Andrés de Tapia Motelchiuh

Who was Andrés de Tapia Motelchiuh?

Don Andrés de Tapia Motelchiuhtzin Huitznahuatlailótlac was the ruler of Tenochtitlan.

After the death of Don Juan Velázquez Tlacotzin in Nochixtlan in 1525, Hernán Cortés chose Don Andrés Motelchiuhtzin as the new ruler of Tenochtitlan.

Motelchiuhtzin was not of the upper classes; he was born as a "macehualli" or working commoner, but he had gained renown as a warrior captain. He was captured together with Cuauhtémoc, and tortured along with him to reveal the location of the Aztecs' gold. Eventually he was freed and he returned to his lands.

Because Tenochtitlan was in ruins, he stayed in Nochixtlan. In the three years of Cortés expeditions, he had been ruling Tenochtitlan as cuauhtlato. He would not be tlatoani, but he would stayed as cuauhtlato two years more.

During his rule, the Aztec titles and decorations were suppressed by the Spanish rulers.

In 1530, Motelchiuhtzin went with the Spaniards to an expedition to Teocolhuacan, against the Chichimeca and was wounded by a Chichimeca arrow while he was bathing. He died in Aztatlan. He left a son called Hernando de Tapia.