He was known for his alliance with the Spanish captain Hernán Cortés, formed in 15 July 1519,[3] which made him one of the first allies of the Spaniards during the conquest of the Aztec Empire.

[11]: 11, 34 [12] This name's origin is possibly from a plant used for medical purposes described in the Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis (in Latin, Little Book of the Medicinal Herbs of the Indians).

[2]: 88–89  Cortés wrote to emperor Carlos I of Spain in his second relation letter, dated 30 October 1520: And I left that province of Cempoal [sic] along with all the towns in the mound, which might be up to fifty thousand warriors and fifty towns and fortresses, very safe, peaceful and loyal vassals of your majesty as so far they have been and are, because they were subjects of that sire Muteezuma [sic], and according to what I was informed, they were forced into being so, and not too long ago.

Upon hearing about the news about the "towers" or "temples" that had arrived at the sea that were filled with strange foreign men who were now going to the capital, Xicomecoatl sent 12 ambassadors to meet these new people and welcome them into Cempoala.

Díaz del Castillo wrote: And as we were entering between the houses, as we saw such a big city, because we haven't seen any bigger, we were very amazed about it, and as we saw how busy it was, filled with men and women in the streets coming out to see us, we praised God because of the lands we had discovered.

Cortés, alongside his translators and interpreters, Doña Marina (also known as La Malinche) and Gerónimo de Aguilar, told the ruler that they would return the favor by helping them with whatever they wanted: And Cortés told him, with Doña Marina and Aguilar, that we would pay him with favors, because we are vassals of a great sire, who is the emperor Don Carlos, who rules over many kingdoms and states, and he sent us to solve grievances, to punish the evil, and to stop the sacrifice of any more souls.

Initially, Cortés had his concerns about Quiahuiztlan due to the powerful fortifications of the city, but once they finally arrived, they found it to be completely empty.

Once they arrived to the place of the meeting, the collectors began to threaten him and the other rulers with Moctezuma's forces, claiming that Moctezuma would not accept the Spaniards being settled in his domains without his previous permission,[9] and demanded for 20 people, men and women, to be given to them by the following morning, so they could be sacrificed to Huītzilōpōchtli, as punishment for allowing the Spaniards in without permission, according to Díaz del Castillo.

Once he understood, he called Xicomecoatl and the other rulers and told them that the tlatoani would not worry about him being in the territory because he was "friends with Moctezuma", and he would not be upset about the presence of the Spaniards.

[9]: 110 Later, Cortés decided to demonstrate his loyalty to Xicomecoatl and the rest of the Totonacs by ordering the arrest of the collectors to let Moctezuma know that such behavior would not be tolerated.

[9] Upon the arrests, Cortés ordered the people of Cempoala, Quiahuiztlan and the rest of the over 30 Totonac cities in the empire to not pay tributes to Moctezuma anymore and to begin a rebellion against him.

That same day, at midnight, Cortés made a meeting with several of his soldiers, and said, according to Díaz del Castillo: "Look, free the two of them you find the most useful, and do it so that the other Indians won't notice.

The court of Cempoala told Cortés that now Moctezuma would discover the conspiracy because the prisoners managed to flee, to which he continued to respond claiming that nothing would happen.

Then the gun was shot to the air, and the sires were amazed, and told other towns how they had a Teule (the word used by the Totonacs to refer to the Spaniards or gods, according to Díaz) that would destroy all of the Aztec soldiers of Tizapancinca.

According to Bernal Díaz del Castillo and various historians, once they were close to the entrance of the city, a group of eight people came out crying and begging for mercy, asking "Why do you want to kill us?

They then clarified the situation, explaining that it was possible that Xicomecoatl had sent the Spaniards to the town because of conflicts they had had with Cempoala a long time ago over territorial disputes or other kinds of issues.

This severely angered Cortés, who called upon the captains of the Totonacs that were sent, and ordered them to return all of the stolen goods they got from the sacking, threatening them saying he would kill them all because of their acts if they did not obey.

Chroniclers like Bernal Díaz del Castillo and others describe that human sacrifices were highly common in Cempoala: [...] and everyday, they sacrificed three, four or five Indians in front of us, and the hearts were offered to their idols, their blood plastered over the walls, and they cut off the legs, arms and thighs [...][8]: 87 Díaz also claims that cannibalism was common in Cempoala too, and even says that he thinks he remembers how human flesh was sold in markets as steaks.

The soldiers of Cempoala, tired of the Spanish threats, finally told the Spaniards that they were not worthy of the gods, and therefore they could destroy those representations if they really wanted to, but it would not be with their consent.

Many of the devout Totonacs and priests who were watching the scene closed their eyes or started to cry, praying to the gods for forgiveness for allowing the destruction to happen.

[8] The following morning, Cortés ordered for the pieces of the crumbled statues to be burned and buried in "a place where they won't be found again".

The next day, Fray Bartolomé de Olmedo did mass in the city, where the eight women previously offered by XIcomecoatl were baptized and given to the Spanish military captains.

[9]: 198  Cortés claimed that the arrest was made due to an attack against Totonac and Spanish men which occurred in the province of Nautla shortly after arriving in the city.

Escalante eventually received the news of the recent threats on his allies, so he decided to send a group of messengers to tell him that Moctezuma was not bothered by the lack of tributes, and the issue could be solved without violence.

Escalante quickly was overwhelmed by Qualpopoca's force, after most of the Totonacs soldiers he had brought ran away in fear of the Aztecs, after they began to shoot arrows at them, leaving the Spaniards mostly alone in the fight.

However, by this time, his forces had been severely weakened; he had been fatally wounded during the fight, he was beginning to run out of gunpowder, a horse had been killed and one of his soldiers, Argüello de León, was captured by the Aztecs and was later beheaded for sacrifice.

This was the first time he had heard about the Spaniards being defeated or weakened by the Aztecs, and the Totonacs began to be concerned about the rebellion, as it appeared to be less likely for Cortés to fulfill his promises of protection.

He arrived with 19 ships, carrying between 600 and 800 Spanish soldiers, around 1000 indigenous people from Cuba, about 10 artillery pieces, 80 rifles and 80 horses for the expedition.

According to Díaz del Castillo and Cortés, once Pánfilo arrived, he sacked the court, stealing Hernán's gifts and kidnapping the noblewomen who had been offered to his men.

During the battle, some of Hernán's men contracted the disease and carried it unintentionally to Tenochtitlan, leading to the deaths of millions of people in the consequent pandemic.