Item Number: TX-02
Item Name: Tlaxcaltec Elite Warrior
Description: Many sources depict high status warriors wearing the distinctive back ornaments of their communities. The great white heron represented the house of Tizatlan. The “Tlahuiztli” is covered in large yellow feathers, and the warrior wears the red and white headband which was an attribute of Tlaxcallan nationality.
The Tlaxcalans, or Talaxcaltecs, are an
indigenous group of Nahua ethnicity who inhabited the republic of
Tlaxcala and present-day Mexican state of Tlaxcala. Despite early
attempts by the Mexica, the Tlaxcalteca were never conquered by the
Aztec Triple Alliance. The Aztecs allowed them to maintain their
independence so that they could participate in the xochiyaoyatl (flower
wars) with them to facilitate human sacrifice.
The Tlaxcaltecs served
as allies to Hernán Cortés and his fellow Spanish conquistadors, and
were instrumental in the invasion of Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec
empire, helping the Spanish reach the Valley of Anahuac and providing a
key contingent of the invasion force.
A flower war or flowery war
(Nahuatl languages: xōchiyāōyōtl, Spanish: guerra florida) was a ritual
war fought intermittently between the Aztec Triple Alliance and its
enemies from the "mid-1450s to the arrival of the Spaniards in 1519.
The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice. Most of the people sacrificed
were not residents of the Aztec’s major cities, rather they were
captured in wars, both wars of conquest and “wars of the flowers”. The
Aztec term for wars for captives was Xochiyayoyotl.
The Xochiyayoyotl came about after a long famine, from 1450 to 1454.
Crops failed all over the Valley of Mexico due to bad weather. To the
Aztecs, it showed the gods were displeased; they needed more blood and
human hearts. Montezuma I reigned during the great famine. His brother
Tlacaelel was Montezuma’s Snake Woman or first adviser, a general in the
Aztec army and of the highest warrior order, the Shorn Ones.
When bad weather continued the famine, Tlacaelel suggested a ritual or
ceremonial war to provide captives for sacrifice for the Aztecs and
their enemies. The nearby Tlaxcala were the Triple Alliance’s main
enemy. They had also experienced the famine. Through human sacrifice,
the gods would be assuaged for both sides.
Though there were undoubtedly more reasons for Flower wars, such as
further terrorizing the surrounding areas, they began during the great
famine. Tenochtitlan reached an agreement with its enemies the Tlaxcala,
Cholula and Huejotzingo, to war for captives. Their warriors would be
told not to kill enemy warriors, but to capture them. Once each side had
enough captives, the battle would end. The captured warriors would then
be taken for sacrifice by both sides in the battle.
Company: John Jenkins Designs
Size: 1/30th Scale or 60mm hand painted metal miniatures
Status: Current