Tízoc

Tīzoc Chālchiuhtlatona (from Nahuatl: Tīz-oc Chālchiuh-tlatona 'Holed with emeralds'), (1436-1486) was the seventh huey tlatoani of the Mexicas, successor to his brother Axayacatl, especially dedicated to religious life and with little success in military expansion, who had a relatively short reign (1481-1486).

He was the son of Tezozomoctli, first-born son of Itzcoatl, and brother of Ahuízotl and Axayacatl. He was elected tlatoani in 1481 after his death.

Military campaign

His first campaign, the attack on the city of Meztitlan, resulted in a defeat and (despite the fourteen military campaigns he undertook) he was unable to increase the dominions of the Triple Alliance. This inclined him to dedicate himself more to managing and "educating" what was conquered, than to conquer new towns.

This pacifism provoked some uprisings, such as that of Tōllocān, which was slightly appeased, compared to the cruel crushings of the Triple Alliance.

On the other hand, he undertook conquests toward Veracruz and Oaxaca. He ordered the construction of a monolith known as 'The Stone of Tízoc'. that recalled the conquests of Tamajachco and Miquitlan in Huasteca territory, Atezcahuacan, in Puebla, or Otlappan, in Guerrero. However, some historians attribute many of the conquests not to Tízoc himself but to his predecessors.

Internal government

He ordered the reconstruction of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan trying to obtain the protection of the gods, a task completed by Ahuitzotl in 1487, and developed the empire's first postal system.

He promoted the initially well-received measure of adding the subject peoples to the Mexica lifestyle, but in a few years, upon seeing the costs of said enterprise, and finding themselves limited to tributaries that were increasingly domesticated, but less payers and increasingly less respectful, the impossibility of its continuation was seen.

Murder

The insipid character and insufficient successes of the tlatoani catalyzed the intrigue against him that was supposedly forged with his poisoning by a plot by the members of his court Techoylala and Maztla, lords of Tlachco and Iztapalapa respectively.

After his death, the court immediately met to elect his younger brother Ahuízotl (1486-1502), a promising tlatoani.