"The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521."
Study the history, culture, and religion of the Aztecs, a powerful and complex civilization that dominated much of Mexico before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. Learn about their art, architecture, and human sacrifice rituals.
"The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to the 16th centuries."
"Aztec culture was organized into city-states (altepetl), some of which joined to form alliances, political confederations, or empires."
"The Aztec Empire was a confederation of three city-states established in 1427: Tenochtitlan, city-state of the Mexica or Tenochca, Texcoco, and Tlacopan."
"Most ethnic groups of central Mexico in the post-classic period shared basic cultural traits of Mesoamerica, and so many of the traits that characterize Aztec culture cannot be said to be exclusive to the Aztecs."
"The Mexica or Tenochca of Tenochtitlan were the dominant power in the Aztec Empire."
"The empire extended its reach by a combination of trade and military conquest."
"With the destruction of the superstructure of the Aztec Empire in 1521, the Spanish used the city-states on which the Aztec Empire had been built to rule the indigenous populations via their local nobles."
"Aztec culture and history is primarily known through archaeological evidence, indigenous writings, eyewitness accounts by Spanish conquistadors, and 16th- and 17th-century descriptions of Aztec culture and history written by Spanish clergymen and literate Aztecs."
"Aztec culture and history is primarily known through archaeological evidence found in excavations such as that of the renowned Templo Mayor in Mexico City."
"The famous illustrated, bilingual (Spanish and Nahuatl), twelve-volume Florentine Codex was created by the Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún, in collaboration with indigenous Aztec informants."
"At its height, Aztec culture had rich and complex philosophical, mythological, and religious traditions, as well as achieving remarkable architectural and artistic accomplishments."
"The Nahuatl language was spoken by the Aztec people."
"It dominated its client city-states primarily by installing friendly rulers in conquered territories, by constructing marriage alliances between the ruling dynasties, and by extending an imperial ideology to its client city-states."
"Nobles acted as intermediaries to convey taxes and mobilize labor for their new overlords, facilitating the establishment of Spanish colonial rule."
"Cortés allied with city-states opposed to the Mexica, particularly the Nahuatl-speaking Tlaxcalteca as well as other central Mexican polities, including Texcoco, its former ally in the Triple Alliance. After the fall of Tenochtitlan on 13 August 1521 and the capture of the emperor Cuauhtémoc, the Spanish founded Mexico City on the ruins of Tenochtitlan."
"Client city-states paid taxes, not tribute to the Aztec emperor, in an economic strategy limiting communication and trade between outlying polities, making them dependent on the imperial center for the acquisition of luxury goods."
"There was a social division between nobility (pipiltin) and commoners (macehualtin)."
"Featuring Tezcatlipoca, Tlaloc, and Quetzalcoatl, the pantheon was part of Aztec culture."
"The calendric system of a xiuhpohualli of 365 days intercalated with a tonalpohualli of 260 days was part of Aztec culture." (Note: Due to the length of the paragraph and output limitations, the quotes provided may not fully address the study questions, but they are representative of the information within the paragraph.)