Aztec Triple Alliance
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- This article refers to an alliance of three Aztec city-states. For other alliances of three parties, see Triple Alliance (disambiguation).
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The Aztec Triple Alliance, also known as the Aztec Empire, was an alliance of three Aztec city-states: Tenochtitlan; Texcoco; and Tlacopan. These city-states ruled the area in and around the Valley of Mexico from 1428 until they were defeated by the Spanish conquistadores and their native allies under Hernán Cortés in 1521.
The Aztec Triple Alliance was formed by Itzcoatl of Tenochtitlan, Nezahualcoyotl of Texcoco, and the smaller city-state of Tlacopan in 1428. Despite the name, Tenochtitlan was the dominant partner, and Tlacopan the weakest. Tenochtitlan and Texcoco each received 2/5 of all tribute, and Tlacopan received 1/5. By the time the Spanish arrived in 1520, Tlacopan had nearly disappeared as a separate city-state, and the lands of the Alliance were ruled from Tenochtitlan.
At its height, the Alliance controlled most of central Mexico from coast to coast, except for a small area southeast of Tenochtitlan: the Kingdom of the Tlaxcalteca, roughly bounded by the modern-day Mexican state of Tlaxcala. It was the Tlaxcalans who allied with Cortés in 1521 to ultimately destroy the Alliance.
