Grade 7 Fall — The Medieval World c. 500-1500 CE: Byzantium, the Islamic Caliphates and Golden Age, Tang and Song China, West African Empires (Ghana/Mali/Songhai), Mesoamerica (Postclassic Toltec/Aztec) and the Inca, the Mongol Empire and Pax Mongolica, the Indian Ocean and Trans-Saharan Trade Networks, Medieval Europe as ONE Region Among Many — Whose Golden Age? Whose Crusade? Whose Trade Network?
History · CUL G7 hist.g7.f.cul.mesoamerica_postclassic_toltec_aztec

Trace Postclassic Mesoamerica c. 900-1521 CE — the Toltec c. 900-1150 CE (Tula), the Aztec/Mexica founding of Tenochtitlán 1325 CE through the imperial peak 1500 CE under Moctezuma II, applying the Camilla Townsend 'Fifth Sun' refusal of the conquest-myth + Matthew Restall 'Seven Myths' framing

Identify the Toltec capital Tula (Tollan) — Quetzalcoatl/Topiltzin legendary association; Aztec/Mexica origin tradition (Aztlán migration); founding of Tenochtitlán 1325 CE on Lake Texcoco; the Triple Alliance 1428 (Tenochtitlán + Texcoco + Tlacopan); Tenochtitlán at imperial peak ~200,000 people in 1500 CE (larger than London ~50k, Rome ~30k; comparable to Paris ~225k, Constantinople ~250k); chinampas floating-agriculture system; Templo Mayor archaeology; Florentine Codex (Sahagún 1577) as primary source compiled with Nahua scholar-collaborators in Tlatelolco; Cortés 1519-1521 with 500 Spaniards + 200,000+ Indigenous allied troops (Tlaxcaltec/Cholultec/Texcocan/Otomi) + smallpox 1520 as decisive factor. Nahua peoples ARE today — 1.5 million Nahuatl speakers in contemporary Mexico (present-tense protocol per NMAI).

Mastery threshold
90%
Min instances
12
Typical minutes
45
Spaced intervals (days)
1, 3, 7, 14, 30, 60
Prereqs
Successors
  • hist.g7.s.cul.spanish_colonial_systems_americas
    (not yet loaded)
Common misconceptions
  • Believing 'the Aztecs were conquered in 1521 by 500 Spaniards' — there were 200,000+ Indigenous allied troops fighting WITH Cortés and smallpox 1520 was the decisive factor
  • Using past-tense to discuss Nahua peoples — they ARE today, 1.5 million Nahuatl speakers; present-tense protocol required
  • Underestimating Tenochtitlán's scale — it was the third-largest city in the world in 1500 CE behind Beijing and Constantinople, larger than any European city except possibly Paris

Exercise pool (2)

Diff Stem Type
3 Apply Living-Descendant present-tense protocol to Nahua peoples in 50-75 words. Name the contemporary speaker numbers + cultural... short answer
4 Refute the conquest-myth in 100-150 words. Cite Townsend 'Fifth Sun' 2019 + Restall 'Seven Myths' 2003. Name the 200,000+ Indigenous... claim evidence warrant