Cuauhtémoc (also known as Cuauhtemotzin, Guatimozin or Guatemoc; c. 1502– 28 February 1525) was the Aztec ruler (tlatoani) of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521. The name Cuāuhtemōc (Nahuatl pronunciation: [kʷaːʍˈtemoːk]) means "One That Has Descended Like an Eagle", commonly rendered in English as "Falling Eagle".
Cuauhtémoc took power in 1520 as successor of Cuitláhuac and was a nephew of the emperor Moctezuma II, and his young wife was one of Moct...
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Cuauhtémoc (also known as Cuauhtemotzin, Guatimozin or Guatemoc; c. 1502– 28 February 1525) was the Aztec ruler (tlatoani) of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521. The name Cuāuhtemōc (Nahuatl pronunciation: [kʷaːʍˈtemoːk]) means "One That Has Descended Like an Eagle", commonly rendered in English as "Falling Eagle".
Cuauhtémoc took power in 1520 as successor of Cuitláhuac and was a nephew of the emperor Moctezuma II, and his young wife was one of Moctezuma's daughters. He ascended to the throne when he was 18 years of age, as his city was being besieged by the Spanish and devastated by an epidemic of smallpox brought to the New World by Spanish Invaders. Probably after the killings in the main temple, there were few Aztec captains available to take the position.
On August 13, 1521, Cuauhtémoc went to call for reinforcements from the countryside to aid the falling Tenochtitlán, after eighty days of continuous urban warfare against the Spanish. Of all the Nahuas, only Tlatelolcas remained...
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