7 moments

1. Birth in Tenochtitlan

   1466-01-01 · Tenochtitlan, Aztec Empire (present-day Mexico City, Mexico)

   

   Moctezuma II was born in the Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan. The year is approximate. The source gives an approximate birth year; coordinates represent central Tenochtitlan.

2. Campaign at Ayotlan

   1490-01-01 · Ayotlan, Guerrero, Mexico

   

   Before becoming tlatoani, Moctezuma was sent with soldiers to relieve Mexica merchants during the final stages of the conquest of Ayotlan. The event belongs to the late fifteenth century; 1490 is a representative approximate year. The source dates the campaign only to the late fifteenth century and does not securely identify Ayotlan's precise modern location; coordinates are a representative point in the historical Guerrero region.

3. Battle of Atlixco

   1503-01-01 · Atlixco, Puebla, Mexico

   

   Moctezuma personally went to the flower-war battle arranged on the plains of Atlixco against Huejotzingo and its allies. The source dates the battle approximately to 1503, but notes an alternative chronology of 1507.

4. New Fire ceremony at Huixachtécatl

   1507-01-01 · Cerro de la Estrella (Huixachtécatl), Iztapalapa, Mexico City, Mexico

   

   Moctezuma participated in the last pre-Hispanic New Fire ceremony, a calendrical renewal rite, at Huixachtécatl, now Cerro de la Estrella. Source is a Mexican government biodiversity commission biographical page written in Moctezuma's first-person voice.

5. Meeting Hernán Cortés on the Great Causeway

   1519-11-08 · Great Causeway (Xolac), Tenochtitlan, Aztec Empire (present-day Mexico City, Mexico)

   

   Moctezuma met Hernán Cortés as the Spaniards entered Tenochtitlan; the leaders exchanged gifts on the causeway. Coordinates mark a representative point on the southern approach to the former island city; the exact meeting point is uncertain.

6. House arrest in the Palace of Axayacatl

   1519-11-14 · Palace of Axayacatl, Tenochtitlan, Aztec Empire (present-day Mexico City, Mexico)

   

   After Cortés seized him as a hostage, Moctezuma left his own palace with his retinue and was confined in the Palace of Axayacatl in Tenochtitlan. The linked account states that Moctezuma agreed to move with his retinue to the Axayacatl palace; coordinates represent the documented palace site beneath the modern Nacional Monte de Piedad area.

7. Death in Tenochtitlan

   1520-06-29 · Tenochtitlan, Aztec Empire (present-day Mexico City, Mexico)

   

   Moctezuma died in Tenochtitlan amid the conflict between the Mexica and the Spaniards. Contemporary and later accounts disagree over the precise manner of his death. Coordinates represent central Tenochtitlan; accounts differ on whether he was killed by Mexica attackers or by Spaniards.