kingdom · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

Metztitlan

1200 CE – 1522 CE (approx.) · capital Metztitlan

A highland lordship in the Sierra Alta of Hidalgo that, like Tlaxcala, kept its independence from the Aztec Empire.

Origins

Metztitlan arose in the fertile Vega de Metztitlan, a long valley north-east of the Valley of Mexico, in the Postclassic period, probably by the 13th century. Its people were mainly Otomí and Nahua.

Rule and society

The lordship was ruled from Metztitlan by a hereditary lord and controlled numerous towns in the rugged Sierra Alta. Its mountains and fortified frontier allowed it to repel Aztec campaigns, including one under Tizoc in the 1480s, and it remained an independent enclave, trading with the Huasteca. Irrigated valley farming supported its population.

Decline and legacy

After the fall of Tenochtitlan, Metztitlan submitted to the Spanish around 1522. Augustinian friars built a large monastery there, and it became a colonial town.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

MetztitlanNew Spain 1521 CE – 1821 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Metztitlan. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/metztitlan
MLA
“Metztitlan.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/metztitlan. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Metztitlan.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/metztitlan.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Metztitlan’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/metztitlan (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻