Moctezuma I Expands Aztec Reach

1440

The first Moctezuma conquered Huastec territory along the Gulf coast, extending Aztec control toward the tropical lowlands. Tribute in cacao, cotton, and tropical birds began flowing to Tenochtitlan. The Mexica were acquiring the administrative reflexes of a multi-ethnic empire, sending tax collectors where they had once sent war parties. The great famine of 1454 prompted massive human sacrifices and institutionalized the flower wars as a permanent source of temple captives.