The Aztecs: Part 1

Dr. Roy Casagranda dives into Aztec culture and history to first establish what culture and life was like in the Valley of Mexico and then to explain the rise of the short lived Aztec Empire. In part 1 he gets to 1519 AD.

At one point I get stuck on the original four suns of the Creation Myth. They were, in order, earth, wind, fire, and water.

[TahaAlZadjali]

This man thinks im learning something, but im actually enjoying this lecture. This is better than Netflix for me.

[colerthanu]

This man reminds me of my best days of college. When a smart person just took the time to explain a topic. He doesn’t just give the facts, but the context that makes them history. Amazing lectures

[KJ-rmje]

This video is the reason I love being an adult. Listening to a topic no one is forcing me to learn

[SimonRushton]

Love this channel, found it via TikTok and can’t get enough of his lectures

[agoveli]

I could listen to this guy explain paint drying and I would still be captivated by his story telling abilities

[abuzaben]

It’s always a good day when prof. Roy uploads a lecture, haircut is awesome too.

[jeremy-avar]

I am 1000% impressed with your ability to recall names.

[test-wssg]

He is a dream teacher.Watching his lectures for last 4 years. I'm from India, an electrical engineer.

[ahmdf]

You can always count on Dr. Casagranda to make it engaging and interesting. You can tell he's passionate about everything he teaches and that this is not just a job to him.

[lA-tvqt]

The day TikTok or YouTube knows about Prof Roy his videos will garner millions of views for the next 20 years.

[ahmadniazrahman]

I wanna go to Austin one day to fill one of those empty chairs. Professor Roy you've been a beacon of truth and a real influencer in my life. Thank you.

[Bry.wood]

I had a teacher like this in 2nd grade that was big on history
And sparked my interest in history ever since .
I was a bad student my whole life but
My grades were all Ds and Fs
Except for history class I always had an A
God bless students of history

[SilverSea]

There's several things wrong with this talk but it's not surprising as it's mostly stuff that was still upheld by experts since not too long ago (dw it's good overall!!). I won't go into details with timestamps and all but quickly from the top of my mind;

- We have next to zero sources on the enclave of Teotitlan and the consensus today is that it was either fully integrated in the empire (IE it wasn't an enclave), or was at least a vassal state, there's no animosity between them and the aztecs
- Were almost certain that Tlaxcala was not an enclave by choice, Mocteuzema said this to Cortes but he probably lied to keep face. The whole flowers wars thing is a great debate in the community, it may be a complete lie from the aztec nobility.
- No, killing in battle was a thing. Capture was sometimes preffered but battles have been fought were it was absolutely not the priority, notably against the tarascans. Also they had armor, their cotton armor was strong enough to stop bullets from spanish muskets.
- The bit about eating human flesh out of necessity is complete bullshit and had been debunked by Ortiz de Montellano long ago (1978). Their diet was already balanced, they also had domestic animals that were bred in large quantity to provide meat (dogs and turkeys) I also recall that the provinces in current Veracruz produced more food surplus than the core region around lake Texcoco.

Sources;
Aztec medicine, health, and nutrition - Ortiz de Montellano
Aztec imperial strategies - Frances F. Berdan, Richard E. Blanton, Elizabeth Hill Boone, Mary G. Hodge, Michael E. Smith, Emily Umberger (this one is a must read, debunks so much stuff)
Aztec warfare - Ross Hassig (this one is a bit old and contains some takes that have been debunked in Aztec imperial strategies, but it's still mostly good)
Codex Mendoza (the one translated by Berdan is amazing)

[omarmansour_]

God bless Dr. Roy Casagranda !!! MashaAllah I love how he brings forward his knowledge in such a captivating manner. It feels like Im listening to a story rather than watching a classroom lecture. Please upload more !! Jazak Allah khayr Dr. Roy (May God rewards you for this beautiful impact)

[akmalmard]

Better sense of humour then from majority of top tier standup comedians, on top of honesty and great knowledge.thank you for uploading

[seandawson]

It appears there is some argument over whether Aztec weapons were designed to kill or merely to maim enemies in order to capture them. However, I’m not able to find ANY references that say the Aztecs went into battle unarmed and just wrestled the other side to the ground. There is TONS of information on the diverse weapons of the Aztecs to include TONS of Aztec art with soldiers carrying weapons.

[gojira]

1)
The way he describes the creation of the 5 Suns throws into question his expertise in this topic. There are some descriptions that He brings up that I have never heard before.

The First sun was Tezcatlipoca's sun. It was a half sun that provided little light, and was knocked from the sky by Quetzalcoatl (Which he confuses for Huītzilōpōchtli). Their rivalry is fairly well known. In a rage, Tezcatlipoca sends jaguars to destroy the sun and eat up the Giants that Quetzalcoatl created. This sun is known as the Jaguar Sun because of the way the earth was destroyed.

Wind Sun was next and was created by Quetzalcoatl. This version of man abandoned their gods and Tezcatlipoca turned them into Monkeys. Quetzalcoatl destroyed the Sun in grief with a Hurricane and dedicated himself to creating a better type of human.

Fire Sun belonged to Tlaloc. He was a good sun, until Tezcatlipoca stole his wife. In grief, Tlaloc neglected his duties to bring rain to the earth. when the people begged for rain, he destroyed the world and sun in a rain of fire.

Water Sun was Chalchiuhtlicue's. She was a good sun as well, but Tezcatlipoca told her that her kindness came from a selfish desire to be loved, and that all humanity believed his words. She cried blood until the world was overtaken by water and drowned everybody. A small group of humans were turned into fish to survive.

The Fifth Sun has two main stories. The one he told says that Nanauatzin and Tecuciztecatl were chosen as candidates when in every story i have read, they volunteered to become the sun. Tecuciztecatl was chosen by the other gods but was a coward and did not want to jump in the flame. Nanauatzin jumped in as soon as Tecuciztecatl bowed out. In shame, Tecuciztecatl jumped in after Nanauatzin. Nanauatzin sun rose first, splendid and radiant, especially compared to his sore ridden body. When Tecuciztecatl's Sun rose it was bright as well, but the gods did not see it right that He was as splendid as he was given his cowardice and they threw a rabbit at him to dim his sun. (I dont recall the gods beating Tecuciztecatl at any point but there are many variations in the story, this may be one i have missed).

I do not understand how he completely avoids mentioning Tonatiuh's role in this story. It was Tonatiuh that would not move the sun and demanded sacrifice from all the other gods to move it across the sky. He is so much of an important god in this equation that he sits dead center in the Aztec Calendar and exist on Mexico's money to this day. He is one of the reasons that Huītzilōpōchtli is so important as a war god and a sun god. Without war bringing in sacrificial victims, the sun would not rise.

I have only gotten an hour into the lecture, but missing parts of the story or rewriting them and avoiding major players is a big red flag to me. This is probably the most important story for the Mexica People.

[ramzpehlivan]

I literally saved this the moment it came out to listen to while at work…and I have to say, it’s given me life. Thank you so much Professor, you lectures never disappoint…if school kids had you as a teacher there’d be more history graduates than accountants 😂

[myistuhjones]

Roy Casagranda is absolutely jaw dropping incredible. As a kid who thought about becoming a history professor, YOU ARE MY HERO

[faisalchehab]

I wish I had a professor as amazing as him ! I watch a lot of his lectures, very well spoken teachings. Thank you for your Great Work !