The aztec warriors were one of the most powerful forces to ever engage in combat. To get to this point, it took a lot of training and education from an early age. The boys who were educated on how to write and were learned in astronomy. They also received training on how to fight as they grew up. The boys became men at the age of 17 and there initiation to becoming a warrior was capturing their first enemy in battle. They started low in the ranks of the army and moved up based on their skill, leadership, and how many people they had captured. The fighters also wore headdresses; the higher the rank the more elaborate the headdress. If a soldier showed true promise and was among the elite he might join a clan that only allowed the top tier of fighters like the jaguar or the eagle clan. The members of these groups would wear different clothing that represents their group`s animal as seen in the picture of a man dressed as a jaguar. While fighting they used a variety of weapons to defeat their enemies:The maquahuitl is a sword shape club with sharpened edges meant for hacking and slashing off opponent`s heads and other various body parts. They also used spears, bows and arrows, clubs, slings, and the atlatls--a spear throwing device. These soldiers were also pretty tough. On an average day these soldiers could walk 12-20 miles a day on their way to battle.

 

The military was a very important part of the empire because it was used to expand the control of the Aztecs, defeat dangerous enemies, protect the people, and bring in religious sacrifices from opposing forces. Religious sacrifices were a big part of the Aztec culture as a way to honor their gods, and of course they would rather not sacrifice their own people, so the military goes out and captures rival soldiers and people to use instead. this makes serving in the military an honor because they are the ones directly responsible for pleasing the gods.

 

The Aztecs had this amazing army, so they must have had some wars. One of these wars was the “La Noche Triste” or “The Sad Night” is when Cortes, the spanish military leader, came to the capital of the Aztec empire. people welcomed him because they thought he was sent by the god Quetzalcoatl on a holy journey.  After entering Tenochtitlan, Cortez took their leader,Montezuma, captive.Soon after Cortez heard that spain had sent another man to take over the mission, so he left some of his men in the city and left to take out this new leader. He returned with the man`s army, but was surprised when he learned that his men had been killing aztec nobles and creating chaos. There were riots and famine so Cortez and his men decided to sneak out at night. As they left they were attacked by the Aztec warriors and protesters. Cortez escaped the city, but after he left, their leader,Montezuma, was dead. Each side blames each other for killing this man but we will never know for sure.

 

The Flower Wars, or Xochiyaoyotl, were a way to satisfy the gods by having ritual battles where the goal was to capture the enemy men for sacrificial purposes. The Flower Wars were between the Aztecs and the Tlaxcalans and neither of them were allowed to kill or take land in battle; however, these wars became less ritual oriented when they turned into a violent way for the Aztec warriors to bully the neighboring people. The people that were captured did not try to resist being sacrificed because it was a noble way to die that promised a good, fruitful afterlife.