February 28, 1525

Cuauhtémoc

Cortés orders the execution of the captive Cuauhtémoc in Acalan

More than three years after Tenochtitlan fell, its last independent ruler was still Cortés's prisoner — marching through the Maya lowlands toward Honduras.

1525: a hanging in the Acalan lowlands

In 1525, during Cortés's arduous expedition toward Las Hibueras, the captive former Mexica ruler Cuauhtémoc was executed somewhere in the Maya province of Acalan-Tixchel. Cuauhtémoc and Tetlepanquetzal, the lord of Tlacopan, were hanged on Cortés's orders; Indigenous pictorial tradition represents them hanging from a ceiba or pochote tree.

The year is well attested, but the precise day rests principally on later chronicling: a recent UNAM treatment notes that 28 February, Carnival Tuesday, is the date given by Bernal Díaz del Castillo.

A conspiracy that cannot be verified

Cortés said an informant accused Cuauhtémoc and other Indigenous lords of planning to kill the Spaniards and start a wider revolt, and used that alleged plot to justify imposing death sentences.

Cortés and Bernal Díaz gave differing accounts of how the plot was supposedly exposed. Whether a genuine conspiracy existed — or whether Cortés exaggerated one to justify the killings — cannot be established from the partisan Spanish accounts that preserve it.

What the killings removed

The execution ended the life of the last independent huey tlatoani of Mexico-Tenochtitlan after more than three years in Spanish custody — far from that city, in the middle of a jungle march.

At least one other senior Triple Alliance ruler died with him, removing prominent captive leaders and frightening the remaining Indigenous members of the expedition as it continued through the Maya lowlands. Sources differ over which additional nobles were executed, and even the exact site within Acalan-Tixchel remains uncertain.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 3 audit passes Traditional date

How this was checked

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Traditional date. This date is the conventional one, not one fixed by a contemporary record.

What the sources leave uncertain

The execution itself in 1525 is well attested, but the exact date rests principally on later chronicling. A recent UNAM scholarly treatment describes 28 February, Carnival Tuesday, as the date given by Bernal Díaz del Castillo.
The exact execution site remains uncertain within the former province of Acalan-Tixchel; Itzamkanac is often proposed.
Cortés and Bernal Díaz gave different accounts of how the alleged plot was exposed. Whether a genuine conspiracy existed, and whether Cortés exaggerated it to justify the killings, cannot be established securely.
Sources differ over precisely which additional Indigenous nobles were executed and over details such as the treatment or later location of the bodies.