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Aztec justice

27th Apr 2025

Aztec justice

An Aztec judge with plaintiffs

‘The juridical system of ancient Mexico was inspired by the same view of the human being - “face and heart” - which produced the moral code. Sahagún wrote of this:-
’”The rulers were concerned with the pacification of the people and the settling of litigations and disputes among them, and for this reason they elected prudent and wise judges, honest people who had been educated in the monasteries of the Calmécac”’ (Compiled by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)

‘The integrity of the judges and the principles which guided them in their application of laws were described by the Indian informants of Sahagún and by the celebrated Spanish official [in fact a judge of the Audiencia of Mexico (1556–1564)] Alonso de Zurita.’ Zurita describes the justice system prior to the Spanish invasion in these terms:-
At dawn the judges would be seated on their mats, and soon people would begin to arrive with their quarrels. Somewhat early, food would be brought from the palace. After eating the judges would rest a while, and then they would continue to listen until two hours before the sun set. In matters of appeal there were twelve judges who had jurisdiction over all the others, and they used to sentence with the sanction of the ruler.
Every twelve days the ruler would meet with all of the judges to consider all of the difficult cases... Everything that was taken before him was to have been already carefully examined and discussed. The people who testified would tell the truth because of an oath which they took, but also because of the fear of the judges, who were very skilled at arguing and had a great sagacity for examination and cross-examination. And they would punish rigorously those who did not tell the truth.

The judges received no gifts in large or small quantities. They made no distinction between people, important or common, rich or poor, and in their judgments they exercised the utmost honesty with all. And the same was true of the other administrators of the law.

Considering these were the comments of a Spanish judge, who might be expected to be critical of Nahua judges at the time, they are a tribute to the high values and integrity of the Mexica/Aztec justice system.

Quote:-
• Translated from Zurita’s work Breve y sumaria relación de los señores de la Nueva España, in Aztec Thought and Culture by Miguel León-Portilla, translated by Jack Emory Davis, 1963, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, pp. 151-152.

Picture sources:-
• Main: illustration by Irina Botcharova, scanned from Pasajes de la Historia Vol. 1, Conaculta, Mexico, n.d.
• Pic 1: image scanned from the James Cooper Clark facsimile edition (1938) of the Codex Mendoza, London
• Pic 2: image from the Florentine Codex (original in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence) scanned from our own copy of the Club Internacional del Libro 3-volume facsimile edition, Madrid, 1994.

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Aztec justice

An Aztec judge with plaintiffs

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