What was the Aztec name for ritualized flower wars?

The Aztec name for ritualized flower wars was Xochiyaoyotl. In Nahuatl, xōchiyāōyōtl means “flower war,” describing a distinctive form of arranged warfare practiced by the Mexica and neighboring city-states in central Mexico.

These conflicts were not ordinary wars of conquest. Armies could meet at an agreed place and time, often using close-combat weapons and emphasizing individual warrior skill. Capturing opponents was especially important, because captives could be used in ritual sacrifice. Flower wars also gave rulers a way to display military power and maintain pressure on rival states.

The best-known opponents included Tlaxcala, Huejotzingo, Cholula, and Atlixco. Traditional accounts connect the practice with the famine of 1450–1454, although historians debate whether that was its true origin. The term should not be confused with a peaceful ceremony: these were real battles, sometimes deadly, conducted under more structured conventions than campaigns of imperial expansion.