Overview

This module continues our analysis of mythology. In this section of the course
we will be looking at the stories of the Vikings as well as the Aztecs and
analyzing their traditional myths in comparison to their daily lives.

It is important to consider that both the Vikings and the Aztecs worshiped
male and female deities that were intrinsically connected to natural
phenomena such as the weather conditions, the cosmos/universe, and of
course mother earth.

Just as we did previously we will consider the mythologies and ritual worship
of these two cultures, and reflect on how this material influenced, and
inspired, gender definitions and roles. Introduction

"Less than 1000 years ago the Vikings were infamously known as the sea-
raiders from Scandinavia, or warriors who attacked mainly Western Europe.
They built an economy based on shipbuilding, had an emerging noble class,
and played a key role in developing English language. Similarly, the culture
of the Aztecs was also thriving as a civilization promoting an expansion
policy, while directing a professional army, where the most elite and
respected were the warriors as well as violent conquers. Both of societies
created a phenomenon where trade flourished by conquering. In doing so,
their cultural influence on those they conquered left a lasting impression.

In this Module, we will be exploring the aspects of both cultures. Here we will
examine aspects of the everyday lives of these two societies, as well as their
understanding of gender roles and relationships. Through their differences
we will be able to gain a greater understanding on the development of
gender exceptions in the Western world, and the influence of historical
knowledge on modern day societal norms."
The Vikings

The Vikings hailed from the north of Europe in what is now known as
Scandinavia.

Interestingly enough the term "Viking' can be translated to 'man of the bay'
of course describing the home of the old Norse.

The label of Viking was associated with pirates and raiders; this was a way of
life for the adventurous Viking people.

The Viking age in European history ran from around 700 C.E. to after 1066
C.E. at the battle of Hastings. The Vikings

Viking Expansion

During the Viking period many of the Vikings left Scandinavia and travelled
to other countries such as Britain and Ireland.

Many Vikings went hunting and searched for treasure in foreign lands. Other
Vikings preferred settling down and living a stationary life.

This led to the Vikings populating various island and countries, Iceland,
Greenland, Scottish Islands and Ireland and England.

ds (2) ds (3)

Of course the Vikings didn't just travel on raids, they were also prolific
traders, travelling across the oceans to find precious metals, fabrics and
other worldly items that were not available in their native Scandinavia.
This helped to build the busy trade that the Vikings carried out, their travel
and love of metals and far flung goods meant they were some of the busiest
and daring traders of the time. Viking Travel Routes

The Vikings were known for their expansive travels away from their
homeland. Their naval journeys led them to places such as Scotland, treland,
England, and some say, even as far a Nova Scotia, Canada. Viking Male Gods

Odin/Woden/Wotan

Chief of the gods

Father of Thor, Balder, and other gods

Odin pierces himself with a spear and hangs on Yggdrasil for 9 days and
nights to learn the secret knowledge of runes

Has one eye because he traded it for a drink from the spring of clairvoyance

His two ravens are called Huginn and Muninn (Thought and Memory) Viking
Male Gods

Thor/Thunor

God of thunder and lightning

Mjolnir (the destroyer) - An ax-hammer that can destroy giants and

mountains in a single blow
Has a chariot pulled by two goats - He can kill these goats and eat them and
they will come back to life

Is constantly fighting the World Serpent- Jormungand

Viking Male Gods

Baldur/Balder

"The Beautiful" and "The Good"

Associated with Death and Resurrection

Occupied a position of renown an splendor in the hearts and minds of the

heathen Germanic peoples. He seems to have been regarded as the divine
animating force behind the beauty of life at the peak of its strength and
exuberance. His death marks the beginning of the decline into old age, night,
winter, and ultimately the death and rebirth that characterize Ragnarok
("The Doom of the Gods" or the end of the mythical cycle)

. The favorite child

He is capable of drinking an oceanViking Male Gods

Loki

God of mischief and fire

* Trickster figure
Unknown parentage

Responsible for Balder's death and punished by having snake venom drip on
his forehead

Jormungand, Hel, and Fenrir are his children

Will begin Ragnarök

Sigyn, long-suffering wife of trickster god and serial adulterer Loki, isn't
mentioned a lot in Norse mythology. She's mostly known as the one who kept
Loki company during his punishment for killing the god Baldur. Loki was
trapped under three large boulders and bound with his own son's entrails, a
snake dripping venam positioned right above him. Sigyn sat next to her
husband holding a bowl to catch the venom, and stayed there until the bowl
was filled to the brim. Eventually she had to leave to empty the bowl and the
inevitable happened-Loki got a face full of snake venom. It is said that Loki
thrashed and struggled so caused earthquakes. hard heViking Men

Viking men were brave-travelers, warriors and farmers, and they were often
expected to be good at all three. Farming and living off the land was the
primary way to survive in Viking times, and every Viking man would have to
learn this if he were to survive.

More importantly if a Viking man was not seen as self-sufficient then he was
considered weak by the rest of his community, and Viking men pride
themselves on their reputation. Viking men grew up fighting, it was
encouraged, and as children they would handle weapons, and work on the
family farm or in the family trade. Some Differences Between History and
Hollywood

It is important that we pause here to consider the cultural depictions of the

Vikings in Hollywood. Often Viking men and women are portrayed as partially
nude, enormously tall, and extremely violent. These depictions are mostly
grounded in stereotypes about Viking culture built on decades of
misinterpretation and misinformation. While the Vikings are known for their
war tactics and their ability to siege seaside towns quickly and effectively,
their behaviour is not unusual for their time period. Most early European
tribes behave in a similar fashion, as territorial violence was not only a week
of survival but also of increasing a community's wealth and political
influence.

Recent archaeological findings of Viking warriors have force historians to

return to early documented data and re-analyze some of the biased Christian
writings of early church missionaries that first interacted with Viking
communities.

B Read: Better Identification of Viking Corpses Reveals: Half of the Warriors

Were Female

<>Female Viking Gods

Valkyries and Valhalla

Concepts

Valkyries are female spirit warriors that ride the battlefields and find worthy
slain warriors and takes them to Valhalla where they will train until Ragnarok

Expansion

Routes

God
The northern lights are light shining off of their shields

Berences Betain

Hollywood king Gods (1)

ate Viking Gods (2)

Valhalla is the Hall of the Slain-It exists in Asgard, home of the godsFemale
Viking Gods

Idun

* Goddess of immortality

* The goddess of spring or rejuvenation and the wife of Bragi, the god of
poetry

* She was the keeper of the magic apples of immortality, which the gods
must eat to preserve their youth

Her main myth deals with a giant who, with Loki's help, stole the apples,
causing the gods to witherFemale Viking Gods

Frigg/Frigga/Frea

* Mother Goddess
* Wife of Odin

* Weaves clouds

* She knows events in the present and future, but is powerless to change
them

* Learning of her son's (Balder) death, she makes everything promise not to
harm him - except the mistletoe - Loki uses this knowledge to trick Baldur's
brother into killing him. Frigga's devastated tears turn the mistletoe berries
white and when Frigga placed these berries upon Baldur's breast, he came to
life again.

* They say Frigga praised the mistletoe as a symbol of love and of peace,
and she promised that, forever afterward, whoever stood beneath this plant
would be offered a kiss and forever protected. [11:41 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv
Chotalia: Viking Women

"Shield Maiden"-this term is found in the works of 12th century Danish

historian, Saxo Grammaticus, whose writing is sure to make every modern
woman livid. Keep in mind, Saxo was likely the secretary of the Archbishop of
Lund, and had specific Christian notions about appropriate female behaviour.
He wrote:

66 There were once women in Denmark who dressed themselves to look like
men and spent almost every minute cultivating soldiers' skills....They courted
military celebrity so earnestly that you would have guessed they had
unsexed themselves. Those especially who had forceful personalities or were
tall and elegant embarked on this way of life. As if they were forgetful of their
true selves they put toughness before allure, aimed at conflicts in…

[11:41 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Viking Women

Viking women could be as tough as the Viking men should they need to be.

A Viking woman would grow up just like a man, learning to live off the land,
and be self-sufficient, a truly important skill in old Norse times.

Viking women had plenty of rights and privileges, including the option of
divorce should her husband not treat her with the respect she demanded.

One of the most intriguing recent finds is a silver figurine discovered in

Harby, Denmark, in 2012. The figurine appears to be a woman holding an
upright sword in her right hand and a shield in her left. Valkyrie? Or Shield
Maiden?

[11:42 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: The Aztecs

The ancient Aztecs were a civilization based in what was Mesoamerica and
were one of the dominant groups of the jungle based area in the Gulf of
Mexico.

The Aztec people were highly religious folks, their myths and legends were
an important part of their life, their gods, of which they had many dictated a
large part of their life.

Equally important to the Aztecs and tied into their religious practices were
their calendars, of which they had two. The two calendars had different
purposes but both were as important as the other.

[11:42 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: The Aztecs

The Aztec Calendar Stone, Sun Stone, Piedra del Sol, or Stone of the Five
Eras is a late Post-Classic Mexica sculpture, and is perhaps the most famous
work of Aztec sculpture. The stone is 358cm (11.75 ft) in diameter and 98cm
(3.22 ft) thick, and it weighs about 24 tons.

Museo Nacional de Antropologia (MNA, or National Museum of Anthropology),

Mexico.

Tenochtitlan mural in the back and a model of the main temple complex, the
Templo Mayor in the front.

Museo Nacional de Antropologia (MNA, or National Museum of Anthropology),

Mexico.

[11:42 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Brief Background

Empire spanned from the 14th-16th centuries.

The Aztecs referred to themselves as Mexica Tenochtitlan, the center of their

civilization, is modern day Mexico City.

An Aztec myth states that one of their gods, Huitzilopochtli, told them to
settle on the site where they witnessed an eagle on a cactus devouring a
serpent. They named that land Tenochtitlan.

[11:43 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Aztec Gods

The Aztec religion revolved around various gods which they adopted into
their lives over the course of time. Each human aspect of life for the Aztecs
was guided by a patron god and therefore there are literally thousands of
gods.

The Aztecs believed in heaven and hell, and they worshipped the sun, the
moon and the stars. The beginning of the world in Aztec lore had its origin
told through a tale called the Legend of the Suns.
The Aztec Empire was at the 5th cycle of creation and destruction, and each
world called suns was destroyed and revived again in a 52 year cycle. The
main Aztec deity was the creator god Ometecuhtli, who was both male and
female and therefore he was able to create the other gods.

[11:43 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Primary Aztec Gods

Ometecuhtli

Ometecuhtli

Supreme deity of the Aztec Pantheon, god of flame and creation of the
cosmos, and androgynous master (lord) of duality.

Coatlicue

The Two Lord, Omotecuhtli who was both male and female and the supreme
creative deity in the Aztec Pantheon, this seated figure shows him in the
form of Tonacatecuhtli, the Lord of Fate. On his headdress is the mask of the
Star dragon, the sign of the Milky Way. Mexico. Aztec. c 1350 1521 AD.

[11:43 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Primary Aztec Gods

Ometecuhtli

Coatlicue

Coatlicue
Earth goddess of life, famine, and seismic activity. The Aztec goddess of
Coatlicue ("snakes- her-skirt"), mother of earth, from the back side.

Museo Nacional de Antropologia (MNA, or National Museum of Anthropology),

Mexico.

Tezcatlipoca

[11:44 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Primary Aztec Gods

Ometecuhtli

Coatlicue

Tezcatlipoca

Tezcatlipoca

God of night, matter, the north, beauty, and warfare. A human skull forms
the base of this mask of Tezcatlipoca, Smoking Mirror, one of four powerful
creator gods in the Aztec pantheon. The Aztec believed that the defeat of
Quetzalcoatl by Tezcatlipoca marked the beginning of the current era of
creation.

The emblem of Tezcatlipoca an obsidian mirror, symbolizes his control over

the hidden forces of creation and destruction.

[11:44 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Aztec Religion

Aztec Religion was in essence a combination of astronomy and cosmology.

The practice of this religion revolved around the Aztec calendar which had
various festivals, rituals and sacrifices.
All of the Aztec religious rituals would be headed by priests that performed in
order to appease the gods.

The Aztecs worshipped over a thousand gods, and each place in the Aztec
world and each occupation had its own patron god.

Most of the information that is available about Aztec Religion comes from the
Spanish, who conquered them while documented the Aztecs and their
religious practices in their native paintings called codices. [11:44 pm,
31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Aztec Sacrifices

Aztecs' most gruesome and violent aspect of their culture was their religious
practice of human sacrifice, known as tlamictiliztli.

Aztec sacrifices were an important aspect of the Aztec religion. At the root of
these Aztec rituals was the belief that the gods needed to be nourished by
human beings. This was accomplished through human blood. A part of the
Aztec religion, therefore, was to participate in bloodletting, which is
intentionally harming and drawing blood from the body. Those who were
higher in status within the Aztec religion were expected to give the most
blood during these Aztec rituals.

The Aztec gods and goddesses also required the living hear of humans for
nourishment. All hearts were good, but the bravest captives were considered
to be particularly nourishing to the Aztec gods. As a result, widespread
warring took place as the Aztec people sought to bring captives back to the
Aztec temples for sacrifice. The Aztecs believed that this act would ensure
the existence of the human race, and ultimately themselves because the sun
rising was dependent on it.

Continue

[11:44 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Aztec Sacrifices

The majority of the human sacrifices the Aztecs used were actually warriors
that were captured in battle.

Sometimes, those practicing the Aztec religion sacrificed just one person. At
other times, hundreds or even thousands of captives were sacrificed at a
time. Each Aztec sacrifice, however, took place the same way. The captive or
captives were taken to a pyramid or temple and placed on an altar. The
Aztec priest then made an incision in the ribcage of the captive and removed
the living heart. The heart was then burned and the corpse was pushed down
the steps of the Aztec pyramid or temple. If the captive was particularly
noble or brave, however, he was carried down instead.

Slaves were also sacrificed if they have already been sold three times. The
human sacrifices were treated as gods and given everything they want for a
year, as a sort of way to give them a reward for their sacrifice. After the
Aztec sacrifices were killed, their skin and skulls were kept as holy relics, and
according to the Aztecs, the way one died determined the type of afterlife
they would enjoy.

[11:45 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Aztec Men

From the time a man is born in an Aztec family, his path is predestined to be
that of a warrior. Symbolically, the baby boy's umbilical cord is given to a
warrior. The warrior then buries the cord in a battlefield, and this in turns sets
a path for the Aztec man in the future, the ritual confirms that the Aztec boy
will grow form a child to a man, and a warrior.

Around the age of 20, men would usually take up a wife to help him around
the house, especially when he is away at war. The Aztec man may also have
secondary wives, but only the primary one would have the privilege of a
grand wedding ceremony, the future wives would have to settle for less.

Aztecs were obligated to protect and fight for their tribe and family, and they
engaged in war to widen the reach of the Aztec Empire. To earn the respect
and elevate one's status in society the Aztec man could gain this through
heroics in war and was sometimes measured by the number of captives they
would gain in battle. Another occupation that was an interesting choice for
an Aztec man was being an Athlete.

[11:45 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Aztec Women

For an Aztec woman to be desirable to an Aztec man, she relied solely on her
cleanliness. She also followed a strict code of behaviour. She had to be
modest, demure and very simple, and simplicity for an Aztec woman meant
no make-up. Wearing make-up was actually reserved for the Aztec
prostitutes, therefore most Aztec women would not even consider it.

The Aztec woman would wear her hair long and straight, and it was only the
priestesses who cut their hair short or bald to symbolize their chastity. Aztecs
were only allowed to marry someone from the same clan. Regular Aztec men
of the time could only afford only one wife, while the noble Aztec men could
have several wives as long as each of them are cared of suitably.

Continue

[11:45 pm, 31/10/2024] Dhruv Chotalia: Aztec Women

At home, the Aztec woman is the cook and the housekeeper. She would
spend hours on grinding maize, their staple food, used for making flour and
tortillas. She would also Rear crops and take care of dogs and turkey, their
main source of meat.

An Aztec woman was also able to run a business related to crafting or

weaving, and she would also make clothes for the family selling or trading
any excess cloth for the family necessities. THE EVOLUTION OF AZTEC
SOCIETY

THE EUROPEANS WHO ARRIVED IN AMERICA IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

discovered two large empires: those of the Incas and the Aztecs. Of these
they studied the former much more intensively than the latter, which had
rather less striking characteristics and appeared to contain the most
contradictory elements. At all events, while we possess detailed descriptions
by Spanish chroniclers of Inca society, they have left us no coherent
treatment of the social organisation of the Aztecs, which has to be pieced
together from various sources. These are of five types. There are first, Indian
pictograph manuscripts. Though most of them were destroyed at the time of
conquest, some were reproduced by Indian scribes for their new lords, since
they contained data of economic importance. Chief among these is the
Godex Mendoza which lists the tribute of the Aztecs' subject peoples.
Second, there are the writings of the conquistadors, important in spite of
their superficiality, since they alone among Europeans saw the Aztec empire
in its prime. Cortez' letters and Bernal Diaz' memoirs are the most valuable.
Thirdly, we have the Spanish chroniclers, mainly monks and administrators
who studied the history and religion of the Aztecs and incidentally also their
social organisation: Sahagún, Durán, Zurita, Motolinía, Mendieta and others.
Fourth, there are the post-conquest Indian historians, younger sons of Indian
nobles, educated by Spanish monks, who wrote about the history of their
people. Ixtlilxochitl and Tezozomoc are the most important. Lastly, we have
various as yet inadequately exploited documents, such as petitions by Indian
villages to the Spanish crown, legal disputes about land between Indian
nobles, Spanish conquistadors and Indian villages, and the like. It is the
object of this essay to survey the evolution of Aztec society as it has

been pieced together from these various sources. The Aztecs arrived late in
the area of Central American high civilisation. More than fifteen hundred
years before their arrival this region had known civilisations such as those of
the Olmecs on the East coast of Mexico, of the Maya in the South, and the
religious culture of Teotihuacan in the central highlands. About the tenth
century these civilisations collapsed, and northern conquerors, the Toltecs,
occupied large tracts of Central America. Their history is unknown except for
some traditions strongly infused with myths.

They appear to have dominated quite large regions, but three centuries

after their arrival they become a prey to internal conflicts. They

were unable to withstand the pressure of the barbarian peoples from the
North unlike the Central Americans mainly hunters and food- gatherers, with
only a minority of primitive agriculturalists and these overran a large part of
Central America. The Aztecs were one of these conquering peoples.

The beginnings of their history are still surrounded by myth, and not greatly
relevant to our purpose. At all events they seem to have been chiefly hunters
and food-gatherers, though not without know- ledge of agriculture. They took
part in the destruction of the Toltec capital of Tula and subsequently settled
in the highland valley of Mexico. After prolonged difficulties they were
subjugated by other peoples, forced to work for them, and only liberated
themselves after some time they settled on an island in the lake of Texcoco
in the Mexico valley and founded the township of Tenochtitlan."

At this stage their social organisation appears still to have been entirely that
of a democratic kinship society (Gentilgesellschaft). They were divided into
calpullis, originally four in number. The word signifies: great house. The
precise nature of these calpullis remains in dispute. Some take them for
exogamous clans, some for endogamous ones, a third group for clans in
process of dissolution. (But there is no evidence of calpulli exogamy or
marriage prohibitions. On the contrary, the chronicler Durán observes that
marriages within a calpulli were frequent.") Without entering this debate
further, we may observe the following: the calpullis were communities whose
members regarded each other as relatives in sonde sense. The Spanish
chroniclers sometimes called them "lineages" and their leaders "elder
kinsmen". An old legend about the origin of the calpullis shows that this
kinship relation was vague even in the minds of the Aztecs. After the
foundation of Tenochtitlan, it runs, Huitzilopochtli, the war-god of the Aztecs,
told the priests: "Tell the Mexican assemblage that their chiefs should divide
them, according to their relationship to one another or according to whether
they are friends or allies, into four principal barrios (Spanish city districts i.e.
calpullis)",10

The calpullis owned the land, and made it available to their members. The
members owned what they harvested from the land, and could pass their
plot to their heirs, but neither sell nor lease it. Whoever failed, without good
reason, to cultivate his plot for two years, or left the calpulli, lost all claim to
the land. Excess land was distributed among landless or poor members of
the calpulli. Its headman was the calpullec who was elected by the totality of
the members, but had always to be chosen from the same family. When the
Aztecs came to Tenochtitlan, the entire territory was divided among the
members of calpullis.+

The most important decisions in the life of the tribe were taken by a Council
composed of the representatives of the calpullis. According to legend a priest
was the first head of the tribe, but later his place was taken by chiefs, whose
authority was in all probability very limited. Zurita thus describes conditions
among the Matlatzinca, a people whose social organisation shortly before the
arrival of the Spaniards was very similar to the original social organisa- tion
of the Aztecs: ". and they treated their men and vassals so well, that they
were always called, according to their age, fathers, brothers and sons and
cach one desired to be better than his predecessor, for if one became a
tyrant, there was a law that he should be deposed, even if he were the chief
ruler and replaced by another, and those who gave me this report declared,
that they had witnessed such a deposition, of one who had ruled badly and
done harm to his subordinates","

Such, briefly outlined, was the social organisation of the Aztecs at the time of
their settlement in the Mexico valley. However, their life there soon led to
profound modifications.

The high valley of Mexico contained a network of lakes, and thus occupied a
special position in contemporary Central America, much of which was acutely
short of rivers or other means of irrigation. Hence over large regions
agriculture was dependent on the vagaries of the country's climate, and
remained at a very primitive level. The system of cultivation in the greater
part of Central America was that of the so-called milpa (the Aztec word for
field). The land was cleared by burning, fertilised with ash, and then
cultivated continuously for one to three years, after which it lay fallow for
eight to ten. It is evident that this system permitted only a feeble density of
population. The situation in the high valley of Mexico was very different. The
lake-system made claborate irrigation possible both near the shores and on
the lakes themselves, where chinampas or artificial islands were constructed.
Rafts were built from branches, tree-roots and shrubs, covered with soil from
the lake-bottom, and fertilised with decaying waterplants, mud, and the
excrement of bats and probably also of humans. Rather advanced
agricultural techniques such as those of seed-beds and transplanting were
also known. Consequently productivity was extraordinarily high. There were
two or three harvests in the year." Naturally therefore the valley supported a
population of a density several times that elsewhere.

The high valley had another major advantage. Central American

transport was still very primitive, since neither draught animals, the THE
EVOLUTION OF AZTEC SOCIETY

17

wheel or the cart were known, and mountain or jungle made things even
more difficult. In the valley, however, the lake-system facilitated
communications among the inhabitants. It is obvious, therefore, that the
growth of a numerous population and its concentration in a single political
territory was more rapidly achieved here than in the remainder of Central
America. But the inhabitants of the valley were not merely politically united.
The strategic advantages of their home, more then six thousand feet high
and difficult of access, gave them considerable military superiority over the
rest of Central America, and necessarily led them to undertake campaigns of
conquest outside; especially when we consider the attraction of such
products of the lowlands as cotton and cocoa, which could not be cultivated

in the high valley. As early as the fourteenth century one of the high tribes,
the Atzcapotzalco, succeeded in subjugating the other tribes. Both threats
and the offered shares in the loot, persuaded them to participate in the
campaigns of conquest. Among the most zealous mercenaries of the
Atzcapotzalco were the Aztecs. There was hardly a campaign in which they
took no part, hardly a war in which they did not fight. This warlike existence
led to profound modifications of their life and social organisation. War
became the focus of their existence. An Aztec chieftain is reported as follows
in a chronicle: "Are not war and victory the true profession of the Mexicans,
and is it not worth more to win victory, even through a thousand perils, than
to sit at home and work like a woman?",10

The warriors became the most important and respected persons in

Tenochtitlan. Their very appearance reflected this honour. Only those who
had distinguished themselves in war were allowed to wear cotton garments,
or gold and silver ornaments, to drink cocoa or to possess houses beyond a
certain size. The bravest warriors enjoyed special honours. They were made
into Tequihuas, who formed a special military community. "The hair of the
Tequihuas was shaved" says Pomar, "and they were given a certain
decoration made of feathers to mark their honour, and henceforth they
enjoyed various privileges. Above all, they could now occupy a post as
captain, officer or other official of the government", These warriors formed
an aristocracy of service, whose importance in society tended to grow, and
who slowly pushed the older stratum of Calpulli headman out of the
leadership of the Aztec tribe. In their references to the tribal council the
chroniclers no longer speak of the calpulli leaders, but rather of the braves. It
is difficult to

discover how far this stratum had freed itself from the direct 18

PAST AND PRESENT

production of foodstuffs, but part of them seem to have lived and fed at the
court of the ruler. Probably the majority continued to till their plots as before,
within the framework of the calpullis. The rights of the warriors lapsed with
their death, and were not heritable. It should be emphasised that their power
was far from unlimited, the most important questions being decided by
assemblies of the people.

Another institution emerged at the same time as the warrior aristocracy. The
former chieftain became the supreme ruler and general, and his power
increased with every year. However, it remained limited by several things: by
the assembly of the people, the supreme council, and by a sort of proxy ruler
called Cihuacoatl ("snake- woman"), with far-reaching powers of his own."
The ruler was elected by the people, but had to come from a particular
family.**

A series of events in the first part of the fifteenth century decisively

contributed to further rapid changes. In 1427 the ruler of Atzcapotzalco,
Tezozomoc, died, and the Aztecs, together with two other formerly subject
tribes, the Texcoco and the Tlacopan, used the occasion to revolt. In 1430
this triple alliance gained power in the high valley of Mexico, took over the
outside regions controlled by Atzcapotzalco, and undertook further great
campaigns of conquest. 27 Ninety years later, when the Spaniards landed in
Mexico, the Aztecs Nin and their allies ruled over the greater part of Central
America, with a

population estimated at from eight to nine millions.** Tribute from all parts of
Central America flooded into Tenochtitlan. Fortunately we know tire precise
amount of this tribute for the year before the Spanish conquest, for the
Spaniards had these data recorded with great care. Though a full statement
cannot here be given, some extracts will provide an idea of the importance
of this tribute. In general it seems to have been used for three purposes: (1)
outlays on war (equipment, rewards for warriors, etc.); (2) maintenance of
ruler and court; (3) social expenditures (help for

the poor, stockpiles for famines, etc.). In the last phase expenditures

under item (2) seem to have become larger."

Summary of Motecuçoma's annual tribute collected from three

hundred and seventy-one towns:

War dresses
Feathers, handfuls of.r..

Mantles of cotton or fibre

Men's loin cloths

Women's tunics and skirts

Maize, bins of

625

33,680

123,400

8,000

11,200

28 Beans, bins of

Sage, bins of

Purslane, bins of
Cotton, bales of

Canes, spears....

4,400

Copal, unrefined packets

32,000

Paper, maguey, reams of

64,000

Lime, loads of

32,000

Gold disks

21

21

18

16,000
60

Gold dust, bowls of An example may illustrate these quantities. Cook has
calculated

60

the contents of a "bin" at 600,000 kg., and estimates the mean daily
consumption of the Old-Mexican inhabitants at 400 g. of maize, beans and
other foodstuffs, or 146 kg. per annum. The 88 bins of bulk foodstuffs
delivered thus amount to 52,800,000 kg., or enough to maintain 361,641
men at the estimated mean consumption for a year. Tenochtitlan thus
achieved a splendour and wealth which impressed even the Spaniards
greatly. Thus Cortez wrote about his first impression of the city to the King of
Spain: "The great and wealthy city, named Tenochtitlan, lies in midst of the
great salt lake. It is as large as Seville or Cordoba The city has numerous
squares, on which there are perpetual markets of foodstuffs and various
commodities. The main square in the centre of the city, twice as great as
that of Salamanca, is surrounded by colonnades Tenochtitlan has many
beautiful palaces, and this because all the nobles of the country, who are
subject to Moctezuma, possess their own houses in the capital and live there
for part of the year. In addition many wealthy burghers have very fine,
splendid and large houses, with wonderful flower-gardens on the ground and
on the flat roofs"

The evolution of Aztec society now proceeded very rapidly. The more its
power was consolidated, the less the warrior nobility was willing to submit to
the people's assembly. On the eve of the conquest of Atzcapotzalco, so the
chronicles tell, a decisive assembly took place. A dispute arose there
between the leaders and the warrior nobility on one hand, the commons on
the other. The nobility favoured battle, the commoners were afraid and
favoured subjection. Opinions clashed, and a sort of pact was concluded. The
leaders declared to the commons: "If we fail, we will give ourselves into your
hands, so that you may eat our flesh and be avenged upon us". And the
commons replied: "If you succeed, we pledge our-

selves to serve you, and pay you tribute, and be your dependents,20

PAST AND PRESENT

to build your houses, and to serve you as veritable lords, to put our sons,
brothers and nieces at your disposal, to carry your baggage and arms when
you go to war, to serve you wherever you go, and finally to sell our goods
and persons for your service forever"." It does not greatly matter whether or
not things actually happened in this precise form. What matters is, that Aztec
tradition knows one moment, when the warrior nobility took over power and
eliminated the people's assembly.

This revolution of the old tribal order was soon followed by another. The
aristocracy demanded its own land, to be cultivated on its behalf. After the
conquest of Atzcapotzalco it took over a large part of the newly subjugated
territory: "After the Crown had received lands, the first to whom land was
given was Tlacaellel, leader in this fight, who received ten suertes of land, all
in Atzcapotzalco... All other important leaders received two suertes of land.
The common people, which had behaved in a frightened and cowardly
manner, and had promised to serve the lords and victors received no land at
all" Tradition was not wholly broken: each calpulli received one suerte, i.c.
half as much as a noble. The ground thus distributed was tilled by the
common people for the nobles. Thus the economic foundations of an
aristocracy were laid. One major step remained to be taken: to establish
rights of inheritance over this land. However, inheritance conflicted both with
the tradition of the original gentile society and that of the era of the service
aristocracy, in which every honour had to be justified by military
achievement. A compromise was thus found: "When one of these nobles
died, the supreme rulers transferred his titles to him, who had gained it by
merit... and the son did not inherit, unless the supreme ruler nominated him
as heir. And the supreme rulers always made efforts to prefer the sons to
others, if they deserved it" The heritability of titles and of the lands which
depended on them was
thus guaranteed. The nobility also extended its claims in other fields. The
domination over such large territories as the Aztecs ruled, required the
creation of a sizeable stratum of administrators. Though most of the
conquered peoples were left their chieftains and institutions, calpixques, i.e.
tribute collectors, were sent everywhere." These received lands and estates
in the territories for which they were responsible. Garrisons were also sent
into some frontier regions, where they were maintained by the native
populations." In the high valley of Mexico and its environs, however, a
regular administra-

tive apparatus of the Aztecs and their allies appears to have [Link]
EVOLUTION OF AZTEC SOCIETY

21

Judges, administrators, tribute collectors, were appointed for each locality.

This body of civil servants was supplemented by a steadily growing number
of officials in Tenochtitlan itself." Originally all these posts were distributed
according to the same

principle as all other honours among the Aztecs, i.e. according to military
achievement. However, the nobility now desired to monopolise them, and
attempted to do so in various ways. (1) Camouflaged heredity, as discussed
above, was partially introduced. As we have seen, the formula "the supreme
rulers always made efforts to prefer the sons to others, if they deserved it"
applied to the title of Tecuhtli, which belonged to nobles active as
administrators of subject localities and receiving land in them." (2) Certain
posts were reserved for the pupils of the Calmecacdas, a school for the
children of nobles." (While all young men of the people received an almost
exclusively military education in the "bachelor house" (telpochcalli), the
children of the nobility were educated in the temple schools (calmecae).) (3)
It is reported from Texcoco, one of the cities of the triple alliance, that the
nobles had reserved a proportion of the posts for themselves." Probably this
was also temporarily the case in Tenochtitlan.
So long as the conquests proceeded rapidly, and the number of available
posts therefore exceeded that of the nobility, these measures suffice to
ensure its access to the most important posts without wholly excluding the
aristocracy of service. Indeed, even under Moctezuma I (1440-69) attempts
were still made to recruit new blood into the nobility. Thus his proxy is
reported to have told the king: "You must invite the soldiers of the second
class into your palaces, those who have carned only lesser rewards. After the
generals have selected them, they are to be granted the right to wear the
badges, decorations and jewels which are the privilege of the highest
nobility. Their children shall be regarded as nobles... Out of this order of
knighthood shall the nobility be renewed Moctezuma promised to regard
them and their children as nobles for ever". However, when under
Moctezuma II (1502-1520) conquests took place more slowly, while the
number of nobles increased correspondingly fast- in contrast to the
commons they were allowed to take several wives a sort of coup d'état was
organised. The Codex Ramirez describes this as follows:

"A few days after he was elected, the king began to show his aristocratic
leanings. He first rearranged and readjusted his royal household. To do this
(efficiently) he first had an old man called to him, a person who had been his
(private) priest, and disclosed his 22

thoughts to him privately, speaking as follows: 'You undoubtedly know, my

father, that I have decided that all those who wait upon me shall be knights
and the sons of princes and lords. Not only those who are to help me in my
household but all who have any positions of importance throughout my
kingdom are to be such. I am very much perturbed at the thought that all the
previous kings permitted themselves to be served in such matters by people
of low birth. For this reason I have decided to deprive all those of low birth of
whatever office they happen to hold and to have my household and my
kingdom served only by people of good birth, by such as are without any
mixture of low blood.""

These measures were carried out and numerous former dignitaries killed.**
The reinforcement of the nobility's position was accompanied by an increase
in the power of the supreme ruler, who had closely linked his fortunes with
theirs. This is most clearly described by the chronicler Acosta: "From all this
we may see that the ruler used not to have absolute power, and ruled more
like a duke or consul than like a king, though in later times... the power of the
rulers increased, until it took tyrannical forms, as was the case with the last
rulers"," Compared to the ruler, the Cihuacoarl dropped increasingly out of
importance, until by the time of the Spanish conquest he no longer played a
significant part. The council also lost more and more of its power to the ruler.

The changes briefly sketched above laid the foundations of a class society
among the Aztecs.

In the last period of Aztec rule there also arose new classes, whose main
function was to minister to the needs of the new ruling stratum, the
craftsmen, merchants and slaves.

The craftsmen were almost exclusively producers of luxury goods for the
nobility feather-workers, gold and silversmiths, etc. for in the primitive state
of Aztec technique the population manufactured its most important capital
and consumption goods at home." The merchants traded mainly in luxury
goods, their main function being

to bring lowlanți products such as cotton, cocoa, the plumes of certain

birds, etc., into the high valley. In return they exported raw materials

such as salt and lake-produce, manufactured goods, and products

gathered in tribute. There was as yet no money, but certain

commodities, such as cocoa beans, functioned as currency. This

trade was supported by such measures of the Aztec state as the

obligation to trade with Aztec merchants, to bring goods to market on

certain days, and the like. In the final years of Aztec rule the

importance of the trade in the high valley had risen to the point at THE
EVOLUTION OF AZTEC SOCIETY

23

which the social position of the merchants approached that of the nobles.
They received some of the same honours, and were invited to the most
important consultations. They had also won the right of inheritance."

Slavery existed among the Aztecs, but was feebly developed. Criminals and
debtors were enslaved, but prisoners-of-war were without exception sacrified
to the gods." Slaves were chiefly used as domestic servants and porters, but
rarely in agriculture or the building trades. There are two reasons for this.
First, the greater part of the soil still belonged to the calpullis, who could not
use slaves, since each plot of land was designed to maintain only one family.
Second, work on private lands and on the buildings of Tenochtitlan were
carried out by the compulsory labour of members of calpullis, above all those
of the subject peoples. Their labour was much cheaper than that of slaves,
since there was no need to feed them all the year through, and indeed they
found their own food. Hence the greater part of prisoners-of-war could not
have been employed as slaves, and there was no economic reason to
prevent their execution.

We may sum up. The most important characteristics of Aztec social evolution
appear to be the following:
(1) Aztec society had evolved into a class society with a hereditary nobility,
owning land (which was cultivated by dependent peasants), and occupying
the leading positions in the state.

(2) This evolution into class society took place mainly at the expense of
foreign subject peoples. Hence among the Aztecs themselves, strong relics of
former social systems could survive.

Thus a large part of the land remained in the hands of the calpullis. (3) So far
as I know the evolution of a relatively developed social

order on the basis of so primitive a material base as that of the Aztecs, has
no parallel in the old world. For the Aztecs knew neither animal husbandry
nor the plough (they used digging sticks), nor metal tools, using gold, silver
and copper only for ornament. I think this anomaly is largely due to the
character of the basic American cereal, maize, which shows high productivity
even with low or primitive cultivation. The Maya expert Morley has calculated
that the most primitive form of Central American agriculture, the system of
clearing land by fire, enabled, a family of five to produce in one hundred and
ninety days twice what it required for subsistence." The remainder of its time
was free for non-agricultural activities. The far more advanced agricultural
system of the Aztecs naturally was even more productive.

Berlin

Friedrich Kata