The Aztec 'Flower Wars' were far more deadly and insidious than the name suggests

In the early 15th century, the Mexica of Tenochtitlan joined with the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan to form the Triple Alliance in 1428 after the defeat of the Tepanecs.

This coalition allowed them to dominate central Mexico and displace older regional powers such as the Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco.

From the beginning, their power came from both military conquest and religious beliefs. 

Under the leadership of Itzcoatl, who led the early conquests, and Moctezuma I, who improved government systems and military efforts, the alliance expanded rapidly.

In each new province, Aztec officials imposed tribute demands that funded community projects and supported a warrior class.

Tribute payments, which were often recorded in picture-based codices such as the Codex Mendoza, included goods like cacao, cotton, jade, feathers, and maize.

During this period of expansion, military service became the primary path to social advancement for commoners, as a man's status depended on the number of captives he seized, instead of counting the number of enemies he killed. 

At formal schools such as the telpochcalli and the calmecac, boys received instruction in discipline, weapon skills, religious devotion, and civic duty.

This meant that, from childhood, the structure of Aztec society prepared males for the battlefield.

After gaining control of the Valley of Mexico, the Aztecs encountered stiff resistance from certain regions.

The people of Tlaxcala, Huexotzinco, and Cholula refused to submit to imperial authority, but, rather than crush them outright, Aztec leaders devised a new type of conflict that served both political and religious aims.

The result was the formal adoption of ritual warfare. 

According to Aztec belief, the gods had sacrificed themselves to create the world, and humanity owed them repayment in blood.

The sun would rise only if fed with human hearts, and the universe would collapse if neglected.

In religious texts and oral traditions, this expectation took on complete authority, because it was tied to the myth of the Five Suns, which held that the current age was the fifth and final world, dependent on constant nourishment through sacrifice. 

To meet these demands, Aztec rulers developed the Flower Wars. Unlike standard conquests, these conflicts followed set patterns.

Enemies agreed on the time and place of battle, and each side sent elite warriors trained for capturing live opponents rather than achieving total victory.

According to some post-conquest accounts, the practice became established after a devastating drought and famine in the mid-1450s, when priests claimed that the gods required more blood to restore balance.

In public speeches, commanders described these encounters as sacred duties that strengthened social order and honoured the gods' will. 

On the battlefield, fighters used weapons designed to disable rather than kill. The macuahuitl could deliver deep cuts, but warriors often attempted to capture rather than kill, though combat still involved lethal force and wild violence.

With the quetzalchimalli, a decorative feathered shield used by elite warriors, strapped to the arm, they knocked opponents down and then dragged them away alive.

Among the Aztecs, individual courage and careful ritual practice mattered more than tactical efficiency. 

Furthermore, during preparations, priests led cleansing ceremonies and asked for divine approval.

Meanwhile, warriors decorated themselves with paint, feathers, and emblems of their military rank.

Religious festivals often coincided with these battles, where deities such as Huitzilopochtli, god of war and the sun, and Tonatiuh, the solar deity who demanded human hearts, were at the centre of these ceremonies. 

A warrior who captured an opponent earned public acclaim and greater pay as proof of his merit, and advanced into prestigious military orders.

Members of the eagle and jaguar warrior classes held elite status, and entrance required the capture of multiple enemies in combat.

Within these orders, higher ranks such as the cuāuhpipiltin and ocēlōpipiltin conferred noble privileges and access to greater honours. 

One example from the 1480s near Atlixco shows these ritual battles, while a wider set of fights with Tlaxcala and Huexotzinco shows how Aztec and Tlaxcalan forces kept returning to these contests.

Both sides used the war to keep their religious calendar, honour local gods, and train new fighters.

The captured were handed over to priests, and their captors returned home and were praised as heroes.

These battles also let rulers control rivalries and avoid the ruin of cities by laying siege. 

Some sources written after the conquest say the Flower Wars helped rulers control rivalries without wrecking cities, but the main goal seems to have stayed religious rather than political.

Despite their organised form, these battles still caused real injuries, but death was the likely result for every captive. 

Inside Aztec cities, priests washed the bodies of the prisoners, dressed them in fine robes, and gave them sacred names.

To the spectators, this treatment honoured the gods, but for the victim, it indicated the start of a planned execution. 

On the day of sacrifice, the prisoner climbed the steps of the temple pyramid, and, at the summit, priests forced him to lie across a stone slab.

They cut into the chest with razor-sharp obsidian blades and pulled out the heart, which they held skyward for the gods.

The body, now lifeless, fell down the steps. Onlookers cheered as the corpse was dragged aside or dismembered for later use.

These sacrifices often took place at the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan, the religious centre of the empire. 

Skulls from these victims sometimes appeared on the tzompantli, a wooden rack displayed outside the temple precinct.

Rows of these skulls warned both visitors and locals so that no one doubted state power after seeing such evidence.

Apparently, some racks held hundreds or even thousands of skulls. Archaeological finds at the Huei Tzompantli near the Templo Mayor give very different estimates of the exact number.

Among the enemies of the Aztecs, this treatment provoked resentment. In Tlaxcala, in particular, families mourned lost sons and remembered the cruelty of ritual death.

Although Aztec authorities called sacrifice an honour, those who lost family felt only grief.

For many subject cities, the Flower Wars became a source of growing hatred. 

When Hernán Cortés marched inland from Veracruz in 1519, his men encountered Tlaxcalan forces who initially attacked them, then later allied with them.

Years of conflict and resentment over Aztec rule likely influenced Tlaxcala's decision to side with the Spaniards, though their alliance with Cortés was ultimately a practical choice based on military need and chance.

Without the harsh reality of the Flower Wars, that alliance might never have formed.

Cortés arrived with fewer than 600 Spaniards, but gained the support of thousands of Tlaxcalan warriors, whose support was crucial in the siege and fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521.