Tlaxcala (city)

Tlaxcala (UK: /tləˈskɑːlə, tlæˈ-/ tlə-SKAH-lə, tla-, US: /tlɑːˈ-/ tlah-, Spanish: [tla(ɣ)sˈkala] ^ⓘ), officially Tlaxcala de Xicohténcatl, is the capital city of the Mexican state of Tlaxcala and seat of the municipality of the same name. The city did not exist during the pre-Hispanic period but was laid out by the Spanish as a center of evangelization and governance after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. The city was designated as a diocese but eventually lost that status to Puebla as its population declined. The city still has many of its old colonial structures, including the former Franciscan monastery, and newer civic structures like the Xicohtencatl Theatre.

The name Tlaxcala most likely comes from a Nahuatl phrase which means “place of corn bread.” The Aztec glyph for the Mesoamerican dominion is two hills from which emerge a pair of hands making a tortilla.

The site of the modern city did not have a settlement for most of the pre Hispanic era. The area was ruled by a coalition of four dominions called Tepeticpac, Ocotelolco, Tizatlan and Quiahuiztlan which united in the 14th century to defend themselves against the Aztecs and other enemies. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Tlaxcala was one of the most important areas of Mesoamerica with commercial ties to the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean as well as Central America.

As the Aztec Empire grew, it conquered Tlaxcala's neighbors but left the dominion in order to perform annual ritual combat called the “flower wars” which aimed to not conquer but capture soldiers for sacrifice. The conquest of the surrounding area also cut off Tlaxcala's commerce. This remained the case until the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century. Hernán Cortés took advantage of this situation, enlisting the Tlaxcalans as allies against the Aztecs, giving them a base to attack from and regroup after the La Noche Triste when they were initially expelled from Tenochtitlan.

Despite the military alliance of the Tlaxcalans, they did not have a single capital. After the Spanish conquest terminated, the Europeans selected the current site to solidify their hold on the Tlaxcalans as well as have a base for evangelization. The most likely time that the city was founded was spring of 1522. Tlaxcala was the fifth diocese to be established in the Americas and the second in Mexico after Yucatán. The first bishop was Julian Garces and the seat was established in 1527. However, since there was a cathedral in the city of Puebla and not in Tlaxcala, the seat was moved to Puebla in 1539 and has remained there since. The original territory of the diocese included the states of Puebla, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Tabasco, Hidalgo and Guerrero, but as new diocese were erected, the territory reduced to the present, states of Puebla and Tlaxcala. In 1903, the name of the Diocese of Tlaxcala was changed to the Diocese of Puebla.

At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Tlaxcala area was heavily populated but with epidemics, emigrations and the construction of the Nochistongo canal to drain the Valley of Mexico, most of the indigenous population disappeared. A document of 1625 states that there were 300,000 in the city in the 16th century but only 700 remained by that time it was written. The city was begun in 1537 with the construction of the San Francisco monastery. The city became the center of Tlaxcala identity during the colonial period. Its commerce was originally centered in the main square but was eventually moved to the outskirts of town. One important project that was traded here was the cochineal insect, used to make red dye. When New Spain was divided into five major provinces, Tlaxcala became the capital of one of them, with roughly the same dimensions as the pre Hispanic coalition of dominions. Tlaxcala was promised certain rights as an ally during the Conquest. When a number of these were not met, a codex was produced here called the Lienzo de Tlaxcala as a complaint to the Spanish Crown. However, despite the complaints, most of the indigenous eventually lost their lands around the city and lost many of their commerce rights in it.

In 1692, a revolt occurred against Governor Manuel de Bustamante y Bustillo due to the scarcity of grain.

The city of Tlaxcala became a municipality in 1813, under the Spanish Constitution of 1812.