John and Jenny Fulton

Real International Princesses: Mexican Princess Papantzin

By Jenny Fulton

Introduction

My book, An International Princess Alphabet Primer, features princesses from countries and cultures around the world. Each character is named after a real person. These are their stories.

Because the alphabet book was written for young kids, the biographies I’m sharing are short, child-friendly, often rose-tinted summaries.

Mexican Princess Papantzin

Mexican Princess Papantzin is named for Aztec Princess Papantzin, who prophesied about the coming of Christianity and the downfall of the Aztec Empire.

Princess Papantzin was born sometime in the late 1400’s. Her brother, King Moctezuma II, was the ruler of the Aztec Empire. Although he loved his sister and was kind to her, Moctezuma was a cruel ruler who killed a lot of people.

When Papantzin was a young teenager, she married the governor of one of the Aztec states. After her husband died in 1509, Papantzin became very sick. She fell into a coma and died. At least, that’s what everyone thought.

Moctezuma was heartbroken. He arranged for her to have a magnificent funeral and made sure the most important people came to honor her. They buried Papantzin in an underground cave in her palace garden, next to her favorite pond, and closed the entrance with a large stone.

There are different versions of what happened next.

One story says that the next day, a 6 year old girl went to the palace garden and saw the princess calmly sitting on the stairs to the pond. Papantzin asked the little girl to bring the palace steward’s wife. The child didn’t know Papantzin had died so she didn’t think it was strange to see her sitting in her favorite place. The steward’s wife, knowing what happened, didn’t believe the girl. But she went to the garden anyway. As soon as she saw Papantzin, she fainted. So, the poor girl went to find someone else. When other people saw Papantzin, they  didn’t faint, but they did think she was a ghost. Papantzin convinced them she was alive and asked them to get her brother. She had something important to tell him.

Another version says that when Papantzin woke up in the cave, she found her way out and asked servants to bring her brother to her.

A third account says that since there was a big stone at the entrance, Papantzin yelled for help from inside the cave. Some women heard her and immediately called for men to open the tomb.

When Moctezuma arrived, along with other nobles from the empire, Papantzin told them her story. 

“I wasn’t really dead,” she said. “I was only in a trance. In the trance I was walking on a large plain. There was a road in the middle and a large river on one side. The water was rough and made a loud noise. I was going to jump in and swim to the other side, but then I saw a handsome young man with long white clothes that were as bright as the sun. He had beautiful wings and there was a cross on his forehead. He put a cross on my forehead, too.

“This shiny man took my hand to keep me from going into the water. ‘Stop,’ he said. ‘It isn’t time for you to pass this river yet.’

“He pointed down the river. There were large boats, bigger than ours. They were filled with men who had lighter skin, big beards, and dressed in different clothes. They wore helmets and carried banners.

“The man said, ‘God wants you to live so you can see what He will do in your kingdom. The ships are filled with men who will conquer the empires in this land. They will stop the rulers from hurting and doing so many bad things to your people. They will introduce you to the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth. After the war is over, they will tell you how your sins can be washed away. You will be the first to receive and accept God’s work and will show the rest of your people how to receive Him as well.’

“After he told me all these things, the young man disappeared, and I woke up.”

Although Moctezuma was relieved his beloved sister was alive, he was upset by everything she’d told him. He didn’t want to believe his kingdom would be conquered and he didn’t want to change what he did or how he ruled. So, he left Papantzin’s palace, refused to ever see her again, and continued to fight against the local tribes to expand his empire.

Less than ten years later, in 1519, Hernando Cortez arrived in Mexico and began conquering the Aztec Empire. In the than two years, Moctezuma’s great kingdom was gone.

Catholic priests followed the soldiers. As she saw in her vision, Princess Papantzin became the first Aztec Christian. She was baptized in 1524 and changed her name to Dona Maria (some places refer to her as Dona Marina). Papantzin helped the priests spread the message of Christianity to other Native people.

Two of the natives who also accepted Christianity were a married couple named Juan Diego and Maria Lucia. Juan Diego is the hero in the story of the Catholic Saint, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Other Princess Bios

Works Cited

My version of Papantzin’s vision is a summary/paraphrase of the quoted account given in other sources.

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