The Mexica Tribute System That Funded Cortés's Conquest

Cortés's Lost Allies: The Totonac Revolt That Started It All

We often hear about the Tlaxcalans as Cortés's key indigenous allies, but the first crack in the Aztec Empire came from a different people: the Totonacs of Cempoala. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a coastal tribute revolt spiraled into a full-blown alliance that gave Cortés his first foothold, his first major battle, and the critical mass of porters and warriors he needed to march inland. They examine the Cempoala leader Chicomacatl (also known as the Fat Cacique), the Totonac grievances against the Mexica tribute system, and the brutal massacre that nearly ended the alliance before it began. Along the way, they revisit the tension between Cortés's legal maneuvering and the Totonac's desperate gamble for freedom. Drawing on the Florentine Codex, Bernal Díaz del Castillo, and the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, this episode is a deep dive into the overlooked first domino that fell, and how a small coastal city-state helped bring down an empire. #Totonac #Cempoala #HernanCortes #AztecEmpire #Mexica #Chicomacatl #FatCacique #FlorentineCodex #BernalDiaz #LienzodeTlaxcala #ConquestofMexico #TributeSystem #IndigenousAllies #CortesAllies #Mesoamerica #History #FexingoHistory #SpanishConquest Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Xicotencatl Rivalry: Cortés's Fateful Tlaxcalan Split

While Tlaxcalan help is famous, less known is the internal war that nearly stopped Cortés before Tenochtitlan. This episode dives into the clash between Xicotencatl the Elder and his son Xicotencatl the Younger over whether to ally with the Spanish. We explore the younger Xicotencatl's battlefield brilliance, his stubborn resistance, and how his eventual betrayal and execution by Cortés foreshadowed the fate of indigenous allies. Drawing on the Lienzo de Tlaxcala and Bernal Díaz del Castillo, we trace how a single family's division shaped the conquest's outcome. Plus: the role of Tizatlán, the Tlaxcalan senate, and the enigmatic Maxixcatzin. A story of strategy, honor, and the high cost of choosing sides. #Xicotencatl #Tlaxcala #Cortés #AztecEmpire #ConquestOfMexico #LienzoDeTlaxcala #BernalDíaz #Maxixcatzin #Tizatlán #Mesoamerica #Nahuatl #SpanishConquest #IndigenousAllies #BattleOfTlaxcala #History #FexingoHistory #Mexica #Conquistadors Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Cortés's Missing Body: The Mystery of His Final Resting Place

In 1547, Hernán Cortés died in Spain, but his body began a centuries-long journey across continents and through secret vaults, hidden chapels, and threatened desecrations. This episode traces the bizarre afterlife of the conquistador's remains — from his first burial in Seville to his reburial in Mexico City, the threats from Mexican nationalists who wanted to destroy his bones, and the secret Freemason plot to smuggle them to Italy. We explore how Cortés's body became a political football: hidden during the Mexican War of Independence, exhumed by a Spanish diplomat in 1794, and finally sealed in a wall for safekeeping. Along the way, we delve into the myth of his 'immortal' legacy, the controversy over whether his bones were mixed with those of his allies, and the strange 1946 discovery that his tomb had been broken into. The episode also examines why no one has ever definitively proven whose bones lie in the Hospital de Jesús Nazareno in Mexico City — and why that ambiguity might be the most fitting epitaph for a man whose life was built on conquest, contradiction, and mystery. #CortésBody #HernánCortés #MexicoHistory #ConquestOfMexico #HospitalDeJesús #SpanishConquistadors #MexicanHistory #BurialMystery #16thCentury #ColonialMexico #CortésTomb #MexicoCity #FreemasonPlot #MexicanIndependence #RelicControversy #HistoryMystery #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Cortés's Cannon: How a Few Guns Conquered an Empire

In 1519, Hernán Cortés landed in Mexico with a handful of iron cannon and a clutch of arquebuses — weapons that had never been seen in the New World. This episode examines the tactical role of European gunpowder artillery in the conquest of the Aztec Empire. We break down the types of cannon Cortés carried: lombards, falconets, and the massive bronze pieces he later cast from church bells. We trace their use from the initial skirmishes at Cempoala through the siege of Tenochtitlan, where Spanish gun crews and their Tlaxcalan allies used cannon to breach causeways and terrorize Mexica warriors. But we also confront the limits of gunpowder: the slow reloading, the unreliability of early matchlocks in the humid highlands, and the fact that the Spanish often had to rely on crossbows and native slingers. Drawing on Bernal Díaz del Castillo's account and archaeological evidence from the Templo Mayor excavations, we explore how the psychological impact of cannon fire — the thunderous noise, the smoke, the unseen death — may have been as decisive as the physical damage. We also discuss the Mexica adaptation: their attempts to capture and use Spanish guns, and how the sound of cannon became a tool of psychological warfare for both sides. This is the story of how a few dozen tubes of bronze and iron reshaped the fate of Mesoamerica. #CortésCannon #AztecEmpire #Gunpowder #ConquestOfMexico #HernánCortés #Tenochtitlan #BernalDíaz #Falconet #Lombard #Arquebus #Tlaxcala #SiegeOfTenochtitlan #MesoamericanWarfare #MilitaryHistory #BronzeCannon #TemploMayor #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Mexica Jaguar Warriors: Cortés's Most Feared Foes

When Hernán Cortés marched into the Valley of Mexico in 1519, he faced an enemy unlike any the Spanish had encountered: the Mexica military machine, led by its most elite shock troops—the jaguar warriors. These weren't just skilled fighters; they were initiates of a warrior society that blended religion, politics, and warfare into a single ferocious identity. In this episode, Lucas and Luna follow the path of a typical cuāuhocēlōtl—an eagle or jaguar warrior—from his training in the calmecac school to his first captive in battle, to his role in the desperate defense of Tenochtitlan in 1521. We explore the warrior grades, the rituals behind the iconic jaguar suits, the weapons they wielded—like the macuahuitl and atlatl—and how their battlefield tactics nearly broke Cortés's siege. Drawing on the Florentine Codex and Bernal Díaz del Castillo, we separate myth from reality and ask: were these warriors truly the Aztec special forces, or have they been romanticized? And we uncover one overlooked factor—the role of the cuāchicqueh, or 'shorn ones,' who fought without armor and terrified the Spanish. #Mexica #JaguarWarriors #Cuauhocelotl #AztecMilitary #Mesoamerica #ConquestOfMexico #HernanCortes #Tenochtitlan #FlorentineCodex #BernalDiazDelCastillo #Macuahuitl #Calmecac #Cuachicqueh #Tlaxcala #Nahuatl #Huitzilopochtli #SiegeOf1521 #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]