The Discovery of America Vol. 1 (of 2): with some account of Ancient America and the Spanish ConquestFiske, John
History
The Discovery of America Vol. 1 (of 2): with some account of Ancient America and the Spanish Conquest
Fiske, John
America -- Discovery and exploration; Latin America -- History
The typical kingship in mediaeval Europe, after the full development of
the feudal system, was very different indeed from the kingship in early
Greece and Rome. In the Middle Ages all priestly functions had passed
into the hands of the Church.[122] A king like Charles VII. of France,
or Edward III. of England, was military commander, civil magistrate,
chief judge, and _supreme landlord_; the people were his tenants. That
was the kind of king with which the Spanish discoverers of Mexico were
familiar.
[Footnote 122: Something of the priestly quality of "sanctity,"
however, surrounded the king's person; and the ceremony of
anointing the king at his coronation was a survival of the
ancient rite which invested the head war-chief with priestly
attributes.]
[Sidenote: Montezuma was a "priest-commander."]
Now the Mexican _tlacatecuhtli_, or "chief-of-men," was much more like
Agamemnon in point of kingship than like Edward III. He was not supreme
landlord, for landlordship did not exist in Mexico. He was not chief
judge or civil magistrate; those functions belonged to the
"snake-woman." Mr. Bandelier regards the "chief-of-men" as simply a
military commander; but for reasons which I shall state hereafter,[123]
it seems quite clear that he exercised certain very important priestly
functions, although beside him there was a kind of high-priest or
medicine-chief. If I am right in holding that Montezuma was a
"priest-commander," then incipient royalty in Mexico had advanced at
least one stage beyond the head war-chief of the Iroquois, and remained
one stage behind the _basileus_ of the Homeric Greeks.
[Footnote 123: They can be most conveniently stated in
connection with the story of the conquest of Mexico; see below,
vol. ii. p. 278. When Mr. Bandelier completes his long-promised
paper on the ancient Mexican religion, perhaps it will appear
that he has taken these facts into the account.]
[Sidenote: Mode of succession to the office.]
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