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moners who were serving as royal servants with nobles, and he removed the officials installed by Ahuitzotl, including the ward heads and captains of hundreds of men; they were reportedly put to death.
9 He greatly widened the gap between nobles and commoners, in types of service, in rewards, and in attire, and these differences extended to both combat garb and peacetime wear. Among Moteuczomah Xocoyotl's new decrees was one declaring that only the king could wear a gold diadem in Tenochtitlan, although in war all the great nobles and war leaders could wear one, since in that capacity they represented the king. Also, only great nobles and valiant warriors could wear sandals in Tenochtitlan.10 Commoner soldiers could wear only the simplest mantles and were proscribed from decorating or embroidering them in any way that would distinguish their wearers from the other common soldiers.11 He created additional insignia of martial prowess and introduced the custom of cutting the hair of the major warriors and war leaders in the style of otontin warriors.12 |
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Although these changes suggest a diminution of commoner roles in the court of Moteuczomah Xocoyotl, such an outcome is improbable in a strict sense. Increasing the requirements for elevation to meritocratic noble status reduced the likelihood of individual advancement, but it did not foreclose it and, in fact, guaranteed the rise of only the ablest commoners. Actions were not taken against existing meritocratic nobles, as that would have undermined the king's own position by strengthening the calpolli leadership, to whom those dispossessed would be forced to turn. Rather, the stringent social changes were aimed at stabilizing an already large Aztec nobility, and they paved the way for changes in the status of nobles from elsewhere in the empire. |
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By excluding commoners from his service, Moteuczomah Xocoyotl created positions for more nobles. This helped integrate the empire by drawing the sons of nobles from throughout the land to Tenochtitlan, where they could also be taught, indoctrinated, controlled, and, incidentally, held hostage,13 although many probably also had kin ties to the Aztec nobility.14 Thus with one simple move the king changed a coercive policy into one that conveyed honor and prestige on the "hostages" and that was carried out largely through normative means (although the iron fist was always there). He also now relied on these foreign nobles to counterbalance his internal support. Many of them participated in the internal affairs of Tenochtitlan, and because they owed their presence to the king, their inter- |
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