Cacamatzin

Who was Cacamatzin?

Cacamatzin was the king of Texcoco, the second most important city of the Aztec Empire.

Cacamatzin was a son of the previous king Nezahualpilli by one of his mistresses. Traditionally, the Texcocan kings were elected by the nobility from the most able of the royal family. Cacamatzin's election to the throne in 1515 was said to have been made under considerable pressure from Moctezuma II, lord of Tenochtitlán. Moctezuma II wished to lessen Texcoco's power in favor of greater centralization in Tenochtitlán.

Cacamatzin was strangled by soldiers of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, who some sources say were torturing him in an effort to get gold.