# The Tlaxcalan Alliance: How Cortés Won Mexico

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470/the-tlaxcalan-alliance-how-cort-s-won-mexico
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470/the-tlaxcalan-alliance-how-cort-s-won-mexico.md
Podcast: [The Conquistadors: Exploration, Greed, and Destruction — Fexingo History](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-conquistadors-exploration-greed-and-destruction-fexingo-history-7864470)
Published: 2026-07-22T03:22:28+00:00
Episode link: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-conquistadors/episode-0169.mp3
Audio file: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-conquistadors/episode-0169.mp3
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Duration seconds: 661

## Resource

We all know Cortés conquered the Aztecs with just a few hundred Spaniards — or did he? In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the single most decisive factor in the fall of Tenochtitlan: the massive Indigenous alliance that fought alongside the conquistadors. Centered on Tlaxcala, the small republic that defied the Aztec Empire for decades, we trace how Cortés turned former enemies into the backbone of his army. Lucas walks us through a key battlefield in the Tlaxcalan border wars — the Otumba plains, July 1520 — where the Spanish nearly died until the Tlaxcalan cavalry turned the tide. We discuss the internal politics of the Tlaxcalan senate, the strategic brilliance of Xicotencatl the Younger, and the uneasy peace that followed. The conversation dives into the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, a painted manuscript produced by the allies themselves to demand land and privileges from the Spanish crown, and we close with the bitter aftermath: how Tlaxcala's loyalty was rewarded with marginalization. This is the story of the people who actually conquered Mexico. #Tlaxcala #Cortés #Xicotencatl #Otumba #LienzodeTlaxcala #Tenochtitlan #AztecEmpire #Mesoamerica #Conquistadors #IndigenousAlliance #Nahuatl #SpanishConquest #Mexica #History #FexingoHistory #Warfare #ColonialMexico #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

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