AZTEC KINGS AND THEIR SUBJECTS.
Such, as full in detail as it is handed down to us, was the manner in which the Aztec monarchs lived. The policy they pursued toward their subjects was to enforce obedience and submission by enacting laws that were calculated rather to excite awe and dread than to inspire love and reverence. To this end they kept the people at a distance by surrounding themselves with an impassable barrier of pomp and courtly etiquette, and enforced obedience by enacting laws that made death the penalty of the most trivial offenses. There was little in common between king and people; as is ever the case between a despot and his subjects. The good that the kings did by their liberality and love of justice, and the success they nearly all achieved by their courage and generalship, merited the admiration of their subjects. On the other hand, the oppression which they made their vassals feel, the heavy burdens they imposed upon them, their own pride and arrogance, and their excessive severity in punishments, engendered what we should now call a debasing fear, but which is none the less an essential element of progress at certain stages.[92]
CHAPTER V.
THE PRIVILEGED CLASSES AMONG THE NAHUAS.
Titles of the Nobility and Gentry—The Power of the Nobles—The Aristocracy of Tezcuco—The Policy of King Techotlalatzin—Privileges of the Nobles—Montezuma's Policy—Rivalry between Nobles and Commons—The Knightly Order of Tecuhtli—Ceremony of Initiation—Origin of the Order—The Nahua Priesthood—The Priests of Mexico—Dedication of Children—Priestesses—Priesthood of Miztecapan—The Pontiff of Yopaa—Tradition of Wixipecocha—The Cave of Yopaa—The Zapotec Priests—Toltec Priests—Totonac Priests—Priests of Michoacan, Puebla, and Tlascala.
THE AZTEC ARISTOCRACY.
Descending in due order the social scale of the Aztecs, we now come to the nobility, or, more properly speaking, the privileged classes. The nobles of Mexico, and of the other Nahua nations, were divided into several classes, each having its own peculiar privileges and badges of rank. The distinctions that existed between the various grades, and their titles, are not, however, clearly defined. The title of Tlatoani was the highest and most respected; it signified an absolute and sovereign power, an hereditary and divine right to govern. The kings, and the great feudatory lords who were governors of provinces, and could prove their princely descent and the ancient independence of their families, belonged to this order. The title of Tlatopilzintli was given to the eldest son of the king, and that of Tlatoque to all the princes in general. Tlacahua signified a lord without sovereignty, but who had vassals under his orders, and was, to a certain extent, master of his people. The appellation of Pilli was given to all who were noble, without regard to rank. Axcahua, was a rich man, a proprietor of wealth in general, and Tlaquihua, a landed proprietor, or almost the same thing as an English country gentleman.
The title of Tlatoani was invariably hereditary, but many of the others were conferred only for life, as a reward for important military or other services to the state. Of the tenure by which they held their lands I shall have occasion to speak hereafter.
The power of the nobles, as a body, was very great; according to some accounts there were, in Montezuma's realms, thirty great lords who each controlled one hundred thousand vassals, and three thousand other lords also very powerful. A number of nobles possessing such formidable power as this, would, if permitted to live on their estates, some of which were a long distance from the capital, have been a constantly threatening source of danger to the crown; at any moment an Aztec Runnimede might have been expected. To guard against any such catastrophe, the more powerful nobles were required to reside in the capital, at least during the greater part of each year; and permission to return to their homes for a short time, could only be obtained on condition that they left a son or brother as a guarantee of good faith during their absence.[93]
In the kingdom of Tezcuco were twenty-six great fiefs,[94] each independent of the rest and having several fiefs of less importance subjected to it. The greater part of these great chiefs bore the sovereign title of Tlatoani, or a similar one. They recognized no prerogative of the king except his right to preside at their grand assemblies, to receive their homage upon his accession to the throne, to levy certain tributes in their provinces, and to call upon them to appear in the field with a contingent of troops in case of war. For the rest, each Tlatoani was perfectly independent in his own domain, which he governed with the same omnipotence as the king of Tezcuco himself. Notwithstanding the precautions taken, it frequently happened that one of these great feudatories would feel himself strong enough to set the authority of the king at defiance, but as their private feuds generally prevented any number of the Tlatoanis from uniting their forces against the crown, the rebels were in most instances speedily reduced to subjection; in which event the leaders either suffered death or were degraded from their rank.