The two gods, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, constantly battled to determine who would rule the universe.
After one fight, Quetzalcoatl was driven from his capital city, Tenochtitlan, by Tezcatlipoca. According to Aztec myth, Quetzalcoatl would eventually return in triumph as a light-skinned, bearded god.
In 1519, the Aztec king, Moctezuma II was shocked when a light-skinned, bearded Spaniard named Hernan Cortes arrived in the capital city.
Moctezuma was convinced that Quetzalcoatl had returned at last. But Moctezuma was very wrong.
Cortes was not a god, but a conquistador in search of gold and riches.
With Indian allies and European guns, Cortes and his men destroyed the Aztec Empire in 1521.
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