and violent intrigue, apparently involving tit-for-tat assassination attempts. Maxtla sent Chimalpopoca a present of women's clothing. Teyatzin was killed, and Chimalpopoca decided to offer himself as a sacrifice at the altar of his father Huitzilíhuitl. Some of his nobles joined him. In the middle of the ceremony, before the tlatoani'''s turn, an expeditionary force from Azcapotzalco invaded Tenochtitlan, took Chimalpopoca prisoner and carried him to Azcapotzalco. There he was exhibited in a cage and kept on starvation rations. He committed suicide, hanging himself from a beam with his belt. (Another account says he was strangled by his captors.) He was succeeded as tlatoani by his uncle Itzcoatl. A rigorous and critical study based in the sources state, however, that Chimalpopoca's death must be interpreted as a coup d'etat. Itzcoatl was the leader of a rebel faction against the Tepanec Empire. Chimalpopoca, as Tezozomoc's grandson, was the main collaborator of this Empire in Tenochtitlan, and consequently was the first victim of Itzcoatl. After the victory of the rebel coalition, the history was rewritten and the defeated Tepanecs was blamed for Chimalpopoca's death. This can be considered the official Mexica history (see Santamarina 2006: cap. XIII). See also List of Tenochtitlan rulers Notes References "Azcapotzalco", Enciclopedia de México, vol. 2. Mexico City: 1987. "Chimalpopoca", Enciclopedia de México, vol. 4. Mexico City: 1987. García Puron, Manuel, México y sus gobernantes, vol. 1. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrua, 1984. Orozco Linares, Fernando, Gobernantes de México''. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985, . See cap. XIII: 373-402. External links Chimalpopoca entry on The Visual History Project Tenochca tlatoque 15th-century monarchs in North America 15th-century indigenous people of the Americas 1397 births 1427 deaths 15th-century murdered monarchs 15th century in the Aztec civilization Suicides in North America