Difference between revisions of "Moctezuma IV"

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Emperor Moctezuma IV
Birth 6 July 1768 Accession 17 May 1777 Death 9 January 1800 Titles By the Divine Sanction of Huitzilopochtli and all the other True Deities, Emperor of Otiacicoh, Descendent of Quetzalcoatl, Grand Speaker of the Mexica People, Supreme Lord of New Tenochtitlan, King of Kings

Moctezuma IV was the only son of Emperor Nopalxochitl and born at the Imperial Palace of New Tenchotitlan on the 6th July 1768. A sickly child by all accounts, it was commonly believed that his father's adultery had weakened his 'seed' and thus resulted in the fragile health of Moctezuma. The Emperor himself was the product of a liasion between the Emperor and 16-year old farmhand, Teotalco. While such a match was not have been tolerated in the Christian courts of Europe, the Aztec court had traditionally been more lenient on such matters. This aside, however, the 'modernisation' of Otiacicoh by Cocozca and Nopalxochitl had made such a union, if not impossible but certainly more frowned upon. Moctezuma was intended to be educated at the Calmecac of Nanauatzin in the capital but the boy's fragile health prevented this and he was instead taught by tutors. The regent during this period was supposed to be the Cihuacoatl (or Grand Vizer) Lord Teuch, though actual control was exerted by Lady Malinal of Quetzalxochitl, the former Emperor's mistress. Though Moctezuma's father had dealt a significant blow to the rebels against the Declaration of Zolton during the Second War of the Madoona, they still existed as a military force within the north of the Empire and frequent rumours of rebellion were heard in the Imperial Capital. Moctezuma's greatest achievement, therefore, was simply his ability to survive. The Emperor was able to produce a son, Moctezuma V, at the age of fourteen in 1782 and reached his ascendency in 1786. Malinal was able to retain control, however, by using her daughter Malinche (herself a former royal mistress) despite her being nearly ten years older than the monarch. The Emperor's only excursion onto the battlefield was in the winter of 1794 when poor harvests triggered a peasant rebeliion in Chimalpoca. The Emperor himself went to besiege the town though only lasted for a month before contracting a head-cold. Such was Moctezuma's immune system that the cold caused the Emperor to nearly die before recovering in January 1795. The Emperor was only able to live for a further five years before an when an ear infection worsened and caused an abscess in his brain. He died on the morning of 9th January, 1800 and was succeeded by his eighteen year old son, Moctezuma V.