Atlacatl

Atlacatl (died 1528) is reputed to have been the name of the last ruler of a polity which was based around the center of Cuzcatlan, in the southwestern periphery of Mesoamerica (present-day El Salvador), at the time of the Spanish conquest.

Cuzcatlán was at that time one of the leading political centers in a loose 'confederation' of Mesoamerican peoples known as the Pipils, whose ultimately unsuccessful resistance against the Spanish conquistadores under Pedro de Alvarado and others is remembered in Salvadoran tradition. The figure of Atlacatl himself has taken on a somewhat legendary aspect in Salvadoran folklore, symbolising the Pipils' brave and stout resistance against the invading Spanish forces. However, the historical reality of Atlacatl's resistance (and even existence) is open to question, with contemporary sources providing a different account, and the details of Atlacatl's heroic exploits appearing as later embellishments after the fact.