Cuauhtémoc

Cuauhtémoc assumed power in 1520 as successor to Cuitláhuac, a cousin of the late Moctezuma II. His young wife, later known as Isabel Moctezuma, was one of Moctezuma's daughters. He inherited command of Tenochtitlan while the city was under Spanish siege and an epidemic of smallpox — brought by the conquerors — ravaged the population. Few Aztec captains remained after the killings in the Great Temple. He ruled until 1521, the final tlatoani before the empire fell.