Montezuma II 1466-1520
Aztec emperor

The ninth Aztec emperor to rule Mexico before the Spanish invasion, and a distinguished warrior and legislator, he succeeded to the title (1502) and became absolute monarch of a vast empire. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived under the leadership of Hern�n Cort�s, he gave them rich gifts in the belief that they might be incarnations of the white god Quetzalcoatl and reluctantly received them in his palace at Tenochtitl�n. They, in turn, imprisoned him and made themselves rulers instead. He died before their conquest of Mexico was complete. One of his descendants was Viceroy of Mexico (1697-1701). The last, banished from Spain for liberalism, died in New Orleans (1836).

Bibliography: C A Burland, Montezuma, Lord of the Aztecs (1973)