ABSTRACT
Malintzin Tenepal, the Aztec princess, must have devoted much of her time to learning. To be sure, religion must have been one of those fields of education in which she was diligently instructed for being a child of noble birth. And perhaps it was the contradictions of her religious education and the reality of the military Aztec state which determined the future actions of Malintzin. Aztec religion, per se, was very much influenced by the works of the brilliant Tlacaelel. Tlacaelel was already the great counselor to the emperor himself, but he distinguished himself as a great leader when war broke out with the powerful city of Atzcapotzalco during the reign of Itzcoatl. Aztec religion joined Quetzalcoatl, the giver of life and peace along with Huitzilopochtli, the bloodthirsty warrior—two diametrically opposed deities.
