Aztec Empire

The word Aztec in modern usage would not have been used by the people themselves. It has variously been used to refer to the Aztecs or Triple Alliance, the Nahuatl-speaking people of central Mexico prior to the Spanish conquest, or specifically the Mexica ethnicity of the Nahuatl-speaking tribes (from ). The name comes from the singular Nahuatl word () that means "[people] from Aztlan", reflecting the mythical place of origin for Nahua peoples. ==History==

, showing the migration of the Mexica. Before the Aztec Empire Nahua peoples descended from Chichimec peoples, who migrated to central Mexico from the north (mainly centered sparsely around present-day states of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, and Guanajuato) in the early 13th century. The migration story of the Mexica is similar to those of other polities in central Mexico, with supernatural sites, individuals, and events, joining earthly and divine history, as they sought political legitimacy. Pictographic codices in which the Aztecs recorded their history say that the empire's place of origin was called Aztlán. Early migrants settled the Basin of Mexico and surrounding lands by establishing a series of independent city-states. These early Nahua city-states or were ruled by dynastic heads called (singularly ). Most of the existing settlements had been established by other indigenous peoples before the Mexica migration. These early city-states fought various small-scale wars with each other but no individual city gained dominance due to shifting alliances. The Mexica were the last of the Nahua migrants to arrive in Central Mexico. They entered the Basin of Mexico around the year 1250, and, by then, most of the good agricultural land had already been claimed. The Mexica persuaded the king of Culhuacan, a small city-state but important historically as a refuge of the Toltecs to make them settle in a relatively infertile patch of land called Chapultepec (Chapoltepēc, "in the hill of grasshoppers"). The Mexica served as mercenaries for Culhuacan. After the Mexica served Culhuacan in battle, the ruler appointed one of his daughters to rule over the Mexica. Mythological native accounts say that the Mexica instead sacrificed her by flaying her skin on the command of their god Xipe Totec. The ruler of Culhuacan attacked and used his army to drive the Mexica from Tizaapan by force when he learned of this. The Mexica moved to an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco where an eagle nested on a nopal cactus. The Mexica interpreted this as a sign from their gods and founded their new city Tenochtitlan on this island in the year (or "Two House", 1325 AD). Azcapotzalco began to expand into a small tributary empire with Mexica assistance. The Mexica ruler was not recognized as a legitimate king until this point. Mexica leaders successfully petitioned one of the kings of Culhuacan to provide a daughter to marry into the Mexica line. Their son Acamapichtli was enthroned as the first of Tenochtitlan in 1372. The Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco expanded their rule with help from the Mexica, while the Acolhua city of Texcoco grew in power in the eastern portion of the lake basin. Eventually, war erupted between the two states, and the Mexica played a vital role in the conquest of Texcoco. By then, Tenochtitlan had grown into a major city and was rewarded for its loyalty to the Tepanecs by receiving Texcoco as a tributary province. Mexica warfare was marked by a focus on capturing enemies rather than killing them from its tactics to arms. Capturing enemies was important for religious ritual and provided a means by which soldiers could distinguish themselves during campaigns. Tepanec War In 1426, the Tepanec king Tezozomoc died, and the resulting succession crisis precipitated a civil war between potential successors. Maxtla similarly turned against the Acolhua, and the king of Texcoco Nezahualcoyotl fled into exile. Nezahualcoyotl recruited military help from the king of Huexotzinco, and the Mexica gained the support of a dissident Tepanec city called Tlacopan. In 1427, Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, Tlacopan, and Huexotzinco went to war against Azcapotzalco, emerging victorious in 1428. In the following one hundred years, the Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan dominated the Valley of Mexico and extended its power to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Tenochtitlan gradually became the dominant power in the alliance. Two of the primary architects of this alliance were the half-brothers and nephews of Itzcoatl Tlacaelel and Moctezuma. Moctezuma eventually succeeded Itzcoatl as the Mexica in 1440. Tlacaelel occupied the newly created "Cihuacoatl" title, equivalent to something between "Prime Minister" and "Viceroy". Imperial reforms s in a flower war from the Codex Zouche-Nuttall Shortly after the formation of the Triple Alliance, Itzcoatl and Tlacopan instigated sweeping reforms on the Aztec state and religion. It has been alleged that Tlacaelel ordered the burning of some or most of the extant Aztec books, claiming that they contained lies and that it was "not wise that all the people should know the paintings". He rewrote the history of the Aztecs thereafter, naturally placing the Mexica in a more central role. After Moctezuma I succeeded Itzcoatl as the Mexica emperor, more reforms were instigated to maintain control over conquered cities. Uncooperative kings were replaced with puppet rulers loyal to the Mexica. A new imperial tribute system established Mexica tribute collectors that taxed the population directly, bypassing the authority of local dynasties. Nezahualcoyotl also instituted a policy in the Acolhua lands of granting subject kings tributary holdings in lands far from their capitals. This was done to create an incentive for cooperation with the empire; if a city's king rebelled, he lost the tribute he received from foreign land. Some rebellious kings were replaced by or appointed governors rather than dynastic rulers. A religiously supervised school was built in every neighborhood by royal decree. A second, more prestigious type of school called a "" served to teach the nobility, as well as commoners of high standing seeking to become priests or artisans. Moctezuma also created a new title called "" that could be conferred on commoners. Native historical accounts say that these wars were instigated by Tlacaelel as a means of appeasing the gods in response to a massive drought that gripped the Basin of Mexico from 1450 to 1454. The flower wars were mostly waged between the Aztec Empire and the neighboring cities of their arch-enemy Tlaxcala. Early years of expansion After the defeat of the Tepanecs, Itzcoatl and Nezahualcoyotl consolidated power in the Basin of Mexico and began to expand beyond its borders. The first targets for imperial expansion were Coyoacan in the Basin of Mexico and Cuauhnahuac and Huaxtepec in the modern Mexican state of Morelos. These conquests provided the new empire with a large influx of tribute, especially agricultural goods. Itzcoatl died, and Moctezuma I was enthroned as the new Mexica emperor. The expansion of the empire was briefly halted by a major four-year drought that hit the Basin of Mexico in 1450, and several cities in Morelos had to be re-conquered after the drought subsided. Moctezuma and Nezahualcoyotl continued to expand the empire east towards the Gulf of Mexico and south into Oaxaca. In 1468, Moctezuma I died and was succeeded by his son Axayacatl. Most of Axayacatl's thirteen-year reign was spent consolidating the territory acquired under his predecessor. Motecuzoma and Nezahualcoyotl had expanded rapidly and many provinces rebelled. In 1472, Axayacatl re-conquered the region and successfully defended it from Purépecha's attempts to take it back. In 1479, Axayacatl launched a major invasion of the Purépecha Empire with 32,000 Aztec soldiers. In 1472, Nezahualcoyotl died, and his son Nezahualpilli was enthroned as the new huetlatoani of Texcoco. This was followed by the death of Axayacatl in 1481. Tizoc was succeeded by his brother Ahuitzotl in 1486. Like his predecessors, the first part of Ahuitzotl's reign was spent suppressing rebellions that were commonplace due to the indirect nature of Aztec rule. The population of Otzoma was either killed or dispersed in the process. Building on the prestige the Mexica had acquired over the course of the conquests, Ahuitzotl began to use the title "huehuetlatoani" ("Eldest Speaker") to distinguish himself from the rulers of Texcoco and Tlacopan. The Aztec army failed to take any territory and was mostly restricted to raiding. The Purépecha defeated them and the army withdrew. Moctezuma II instituted more imperial reforms. He removed many of Ahuitzotl's advisors and had several of them executed. At the island of Cozumel, Cortés encountered a shipwrecked Spaniard named Gerónimo de Aguilar who joined the expedition and translated between Spanish and Mayan. The expedition then sailed west to Campeche, where, after a brief battle with the local army, Cortés was able to negotiate peace through his interpreter Aguilar. The King of Campeche gave Cortés a second translator, a bilingual Nahua-Maya slave woman named La Malinche (she was known also as Malinalli [maliˈnalːi], Malintzin [maˈlintsin] or Doña Marina [ˈdoɲa maˈɾina]). Aguilar translated from Spanish to Mayan, and La Malinche translated from Mayan to Nahuatl. Malinche became Cortés' translator for both language and culture once she learned Spanish, and she was a key figure in interactions with Nahua rulers. Cortés then sailed from Campeche to Cempoala, a tributary province of the Aztec Triple Alliance. Nearby, he founded the town of Veracruz where he met with ambassadors from the reigning Mexica emperor Moctezuma II. When the ambassadors returned to Tenochtitlan, Cortés went to Cempoala to meet with the local Totonac leaders. The Totonac ruler told Cortés of his various grievances against the Mexica, and Cortés convinced the Totonacs to imprison an imperial tribute collector. Cortés subsequently released the tribute collector after persuading him that the move was entirely the Totonac's idea and that he had no knowledge of it. The Totonacs provided Cortés with 20 companies of soldiers for his march to Tlaxcala, having effectively declared war on the Aztecs. At this time, several of Cortés' soldiers attempted to mutiny. When Cortés discovered the plot, he had his ships scuttled and sank them in the harbor to remove any possibility of escaping to Cuba. depicting the Spanish army, with Cortés and Malinche in front The Spanish-led Totonac army crossed into Tlaxcala to seek the latter's alliance against the Aztecs. However, the Tlaxcalan general Xicotencatl the Younger believed them to be hostile and attacked. After fighting several close battles, Cortés eventually convinced the leaders of Tlaxcala to order their general to stand down. Cortés then secured an alliance with the people of Tlaxcala and traveled from there to the Basin of Mexico with a smaller company of 5,000-6,000 Tlaxcalans and 400 Totonacs in addition to the Spanish soldiers. After staying in the city for six weeks, two Spaniards from the group left behind in Veracruz were killed in an altercation with an Aztec lord named Quetzalpopoca. Cortés claims that he used this incident as an excuse to take Motecuzoma prisoner under threat of force. They retreated to Tlacopan (now Tacuba) and made their way to Tlaxcala where they recovered and prepared for the second, successful assault on Tenochtitlan. After this incident, a smallpox outbreak hit Tenochtitlan. The outbreak alone killed more than 50% of the region's population, including the emperor Cuitláhuac, as the indigenous of the New World had no previous exposure to smallpox. The new emperor Cuauhtémoc dealt with the smallpox outbreak, while Cortés raised an army of Tlaxcalans, Texcocans, Totonacs, and others discontent with Aztec rule. Cortés marched back to the Basin of Mexico with a combined army of up to 100,000 warriors. Cortés used boats constructed in Texcoco from parts salvaged from the scuttled ships to blockade and lay siege to Tenochtitlan for a period of several months. ==Government==

. Mexico-Tenochtitlan kept the city-states under threat de facto just by military brute force. The Aztec Empire was an example of an empire that ruled by indirect means. It was ethnically very diverse like most European empires but was more a system of tributes than a single unitary form of government unlike them. In the theoretical framework of imperial systems posited by American historian Alexander J. Motyl, the Aztec empire was an informal type of empire in that the Alliance did not claim supreme authority over its tributary provinces, but merely expected them to pay tributes. The empire was also territorially discontinuous, i.e. land did not connect all of its dominated territories. For example, the southern peripheral zones of Xoconochco were not in immediate contact with the central part of the empire. The hegemonic nature of the Aztec empire can be seen in the fact that generally local rulers were restored to their positions once they conquered their city-state, and the Aztecs did not interfere in local affairs as long as the tribute payments were made. The form of government is often referred to as an empire, yet most areas within the empire were, in fact, organized as city-states (individually known as in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs). These were small polities ruled by a king or (literally "speaker", plurally ) from an aristocratic dynasty. The Early Aztec period was a time of growth and competition among altepeme. After the Nahuas formed the empire in 1428 and the empire began its program of expansion through conquest, the altepetl remained the dominant form of organization at the local level. The efficient role of the altepetl as a regional political unit was largely responsible for the success of the empire's hegemonic form of control. The term "Aztec empire" is actually modern and not one used by the Aztecs themselves. The Aztec realm was at its core composed of three Nahuatl-speaking city-states in the densely populated Valley of Mexico. Asymmetries of power elevated one of those city states Tenochtitlan above the other two over time. The "Triple Alliance" came to establish hegemony over much of central Mesoamerica, including areas of great linguistic and cultural diversity. The Nahuas performed administration of the empire through largely traditional, indirect means. Something of a nascent bureaucracy, however, may have been beginning to form over time, insofar as the state organization became increasingly centralized. Central administration , historic center of Mexico City Before the reign of Nezahualcoyotl (1429–1472), the Aztec empire operated as a confederation along traditional Mesoamerican lines. Independent altepetl were led by (lit., "speakers"), who supervised village headmen, who in turn supervised groups of households. A typical Mesoamerican confederation placed a (lit., "great speaker") at the head of several tlatoani. Following Nezahualcoyotl, the Aztec empire followed a somewhat divergent path, with some tlatoani of recently conquered or otherwise subordinated altepetl becoming replaced with stewards charged with collecting tribute on behalf of the Huetlatoani rather than simply replacing an old tlatoque with new ones from the same set of local nobility. Yet the Huey tlatoani was not the sole executive. It was the responsibility of the Huey tlatoani to deal with the external issues of empire; the management of tribute, war, diplomacy, and expansion were all under the purview of the Huey tlatoani. It was the role of the to govern a given city itself. The Cihuacoatl was always a close relative of the Huey tlatoani; Tlacaelel, for example, was the brother of Moctezuma I. Both the title "Cihuacoatl", which means "female snake" (it is the name of a Nahua deity), and the role of the position, somewhat analogous to a European Viceroy or Prime Minister, reflect the dualistic nature of Nahua cosmology. Neither the position of Cihuacoatl nor the position of Huetlatoani were priestly, yet both did have important ritual tasks. Those of the former were associated with the "female" wet season, those of the latter with the "male" dry season. While the position of Cihuacoatl is best attested in Tenochtitlan, it is known that the position also existed the nearby altepetl of Azcapotzalco, Culhuacan, and Tenochtitlan's ally Texcoco. Despite the apparent lesser status of the position, a Cihuacoatl could prove both influential and powerful, as in the case of Tlacaelel. Early in the history of the empire, Tenochtitlan developed a four-member military and advisory Council which assisted the Huey tlatoani in his decision-making: the ; the ; the ; and the . This design not only provided advice for the ruler, it also served to contain ambition on the part of the nobility, as henceforth Huey Tlatoani could only be selected from the council. Moreover, the actions of any one member of the council could easily be blocked by the other three, providing a simple system of checks on the ambition higher officials. These four Council members were also generals, members of various military societies. The ranks of the members were not equal, with the and having a higher status than the others. These two Councillors were members of the two most prestigious military societies, the ("shorn ones") and the ("Otomies"). The , the relatives of the former Huey tlatoani, will choose the next Huey tlatoani from the four council members. Provincial administration Traditionally, provinces and altepetl were governed by hereditary tlatoani. As the empire grew, the system evolved further and some tlatoani were replaced by other officials. The other officials had similar authority to tlatoani. As has already been mentioned, directly appointed stewards (singular , plural ) were sometimes imposed on altepetl instead of the selection of provincial nobility to the same position of tlatoani. At the height of empire, the organization of the state into strategic tributary provinces saw an elaboration of this system. The 38 tributary provinces fell under the supervision of high stewards, or , whose authority extended over the lower-ranking calpixque. These calpixque and huecalpixque were essentially managers of the provincial tribute system which was overseen and coordinated in the paramount capital of Tenochtitlan not by the , but rather by a separate position altogether: the . On the occasion that a recently conquered altepetl was seen as particularly restive, the Nahuas placed a military governor, or , at the head of provincial supervision. During his reign, Moctezuma I elaborated the calpixque system, with two calpixque assigned per tributary province. The province itself stationed one, perhaps for supervising the collection of tribute, and the other in Tenochtitlan, perhaps for supervising storage of tribute. Commoners drew the tribute, the , and distributed to the nobility, be they 'kings' (), lesser rulers (), or provincial nobility (). The Nahuas supervised the tribute collection by the above officials and relied upon the coercive power of the Aztec military, but also upon the cooperation of the (the local nobility who were themselves exempt from and recipient to tribute) and the hereditary class of merchants known as . These pochteca had various gradations of ranks which granted them certain trading rights and so were not necessarily pipiltin themselves, yet they played an important role in both the growth and administration of the Aztec tributary system nonetheless. The pochteca strongly tied their power, political and economic, to the political and military power of the Aztec nobility and state. In addition to serving as diplomats (, or "travelers of the lord") and spies in the prelude to conquest, higher-ranking pochteca also served as judges in market plazas and were to certain degree autonomous corporate groups, having administrative duties within their own estate. Ideology and state depicts a scene of gladiatorial sacrificial rite, celebrated on the festival of Tlacaxipehualiztli. ''. National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City. Nahua metaphysics centers around , "a single, dynamic, vivifying, eternally self-generating and self-regenerating sacred power, energy or force." This is conceptualized in a kind of monistic pantheism as manifest in the supreme god , as well as a large pantheon of lesser gods and idealizations of natural phenomena such as stars and fire. Priests and educated upper classes held more monistic views, while the popular religion of the uneducated tended to embrace the polytheistic and mythological aspects. The Aztec empire's state-sanctioned religion meanwhile had to fulfill the spiritual obligations of the upper classes while maintaining their control over the lower classes and conquered populations. This was executed in grand public religious ceremonies, sponsorship of the most popular cults, and a relative degree of religious freedom. Rulers, if they are local or , or central Huetlatoani, were seen as representatives of the gods and therefore ruled by divine right. , or the principle of rulership, established that descent inherited this divine right. Political order was, therefore, also a cosmic order, and to kill a was to transgress that order. For this reason, whenever the Nahuas killed or otherwise removed a tlatoani from their station, their stead typically placed a relative and member of the same bloodline. The establishment of the office of Huetlatoani understood through the creation of another level of rulership, , standing in superior contrast to the lesser principle. A militaristic interpretation of Nahua religion, specifically a devout veneration of the sun god, Huitzilopochtli, guided expansion of the empire. Militaristic state rituals were performed throughout the year according to a ceremonial calendar of events, rites, and mock battles. The time period they lived in was understood as the , or Sun of Movement, which was believed to have been the final age after which humanity would be destroyed. It was under Tlacaelel that Huitzilopochtli assumed his elevated role in the state pantheon and who argued that it was through blood sacrifice that the Sun would be maintained and thereby stave off the end of the world. It was under this new, militaristic interpretation of Huitzilopochtli that Aztec soldiers were encouraged to fight wars and capture enemy soldiers for sacrifice. Though blood sacrifice was common in Mesoamerica, the scale of human sacrifice under the Aztecs was likely unprecedented in the region. Schematic of hierarchy Provincial structure Originally, the Aztec empire was a loose alliance between three cities: Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and the most junior partner, Tlacopan. As such, they were known as the 'Triple Alliance.' This political form was very common in Mesoamerica, where alliances of city-states were ever fluctuating. However, over time, Tenochtitlan assumed paramount authority in the alliance, and although each partner city shared spoils of war and rights to regular tribute from the provinces and were governed by their own Huetlatoani, Tenochtitlan became the largest, most powerful, and most influential of the three cities. It was the de facto and acknowledged center of empire. Though the Aztecs did not describe them this way, there were essentially two types of provinces: Tributary and Strategic. Strategic provinces were essentially subordinate client states which provided tribute or aid to the Aztec state under "mutual consent." Tributary provinces, on the other hand, provided regular tribute to the empire; obligations on the part of Tributary provinces were mandatory rather than consensual. List of rulers Mythological nature rulers These are Aztec gods and goddesses, who were also part of the Thirteen Heavens, as well as the Aztec Empire. Gods glyph from Codex Borgia in the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer • Centeotl, god of maize associated with the Tianquiztli (goddesses of the Pleiades). Centeotl's name is also spelt as Cinteotl and was goddess-like. • Chalchiuhtotolin, the god of cleansing and contamination, absolver of human guilt, and god of fate. • Xochipilli, god of flowers, pleasure, feasting, frivolity and artistic creativity. • Huehuecoyotl, god of old-age, origin, and deception. He is also the patron of wisdom, and is known for playing tricks. His name is similar to the god of happiness, Ueuecoyotl. • Huitzilopochtli, god of will and war, patron god of force, ruler of the South. • Itztlacoliuhqui-Ixquimilli, god of frost, ice, cold, winter, sin, punishment and human misery. He is also the god of blindfolded justice. • Ometecuhtli, god of duality and substance. • Itztli, god of stone who is a variant of Tezcatlipoca. • Mictlantecuhtli, god of the Underworld (Mictlan). He is depicted as a skeleton with various gory features, such as his exposed liver which dangles from his chest cavity. • Patecatl, god of healing and patron god of doctors and peyote. He is the father of the Centzontotochtin. • Piltzintecuhtli, god of visions and the sun. In Aztec mythology Piltzintecuhtli is associated with Mercury and healing. • Quetzalcoatl, god of life, the light and wisdom, lord of the winds and the day, ruler of the West. • Tecciztecatl, god of the moon. Tecciztecatl is Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue's son. • Tepeyollotl, god of animals, darkened caves, echoes and earthquakes. Tepeyollotl is a variant of Tezcatlipoca and is associated with mountains. • Tezcatlipoca, god of providence, darkness and the invisible, lord of the night, ruler of the North. Tezcatlipoca had overthrown Quetzalcoatl, who overthrew him in return. • Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, god of dawn (Venus) and aspect of Quetzalcoatl. • Tlaloc, god of rain, lightning and thunder. He is associated with fertility and agriculture. • Tonacatecuhtli, god of sustenance associated with Ometecuhtli. • Tonatiuh, god of the sun. • Xipe Totec, god of rejuvenation, vegetation and spring, lord of the seasons, ruler of the East. • Xiuhtecuhtli, god of fire and time. • Ehecatl, god of wind. • Tzontemoc, god who resided in one of the nine layers of the Underworld. • Xolotl, god of death, associated with Venus as the Evening Star. He is the twin god, and a double of Quetzalcoatl. • Mixcoatl, Aztec god of fishing and hunting and old god of hurricanes and storms who was associated with the Milky Way. • Nanahuatzin, Sun god. Nanahuatzin sacrificed himself in a burning fire so that the sun would continue to shine all over the world, so the god Tonatiuh took his place. • Atlahua, god of water and protector of archers and fishermen. The Aztecs prayed to him when there were deaths in water. • Opochtli, god of fishing and birdcatchers. According to legend he is the inventor of the harpoon and net. • Painal, Huitzilopochtli's messenger. • Techlotl, god who resided in one of the nine layers of the Underworld. This deity was associated with owls. • Ometochtli, god of pulque and leader of the Centzontotochtin. Goddesses sculpture • Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of running water, lakes, rivers, oceans, streams, horizontal waters, storms and baptism. • Chantico, goddess of fire, homes and volcanoes. • Cihuacoatl, goddess of childbirth and picker of souls. • Citlalicue, goddess of female stars in the Milky Way. • Itzpapalotl, goddess of death. She was the leader of the Tzitzimitl. Stone knives pop out from her eyes. • Mayahuel, goddess of agave and maguey. She was the Centzontotochtin's mother. • Mictecacihuatl, goddess of the Underworld (Mictlan). • Tlaltecuhtli, old goddess of earth (changed in the Earth's landscape and atmosphere). • Tlazolteotl, goddess of lust, passions, carnality, and sexual misdeeds. • Xochiquetzal, goddess of flowers, love, pleasure and beauty. She protects young mothers, and is forever youthful and beautiful. • Atlatoman, patron goddess of those who are born with physical deformities or Mexica who suffer from open sores. Some codexes also mark this deity as the cause of these ailments. • Huixtocihuatl, goddess of salt and patron of cultivated foods (including people in the salt trade). • Chalmecacihuatl, goddess who resided in one of the nine layers of the Underworld. She was Tzontemoc's wife. • Chicomecoatl, goddess of agriculture. • Coyolxauhqui, goddess or leader of the Centzonhuitznahua, associated with the moon. Mythological nature groups of rulers as depicted in the Codex Borgia • Cihuateteo, (Cihuacoatl) the malevolent spirits of women who died in childbirth. Their name comes from the goddess Cihuacoatl. Their name is also spelt as "Ciuateteo". (Goddesses) • Ahuiateteo, gods of excess and pleasure, the gods who are known as Macuilcozcacuauhtli, Macuilcuetzpalin, Macuilmalinalli, Macuiltochtli, and Macuilxochitl. (Gods) • Ixcuiname, goddesses of carnality. (Goddesses) • Cinteteo, gods of the maizes. (Gods) • Centzontotochtin, (Ometochtli) gods of pulque. (Gods) • Xiuhtotontli, the gods of fire (alternative manifestations or states of Xiuhtecuhtli). (Gods) • Ehecatotontli, (Ehecatl) breath-holding gods of the breezes – who are just like Ehecatl. (Gods) • Civateteo, (Cihuacoatl) goddesses who are vampires. Civateteo are similar to Cihuateteo, who are not as bad as Civateteo are. Civateteo mostly live in regular Mexico, and Civateteo come from somewhere vampire-esque. (Goddesses) • Tzitzimitl, (Itzpapalotl) goddesses of the stars. Tzitzimitl mostly live in regular Mexico, and Tzitzimitl come from Tamoanchan. (Goddesses) • Centzonmimixcoa, (Cuahuitlicac) 400 gods of the northern stars and "The 400 Northerners." (gods) • Centzonhuitznahua, (Coyolxauhqui) 400 gods of the southern stars. (Gods) • Tlaloque, gods of rain, weather and mountains. Tlaloc had also been considered the ruler of this group. (Gods) • Tianquizli, (Citlalicue) these are goddesses of the Pleiades. (Goddesses) • Ometeotl, gods of the duality. (Gods) • Tezcatlipocas, creator god's. (Gods) • Tonalleque, embodied spirits who died during the Battle (Gods) Mythological sacred places • Tamoanchan, a place where Itzpapalotl usually rules over. The gods created the first of the present human race out of sacrificed blood and ground human bones. Tamoanchan may mean "We go down to our home." • Mictlan, the place where Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl rule in Aztec mythology. This is literally the underworld. • Tlalocan, the place where Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue rule in Aztec mythology. One of several locations humans may go in the afterlife. ==Law==

Ruler Nezahualcoyotl developed the most developed code of law in the city-state of Texcoco under him. It was a formal written code, not merely a collection of customary practices. The sources for knowing about the legal code are colonial-era writings by Franciscan Toribio de Benavente Motolinia, Franciscan Fray Juan de Torquemada, and Texcocan historians Juan Bautista Pomar, and Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl. The law code in Texcoco under Nezahualcoyotl was legalistic, as many tried cases by particular types of evidence and many disregarded the social status of the litigants, and consisted of 80 written laws. These laws called for severe, publicly administered punishments, creating a legal framework of social control. Much less is known about the legal system in Tenochtitlan, which might be less legalistic or sophisticated as those of Texcoco for this period. Those under the reign of Moctezuma I established it. These laws served to establish and govern relations between the state, classes, and individuals. State authorities meted out punishments solely. The Nahuas enshrined Nahua mores in these laws, criminalizing public acts of homosexuality, drunkenness, and nudity, not to mention more universal proscriptions against theft, murder, and property damage. As stated before, could serve as judges, often exercising judicial oversight of their own members. Likewise, military courts dealt with both cases within the military and without during wartime. There was an appeal process, with appellate courts standing between local, typically market-place courts, on the provincial level and a supreme court and two special higher appellate courts at Tenochtitlan. One of those two special courts dealt with cases arising within Tenochtitlan, the other with cases originating from outside the capital. The ultimate judicial authority laid in hands of the , who had the right to appoint lesser judges. ==See also==