Atlacatl

Who was Atlacatl?

Atlacatl is reputed to have been the name of the last ruler of a polity which was based around the center of Cuzcatlán, in the southwestern periphery of Mesoamerica, at the time of the Spanish conquest.

Cuzcatlán was at that time one of the leading political centers in a loose 'confederation' of Mesoamerican peoples known as the Pipils, whose ultimately unsuccessful resistance against the Spanish conquistadores under Pedro de Alvarado and others is remembered in Salvadoran tradition. The figure of Atlacatl himself has taken on a somewhat legendary aspect in Salvadoran folklore, symbolising the Pipils' brave and stout resistance against the invading Spanish forces. However, the historical reality of Atlacatl's resistance is open to question, with contemporary sources providing a different account, and the details of Atlacatl's heroic exploits appearing as later embellishments after the fact.

According to one account, when Pedro de Alvarado and his forces arrived at Atehuan he received a message sent to him by Atlacatl in which Atlacatl acquiesced to Alvarado's demand for Cuzcatlán's surrender. However, when Alvarado approached the town he found it abandoned, the Pipils all having fled to the mountainous region nearby. Alvarado sent a new demand to Atlacatl for their surrender, but instead received the answer: "if you want our arms you must come to get them from the mountains". Alvarado's forces launched a furious attack on the Pipil mountain stronghold in which many horses, Spaniards and their native auxiliaries were killed; Alvarado was forced to retreat from Cuzcatlán on 4 July 1524.