Massacre in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan

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The Massacre in the Great Temple, also called the Toxcatl Massacre, or the Alvarado Massacre, was an event on 22 May 1520, in the Mexica, also known as the Aztec, capital of Tenochtitlan during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, in which the celebration of the Feast of Toxcatl ended in a massacre of Mexica elites. In late April of 1520, Cuban Governor Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar ordered Spanish conquistador, Pánfilo de Narváez, to arrest Hernán Cortés while he was in Tenochtitlan. Cortés heard about Narváez coming from Cuba, so he and some of his army left the city of Tenochtitlan to fight them. Before he departed, he entrusted one of his captains, Pedro de Alvarado, with governing both the Spanish and Mexica. During his absence, the Mexica emperor Moctezuma, also known as Montezuma, asked Alvarado for permission to celebrate the festival of Toxcatl, a Mexica festivity in honor of Tezcatlipoca, one of their main gods. Moctezuma had previously gotten authorization to celebrate the...

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