Xochiyaoyotl: Revisiting the Aztec Flower War
Author
Pedersen, Søren Emil Møller
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2023
Submitted on
2023-10-16
Pages
81
Abstract
This thesis revisits the Aztec Flower Wars (xochiyaoyotl) to ask a core question: Why did the Aztecs fight them? Grounded in Aztec cosmology of the Fifth Sun—where divine self-sacrifice obligated humans to sustain the cosmos through ritual human offerings—the study situates the Flower Wars within a religious framework. These planned, ritualized battles between different altepetl are described in sources as a means to secure captives for sacrifice, and death in battle was regarded as honorable. Against a scholarly tradition that often emphasizes political, military, or economic motives, the thesis reviews sources and scholarship and outlines its method and research design to contextualize religion, warfare, and warrior training in the Aztec world. It contends that religion was central to the waging of the Flower Wars; further findings beyond this argument are not detailed in the provided pages.
Dette speciale genbesøger de aztekiske Blomsterkrige (xochiyaoyotl) med det centrale spørgsmål: Hvorfor udkæmpede aztekerne dem? Med afsæt i aztekisk kosmologi under den femte sol, hvor gudernes selvopofrelse forpligtede menneskene til at opretholde verdensordenen gennem rituelle menneskeofringer, sætter specialet Blomsterkrigene ind i en religiøs ramme. Disse planlagte, ritualiserede slag mellem forskellige altepetl havde ifølge kilderne til formål at skaffe fanger til ofring, og død i kamp blev betragtet som hæderfuld. I lyset af en forskningshistorie, der ofte har fremhævet politiske, militære eller økonomiske forklaringer, gennemgår specialet kilder og litteratur og redegør for metode og forskningsdesign for at kontekstualisere religion, krigsførelse og krigertræning i Aztekerriget. Specialet argumenterer for, at religion havde en central betydning for Blomsterkrigenes tilblivelse og praksis; konkrete resultater herudover fremgår ikke af den udvalgte tekst.
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