Aztec Geography
Name of the lake that the Aztecs settled in.
What is Lake Texcoco?
Another name for center of the world?
What is Axis Mundi?
While most Aztecs stayed in the same social class their entire lives, commoners could occasionally rise to a higher class by showing exceptional bravery in this institution.
What is the army?
This Spanish military advantage, which the Aztecs had never seen before, gave the conquistadors much greater mobility on the battlefield.
What are horses?
This capital city of the Aztec Empire was impressively engineered with canals and movable bridges on an island surrounded by Lake Texcoco.
What is Tenochtitlan?
The belief in multiple gods?
What is Polytheism?
This term describes a group of Aztec families connected by marriage or tradition who controlled and shared a specific piece of land.
What is a calpolli?
These two devastating European diseases spread like wildfire through the Americas, killing millions who lacked natural immunity
What are measles and smallpox?
Land for farming that were connected by causeways.
What are chinampas?
A word for god or sacred power.
What is teotl?
Meaning "bought ones," members of this group could actually buy their own freedom, marry non-members, and ensure their children were born free.
Who are the tlacohtin?
Believing in magic and superstition, Moctezuma feared Hernán Cortés might not just be a man, but this specific Aztec deity
Who is Quetzalcoatl?
Aztecs used this to move around the city in canoes.
What are canals?
Occurring once every 52 years when the solar and ritual calendars aligned.
What is the New Fire Ceremony?
At around age 12 or 13, sons of Aztec nobility attended this specific type of elite military boarding school to learn law, religion, civic duties, and combat.
What is a calmecac?
While the Spaniards terrified the native tribes with cannons, guns, and swords, the Aztecs were forced to rely on primary weapons made of this material.
What are wooden clubs studded with glass-like rocks?
Name of the plateau where the Aztecs settled.
What is the Plateau of Mexico?
What is 200+?
Easily spotted by their clothing made from rare feathers, this wealthy, land-owning noble class provided the members of the Aztec government.
Who are the pipiltin?
Along with the desire to spread Christianity, this specific precious resource was the primary economic motivator driving Spanish expeditions into Aztec territory.
What is gold?