Nauhtlan

Nauhtlan, later known as Nautla, was a settlement on the Gulf coast in Totonac country. Its Nahuatl name means “four places”. At the time of the Spanish arrival a Mexica garrison held the town, making it a point of tension between the imperial authorities and neighbouring Totonac communities.

In 1519 Juan de Escalante led Spaniards and Totonac allies against the forces of the local commander Cuauhpopoca at Nauhtlan. The attackers suffered heavy losses, and Escalante died of his wounds. News of the fighting and the casualties soon reached Hernán Cortés in the distant Mexican capital, where he used it in his confrontation with Moctezuma. The battle linked events on the Gulf coast directly to the wider struggle for power over Tenochtitlan.