Tlacaelel

Tlacaelel (1397–1487) was the chief architect of the Aztec Empire, son of the Mexica ruler Huitzilihuitl and brother of Moctezuma I. In the late 1420s war against the Tepanecs he became cihuacoatl and held the office under four successive tlatoque.

He recast the Mexica as a chosen people, raised Huitzilopochtli to the head of the pantheon, used the flower wars against Tlaxcala to take sacrificial captives, imposed sumptuary laws and burned the histories of conquered peoples.

He first rose under his uncle Itzcoatl. He dedicated the seventh rebuilding of the Templo Mayor at Tenochtitlan in 1484 and died in 1487.