82 • The deaTh of azTec TenochTiTLan, The Life of mexico ciTy
And not to be discounted is the symbolic value of an
association with the market. The glyph for “market,” dis-
cussed in chapter 1, was linked to the preciousness of jade
beads, the same markers of the surging green force of new
life that the huei tlatoani wore on his person. The disk-
like forms of the symbol were similar to the architectural
markers that lordly houses carried on their entablatures.
Sahagún’s description shows the market as a place where
the foreign was introduced and then domesticated. So
barely two years after the Conquest, we are beginning to
glimpse patterns of lived spaces and practices that carried
forth the indigenous city of before the Conquest—as tra-
ditional elites again assumed roles of power and recon-
structed the city according to its pre-Hispanic patterns—
as well as taking it into the future, where elites needed to
find new ways, in cooperation with Spanish authorities,
of maintaining their status. In this respect, the indigenous
elite of Mexico City were no different from those of other
polities, sensitively documented by Robert Haskett, Susan
Kellogg, Ethelia Ruiz Medrano, and others. 30
Don Juan Velázquez Tlacotzin was, like the market
named after him, an evanescent force in the city; in October
of 1524, when Cortés set out toward Honduras to capture
the rival conquistador Cristóbal de Olid, he decided to take
the Mexica huei tlatoani Cuauhtemoc and other indigenous
elites with him “so that they might not disturb the country
and rebel in his absence.” 31 Among the ranks of the “very
powerful men, who, if left behind, would have been capable
of staging a rebellion,” was “Xihuacoa” (“Cihuacoatl,” Tla-
cotzin’s title). 32 We also know something of the other men
on this trip, many of whom would come to play prominent
roles in the city. Accompanying Tlacotzin was Moteuc-
zoma’s nephew don Diego de Alvarado Huanitzin and
Huanitzin’s second cousin, don Diego de San Francisco
Tehuetzquititzin. 33 Once out of the city, Cortés accused
Cuauhtemoc of conspiracy and had him hanged early in- He quickly appointed Tlacotzin gobernador, a sign
that he intended to bring him back to Mexico City and
have him permanently installed in the stead of Cuauhte-
moc. Tlacotzin’s premature death during the campaign
brought the plan to an end. 34
The ciTy’s indigenous
RuLeRs, 1526–1535
If he was a fearless invader, Cortés was never very effec-
tive in governance, his weaknesses more on display as he
attempted to consolidate himself as the royal representa-
tive after his return from Honduras to the city in June 1526
within the territory that he had christened “New Spain.”
Since Tlacotzin had died en route, Cortés needed to name
a new indigenous governor, and his selection for the office
reveals a blindness to the Mexica regard for sacred kingship
that is picked up, like discordant signals from a radio, in
native histories. 35 They emphasize that the handpickedfiguRe 4.6. Unknown creator, map of property held by Mexica elites,
detail, Humboldt Fragment II, ca. 1565, Ms. Amer. 1, fol. 1, Staats-
bibliothek zu Berlin. Pbk, Berlin/Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Stiftung
Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Germany/Art Resource, New York.