THE story of the women of Mexico, as that country is known to-day, presents few distinctive features. If that story were confined to the status of woman as found in the present inhabitants of the country of the conquistadores, there would be but little to tell, since from the time of the first coming of the Spaniards to the present day there has been but little change of consequence in the matter with which we are directly concerned. But the very mention of the name of the Spanish conquerors recalls a civilization which preceded that which we now know--a civilization which in various forms has remained impressed upon the characteristics of Mexico, and one which is therefore of some importance as well as of the greatest interest to us in our study of the progress of women in America. That civilization is, of course, that of the Aztecs, that wonderful race which held Mexico from time immemorial--or, more strictly, indeterminate--up to the hour when Cortés and his followers penetrated to their capital and began the work, to know completion in a few short years, of destroying not only a nation but a civilization, and one that was in many ways the most remarkable of which there is record.
It is in no way needful to enter into the detail of general Aztec sociology. In this work the principal interest is connected with those social aspects and influences which affect women; yet a few words concerning the chief features of the Aztec civilization are absolutely necessary to the understanding of our subject. The Aztecs--in which general title, for convenience, are included the Tezcucans, though there were differences of civilization, the Tezcucans being in many respects superior to their neighbors--the Aztecs present in nearly every way the greatest racial mystery that has ever come under the notice of the student of comparative ethnology. Their very origin is unknown; it is impossible to discover how much of their civilization they owed to their traditions, how much may have been of gradual growth, and how much may have come to them as a legacy from the still more mysterious Toltecs, later probably known as Mayas, of whom remain wonderful monuments and traditional narratives preserved by the Aztecs. This people appeared in the Anahuac Valley in the sixth or seventh century, and founded their chief town, Tula, about fifty miles north of Mexico City. Their name is said to signify "builders," and tradition ascribes to them an advanced knowledge of arts and a remarkable culture. The supremacy of the Toltecs in the Anahuac Valley lasted till the twelfth century, when they abandoned Tula and mysteriously disappeared. Among the traditions preserved, the most conspicuous concerning the Toltec women is that of Xochitl, queen of one of the later chiefs, or "kings."
Huemac II. began to reign in Mexico about 995, in what is called the Toltec period. Xochitl, accompanied by her father, a nobleman, went to the court of Huemac, carrying with her as an offering to the king a beverage which she had invented. The king tasted the wine, and desired to have more. Later, Xochitl returned to the court, and Huemac, who already was fascinated with the girl, caused her to be retained, and sent a message to her father that he had placed her in the care of his court ladies and would complete her education. Shortly afterward his queen died, and Huemac immediately made Xochitl his queen.
The labors of Don Mariano Veytia in his Historia Antigua, and the researches of more modern scholars, furnish us with some fragmentary history of the Aztecs before the coming of Cortés; but these fragments, in relation to the status of womanhood in those days, cannot be joined into a coherent whole, and consideration will therefore be here given to some aspects of Aztec civilization as found by the conqueror rather than to the pre-Aztec culture. The most notable general feature of that civilization is its singular contradictions. We find a race, gentle, intelligent, refined in some respects beyond European standards of their day--and yet cannibals, at least under certain conditions! We find these people moral, with high ideals of religion in theory--and in practice holding human sacrifices as an essential part of their cult! We find them warlike and yet mild, the conquerors of the neighboring races, and yet ruling these more by force of intellect than of arms. Most wonderful of all, we find a true and high civilization, isolated from all companionship and existing by its own inherent merits, and not, as has been the case with almost all others, by contact and rivalry with others of almost equal powers.
The Aztecs were versed in the arts of agriculture, mechanics, architecture, pottery, and, generally, in the domestic arts. They built beautiful cities, containing noble edifices, both private and public. Their dress was artistic and graceful, and their tastes were worthy of the highest civilization then known. They delighted in flowers, in beautiful gardens, in all manner of natural graces. They lived under the rule of an emperor, and there were many great nobles, of a distinct class and holding large estates.
There was a regular law of descent for these estates, and the principles of entail and of reversion to the crown were understood and practised. There seems to have been a species of feudality as the foundation of the social order, but our knowledge in this respect is too vague to justify us in reasoning from it to any great length. There were courts of justice, with jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases, and there was the legal machinery of higher and lower courts, with the privilege of appeal. The rights of property and persons were fully, if not acutely, recognized. There was a regularly established priesthood, of which the emperor was the official head. There were admirably organized and conducted schools, where morality as well as education was inculcated. In short, there were all the requisites, though not always in modern form, that we are accustomed to consider as the rightful and unique portion of the highest Caucasian culture.
And yet, this cultured and refined people practised cannibalism! Not only did they eat the bodies of captives taken in war and immolated upon their altars in the execution of their religious rites, but, according to Sahagun in his Historia de Nueva Espana, they often, at private feasts, sacrificed a slave and served his flesh to the assembled guests. These dishes were dressed in most elaborate ways, for the Aztecs were excellent cooks. This, however, only adds, in its refinement of bestiality, to the revolting aspect of the custom.
It is now time to turn from this very imperfect summary of the civilization of the Aztecs to the place therein occupied by woman. This place was very high higher than that gained by the sex in any other race found on the North American continent. It may be stated as a general fact that woman held equal social position with man. Physically they were attractive, their complexions being light and their hair long and black. They dressed tastefully, their heads being covered by a gauzy veil or wreathed with flowers or even with strings of precious stones and pearls. They wore flowing robes, handsomely trimmed with embroidery, and their appearance was in all ways far superior to that of any other American women.
Their status, while in some respects sharing in the contradictions that we find prevalent among the Aztecs, was, on the whole, almost equal to that of their European sisters of that day. It is true that polygamy--that institution usually so fatal to the place of woman in the community where it is practised--was permissible among the Mexicans; but it is probable that its practice was confined only to the most wealthy and was not invariable among them. On the other hand, the sanctity of the marriage tie, that great safeguard for women, was strongly insisted upon. Not only was the marriage rite formally celebrated as a religious ceremony, but there was instituted a special legal tribunal for the sole purpose of hearing and deciding questions relating to marriage. Divorce existed, but only by a decree of the tribunal mentioned above, and was not a matter of discretion; due reason must be alleged and proved, infidelity being, of course, the primary cause for divorce. Adultery was severely punished; and it is a remarkable fact, as showing the advance made by this people upon the conceptions of the ancient civilizations, that concubinage was exceptional, though slavery was an institution of the country. Even the slave woman, however, held a position advanced beyond that usual in such cases, for her child was born free; there was no such thing as hereditary slavery among the Aztecs. No other civilization, ancient or modern, has been thus generous.
The practical equality of woman to man was recognized in the fact, among others, that women had a distinct and honorable part in the sacerdotal functions and rites, though they could not participate in sacrifice. The priestesses undertook the education of the girls, the schools being a part of the temples. Here the girls were taught the feminine accomplishments peculiar to their culture as well as those of more general use, such as weaving and embroidering the rich draperies used to cover the altars of their gods. The strictest morality was inculcated in these schools; for the Aztecs were essentially a moral people, and the girls were brought up in habits of the straitest decorum. This they were not likely to exceed, at least while under the tutelage of the priestesses, for offences were visited with the greatest severity, even death being occasionally meted out as punishment for the most marked transgressions. The system of these schools was to some extent conventual, and reverence for religion was instilled as an integral portion of the system.