Central America · Mesoamerican civilizations
Texcoco
independent Acolhua state to 1428; Triple Alliance partner thereafter
Texcoco (Tetzcoco) was the capital of the Acolhua, a Nahua people on the eastern shore of Lake Texcoco, and one of the three members of the Aztec Triple Alliance. The dynasty claimed descent from the Chichimec chieftain Xolotl, and the Acolhua capital was established at Texcoco (traditionally by Quinatzin around 1318).
- Existed
- independent Acolhua state to 1428; Triple Alliance partner thereafter
- Shown on the map
- 1202–1428
- Peak area
- 3k km²
- Region
- Central America
Overview
Texcoco (Tetzcoco) was the capital of the Acolhua, a Nahua people on the eastern shore of Lake Texcoco, and one of the three members of the Aztec Triple Alliance. The dynasty claimed descent from the Chichimec chieftain Xolotl, and the Acolhua capital was established at Texcoco (traditionally by Quinatzin around 1318). Its most celebrated ruler was Nezahualcoyotl ("Fasting Coyote," 1402–1472), the "Poet-King" (Rey Poeta). After his father Ixtlilxochitl I was assassinated by the Tepanecs in 1418 — an event Nezahualcoyotl reportedly witnessed as a teenager — he endured years of exile in Tlaxcala and Tenochtitlan, evading assassination, before allying with Tenochtitlan's Itzcoatl to overthrow the Tepanec ruler Maxtla of Azcapotzalco; Azcapotzalco fell after a siege lasting some 115 days. With Itzcoatl's support, Nezahualcoyotl formally took the Texcoco throne in 1431.
Decline and legacy
Nezahualcoyotl made Texcoco the cultural, legal, and intellectual capital of the Aztec world. A renowned philosopher (tlamatini), lawgiver, architect, warrior, and engineer, he designed the great dike that separated the saline and fresh waters of Lake Texcoco to protect Tenochtitlan from flooding and salinity, and built celebrated terraced gardens at Texcotzinco. His surviving poetry (transcribed after the conquest) meditates on a single unseen "Giver of Life" and the fleeting transience of existence. He was succeeded by his son Nezahualpilli (r. 1472–1515), also esteemed as wise, and then by Cacama, installed with Moctezuma II's backing. During the Spanish conquest the Acolhua royal house split, and Ixtlilxochitl II allied with Cortés — a decision that proved decisive to the fall of Tenochtitlan. Puppet Acolhua rulers continued at Texcoco into the mid-16th century.
Common questions
- What was Texcoco?
- Texcoco (Tetzcoco) was the capital of the Acolhua, a Nahua people on the eastern shore of Lake Texcoco, and one of the three members of the Aztec Triple Alliance. The dynasty claimed descent from the Chichimec chieftain Xolotl, and the Acolhua capital was established at Texcoco (traditionally by Quinatzin around 1318).
- When did Texcoco exist?
- Texcoco existed independent Acolhua state to 1428; Triple Alliance partner thereafter. On this map it is drawn 1202–1428.
- How large was Texcoco?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Texcoco covered about 3,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- How did Texcoco end?
- Nezahualcoyotl made Texcoco the cultural, legal, and intellectual capital of the Aztec world. A renowned philosopher (tlamatini), lawgiver, architect, warrior, and engineer, he designed the great dike that separated the saline and fresh waters of Lake Texcoco to protect Tenochtitlan from flooding and salinity, and built celebrated terraced gardens at Texcotzinco.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity and for the key figures and events as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, EBSCO Research Starters and academic sources. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Texcoco en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texcoco
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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