Xicotencatl I

Infobox Nahua officeholder
name = Xicotencatl


imagesize = 167px
caption = Xicotencatl in the Lienzo de Tlaxcala
title = Tlatoani of Tizatlan
term =
predecessor = Xayacamach
successor =
birth_date = c. 11 House (1425)
death_date = c. 4 Rabbit (1522)
father = Aztahua
children = Xicotencatl II

Xicotencatl I or Xicotencatl the Elder (c. 11 House (1425) – c. 4 Rabbit (1522) [León-Portilla (1992): p. 232.] ) was a long-lived "tlatoani" (ruler) of Tizatlan, a Nahua "altepetl" within the pre-Columbian confederacy of Tlaxcala, in what is now Mexico. His Nahuatl name, pronounced IPA| [ʃiːkoʔˈteːŋkatɬ] , is sometimes also spelled Xicohtencatl. In 1519 he was baptized as Lorenzo Xicotencatl. At the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico he was very old and of poor health. Tlaxcalan historian Diego Muñoz Camargo wrote of him that he was more than 120 years old and that he could only see Cortés if he had someone lift his eyelids for him. He also writes that he had more than 500 wives and concubines and consequently a large number of children.

Poetry

One song or poem attributed to Xicotencatl is known. [León-Portilla (1992): p. 236.] It is recorded in the "Cantares mexicanos" (fols. 57v.–58r.), a collection of Nahuatl songs probably compiled in the last third of the 16th century for Bernardino de Sahagún, [León-Portilla (1992): pp. 25–26.] and concerns the flower wars conducted between Tlaxcala and the states of the Aztec Triple Alliance.

Notes

References

*cite book |author=León-Portilla, Miguel |authorlink=Miguel León-Portilla |year=1992 |title=Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World |location=Norman |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=0-8061-2441-5