Tlatlauquitepec

History

The region was first inhabited by Totonacs and later by Nahua groups. Tlatlauquitepec became the seat of a lordship that, once absorbed by the Aztec Empire, gathered the tribute of several nearby towns; cloth, warrior costumes and liquidambar were among the goods sent.

Around 1524, three years after the fall of Tenochtitlan, the lordship was placed under the encomienda system. Franciscans coming from Tlaxcala founded a convent here in 1531, and from it they carried their preaching across the sierra and down to the coast, founding churches in places such as Teziutlán, Zacapoaxtla, Cuetzalan and Papantla. They handed their parishes to the secular clergy in 1567. In 1535 the town became a corregimiento, and in the 17th century it was the seat of alcaldes mayores.

Local priests sided with Morelos during the independence struggle, and one of them, José María Fernández del Campo, became a deputy to the Congress of Chilpancingo. During the Reform era the town was a stronghold of opposition to the liberal laws, and in 1864 it was occupied by French forces. For a time it was called Villa de Tornel; it recovered the name Tlatlauquitepec in 1895, when it was made a municipal seat.