Guide on Aztec

In the patriarchal hierarchy of Aztec culture, the man was the head of the household. Common men possessed more freedom than noblemen in choosing, or rather requesting, a bride for marriage. The noble classes predominantly married for profit and alliance. When a man married, he earned the right to a piece of land in the calpulli. He usually married at the age of 20 or 22, after he had completed his education. Together with his parents, he asked his teachers for the right to leave school and marry, but of course, all had been decided before this grand ceremony occurred. This ritual was a matter of social etiquette and provided another occasion for the Aztec family members to gather, honor their neighbors, and make speeches. To obtain a master's permission to leave the school and marry, the man's family prepared an evening of feasting, smoking, and conversing. After the meal, the groom's father and elders approached the son's teachers and offered them a polished stone ax. After eloquently assuring the teachers that the groom wanted to leave the school to marry, they asked the teachers to set him free. The masters accepted the stone ax and offered a speech of their own.

They encouraged the groom to be a brave warrior and to make the school proud by being a good provider and father. Then they gave their permission for the groom to marry and left the gathering, ax in hand. Women also received permission from their masters to leave their education to marry. Their masters encouraged them to serve the gods and their husbands, and to be, above all, chaste. After receiving their masters' permission, brides and grooms commenced the rite of marriage under the guidance of a cihuatlanqui (see next page). This rite also required a play of social etiquette, but when completed, a principal marriage, signifying the first marriage, was established. Sometimes, a couple married without permission and without the observance of the marriage ceremony. In such cases, the couple appeared penitently before their parents, apologized, asked forgiveness for marrying in secret, and assured the families that their marriage was principal, sacred, and true. At this time, couples would perform their marriage rite. Today it is still common in rural areas of Mexico for brides and grooms to skip the ritual of asking for their parents' permission to marry.

The groom "steals" the bride, and they return afterward to perform the official ceremony. Aztec families could live in joint households or independently; no customary laws existed regarding how families could live. Newly married couples usually lived with either the groom's or the bride's parents, but flexibility in the social customs allowed the couple to move into their own household, too. According to anthropologist Frances Berdan most Aztec families lived in joint households, combining the families of two brothers, for example, which probably was done for economic stability. In the situation of two brothers sharing a household, the elder married brother functioned as head of household. Joint households, especially between couples and parents-in-law, could cause problems. Aztec society considered the meddling in-law to be inconsiderate and detrimental to family dynamics; the good in-law contributed to the needs of the household. Aztecs, according to their means, lived polygamously. Only principal relationships observed the aforementioned marriage rites. However, men took as many wives as they could afford. Polygamy, therefore, was a luxury. Nezahualpilli, ruler of Tetzcoco, possessed 2,000 wives and sired 144 children, 11 of whom were legitimate (that is, born to his principal wife). A concubine, though not the principal wife, lived in an officially recognized position within the household. Often she dwelled under the protection of the principal wife.

Ethnohistorian Jacques Soustelle (1979) writes that the principal wife was responsible for tending to the concubine's needs when she was to sleep with the husband. Though a subservient member of the family, ruled by the principal wife, the concubine held a position of honor and respect. Her children, likewise, were legally recognized. In noble families, children resulting from a principal marriage typically succeeded power, but this was not always the case. It should be noted that Itzcoatl, an Aztec emperor, was the child of a concubine. Issues of legitimacy and illegitimacy did not appear to be of significant concern for the Aztec. The existence of polygamy raises some interesting questions about the Aztec family: Did adultery exist, and to what extent was it considered a problem? Despite the repressive social expectations of discretion and moderation in Aztec society, adultery did exist, and it resulted in grave punishments. Aztec law required that the accuser prove adultery. Those found to be guilty of adultery were killed with a crushing blow to the head; women were strangled first. The severity of this punishment reflects just how dangerous the Aztec believed adultery to be to the stability of the family unit. Adultery was not the only difficulty to affect the Aztec family. Sometimes women did not become pregnant and therefore could not produce an heir. Sometimes men could not provide financially for their families. Under these circumstances, Aztec laws allowed divorce. A divorce could also be granted if a wife failed to maintain a suitable household or if a husband abused his wife. If either the man or woman abandoned the household, his or her absence essentially constituted a divorce. Divorced spouses were free to remarry.

At the time of his birth, a young male's destiny was predetermined not only by his gender but also by the day on which he was born. The date of his birth would determine what kind of warrior he would become; for example, those born on the day matlactli cuauhtli (10 Eagle) were destined to be good soldiers. They would have strength and courage, spur others to valor, hurl themselves against their foes, smash their ranks, and put terror into their hearts.

For all males, military service was mandatory, and it was the job of these warriors to maintain the great military empire that Tenochtitlan had become in the 15th century. For a male born to a common family, his primary education, between the ages of three and 15, was given by his parents. They taught him about his calpulli and the role he would play in serving it. A youth's early years would be spent performing physical labor that would strengthen his body and included carrying wood, water, or supplies and food purchased in the marketplace at the center of the city. By the age of seven he would be trained to manage his family's boats and to fish on Lake Tetzcoco. A very important element in his preparation to becoming a warrior was food rationing. This was determined by age: At the age of three, he was given only a half cake of maize per meal; by age five, he was given a full cake; and by the age of 12, he was given a cake and half. Only during ritual feasts was the youth allowed to consume more.

The principal reason for this was to instill discipline in the future warrior as well as adherence to Aztec Gods, as it was expected that in times of battle he would have to march for days without food. Indolence was not tolerated, and punishments included beatings and stings with agave thorns There were two types of schools that offered military training: the calmecac and the telpochcalli. Most commoners attended the telpochcalli because it provided the most direct route to becoming a warrior.

Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, stood on the site of modern Mexico City. These are not different cities. Tenochtitlan is the foundation and the cultural base for Mexico City. The story of Tenochtitlan begins in the early 1300s when a tribe known as the Mexica, a Chichimec subgroup arrived in the Valley of Mexico. But by the time of their arrival, most of the Valley of Mexico appeared to be taken. The north was controlled by the Otomí, the west by the Tepaneca, the east by the Acolhua, and the south by the Xochimilca, the Colhua, and the Chalca. The Mexica, however, followed a vision spoken to them by their god Huitzilopochtli, who told them to settle where the mighty eagle sat upon the nopal (prickly pear) cactus devouring a snake. The Mexica saw this sight on a small island located in the center of Lake Tetzcoco. In 1325, they built their city upon that island and named it Tenochtitlan (the place of the nopal that grows on the rock).

A second city named Tlatelolco was built around the same time a few hundred meters north on an adjoining island by dissident Mexica, the Tlatelolco, who would become great traders. The twin islands upon which Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco were built did not at first sight appear to have the resources needed for the growth of an empire. There were meager agricultural prospects and a lack of building materials. Furthermore, Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco were surrounded by cities that were generally hostile. However, the Mexica were very close to the practices of their hunter-gathering ancestors, and they were thus able to make use of the positive features of the islands. If at first they could not farm, the many forms of available, edible aquatic life, snakes, fish, and birds allowed hunting, and other types of produce such as frogs, crustaceans, insect eggs, and lake algae allowed a type of gathering. As the Mexica were surrounded by hostile neighbors, Tenochtitlan came to specialize in war. Surrounding enemies were easily reached via the lake, which allowed large numbers of soldiers and materials to be moved by canoe. Tlatelolco, on the other hand, took advantage of its proximity to other people to develop trade with the Colhua, Chalca, Xochimilca, and Mixquica to the south, the Acolhua in the east, and the Tepanec in the west. The traders of Tlatelolco became so successful that their market became the largest in Mesoamerica.

Therefore, after only a few decades, the Mexica of Tlatelolco and Tenochtitlan began to make their influence felt as "traders and raiders." Initially, the Tenochca were vassals of the more powerful city of Azcapotzalco, but they eventually allied themselves with Tetzcoco and Tlacopan to conquer Azcapotzalco in 1428. The Triple Alliance was the beginning of the Aztec Empire because it brought together three important tribes from the Chichimec migrations: the Mexica of Tenochtitlan, the Acolhua of Tetzcoco, and the Tepaneca of Tlacopan.