Huitzilopochtli
The worship of Huitzilopochtli, the sun and war deity of the Aztecs, had a major impact on Aztec expansion and altered attitudes toward the Aztecs in several ways. First, Huitzilopochtli was linked to the Aztec origin story and was considered to be their patron deity. He gradually rose to prominence as the most significant Mexica deity, identified with the sun (Wiesner-Hanks et al. 715). The Aztecs’ religious beliefs served as a powerful incentive for their territorial expansion. Warfare gave Mexico authority over new territory and supplied sacrificial victims to feed the sun god (Wiesner-Hanks et al. 716).
Another reason that could have contributed to the expansion is the deity’s fear. The veneration of Huitzilopochtli developed to be associated with both everyday survival and cosmic forces (Wiesner-Hanks et al. 716). However, the worship of the god often resulted in hostility from other indigenous groups. Priests offered military prisoners as sacrifices for each expansion (Wiesner-Hanks et al. 716). As a result, such a practice could be seen as barbaric, creating enemies of the Aztec population.
Tlacaelel
Tlacaelel, who developed the Aztecs’ new mythology, believed it was crucial to erase earlier writings for several reasons. The first reason is that Tlacaelel aimed to centralize and reinforce the power of the elites. After the Mexica vanquished the opposing Tepanecs in battles in the 1420s, Tlacaelel began to gain notoriety and devised innovative schemes to allocate enemy territory and war booty (Wiesner-Hanks et al. 715).
Another reason is that creating new texts could help eliminate risks to the new political order. Tlacaelel counseled the emperor to write new histories that clarified the Mexica people’s destiny (Wiesner-Hanks et al. 715). Older historical writings were destroyed by Tlacaelel, whose orders also led to the creation of new chronicles that explicitly linked Huitzilopochtli to the history of Mexico (Wiesner-Hanks et al. 715). Thus, Tlacaelel’s motivations were connected to reinforcing the new political system.
Work Cited
Wiesner-Hanks, M. E., et al. “Chapter 11: The Americas 3200 B.C.E.–1500 C.E.” In A History of World Societies, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2017, pp. 670-732.