many names to the
same person, and multiplying names apparently in proportion to fame and
rank. It is recorded that Ceacatl, while yet a boy, wreaked a terrible
vengeance on the murderers of his father. The latter took refuge in the
fortress of Cuitlahuac on one of the lake islands deemed impregnable,
but by a subterranean passage leading under the waters, the prince
and his followers gained access to fort and temple. The leaders of the
conspiracy were sprinkled with red pepper after a preparatory flaying
and mangling, and dying in indescribable torture were sacrificed to the
memory of Totepeuh, the first of the many thousand victims subsequently
offered to the same divinity under his name of Camaxtli. From this time
nothing whatever is recorded of Ceacatl for about twenty years, until
he re-appears under his name of Quetzalcoatl as the most celebrated of
the Toltec kings and high-priests, afterwards deified like most heroes
of this early time.
The only event recorded before the re-appearance of Quetzalcoatl is
one of great importance, a convention of the princes and wise men of
Anáhuac and vicinity. At this assemblage the system of government and
the laws of succession were perfected and as may be supposed given
substantially the form which they preserved down to the Conquest; but
the most important act was the establishment of an alliance between
the crowns of Culhuacan, Otompan, and Tollan. Each king was to be
perfectly independent in the affairs of his own domain; but in matters
affecting the general interests the three monarchs were to constitute
a council, in which the king of Culhuacan was to rank first, assuming
a title nearly equivalent to that of Emperor. Otompan took the second
place and Tollan the third. This is the first mention of Otompan as
a capital, but since its domain seems to have included the territory
of Teotihuacan and Tezcuco, its prominent position in the league is
not improbable. The establishment of this alliance, or, as it may be
more conveniently termed, empire, is referred to the date 1 Tecpatl,
856.[IV-29]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: CEACATL QUETZALCOATL.]
Ceacatl Quetzalcoatl re-appears in history, still following the same
authorities, about the year 870, and succeeded Ihuitimal as king of
Tollan, assuming the title Topiltzin, on the death of that king in
873.[IV-30] All the Spanish writers have much to say of Quetzalcoatl,
although none of them--except Sahagun, who expresses himself very
clearly on the subject--[IV-31] seem to have regarded him as one of the
Toltec kings in the regular order of succession to the throne; and
their accounts are inextricably confused by reason of their having
made no distinction between Quetzalcoatl the original culture-hero, and
Quetzalcoatl, the pontiff-ruler of Tollan, applying indiscriminately to
one person all the traditions in which the name occurred. I will give
first the regular Spanish version of these traditions.
Mendieta records the tradition that he was the son of Camaxtli and
Chimalman, and also another to the effect that Chimalman became
pregnant by swallowing a chalchiuite, which she found when sweeping;
but other authorities, without going back to his birth, represent
him as appearing on the eastern coast, most of them agreeing on the
region of Pánuco as the locality. He was tall, well formed, with broad
forehead and large eyes, of fair complexion, with long black hair[IV-32]
and a full beard. Bare as to his head and feet, he wore a long white
robe ornamented with black flowers, according to Las Casas, or with
black or red crosses, as other writers say, supporting his steps with
a staff. He was austere in manner, but in character all that is good,
and gentle, disapproving all acts of violence and blood, and withal
most chaste, neither marrying nor knowing women. With him was a large
company of artists and men learned in every branch of science, whom
some of the authors seem to consider a colony from a foreign land. From
Pánuco Quetzalcoatl, with his companions, came to Tollan after having
tarried for some time, as Camargo tells us, at Tulancingo. He was at
first received by the Toltecs with much enthusiasm, and during his
stay in Tollan filled the position of high-priest or supreme spiritual
ruler. His rule was mild, but he insisted on a strict performance of
all religious duties, and subjected himself to severe penances, such as
the drawing of blood from tongue and limbs by means of maguey-thorns.
He was not without supernatural powers, since his announcements made
by a crier from the top of a neighboring mountain could be heard for
a distance of three hundred miles. He introduced many new religious
rites, including the practice of fasting and the drawing of blood
from their own body by penitents, also according to some authorities,
the establishment of convents and nunneries, and the sacrifice of
birds and animals; to human sacrifices he was ever opposed. He was a
patron of all the arts and sciences, which in his time reached their
highest state of development.[IV-33] Finally, Quetzalcoatl left Tollan
and went to Cholula, which city with others on the eastern plateau,
some authors--still referring to another Quetzalcoatl, and another
epoch--credit him with having founded. There are many versions of his
motives for abandoning Tollan, most referring to certain troubles
between him and a rival Huemac or Tezcatlipoca. Playing ball with
Tezcatlipoca, the latter assumed the form of a tiger, scared the
spectators so that many fell over a precipice, and pursued his opponent
from town to town until he reached Cholula; or he was driven away by
the tricks of a sorcerer named Titlacaâon, or Titlacahua, who appeared
in the form of an old man. By dint of much persuasion the magician
induced Quetzalcoatl, who was unwell, to drink a medicine which he had
brought, recommended to act as a narcotic. The medicine proved to be
pulque, the high-priest was soon intoxicated, and in this condition
was easily persuaded that by going to the ancient country of Tlapallan
he might regain his youth. The other tricks of this sorcerer are many,
but they seem to belong to the final overthrow of the Toltec empire
rather than to Quetzalcoatl's time. Many details are given of the
high-priest's journey towards Tlapallan, of the places through which
he passed, and the wonderful traces which he left. He is generally
credited with having stopped a short time at Quauhtitlan, and with
having lived some years at Cholula, where he was especially popular,
and where in after years his doctrines found their most devoted
followers. But his chief enemy, Huemac, and the necromancers followed
him even to Cholula with their persecutions, and he was forced to set
out again on his journey towards Tlapallan. He finally disappeared in
the Goazacoalco region, after predicting the future coming of bearded
white men from the east. I have given here only a brief outline of the
traditions respecting Quetzalcoatl, because a full account has been
presented in another volume, to which the reader is referred.[IV-34]
[Sidenote: FLIGHT OF QUETZALCOATL.]
The supposition that Quetzalcoatl was a member of the Toltec royal
family and reigned as a king at Tollan, together with the evident
confounding in the traditions as recorded by the Spanish writers
of two distinct persons named Quetzalcoatl,[IV-35] remove most of the
difficulties connected with this famous personage, the second of the
name. It seems to me most probable that the traditions relating to
Quetzalcoatl's foreign origin or his long absence in distant parts of
the country, his arrival at Pánuco, and his final disappearance in the
south--although these are all accepted by Brasseur--should be referred
to the Quetzalcoatl of primitive times. The young prince, unable
for some unrevealed reason, to obtain after his arrival at years of
discretion the crown of his murdered father, retired to some city in or
near Anáhuac, probably Tulancingo, where he first comes into notice,
to bide his time. Here he settled on his future policy including
some religious reforms, communicated with powerful friends throughout
Anáhuac, and perfected his plans for recovering his lost throne. Some
crosses and other relics seen by the Spaniards in the mountains of
Meztitlan, were attributed by native tradition to Ceacatl's residence
in Tulancingo.[IV-36] Such was the force of his claim as son of Totepeuh,
and such the influence of the religious dogmas zealously promulgated by
him and his disciples, that at last on the death of Ihuitimal, perhaps
his brother, he was raised to the throne of Tollan, as has been said,
in 873, under the title of Topiltzin Ceacatl Quetzalcoatl.
[Sidenote: REIGN OF CEACATL.]
There is nothing in the Spanish version of the Quetzalcoatl traditions
by which to fix the epoch in which he flourished. It is merely implied
that Huemac, his chief enemy, was temporal ruler at the same time
that he exercised the functions of high-priest, and succeeded him
in power. Huemac is identified by Brasseur, not without some reason,
with Nacaxoc, the fifth king of the Spanish writers, whose reign is
represented by them as having been most peaceful and uneventful.
He is also known as Tezcatlipoca, and was closely related to
Yohuallatonac,[IV-37] the king of Culhuacan. In the _Codex Chimalpopoca_
he is called both Huemac and Matlacxochitl.
After Quetzalcoatl had been about ten years on the throne, opposition
to his power, fomented by his enemies from the first, assumed serious
proportions. Several causes are plausibly attributed by the records
and their interpreters to this opposition. The new pontiff-king had
effected many innovations in religious ceremonies. It does not appear
that his doctrines differed very materially from those entertained by
his predecessors, but the changes introduced by him had been so readily
admitted by reason of the popularity and zeal of their author and his
subordinates, as to excite jealousy among the ecclesiastical powers.
Most prominent among his peculiar reforms, and the one that is reported
to have contributed most to his downfall, was his unvarying opposition
to human sacrifice. This sacrifice had prevailed from pre-Toltec
times at Teotihuacan, and had been adopted more or less extensively
in Culhuacan and Tollan. By Quetzalcoatl it was absolutely prohibited
in the temples of the latter capital, and thus the powerful priesthood
of Otompan, and Culhuacan was arrayed against him. Again it is thought
that under Quetzalcoatl the spiritual power always closely connected
with the temporal in Nahua governments, became so predominant as to
excite the jealousy and fears of the nobility in Tollan, who were
restive under a priestly restraint not imposed on their brothers of
corresponding rank in the other nations of the empire. Finally, under
the rule of Ceacatl, Tollan had become the metropolis of the empire. It
does not appear that the terms of the alliance, according to which the
monarch of Culhuacan outranked the others, had been changed; but in the
magnificence of her palaces and temples, and the skill and fame of her
artists, if not in population, Tollan now surpassed the cities of the
valley, and thus naturally was looked upon as a too successful rival.
The dissatisfied element at home was headed by Huemac, or Tezcatlipoca,
who had perhaps some well-founded claim to the throne, and received
the support of the allied monarchs. The ensuing struggle is symbolized
in the record of the Spanish writers by the successive tricks of
the necromancers; and the religious strife between rival sects was
continued with more or less bitterness down to the latest Aztec epoch.
Such was Quetzalcoatl's repugnance to the shedding of human blood, that
he seems to have voluntarily abandoned his throne against the wishes
of his more warlike partisans, and after a brief stay in Quauhtitlan,
to have crossed to the eastern plateau of Huitzilapan in 895. Huemac,
Tezcatlipoca, or Nacaxoc succeeded immediately to the royal power in
Tollan.[IV-38]
[Sidenote: CONQUEST OF CHOLULA.]
The teachings and influence of Quetzalcoatl had preceded him among
the Olmec nations of the eastern region. His father, under the name of
Camaxtli, had done more than any other to bring these nations under the
Toltec power, had founded the city afterwards known as Tlascala, and
was perhaps already worshiped as a deity. Moreover the Quetzalcoatl of
old had traditionally introduced Nahua institutions in this region,
where he was still the object of supreme veneration. Whether the
city of Cholula was actually founded at this time or by the first
Quetzalcoatl, it is impossible to determine,[IV-39] but the coming of
Ceacatl seems to have marked the beginning of a new era of prosperity
on the eastern plateau. Temples in honor of Camaxtli were erected in
Tlascala and Huexotzinco, while Cholula became the capital of what may
almost be termed a new Toltec monarchy. All the southern and eastern
provinces subject to the empire during Ceacatl's reign at Tollan, gave
in their adhesion to him at Cholula. Large numbers of his partisans
also followed him from Tollan, and all the primitive peoples, among
whom human sacrifice in pre-Toltec times had been unknown, were glad
to submit to the royal high-priest. His reign in Cholula lasted about
ten years,[IV-40] and during this time his doctrines are thought to have
been introduced by disciples dispatched from Cholula into the southern
regions of Oajaca.
In 904 Yohuallatonac was succeeded in Culhuacan by Quetzallacxoyatl,
and Huemac, having subdued by his strict and severe measures all open
opposition to his rule at home, but looking with much uneasiness on the
prosperity of Ceacatl in his new capital, and the constant emigration
of his own subjects eastward, resolved again to attack his former
rival. At the head of a large army he directed his march towards
Cholula. Quetzalcoatl as before, notwithstanding the remonstrance
of his people, refused to resist his progress, but departed before
Huemac's arrival for other lands as before related. Cholula, with the
neighboring cities and provinces fell an easy prey to the valiant
Huemac; but so long did he remain absent in his insatiable desire
to conquer new territory, that his subjects revolted and with the
co-operation of the king of Culhuacan proclaimed Nauhyotl king about
the year 930.[IV-41] Huemac did not yield without a struggle. Returning
westward to defend his throne he met Nauhyotl on the lake shores;
his army was routed and he was killed, or at least disappeared. As
Tezcatlipoca and under various other titles he ever after ranked among
the highest in the pantheon of Nahua divinities.[IV-42]
During the ensuing era of peace among the Toltecs under Nauhyotl, or
Mitl, and his allies, it seems that Cholula regained its prosperity,
re-established the institutions and worship of Quetzalcoatl, and
soon rivaled in magnificence Tollan, Culhuacan, and Teotihuacan.
Still remaining to a certain extent a part of the Toltec empire,
under the rule of the king at Tollan, Cholula seems to have preferred
from this period a republican form of home rule, similar, if not
identical, to that in vogue on the eastern plateau at the coming of the
Spaniards.[IV-43] Four of Quetzalcoatl's chief disciples were charged with
the establishment of a permanent government, which they entrusted to
two supreme magistrates, one chosen from the priesthood and exercising
the functions of high-priest under the title of Tlachiach or 'lord
from on high,' and the other from the nobility being at the head of the
civil government with the title Aquiach.
[Sidenote: REIGN OF NAUHYOTL.]
The reign of Nauhyotl, or Mitl,[IV-44] at Tollan was one of great
prosperity and peace. The new king devoted all his energies to
promoting the glory of his capital city, where he re-established
nearly all the reforms instituted by Ceacatl and partially abolished
by Huemac. He is represented as having looked with some uneasiness on
the growing prosperity of Cholula, and on the pilgrimages continually
undertaken by residents of Tollan to the eastern shrines; but instead
of resorting like his predecessor to hostile measures, he determined
to eclipse the glory of Cholula by the erection of new and magnificent
temples at home. The finest of these temples was that built in honor of
the Goddess of Water,[IV-45] or the Frog Goddess, to which was attached a
college of priests vowed to celibacy. Meantime the worship of Camaxtli
and Tlaloc were more firmly established than before at Tlascala and
Huexotzinco, and grand temples were built in several Toltec provinces
without Anáhuac, particularly in the south, one of the most famous
being near Quauhnahuac, later Cuernavaca, the ruins of which may
be supposed with some plausibility to be identical with those of
Xochicalco.[IV-46] After having restored Tollan to the position it had
occupied under Ceacatl Quetzalcoatl, Nauhyotl died after a reign of
fifteen years in 945.[IV-47]
All the authorities agree that Nauhyotl was succeeded at his death
by his queen Xiuhtlaltzin,[IV-48] who reigned four years, showing
great zeal and wisdom in the management of public affairs, and dying
deeply regretted by all her subjects.[IV-49] The Spanish writers name
Tecpancaltzin as the successor of the lamented queen, referring to his
reign and to that of his successor the events which brought about the
overthrow of the Toltec empire. The Nahua records, however, represent
queen Xiuhtlaltzin as having been followed by her son Matlaccoatl,
who reigned from 949 to 973, and who in his turn was succeeded by
Tlilcoatzin, ruling from 973 to 994, and preceding Tecpancaltzin,
respecting whose reign these records agree to a great extent with
the other authorities. We have no record of any specific events that
occurred during the reign of the three sovereigns last mentioned, save
that in Culhuacan Quetzallacxoyatl was succeeded in 953 by Chalchiuh
Tlatonac, and the latter in 985 by Totepeuh, the second of the
name.[IV-50]
* * * * *
I come now to the last century of the period to which this chapter
is devoted, a century whose annals form a continuous record of civil
and religious strife in Anáhuac, invasions by powerful bands from
the adjoining regions on the north and north-west, pestilence and
famine, resulting in the utter overthrow of the Toltec empire. There
is somewhat less contradiction among the two classes of authorities
quoted respecting the events of this century than in the case of those
preceding. The Spanish writers still speak of Tollan, it is true, as
if that city alone constituted the empire; but the Nahua documents
also ascribe almost exclusively to Tollan the occurrences which caused
the destruction of the Toltec power. The latter documents, however,
still keep up the thread of historical events at Culhuacan and in other
provinces, and they are doubtless much more reliable in the matter
of dates than the Spanish version, besides narrating the invasions
of foreign tribes, a disturbing element in Toltec politics almost
entirely ignored by Ixtlilxochitl and his followers. Notwithstanding
the general agreement of the authorities referred to, it must be noted
that the record is but a succession of tales in which the marvelous
and supernatural largely predominate, conveying a tolerably accurate
idea of the general course of history during this period, but throwing
very little light on its details. In accordance with my plan already
announced, I have but to tell the tales as they are recorded; their
general meaning is sufficiently apparent, and I shall offer but rarely
conjectures respecting the specific significance of each.
[Sidenote: REIGN OF HUEMAC II.]
Huemac II., also known as Tecpancaltzin,[IV-51] the eldest son of Totepeuh
II. of Culhuacan, mounted the throne of Tollan in 994,[IV-52] at a time
when that city in respect of art and high culture was at the head of
the empire, although Culhuacan still retained her original political
supremacy, while both Teotihuacan and Cholula were rivals in the
power and fame of their respective priesthood. There are no data for
assigning even approximately exact limits to the Toltec empire at
this period. It is probably, however, that while the Toltec was less
absolute and despotic than the Aztec power in the sixteenth century,
yet it was exerted throughout fully as wide an extent of territory,
including Michoacan and a broad region in the north-west never
altogether subjected to the Aztec kings. The Toltec domain had been
enlarged gradually by the influence of the priesthood, particularly
under Ceacatl Quetzalcoatl, until there were few provinces from
Tehuantepec to Zacatecas, from the North to the South Sea, which
did not render a voluntary allegiance to the allied monarchs of the
central region. And at the same time it cannot be believed that foreign
conquest by force of arms had so small a place among the events of
Toltec history as the records would imply. Huemac II., unlike the first
of the same name, belonged to the sect of Quetzalcoatl, using his
power to restrain the practice of human sacrifice if not altogether
abolishing it in the temples of Tollan. He even seems to have added
the name of Quetzalcoatl to his other royal and pontifical titles, or
possibly had this title before his coronation, as high-priest of the
sect at Culhuacan. The application of this title to Huemac, and that of
Tezcatlipoca to the high-priest of the rival sect, has been productive
of no little confusion in the record, since it is sometimes impossible
to decide whether certain events should be attributed to this reign or
to the time of Ceacatl and Huemac I. The new king was endowed with fine
natural qualifications for his position, and enjoyed to a remarkable
degree the confidence and esteem of the people. During the first
year he ruled with great wisdom, speaking but little, attending most
strictly to the performance of his religious duties, and always prompt
in the administration of justice to his subjects of whatever station;
but the old fire of religious strife, though smouldering, was yet
alive and ready to be fanned into a conflagration which should consume
the whole Toltec structure. The leaders of the rival sect, followers
of the bloody Tezcatlipoca and bitter enemies to all followers of
Quetzalcoatl, although now in the minority were constantly intriguing
for the fall of Huemac. But they well knew the popularity of their
hated foe, and bent all their energies to the task of dragging him
down from his lofty pedestal of popular esteem, by tempting him into
the commission of acts unworthy of himself as high-priest, king, and
successor of the great Quetzalcoatl. A scandal was to be created; wine
and women were naturally the agents to be employed; the tale is a very
strange one.
[Sidenote: THE KING'S MISTRESS.]
Papantzin, a Toltec noble of high rank, presented himself one day at
court, together with his daughter, the beautiful Xochitl,[IV-53] bearing
with other gifts to the king a kind of syrup and sugar made from
maguey-juice by a process of which Papantzin was the inventor. This
syrup is generally spoken of as pulque, but there seems to be little
reason for making a fermented liquor of 'miel prieta de maguey.'[IV-54]
Whatever the nature of the syrup, it pleased the royal palate, and
the lovely face and form of the young Xochitl were no less pleasing
to the royal eye. The king expressed his appreciation of the new
invention, and his desire to receive additional samples of the sweet
preparation, at the same time telling the father that he would be
pleased to receive such gifts at the hands of the daughter, who might
visit him for such a purpose unattended save by a servant. Proud of the
honor shown to his family, and without suspicion of evil intentions,
Papantzin only a few days later sent Xochitl, accompanied by an elderly
female attendant, with a new gift of maguey-syrup. The attendant was
directed to await her mistress in a distant apartment of the palace,
while Xochitl was introduced alone to the presence of Huemac. Bravely
the maiden resisted the monarch's blandishments and protestations of
ardent love, but by threats and force was compelled to yield her person
to his embrace. She was then sent to the strongly-guarded palace of
Palpan near the capital, and there, cut off from all communication
with parents or friends, lived as the king's mistress. Her parents were
notified that their daughter had been entrusted by Huemac to the care
of certain ladies who would perfect her education and fit her for a
prominent position among the ladies of the court and for a brilliant
marriage. To Papantzin the royal manner of showing honor to his family
seemed at best novel and strange, but he could suspect no evil intent
on the part of the pious representative of Quetzalcoatl. New favors
were subsequently shown the dishonored father, in the shape of lands
and titles and promises. For three years Huemac continued his guilty
amour in secret, and in the meantime, in 1002,[IV-55] a child was born,
named Meconetzin, 'child of the maguey,' or at a later period Acxitl.
According to the _Codex Chimalpopoca_ the king during these three years
gave himself up to the pleasures of the wine cup also, yielding to the
temptations placed before him by the crafty followers of Tezcatlipoca,
and during one of his drunken orgies revealed the secret of his love;
but however this may have been, that secret was finally suspected;
Papantzin in the disguise of a laborer visited the palace of Palpan,
met his daughter with the young Meconetzin in her arms, and listened
to the tale of her shame. The angry father seems to have been quieted
with the promise that his daughter's son should be proclaimed heir to
the throne, since the queen had borne her husband only daughters; but
the scandal once suspected was spread far and wide by the priesthood
of Tezcatlipoca, and the faith of the Toltecs in their saintly monarch
was shaken. The queen having died, Xochitl with her young son was
brought to the royal palace, and there is some reason to suppose that
she was made Huemac's legitimate queen by a regular marriage. Very
serious dissatisfaction, and even open hostility among the princes of
highest rank, were excited by the king's actions, both on account of
the shameful nature of such acts, and also because their own chance
of future succession to the throne was destroyed by Huemac's avowed
intention to make Acxitl his heir. Everything presaged a revolution,
and the foes of Quetzalcoatl were cheered with hopes of approaching
triumph. Huemac's mind was filled with trouble, which all the flattery
of the court could not wholly remove, and the prospects of his family
were not brightened by the fact that the young Acxitl from his birth
had the physical peculiarities predicted by the prophet Hueman of olden
time, in connection with such wide-spread and fatal disasters. Yet it
was hoped that by careful instruction and training, even the decrees of
fate might be reversed and impending disaster averted, especially as in
childhood and youth prince Acxitl gave most cheering promise of future
goodness and ability.[IV-56]
[Sidenote: TOVEYO'S ADVENTURES.]
Another event served to increase the troubles that began to gather
about the throne. It appears that Huemac by his first queen Maxio had
three daughters, who were much sought in marriage, rather for motives
of political ambition, perhaps, than love, by the Toltec nobles. One
especially was greatly beloved by her father and none of the many
aspirants to her hand found favor in her eyes. One day while walking
among the flowers in the royal gardens, she came upon a man selling
chile. Some of the traditions say that the pepper-vender, Toveyo,[IV-57]
was Tezcatlipoca who had assumed the appearance of a plebeian; at any
rate he was entirely naked and awakened in the bosom of the princess a
love for which her Toltec suitors had sighed in vain. So violent was
her passion as to bring on serious illness, the cause of which was
told by her maids to Huemac, and the indulgent father, though very
angry with Toveyo at first, finally, as the only means of restoring
his daughter to health, sought out the plebeian vender of pepper and
forced him, perhaps not very much against his will, to be washed
and dressed and to become the husband of the love-sick princess.
This marriage caused great dissatisfaction and indignation among the
Toltecs; an indignation that is easily understood, however the legend
be interpreted. In case a literal interpretation be accepted, the upper
classes in Tollan may naturally have been shocked by the admission of
a low-born peasant to the royal family; on the other hand the version
given may have originated with the disappointed suitors, who gratified
their spite by reviling the successful Toveyo. It is also possible that
the legend symbolizes by this marriage the granting of new privileges
to the lower classes against the will of the nobility; however this may
be, the result was wide-spread discontent ready to burst forth in open
revolt.[IV-58]
Among the disaffected lords who openly revolted against Tollan,
Cohuanacotzin, Huehuetzin, Xiuhtenancaltzin, and Mexoyotzin[IV-59] are
mentioned, by Ixtlilxochitl as rulers of provinces on the Atlantic,
by Veytia as lords of regions extending from Quiahuiztlan (according
to Brasseur, Vera Cruz) northward along the coast of the North Sea to
a point beyond Jalisco. Respecting the events of this revolution of
Toltec provinces thus vaguely located, we have only the continuation
of Toveyo's adventures, which seems to belong to this war. The tale
runs that Huemac, somewhat frightened at the storm of indignation which
followed his choice of a son-in-law, sent him out to fight in the wars
of Cacatepec and Coatepec, giving secret orders that he should be
so stationed in battle as to be inevitably killed. The main body of
the Toltec army yielded to the superior numbers of the foe and fled
to Tollan, leaving Toveyo and his followers to their fate; but the
latter, either by his superior skill or by his powers as a magician,
notwithstanding the small force at his command, utterly routed the
enemy and returned in triumph to the capital, where the king and people
received him with great honors and public demonstrations of joy. For
a time the kingdom seems to have remained without disturbance, and
fortune once more smiled on Huemac.[IV-60]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: OMENS OF DESTRUCTION.]
As to the exact order in which occurred the subsequent disasters
by which the Toltec empire was overthrown, the authorities differ
somewhat, although agreeing tolerably well respecting their nature.
Many events ascribed by Brasseur to Huemac's reign are by Veytia and
others described as having happened in that of his successor. There
can, however, be but little hesitation in following the chronology of
the Nahua documents often referred to, in preference to that of the
Spanish writers. The latter is certainly erroneous; the former at the
worst is only probably so. With his returning prosperity the king seems
to have returned to his evil ways while the partizans of Tezcatlipoca
resumed their intrigues against him. The sorcerer assembled a mighty
crowd near Tollan, and kept them dancing to the music of his drum until
midnight, when by reason of the darkness and their intoxication they
crowded each other off a precipice into a deep ravine, where they were
turned to stone. A stone bridge was also broken by the necromancer and
crowds precipitated into the river.[IV-61] Other wonderful acts of the
sorcerer against the well-being of the Toltecs as related by Sahagun
have been given in another volume.[IV-62] From one of the neighboring
volcanoes a flood of glowing lava poured, and in its lurid light
appeared frightful spectres threatening the capital. A sacrifice of
captives in honor of Tezcatlipoca, was decided upon to appease the
angry gods, a sacrifice which Huemac was forced to sanction. But when a
young boy, chosen by lot as the first victim, was placed upon the altar
and the obsidian knife plunged into his breast, no heart was found
in his body, and his veins were without blood. The fetid odor exhaled
from the corpse caused a pestilence involving thousands of deaths. The
struggles of the Toltecs to get rid of the body have been elsewhere
related.[IV-63] Next the Tlaloc divinities appeared to Huemac as he walked
in the forest, and were implored by him not to take from him his wealth
and his royal splendor. The gods were wroth at this petition, his
apparent selfishness, and want of penitence for past sins, and they
departed announcing their purpose to bring plagues and suffering upon
the proud Toltecs for six years. The winter of 1018 was so cold that
all plants and seeds were killed by frost, and was followed by a hot
summer, which parched the whole surface of the country, dried up the
streams, and even calcined the solid rocks.
[Sidenote: PLAGUES SENT UPON THE TOLTECS.]
Here seem to belong the series of plagues described by the Spanish
writers, although attributed by them to the following reign.[IV-64]
The plagues began with heavy storms of rain, destroying the ripening
crops, flooding the streets of towns, continuing for a hundred days,
and causing great fear of a universal deluge. Heavy gales followed,
which leveled the finest buildings to the ground; and toads in immense
numbers covered the ground, consuming everything edible and even
penetrating the dwellings of the people. The next year unprecedented
heat and drought prevailed, rendering useless all agricultural labor,
and causing much starvation. Next heavy frosts destroyed what little
the heat had spared, not even the hardy maguey surviving; and then came
upon the land great swarms of birds and locusts and various insects.
Lightning and hail completed the work of devastation, and as a result
of all their afflictions Ixtlilxochitl informs us that nine hundred
of every thousand Toltecs perished. Huemac and his followers were held
responsible for disasters that had come upon the people; a hungry mob
of citizens and strangers crowded the street of Tollan and even invaded
the palace of the nobles, instigated and headed by the partizans of
Tezcatlipoca; and the king was even forced at one time to abandon
the city for a time. The _Codex Chimalpopoca_ represented the long
rain already referred to as having occurred at the end of six years'
drought and famine, and to have inaugurated a new season of plenty.
Ixtlilxochitl refers to bloody wars as among the evils of the time. All
we may learn from the confused accounts, is that the Toltec empire at
that period was afflicted with war, famine, and pestilence; and that
these afflictions were attributed to the sins of Huemac II., by his
enemies and such of the people as they could influence.
After the plagues were past, and prosperity had again begun to smile
upon the land, Huemac abandoned his evil ways and gave his whole
attention to promoting the welfare of his people; but he still clung
with fatal obstinacy to his purpose of placing his son on the throne,
and determined to abdicate immediately in favor of Acxitl. His father,
king of Culhuacan, died in 1026, and the crown, to which Huemac
himself, as the eldest son would seem to have been entitled, passed
to Totepeuh's second son, Nauhyotl II. It is possible that Huemac
consented to this concession in consideration of the support of the
new king in his own projects at Tollan. After thoroughly canvassing
the sentiments of his vassal lords, and conciliating the good will
of the wavering by a grant of new honors and possessions, he publicly
announced his intention to place Acxitl on the throne. The immediate
consequence was a new revolt, and from an unexpected source, since it
was abetted if not originated by the followers of Quetzalcoatl, who
deemed Acxitl, the child of adulterous love, an unworthy successor of
their great prophet. Maxtlatzin was the most prominent of the many
nobles who espoused the rebel cause, and Quauhtli was the choice
of the malcontents for the rank of high-priest of Quetzalcoatl. To
such an extremity was the cause of Huemac and his son reduced that
they were forced to a compromise with the two leaders of the revolt,
who consented to support the cause of Acxitl on condition of being
themselves raised to the highest rank after the son of Huemac, and of
forming with him a kind of triumvirate by which the kingdom should be
ruled. All the authorities agree respecting this compromise, although
only the documents consulted by Brasseur speak of open revolt as the
cause which led to it. It is evident, however, that nothing but the
most imminent danger could have induced the king of Tollan to have
entered into so humiliating an arrangement. Immediately after the
consummation of the new alliance, the 'child of the maguey' was crowned
king and high-priest with great ceremony in 1029, under the title of
Topiltzin Acxitl Quetzalcoatl. Topiltzin is the name by which he is
usually called by the Spanish writers, although it was in reality, like
that of Quetzalcoatl, a title held by several kings. Acxitl is the more
convenient name, as distinguishing him clearly from his father and from
Ceacatl Quetzalcoatl. Huemac and Queen Xochitl retired ostensibly from
all connection with public affairs.[IV-65]
[Sidenote: EXCESSES OF ACXITL.]
The three lords of distant provinces, Huehuetzin, Xiuhtenancaltzin,
and Cohuanacotzin, who had once before rebelled against the king of
Tollan, now refused their allegiance to Acxitl; but at first they
for some reason, perhaps their own difficulties with the wild tribes
about them, engaged in no open hostilities. The new monarch, then
about forty years of age, justified the high promise of his youth, and
guided by the sage counsels of his reformed father, ruled most wisely
for several years, gradually gaining the confidence of his subjects.
But the decrees of the gods were infallible, and Acxitl, like his
father before him, yielded to temptation and plunged into all manner
of lasciviousness and riotous living. So low did he fall as to make
use of his position of high-priest to gratify his evil passions. His
inciters and agents were still Tezcatlipoca and his crafty partisans,
who persuaded ladies of every rank that by yielding to the king's
embraces they would merit divine favor. The royal example was followed
by both nobles and priests. High church dignitaries and priestesses
of the temples consecrated to life-long chastity forgot all their
vows; force was employed where persuasion failed. So openly were the
requirements of morality disregarded, that the high-priestess of the
Goddess of the Water, a princess of royal blood, on a pilgrimage to
the temple of Quetzalcoatl at Cholula, lived openly with the chief
pontiff of that city and bore him a son, who afterwards succeeded
to the highest ecclesiastical rank. Vice took complete possession
of society in all its classes, spreading to cities and provinces not
under the immediate authority of Tollan. Public affairs were left to be
managed by unscrupulous royal favorites; the prayers of the aged Huemac
and Xochitl to the gods, like their remonstrances with Acxitl, were
unavailing; crimes of all kinds remained unpunished; robbery and murder
were of frequent occurrence; and the king was justly held responsible
for all.
But Acxitl was at last brought to his senses, and his fears if not his
conscience were thoroughly aroused. Walking in his garden one morning,
he saw a small animal of peculiar appearance, with horns like a deer,
which, having been killed, proved to be a rabbit. Shortly after he saw
a _huitzilin_, or humming-bird, with spurs, a most extraordinary thing.
Topiltzin Acxitl was familiar with the Teoamoxtli, or 'divine book,'
and with Huemac's predictions; well he knew, and was confirmed in his
opinion by the sages and priests who were consulted, that the phenomena
observed were the tokens of final disaster. The king's reformation
was sudden and complete; the priests held out hopes that the prodigies
were warnings, and that their consequences might possibly be averted
by prayer, sacrifice, and reform. The Spanish writers introduce at this
period the series of plagues, which I have given under Huemac's reign;
and Brasseur adds to the appearance of the rabbit and the humming-bird
two or three of the wonderful events attributed by Sahagun to the
necromancer Titlacaâon, without any reason that I know of for ascribing
these occurrences to this particular time. Such were the appearance
of a bird bearing an arrow in its claws and menacingly soaring over
the doomed capital; the falling of a great stone of sacrifice near the
present locality of Chapultepec; and the coming of an old woman selling
paper flags which proved fatal to every purchaser.[IV-66] These events
occurred in 1036 and the following years. The king was wholly unable to
check the torrent of vice which was flowing over the land; indeed, in
his desire to atone for his past faults, he seems to have resorted to
such severe measures as to have defeated his own aims, converting his
former friends and flatterers into bitter foes.
[Sidenote: CHICHIMEC INVASION.]
In the midst of other troubles came the news that Huehuetzin was
marching at the head of the rebel forces towards Tollan, and was
already most successful on the northern frontier. The other two
lords from the gulf coasts, who had refused to acknowledge the power
of Acxitl, were in league with Huehuetzin. Unable to resist this
formidable army, the Toltec king was compelled to send ambassadors
bearing rich presents to sue for peace,--according to the Spanish
writers at the capitals of the distant rebellious provinces; but as
Brasseur says to the headquarters of the hostile army not very far from
Tollan. The presents were received, but no satisfactory agreement seems
to have been made at first. Veytia and Ixtlilxochitl speak vaguely of a
truce that was concluded as a result of this or a subsequent embassy,
to the effect that the Toltecs should not be molested for ten years,
an old military usage requiring that ten years should always intervene
between the declaration of war and the commencement of hostilities;
and the latter states that the army was withdrawn in the meantime,
because sufficient supplies could not be obtained in the territory of
the Toltecs. Brasseur, without referring to any other authorities than
those named, tells us that after remaining a whole year near Tollan,
Huehuetzin was forced to return to his own province to repel the
invasions of hostile tribes, which tribes, it is implied, were induced
to come southward and to harass the Toltec nations.[IV-67]
Taking advantage of the precarious condition of the Toltecs, many
of the tribes even in and about Anáhuac shook off all allegiance to
the empire, and became altogether independent; and at the same time
numerous Chichimec tribes from abroad took advantage of the favorable
opportunity to secure homes in the lake region. These foreign tribes
are all reported to have come from the north, but it is extremely
doubtful if any accurate information respecting the invaders has
been preserved. For the conjecture that all or any of them came from
the distant north, from California, Utah, or the Mississippi Valley,
there are absolutely no grounds; although it is of course impossible
to prove that all came from the region adjoining Anáhuac. By far the
most reasonable conjecture is that the invaders were the numerous
Nahua bands who had settled in the west and north-west, in Michoacan,
Jalisco, and Zacatecas, about the same time that the nations called
Toltecs had established themselves in and about Anáhuac. Brasseur
finds in his authorities, the only ones that give any particulars of
the invaders, that among the first Chichimec bands to arrive were the
Acxotecas and Eztlepictin, both constituting together the Teotenancas.
The Eztlepictin settled in the valley of Tenanco, south of the lakes,
while the Acxotecas took possession of the fertile valleys about
Tollan. A war between Nauhyotl II. of Culhuacan and the king of Tollan
is then vaguely recorded, in which Acxitl was victorious, but is
supposed to have suffered from the constant hostility of Culhuacan
from that time forward, although that kingdom soon had enough to do to
defend her own possessions. The Eztlepictin introduced a new divinity,
and a new worship, which Acxitl, as successor of Quetzalcoatl made
a desperate effort to overthrow. He marched with all the forces he
could command to Tenanco, but was defeated in every battle. What was
worse yet, during his absence on this campaign, the Acxoteca branch of
the invaders were admitted, under their leader Xalliteuctli, by the
partisans of Tezcatlipoca into Tollan itself. Civil strife ensued in
the streets of the capital between the three rival sects, until Tollan
with all her noble structures was well-nigh in ruins. At the same time
wars were waged between the three allied kingdoms, and pest and famine
came once more upon the land. These events occurred between 1040 and
1047.[IV-68]
[Sidenote: TOKENS OF DIVINE WRATH.]
It was evident that the gods were very angry with this unhappy people.
To avert their wrath, as Torquemada relates, a meeting of all the
wise men, priests, and nobles, was convened at Teotihuacan, where the
gods from the most ancient times had been wont to hear the prayers of
men. In the midst of the propitiatory feasts and sacrifices a demon of
gigantic proportions with long bony arms and fingers appeared dancing
in the court where the people were assembled. Whirling through the
crowd in every direction the demon seized upon the Toltecs that came
in his way and dashed them lifeless at his feet. Multitudes perished
but none had the strength to fly. A second time the giant appeared in a
slightly different form and again the Toltecs fell by hundreds in his
grasp. At his next appearance the demon assumed the form of a white
and beautiful child sitting on a rock and gazing at the holy city from
a neighboring hilltop. As the people rushed in crowds to investigate
the new phenomena, it was discovered that the child's head was a mass
of corruption, exhaling a stench so fatal that all who approached were
stricken with sudden death. Finally the devil or god appeared in a
form not recorded and warned the assembly that the fate of the Toltecs
in that country was sealed; the gods would not listen to further
petitions; the people could escape total annihilation only by flight.
The assembly broke up, and the members returned to their homes utterly
disheartened.[IV-69]
Large numbers of the Toltec nobles had already abandoned their country
and departed for foreign provinces, and this emigration was constantly
on the increase even before it was definitely determined by the ruler
to migrate. In the meantime, if Brasseur's authorities may be credited,
a new sect, the Ixcuinames or 'masked matrons,' introduced their rites,
including phallic worship and all manner of sorcery and debauchery,
into Tollan, thus adding a new element of discord in that fated city.
The Ixcuinames originated in the region of Pánuco among the Huastecs,
and began to flourish in Tollan about 1058.[IV-70] To civil and religious
strife, with other internal troubles, was now added the peril of
foreign invasion. According to the Spanish writers the ten years' truce
concluded between Acxitl and his foes under the command of Huehuetzin,
was now about to expire, and the rebel prince of the north appeared
at the head of an immense army, ready to submit his differences with
the Toltec king to the arbitration of the battle-field. According to
Brasseur, the Teo-Chichimecs invaded the rest of Anáhuac, while the
former foes of Huemac and his son, under Huehuetzin, from the provinces
of Quiahuiztlan and Jalisco, threatened Tollan. I may remark here that
I have little faith in this author's division into tribes of the hordes
that invaded Anáhuac at this period and in the following years. We know
that many bands from the surrounding region, particularly on the north,
most of them probably Nahua tribes, did take advantage of internal
dissensions among the Toltec nations to invade the central region. For
a period of many years they warred unceasingly with the older nations
and among themselves; but to trace the fortunes of particular tribes
through this maze of inter-tribal conflict is a hopeless task which I
shall not attempt. Many of these so-called Chichimec invading tribes
afterwards became great nations, and played a prominent part in the
annals to be given in future chapters; and while it is not improbable
that some of them, as the Teo-Chichimecs, Acolhuas, or Tepanecs, were
identical with the invading tribes which overthrew the Toltec empire,
there is no sufficient authority for attempting so to identify any one
of them. Neither do I find any authority whatever for the conjecture
that the invaders were barbarian hordes from the distant north, who
broke through the belt of Nahua nations which surrounded Anáhuac,
or were instigated by those nations from jealousy of Toltec power to
undertake its overthrow. Yet it would be rash to assume that none of
the wild tribes took part in the ensuing struggle; as allies, or under
Nahua leaders, they probably rendered efficient aid to the Chichimec
invaders, and afterwards in many cases merged their tribal existence in
that of the Chichimec nations.
[Sidenote: CONQUEST OF ANÁHUAC.]
The other Toltec cities, Otompan, Tezcuco, Culhuacan, seem to have
fallen before the invaders even before Tollan, although it is vaguely
reported that after the destruction of Otompan the king of Culhuacan
formed a new alliance for defense with Azcapuzalco and Coatlichan,
excluding Tollan. All the cities were sacked and burned as fast as
conquered except Culhuacan, which seems to have escaped destruction
by admitting the invaders within her gates and probably becoming their
allies or vassals. This was in 1060.[IV-71] Meantime Huehuetzin's forces
were threatening Tollan. By strenuous efforts a large army had been
raised and equipped for the defense of the royal cause. The princes
Quauhtli and Maxtlatzin, lately allied to the throne, brought all their
forces to aid the king against whom they had formerly rebelled. The
aged Huemac came out from his retirement and strove with the ardor of
youth to ward off the destruction which he could but attribute to his
indiscretions of many years ago. Even Xochitl, the king's mother, is
reported to have enlisted an army of amazons from the women of Tollan
and to have placed herself at their head. Acxitl formed his army
into two divisions, one of which, under a lord named Huehuetenuxcatl,
marched out to meet the enemy, while the other, commanded by the king
himself, was stationed within intrenchments at Tultitlan. The advance
army, after one day's battle without decisive result, fell back and
determined to act on the defensive. Reinforced by the division under
Huemac, and by Xochitl's amazons, who fought most bravely, General
Huehuetenuxcatl carried on the war for three years, but was at last
driven back to join the king. At Tultitlan a final stand was made by
Acxitl's orders. For many days the battle raged here until the Toltecs
were nearly exterminated, and driven back step by step to Tollan,
Xaltocan, Teotihuacan, and Xochitlalpan successively. Here Huemac and
Xochitl were slain, also Quauhtli and Maxtlatzin. Acxitl escaped by
hiding in a cave at Xico in Lake Chalco. In a final encounter General
Huehuetenuxcatl fell, and the small remnant of the Toltec army was
scattered in the mountains and in the marshes of the lake shore.[IV-72]
[Sidenote: FLIGHT OF ACXITL]
From his place of concealment at Xico, Topiltzin Acxitl secretly
visited Culhuacan, gathered a few faithful followers about him,
announced his intention of returning to Huehue Tlapallan, promised to
intercede in their behalf with the Chichimec emperor of their old home,
and having committed his two infant children Pochotl and Xilotzin to
faithful guardians to be brought up in ignorance of their royal birth,
he left the country in 1062.[IV-73] He is supposed to have gone southward
accompanied by a few followers. Other bodies of Toltecs had previously
abandoned the country and gone in the same direction, and large numbers
are reported to have remained in Culhuacan, Cholula, Chapultepec and
many other towns that are named. Veytia, Ixtlilxochitl, Torquemada,
and Clavigero tell us that of these who fled some founded settlements
on the coasts of both oceans, from which came parties at subsequent
periods to re-establish themselves in Anáhuac. Others crossed the
isthmus of Tehuantepec and passed into the southern lands. The other
authors also agree that of those who escaped destruction part remained,
and the rest were scattered in various directions. None imply a general
migration en masse towards the south.[IV-74] Lists are given of the Toltec
nobles that remained in Anáhuac and of the cities where they resided.
The larger number were at Culhuacan, under Xiuhtemoc, to whom the
king's children were confided. These remaining Toltecs were afterwards
called from the name of their city Culhuas.[IV-75]
Brasseur finds in his two Nahua records data for certain events that
took place after the flight of Topiltzin Acxitl. Maxtlatzin, as he
claims, escaped from the final battle and intrenched himself in one
of the strong fortresses among the ruins of Tollan. The Chichimecs
soon took possession of the city in two divisions known as Toltec
Chichimecs and Nonohualcas. They even went through the forms of
choosing a successor to Acxitl, selecting a boy named Matlacxochitl,
whom they crowned as Huemac III. To him the chiefs rendered a kind of
mock allegiance, but still held the power in their own hands. Desperate
struggles ensued between the two Chichimec bands led by Huehuetzin and
Icxicohuatl, the followers of Tezcatlipoca under Yaotl, and the forces
of Maxtlatzin in the fortress. The result was the murder of the mock
king about 1064, and the final abandonment of Tollan soon after. It is
claimed by the authorities which record these events that Huemac II.
survived all these troubles and died at Chapultepec in 1070.[IV-76]
[Sidenote: DOWNFALL OF THE EMPIRE.]
It is not difficult to form a tolerably clear idea of the state
of affairs in Anáhuac at the downfall of the Toltec empire,
notwithstanding the confusion of the records. There is, as we have
seen, no evidence of a general migration southward or in any other
direction. It is true the records speak of a large majority of the
Toltecs as having migrated in different directions as a result of their
disasters, but it must be remembered that in America, as elsewhere,
historical annals of early periods had to do with the deeds and
fortunes of priests and kings and noble families; the common people
were useful to fight and pay taxes, but were altogether unworthy of
a place in history. It is probable that the name Toltecs, a title of
distinction rather than a national name, was never applied at all to
the common people. When by civil strife and foreign invasion their
power was overthrown, many of the leaders, spiritual and temporal,
doubtless abandoned the country, preferring to try their fortunes in
the southern provinces which seem to have suffered less than those
of the north from the Toltec disasters. Their exiles took refuge
in the Miztec and Zapotec provinces of Oajaca, and some of them
probably crossed to Guatemala and Yucatan, where they were not without
influence in molding future political events. The mass of the Toltec
people remained in Anáhuac; some of them kept up a distinct national
existence for a while in Culhuacan, and perhaps in Cholula; but most
simply became subjects of the invading chiefs, whose language and
institutions were for the most part identical with those to which they
had been accustomed. The population had been considerably diminished
naturally by the many years of strife, famine, and pestilence; but
this diminution was greatly exaggerated in the records. The theory
that the population was reduced to a few thousands, most of whom left
the country, leaving a few chiefs with their followers in a desolate
and barren land, from which even the invading hordes had retired
immediately after their victory, is a very transparent absurdity. The
Toltec downfall was the overthrow of a dynasty, not the destruction
of a people. The ensuing period was one of bitter strife between rival
bands for the power which had been wrested from the Toltec kings. The
annals of that period cannot be followed; but history recommences with
the success of some of the struggling factions, and their development
into national powers.
FOOTNOTES:
[IV-1] _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., pp. 247-50. 'Era servido
de unos Sacerdotes llamados _Papahua Tlemacàzque_, que, à distincion
de los demàs, traìan el cabello en melenas sueltas, y al acabarse el
Cyclo Indiano, sacaban, y vendian el _Fuego Nuevo_ à los Pueblos
vecinos.' _Boturini_, _Idea_, p. 42. 'Allí tambien se enterraban los
principales y señores, sobre cuyas sepulturas se mandaban hacer
túmulos de tierra, que hoy se ven todavia.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._,
tom. iii., lib. x., p. 141.
[IV-2] Brasseur cites Torquemada and Duran as authorities for the
existence at this period of some remnants of the old Quinames, and of
other savage tribes whose names have been lost; but these authors in
the chapters cited say nothing to which such a meaning can fairly be
attributed.
[IV-3] See p. 192.
[IV-4] _Boturini_, _Catálogo_, p. 17, No. 12. 'Diferentes Historias
Originales en lengua Nàhuatl, y papel Europèo de los Reynos de
Culhuàcan, y Mexico, y de otras Provincias, el Autor de ellas dicho
Don Domingo Chimalpàin. Empiezan desde la Gentilidad, y llegan à los
años de 1591.' See also _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._,
tom. i., p. lxxvi.
[IV-5] _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 198, et seq. This author refers
occasionally in his foot-notes to the Spanish writers Torquemada,
Duran, and others, but such citations when looked up rarely prove to
have any bearing on the matter in question, being for the most part
only definitions of names employed in the text. It is much to be
regretted that there are no means of testing Brasseur de Bourbourg's
version of these important annals. See, however, on this point, a
future note of this chapter.
[IV-6] In addition to the two documents referred to, Camargo, _Hist.
Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 145,
has the following, which may refer to the migration of this earliest
branch of the Nahua peoples; 'according to their account, it was in
five Tochtli that they arrived at the Seven Caves. Thence they went to
Amaquetepec, then to Tepenec, or Echo Mountain, where Mitmitzichi
(Mimich) killed Izpapalotl with his bow and arrows. Next they passed
to the province of Tomallan, which they conquered after a long war, to
Culhuacan, to Teotla Cochoalco, and to Teohuiznahuac where they wished
to shoot Cohuatlicue, queen of that province; but they made peace with
her. She married Mixcohuatl Amacohtle and by him had a son
Colchacovatl [probably Quetzalcoatl].'
[IV-7] See note on p. 213 for dates.
[IV-8] Also written Tula, Tulan, Tulla, Tullan, and Tulha.
[IV-9] Chalcatzin, Tlacamilitzin, Checatl, Cohuatzon, Mazacohuatl,
Tlapalhuitz, and Huitz. _Veytia_, tom. i., p. 207. Chalcatzin, Acatl,
Eccatl, Cohuatzin, Mazacohuatl Otziuhcohuatl, Tlapalhuiz, and Huitz.
_Ixtlilxochitl_, p. 393. Zaca, Chalcatzin, Ecatzin, Cohuazon,
Tzihuacohuatl, Tlapalmetzotzin, and Metzoltzin. _Id._, p. 450.
Tlacomihua or Acatl, Chalchiuhmatz, Avecatl, Coatzon, Tziuhcoatl,
Tlapalhuitz, and Huitz. _Id._, pp. 206-7. Tzacatl, Chalcatzin,
Ehecatzin, Cohuatzon, Tzihuac-Cohuatl, Tlapalmetzotzin, and Metzotzin.
_Torquemada_, tom. i., p. 37. Tzacatl, Telacalzin, Echecalzin,
Cohualzon, Tezihuaccoahuatl, Tlapalmezoltzin, and Melzolzin.
_Boturini_, in _Doc. Hist. Mex._, série iii., tom. iv., p. 230.
[IV-10] _Ixtlilxochitl._ Called also Achcauhtzin, _Cabrera_, _Teatro_,
p. 95. Icoatzin, _Veytia_, tom. i., p. 301.
[IV-11] _Torquemada_, tom. i., p. 37; _Clavigero_, tom. i., p. 127;
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 215.
Chalchiuhtlanetzin, or Chalchiuhtlatonac. _Veytia_, tom. i., pp. 233,
301. Chalchiuhtlahuextzin, _Ixtlilxochitl_, p. 393.
Tlalchiuhtlanelzin. _Boturini_, in _Doc. Hist. Mex._, série iii., tom.
iv., p. 230. Ixtlilxochitl seems to imply, in another part of his
writings, _Hist. Chich._, p. 207, that the king was chosen among the
Toltecs themselves. This Sr Pimentel, in _Dicc. Univ._, tom. x., p.
611, deems much more probable than the course indicated in the other
accounts.
[IV-12] 503 or 510 or 509 or 556. _Ixtlilxochitl_. 700, et seq.
_Torquemada_. 713-19. _Veytia_. Brasseur has 718. 670, et seq.
_Müller_. All the authorities agree on 7 Acatl as the date of the
establishment of the kingdom. Clavigero interprets the date as 667.
[IV-13] See vol. ii., p. 140.
[IV-14] 608 A.D., according to _Ixtlilxochitl_, p. 450. On the
establishment of the Toltecs in Tollan and the reign of the first
king, see: _Ixtlilxochitl_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix.,
pp. 206-7, 322-5, 336, 392-3, 450, 458, 460; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant.
Mej._, tom. i., pp. 221-39; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_,
tom. i., pp. 126-7, tom. iv., pp. 46, 51; _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._,
tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 106-15, 145, lib. xi., p. 312; _Torquemada_,
_Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., pp. 37, 254; _Boturini_, _Idea_, pp. 77, 139;
_Id._, in _Doc. Hist. Mex._, série iii., tom. iv., p. 230; _Gomara_,
_Conq. Mex._, fol. 299; _Motolinia_, _Hist. Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_,
_Col. de Doc._, tom. i., p. 5; _Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, pt ii., p.
11; _Cabrera_, _Teatro_, p. 95; _Arlegui_, _Chrón. Zacatecas_, p. 6;
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 209, et seq.;
_Orozco y Berra_, _Geografía_, p. 138; _Prescott's Mex._, vol. i., pp.
12-13; _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, p. 524; _Mayer's Mex.
Aztec, etc._, vol. i., p. 95; _Chevalier_, _Mexique_, p. 55; _Gondra_,
in _Prescott_, _Hist. Conq. Mex._, tom. iii., p. 20; _Schoolcraft's
Arch._, vol. v., p. 95; _Waldeck_, _Voy. Pitt._, p. 46; _Pimentel_, in
_Dicc. Univ._, tom. x., pp. 610-11.
[IV-15] _Codex Chimalpopoca_, and _Memorial de Culhuacan_, as cited by
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_.
[IV-16] Respecting these titles see vol. ii., pp. 186-7, 201, vol.
iii., p. 434.
[IV-17] _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 225.
[IV-18] 'On regarda aussi comme des dieux Camaxtle et Tezcatlipuca qui
vinrent de l'occident; mais ces prétendus dieux étaient sans doute des
enchanteurs diaboliques et possédés du démon, qui pervertirent toutes
ces nations.' _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des
Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 146. 'Fueron grandes capitanes
esforzados y entre ellos valerosos hombres; los quales señorearon por
grado ò por fuerza aquellas Provincias de Mexico, Tetzcuco y Tlaxcala,
cuyos propios naturales a habitadores y aborigenes eran las gentes que
se llaman Othomies.' _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. 122.
[IV-19] See vol. ii., pp. 335-6, 351-2, vol. iii., pp. 118, 403-6.
[IV-20] Ixtlilcuechahuac, otherwise called Tzacatecatl, Tlaltecatl,
and Tlachinotzin, in 771 A.D. _Veytia_, tom. i., p. 231. 608.
_Ixtlilxochitl_, p. 450. Ixliuechahuexe or Tzacatcatl, 614. _Id._, p.
325. Ixtlilcuechanac or Tlaltecatl Huetzin. _Id._, p. 393.
Tlilquechahuac Tlalchinoltzin, 572. _Id._, p. 207. Tlilque
Chaocatlahinoltzin. _Id._, p. 460. Aixtilcuechahuac. _Vetancvrt_,
_Teatro Mex._, pt ii., p. 11. 719 A.D. _Clavigero_, tom. i., p. 127.
Was reigning in 660. _Boturini_, _Idea_, p. 139. The preceding hardly
confirms Brasseur's statement that 'toutes les Relations
d'Ixtlilxochitl concordent ici avec le Codex Chimalp., pour donner le
nom de Huetzin au second roi de Tollan.' This is a pretty fair sample
of the abbé's references.
[IV-21] 666, or 613. _Ixtlilxochitl_, who also writes the name Huetzin
Totepeuh and Huitzin. 771. _Clavigero._
[IV-22] Totepauh and Totepeuhque. _Ixtlilxochitl_, pp. 326, 460; on p.
450 his reign is ignored.
[IV-23] Nacazxoc. _Torquemada_, and _Vetancvrt_. Nacaxzoch, Nacalxur,
Nacaxoc Mitl, and Nacazxot. _Ixtlilxochitl_, who on pp. 450 and 393
calls him the fourth king.
[IV-24] _Veytia._ 927 according to _Clavigero_. 822 or 768 according
to _Ixtlilxochitl_, who calls him Tlacomihua on pp. 207, 460, names
him as fifth king on p. 393, and ignores his reign on p. 450.
[IV-25] For the annals of Tollan during this period see
_Ixtlilxochitl_, pp. 207, 325-6, 393, 450, 460; _Veytia_, tom. i., pp.
239-58; _Torquemada_, tom. i., p. 37. _Clavigero_, tom. i., pp. 127-8;
_Sahagun_, tom. iii., lib. x., p. 114; _Boturini_, _Idea_, pp. 139-40;
_Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, p. 11; _Müller_, _Amerikanische
Urreligionen_, p. 524.
[IV-26] Chief among which titles was that of Tecuhtli, respecting
which see vol. ii., pp. 194-200.
[IV-27] 'On célébra de grandes fêtes à la naissance de Colchacovat.'
_Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom.
xcviii., p. 146. See also note 6 of this chapter.
[IV-28] See vol. ii., pp. 269, 434, 608, vol. iii., pp. 350, 363.
[IV-29] This alliance rests altogether on the _Codex Chimalpopoca_ and
_Mem. de Culhuacan_. It is to be noted that Brasseur refers clearly to
_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, lib. xi., cap. 18, as an authority,
which chapter contains not a word bearing on the subject.
[IV-30] Torquemada, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 37, relates the
succession of the Toltec kings at Tollan, agreeing substantially with
the accounts of Ixtlilxochitl, Veytia, and the rest. It is to be
noted, however, that on page 254 the same author gives another
account, inextricably confused, totally disagreeing with the
preceding, but agreeing in most of its names, with that derived by
Brasseur from the two records in his possession. This proves that the
version of the Toltec traditions followed by the Spanish writers,
referring everything to Tollan and ignoring all other nations and
kings, was not the only one extant when the Spaniards came. It
confirms to a certain extent Brasseur's account of other Toltec
nations and monarchs besides those at Tollan, and is therefore
important. I translate this version of the tradition from Torquemada,
without any attempt to reconcile its many inconsistencies with itself
and the versions already presented. It has the appearance of a
successive interpretation of the records of distinct kingdoms, or
distinct periods, tacked together and referred vaguely to Toltec
history by a writer who did not suspect the existence of any other
power than that at Tollan. 'When the Mexicans arrived in this region
of Tulla, it was already settled by many people; because, according to
the truth as found in the most authentic histories of these nations,
in 700 A.D., they began to settle here. Their first captain, or
leader, was named Totepeuh, who lived a long and tranquil life, being
a bold and famous chieftain. At his death those of the province of
Tulla raised to the throne another called Topil [Topiltzin], who
reigned fifty years and was succeeded by Huemac, mentioned elsewhere
in connection with the tricks of Quetzalcohuatl. [These are among the
very last rulers in Tollan by other accounts.] This Huemac was a very
powerful king, who was much feared and caused himself to be worshiped
as a god. He went out from Tulla to increase the extent of his
kingdom, occupying himself throughout his reign in gaining new
provinces, preferring the bustle of war to the quiet of peace. But
while he was engaged in wars abroad the Toltecs made Nauhyotzin king,
who was the second lord, and of Chichimec birth. He also left Tullan
and marched towards this lake with a large number of people to conquer
as much as possible of the territory thereabouts. He reigned more than
sixty years, and at his death the kingdom was given to
Quauhtexpetlatl, [a name not appearing elsewhere] who in his turn was
followed by Huetzin Nonohualcatl [according to Brasseur, Huetzin
probably succeeded Nonohualcatl at Culhuacan. All that follows
probably belongs to the Chichimec period much later, and relates to
the kings of Culhuacan]. After him reigned Achitometl, and,
afterwards, Quauhtonal, and in the tenth year of his reign the
Mexicans arrived at Chapultepec; so that when the said Mexicans were
in the city or province of Tulla, this prince was neither its king or
lord (as Gomara says), but continuing the account and succession of
these Toltec kings, we say that the said Achitometl was succeeded by
Mazatzin, [and not by Quauhtonal as above. This is unintelligible.
Mazatzin was, according to Brasseur, the first king at Tollan] and he
by Quetzal. After him came Chalchiuhtona, and then Quauhtlix, then
Yohuallatonac, followed by Tziuhtecatl. It is said that in the third
year of this king's reign the Mexicans arrived where the city of
Mexico now is. At Tziuhtecatl's death, Xiuhtemoctzin succeeded to the
throne, and he was followed by Coxcotzin.' Then follows an account of
the coming of Quetzalcoatl and his companions, in which the author is
evidently much confused between the first and second of that name.
Gomara, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 301-2, gives a similar account, differing,
however, in orthography and in some of the successions. The order of
succession, according to this writer, is in substance as follows: 1st.
Totepeuch, in 721, who died over 100 years after their arrival. 2d.
Topil, son of the former, ruled about 50 years. An interregnum ensued
of over 110 years; either had no kings or their names are forgotten.
3d, 4th. Two rulers chosen, Vemac and Nauhiocin, the latter a
Chichimec. Both left Tollan with their followers; the latter settled
near the lake, and reigned over 60 years. 5th. Quauhtexpetlatl. 6th.
Vecin. 7th. Nonoualcatl. [We have seen that Torquemada unites these
two names in one king.] 8th. Achitometl. 9th. Quauhtonal, in the 10th
year of whose reign came the Mexicans to Chapultepec. 10th. Mazacin.
11th. Queza. 12th. Chalchiuhtona. 13th. Quauhtlix. 14th.
Iohuallatonac. 15th. Ciuhtetl. 16th. Xiuiltemoc. 17th. Cuxcux, and so
on with the Chichimec and Aztec kings of much later periods. It is
very evident that these writers had access to the same documents which
Brasseur uses, but did not comprehend their meaning.
[IV-31] 'En esta ciudad (Tollan) reinó muchos años un rey llamado
_Quetzalcoatl_, gran nigromántico, é inventor de la nigromancia,' etc.
_Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. viii., p. 266.
[IV-32] Brasseur, tom. i., p. 255, misinterpreting Torquemada, tom.
i., p. 255, calls him blonde; in another place, tom. ii., p. 48,
Torquemada distinctly states that he has black hair.
[IV-33] The invention of the calendar attributed to him by Mendieta,
_Hist. Ecles._, pp. 97-8, Sahagun, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vii.,
p. 264, and others, should evidently be referred to the Quetzalcoatl
of other times.
[IV-34] See vol. iii., pp. 239-87; also _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._,
tom. i., pp. 161-205; _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, pp. 82-3, 92-3,
97-8; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., pp. 255, 282, 380, tom.
ii., pp. 20, 48-52, 79; _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. vii.,
cap. ii.; _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., cap. 122, 173;
_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. iii., pp. 243-8, 25-9;
_Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 11-13; _Gomara_,
_Conq. Mex._, fol. 300; _Camargo_, _Hist. Tlax._, in _Nouvelles
Annales des Voy._, 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 145; _Ternaux-Compans_, in
_Id._, 1840, tom. lxxxvi., pp. 16-20; _Gondra_, in _Prescott_, _Hist.
Conq. Mex._, tom. iii., pp. 66-9; _Tylor's Researches_, pp. 154-5.
[IV-35] By calling them distinct persons it is not necessarily implied
that the first Quetzalcoatl ever had a real existence.
[IV-36] _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., pp. 171-2.
[IV-37] Probably, as has been said, the same as Huetzin and
Texcaltepocatl.
[IV-38] 875. _Clavigero._ 927. _Veytia._ 770 or 716. _Ixtlilxochitl._
[IV-39] 'Los que de esta ciudad (Tollan) huyeron, edificaron otra muy
próspera que se llama _Cholulla_.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii.,
lib. viii., p. 207.
[IV-40] See references already given on Quetzalcoatl, and also
_Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 265, et seq.
[IV-41] This king is called Mitl and Tlacomihua by Veytia and the
rest. Dates: 927. _Clavigero._ Veytia, tom. i., p. 252, has 779, which
may be a misprint for 979. 822 or 768. _Ixtlilxochitl._ Huemac's
expedition eastward, and the crowning of Nauhyotl, or Nauhyotzin,
during his absence is recorded by Torquemada, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i.,
p. 254, and Gomara, _Conq. Mex._, fol. 301, as quoted in note 30 of
this chapter.
[IV-42] Respecting Tezcatlipoca, fables respecting his life on earth,
and his worship as a god, see vol. iii., pp. 199-248.
[IV-43] See vol. ii., pp. 141-2.
[IV-44] Brasseur, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 322, says that
Ixtlilxochitl in one place calls this king Nauhyotl. Although I have
been unable to find this statement in the works of the writer
mentioned, yet there can be little doubt of the two kings' identity.
[IV-45] Chalchihuitlicue, Toci, Teteionan, etc. See vol. iii., p. 350,
et seq., p. 367, et seq.
[IV-46] For description of Xochicalco see vol. iv., pp. 483-94.
[IV-47] On Nauhyotl's reign, see _Ixtlilxochitl_, in _Kingsborough's
Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., pp. 207, 326, 393, 450, 460; _Veytia_, _Hist.
Ant. Mej._, tom. i., pp. 255-8; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i.,
p. 37; _Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., p. 127;
_Vetancvrt_, _Teatro Mex._, pt ii., p. 11; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp. 319-31. The date 945 is from the
_Codex Chimalpopoca_. The Spanish writers make his reign much longer,
all except Clavigero representing him as having reigned, by the
consent of his subjects, several years over the time prescribed by
law. 979-1035. _Veytia._ 927-79. _Clavigero._ 822-80, or 768-826.
_Ixtlilxochitl._ Torquemada and Gomara, as quoted in note 30, state
that this king also marched eastward at the head of a large army to
add to his domain by conquest.
[IV-48] Also Xiuhquentzin, Xiuliquentzin, and Xiuhzaltzin,
_Ixtlilxochitl_, and Xiuhzaltzin, _Vetancvrt_.
[IV-49] See references in note 47 and following pages of each
authority.
[IV-50] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp. 331,
336. Klemm, _Cultur-Geschichte_, tom. v., p. 181, speaks of an
interregnum of forty-eight years after the death of Queen
Xiuhtlaltzin.
[IV-51] Called also Yztaccaltzin. _Ixtlilxochitl._ Atecpanecatl and
Iztacquauhtzin. _Codex Chimalpopoca_ and _Ixtlilxochitl_, according to
_Brasseur_.
[IV-52] 1039, 830, 884, according to the Spanish writers. See note 47.
Clavigero ignores this king, while Torquemada, followed by Boturini in
_Doc. Hist. Mex._, série iii., tom. iv., p. 230, and Vetancvrt,
_Teatro Mex._, p. 11, seems to identify him with his successor.
[IV-53] _Ixtlilxochitl_, p. 208, calls the name Quetzalxochitzin, and
makes her the wife rather than the daughter of Papantzin.
[IV-54] Bustamante, in _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. iii., p.
246, erroneously charges Veytia with saying that Papantzin presented
to the king a vessel of pulque invented by Xochitl. Brasseur, for
reasons not very intelligible, refers to this period Sahagun's account
of the invention of pulque in Olmec times (see pp. 207-8 of this
volume), and also the efforts of the sorcerers to make Quetzalcoatl
drink pulque that he might be induced to leave Tollan. I have
attributed these tales to the times of Ceacatl. See p. 259 of this
volume, also vol. iii., p. 242, 253, 261.
[IV-55] 1051. _Veytia_. 900. _Ixtlilxochitl._
[IV-56] See respecting the first part of Huemac's reign,
_Ixtlilxochitl_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., pp. 207,
328-9, 460; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., p. 262, et seq.;
_Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 37; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp. 337-48.
[IV-57] Tobeyo. _Sahagun._ Tohuéyo, 'our neighbor.' _Brasseur._ It
does not seem to have been originally a proper name.
[IV-58] For a fuller account of the tale of Toveyo, see vol. iii., pp.
243-4. Also, _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. iii., pp. 247-9.
[IV-59] Cohuanacox, Huetzin, Xiuhtenan, and Mexoyotzin.
[IV-60] _Ixtlilxochitl_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix.,
pp. 207, 393; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., p. 271, et seq.;
_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. iii., pp. 249-51. Brasseur,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp. 356-60, represents Cohuanacox and
Meyoxotzin as lords of Quiahuiztlan-Anahuac, or Vera Cruz, but gives
no farther details of their revolt. Huetzin, he calls the Prince of
Jalisco, stating that he marched at the head of a large army against
Huemac, but was defeated at Coatepec near Tollan by the bravery of
Toveyo, who drove him with great loss back to the frontiers of
Jalisco. For these facts he refers to no other authorities than those
mentioned in this note, and these contain no such information.
[IV-61] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. iii., p. 251. Brasseur
has no difficulty in interpreting this tale to indicate an
earthquake.
[IV-62] See vol. iii., pp. 245-8.
[IV-63] Vol. iii., p. 247. The other details, like the interview with
the Tlalocs, are from the _Codex Chimalpopoca_.
[IV-64] _Ixtlilxochitl_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix.,
pp. 207-8, 329-30; _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., p. 280, et
seq. Dates, 1097, et seq. _Veytia_. 984, et seq. _Ixtlilxochitl_.
There is no agreement about the duration of the plagues. They seem,
however, to have been continuous for at least five years.
[IV-65] _Ixtlilxochitl_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix.,
pp. 207, 329, 393, 460. This author's dates are 937 and 882. _Veytia_,
_Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., pp. 271-4. Date 1091. Date according to
Clavigero, 1031. _Codex Chimalpopoca_, in _Brasseur de Bourbourg_,
_Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp. 370-5; Maxtlatzin is called the prince
of Xochimilco. According to the _Mem. de Culhuacan_, in _Id._, Huemac
died at this time.
[IV-66] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. iii., p. 254.
[IV-67] _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., pp. 282-7;
_Ixtlilxochitl_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., pp.
329-31; _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp.
376-85.
[IV-68] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp.
385-93. Veytia and Ixtlilxochitl are occasionally referred to on these
events, but the chapters referred to contain absolutely nothing on the
subject.
[IV-69] _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., pp. 37-8.
[IV-70] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp.
400-2.
[IV-71] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp.
402-5.
[IV-72] Such is the account given by Ixtlilxochitl and Veytia.
Brasseur's version, although founded on the same authorities, differs
widely. According to this version, Topiltzin Acxitl remained in
Tollan; Quauhtli and Maxtlatzin with the aged Huemac marched to meet
the foe. After a fierce conflict near Tultitlan, lasting several days,
the army was driven back to Tollan. The king resolved to burn the city
and leave the country. For the burning of Tollan, Sahagun, _Hist.
Gen._, tom. i., lib. iii., p. 255, is referred to, where he says,
'hizo quemar todas las casas que tenia hechas de plata y de concha,'
etc., referring to the departure of Quetzalcoatl for Tlapallan. The
Quetzalcoatl alluded to may be either Acxitl or Ceacatl. Retreating
to Xaltocan and then towards Teotihuacan, a final stand was made by
Huemac, Xochitl, Maxtlatzin, and Huehuemaxal (Huehuetenuxcatl?)
against the Chichimecs. The Toltecs were utterly defeated, and of the
leaders Xochitl and Quauhtli fell, Acxitl concealing himself for
several weeks in the caves of the island of Xico. _Hist. Nat. Civ._,
tom. i., pp. 405-9.
[IV-73] _Ixtlilxochitl_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix.,
pp. 208, 331-3, 393, 450, 460. This author estimates the total loss of
the Toltecs in the final war at 3,200,000, and that of the enemy at
2,400,000. He states that Topiltzin, before his departure, visited
Allapan, a province on the South Sea, and notified his few remaining
subjects that after many centuries he would return to punish his foes.
He reached Tlapallan in safety and lived to the age of 104 years
greatly respected. He records a tradition among the common people that
Topiltzin remained in Xico, and many years after was joined by
Nezahualcoyotl, the Chichimec emperor, and others. This author dates
the final defeat of the Toltecs in 1011, 959, 958, and 1004. _Veytia_,
_Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. i., pp. 287-304. This writer gives the date as
1116; states that Topiltzin's youngest son, Xilotzin, was captured and
killed; gives 1612 as the number of Toltecs assembled in Culhuacan
before the king's departure. Topiltzin reached Oyome, the Chichimec
capital, in safety, and was kindly received by the emperor, Acauhtzin,
who succeeded to the throne in that year, to whom Topiltzin gave all
his rights to the kingdom of Tollan, on condition that he would punish
the enemies of the Toltecs. He died in 1155. According to Clavigero,
_Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., p. 131, the Toltec empire ended
with Topiltzin's death in 1052. Most modern writers take the date from
Clavigero. Brasseur, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., p. 410, says, 'Après
avoir donné à tous des conseils remplis de sagesse sur la future
restauration de la monarchie, il prit congé d'eux. Il traversa, sans
être connu, les provinces olmèques et alla prendre la mer à Hueyapan,
non loin des lieux où le grand Quetzalcohuatl avait disparu un siècle
et demi auparavant. L'histoire ajoute qu'il gagna, avec un grand
nombre de Toltèques émigrant comme lui, les contrées mystérieuses de
Tlapallan, où après avoir fondé un nouvel empire, il mourut dans une
heureuse vieillesse.'
[IV-74] On the Toltec empire, see _Prescott's Mex._, vol. i., pp.
11-14; _Chevalier_, _Mex. Ancien et Mod._, pp. 48-52; _Müller_,
_Amerikanische Urreligionen_, pp. 456, 522-5; _Mayer's Mex. Aztec,
etc._, vol. i., p. 95; _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. v., pp. 95-6;
_Orozco y Berra_, _Geografía_, pp. 96-7, 138-40; _Rios_, _Compend.
Hist. Mex._, pp. 5-6; _Villa-Señor y Sanchez_, _Theatro_, tom. i., pp.
1-3; _Helps' Span. Conq._, vol. i., p. 287; _Müller_, _Reisen_, tom.
iii., pp. 32-41; _Lacunza_, in _Museo Mex._, tom. iv., p. 445;
_Granados y Galvez_, _Tardes Amer._, pp. 14-17; _Ruxton_, in
_Nouvelles Annales des Voy._, 1850, tom. cxxvi., pp. 38-40;
_Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., pp. 39-40; _Foster's Pre-Hist. Races_,
pp. 341-4; _Mayer's Observations_, p. 6; _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist.
Mex._, tom. i., pp. 216-24.
[IV-75] _Veytia_, _Hist. Ant. Mej._, tom. ii., pp. 18-19;
_Ixtlilxochitl_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. ix., pp. 333-4,
393-4; _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. i., p. 37; _Clavigero_,
_Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. i., p. 131. The number of remaining
Toltecs is estimated at 16,000, who were divided into five parties,
four of them settling on the coasts and islands, and the fifth only
remaining in Anáhuac.
[IV-76] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp.
410-23. I suppose that this information was taken from the _Codex
Gondra_ already quoted--see p. 230 of this volume--and applied by the
same author in another work, and with apparently better reasons, to
the overthrow of the great original Nahua empire in the south.