Los Enemigos de Casa: The Conflictive Relations Between the Triple Alliance and the Altepemeh of the Cholula-Tlaxcala Region (1428-1519)

Abstract

The central objective of this project is to understand the processes arising from the relationship between the altepemeh members of the triple alliance, Tenochtitlán, Texcoco and Tlacopan, and the three main political centers of the Cholula-Tlaxcala region, Tlaxcala, Huexotzinco and Cholula, between 1428 and 1519. This research follows the chronology of the formation of the political structure called triple alliance, which began after the war against Azcapotzalco and the consolidation of the alliance in 1428 - in which Tlaxcala and Huexotzinco were allied with the victors - and goes until the arrival of Cortés' expedition to Vera Cruz, in April 1519 - at which time the rivalry between the triple alliance and the altepemeh of the Cholula-Tlaxcala region was at its height, especially between the tenochcas and the tlaxcaltecas. Over the course of these nearly nine decades, these two Nahua groups who collaborated with each other to achieve success in the Tepanecan war became ideal arch-enemies, with reflections on cosmological conceptions and profound impacts on Mesoamerican politics and economy. Through the investigation of sources from the colonial period, the present project proposes to analyze the relationship between the triple alliance and their enemigos de casa, as the Texcocan chronicler Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl called their neighbors living on the opposite bank of the Sierra Nevada.