Aztecs

2. An agreement between groups to work together. Cortés formed alliances with Indigenous peoples, including the Tlaxcalans, who opposed Aztec rule.
7. The Aztec capital, built on an island in Lake Texcoco. It was the centre of Aztec government, trade and religion.
9. A powerful civilisation in central Mexico that controlled many cities and peoples before the Spanish conquest in 1521.
11. An important Aztec god associated with wind and knowledge. Later Spanish accounts linked beliefs about this god to Cortés's arrival, although this interpretation is disputed.
12. Goods, food or wealth that conquered peoples were required to give to Aztec rulers.

1. When an army surrounds a city and cuts off supplies to capture it. Spanish forces and their Indigenous allies besieged Tenochtitlan in 1521.
3. Spanish soldiers and explorers who conquered territories in the Americas for Spain.
4. The ritual killing of people as an offering to the gods. The Aztecs believed these rituals helped maintain the balance of the universe and the continuation of life.
5. The Aztec emperor when the Spanish arrived in 1519. He was taken prisoner during the Spanish takeover of Tenochtitlan.
6. A sharp, dark volcanic glass used to make tools, blades and weapons. It was important in everyday life, warfare and religious ceremonies.
8. The Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that helped defeat the Aztec Empire.
10. A deadly infectious disease brought by Europeans that devastated Indigenous populations and weakened Aztec resistance.