Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Huitzilihuitl

HUITZILIHUITL (weet-see-lee-weetle), the name of two Aztec kings. The second was 4th king of Mexico (2d according to some accounts), b. in the latter half of the 14th century; d. 2 Feb., 1414. After the death of his father, Acamapixtli, in 1402, the priests tried to prevent the election of a new sovereign, in order to usurp the power, and only after an interregnum of four months and long debates was Huitzilihuitl elected king. His election was approved by Tezozomoc, king of Azcapotzálco, then suzerain of Mexico, who gave him his daughter in marriage, of which union Moctheuzoma Ilhuycamina, or Montezuma I., was born. By his second wife he had eighteen children, the eldest of whom, Chimalpopoca, became his successor, and the second, a daughter, Matlaltzihuatzin, was mother of the poet Netzahualcoyotl. These are his family relations according to modern researches, and exact interpretations of the Aztec hieroglyphics. Huitzilihuitl II. was an able and talented ruler, and was one of the best of the Aztec kings of Mexico. In 1405 he succeeded in attracting several scattered tribes, descendants of the extinct Toltec nation, from Xalisco, and thereby increased his power and the wealth of his nation. Huitzilihuitl died, according to the Aztec almanac. on the 9th day of the first week in the year of the three rabbits, corresponding in our calendar to 2 Feb., 1514. — His eldest son, Montezuma, ought to have been his successor, but, owing to the influence of his second wife, her son, Chimalpopoca (q. v.), succeeded him, and thereafter, an illegitimate son, Izcohuatl, and only after his death did Montezuma I. ascend the throne. But, according to former historians, Chimalpopoca and Izcohuatl were Huitzilihuitl's brothers, and thereafter the successor to the crown was always the brother of the late monarch, or, in default of a brother, a nephew.