Empire of the Aztec, Montezuma

his name can also be spelled as Moctezuma, and he was the ninth Aztec emperor of Mexico. Montezuma is particularly famous for his confrontation with Hernán Cortés, the Spanish conquistador.
He was the leader of the Aztec empire from 1502 until his death in the year 1520. During this time, the Aztec empire extended from central Mexico to what is today Honduras in Central America.
Montezuma reached the Aztec throne as a successor of his uncle Ahuizotl. During this time, he organized military expeditions that extended the scope of the Aztec influence, however, he also built resentment among various tribes in the region, who were not willing to pay the tributes that Montezuma demanded. This resentment, among other circumstances, was what helped the Spanish conquistadores submit the Aztec tribe.

 We cannot talk about Montezuma without referring to his profound belief in the god Quetzalcoatl. The Aztecs expected the return of Quetzalcoatl, a white bearded god that ruled the Toltec empire. Some historians suggest that Quetzalcoatl was, in fact, a Viking that arrived to Mexico before Columbus. The legend of Quetzalcoatl talks about a white god that brought with him the knowledge of handling metal, and when looking into the Aztec codex, the pictographic representations of the god Quetzalcóatl resemble the image of a Nordic person.