Origins
Ixtlilxochitl, a Texcocan nobleman, provides the “fullest early statement concerning the origin as well as the initial rationale” of the flower war. Crop failure and severe drought plagued the Aztecs from 1450 to 1454, resulting in famine and many deaths in the central Mexican highlands. According to Ixtlilxochitl, the flower war began “as a response” to the famine: “the priests… of Mexico [Tenochtitlan] said that the gods were angry at the empire, and that to appease them it was necessary to sacrifice many men, and that this had to be done on a regular basis”. As a result, Tenochtitlan (the Aztec capital), Texcoco, Tlaxcala, Cholula, and Huejotzingo agreed to a flower war in order to obtain human sacrifices for the gods.
Scholars such as Frederic Hicks, however, disagree with using Ixlilxochitl’s writings as the origin story of the flower war because Ixtlilxochitl does not specifically mention “flower war” and is the only known source to record these events.
Practices
Flower wars differed from traditional wars in a number of significant ways. During a flower war, opposing armies would meet on a “predetermined date at a predetermined location.” These locations became sacred and were known as cuauhtlalli or yaotlalli. The start of the war was signaled by the burning of a large “pyre of paper and incense” between the armies. Actual battle tactics differed from conventional warfare as well. The Aztec used atlatl darts, stones, and other ranged weapons to weaken enemy forces from a distance. However, in flower wars, the Aztecs avoided using ranged weapons in favor of weapons like the macuahuitl, which required skill and close proximity to the enemy. The use of such weapons allowed the Aztecs to demonstrate their individual combat ability, which was an important aspect of flower war.
Flower wars had fewer soldiers than traditional Aztec wars. Unlike in a typical war, a larger proportion of the soldiers would be drawn from the nobility. These characteristics enabled the Aztecs to fight flower wars at any time of year. In contrast, the Aztecs could only fight larger conquest wars from late autumn to early spring because Aztec citizens were needed for farming the rest of the year. Furthermore, flower wars differed from traditional wars in that there were equal numbers of soldiers on each side of the battle; this was also related to the Aztecs’ desire to demonstrate their military prowess.
Flower wars were generally less lethal than other types of wars, but a long-running flower war could become more lethal over time. For example, there were few battle deaths at the start of a long-running flower war between the Aztecs and the Chalcas. As time passed, captured commoners began to be killed, but captured nobles were frequently released; captives were not always sacrificed. However, after some time had passed, captive nobles, along with commoners, were killed. Both the Aztecs and the Chalcas paid a higher price for the flower war as a result of this. The Aztecs thought that dying in a flower war was nobler than dying in a regular war; this is Aztec inspired reflected in the word for a flower war death, xochimiquiztli, which translates to “flowery death, blissful death, fortunate death.” Furthermore, the Aztecs believed that those who died in a flower war would be taken to heaven.
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