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Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC SOCIAL CLASSES

27th Jul 2023

Aztec porters carry a nobleman in a litter - illustration by Felipe Dávalos

In Aztec times, everyone knew their place. Society was highly ‘stratified’ (that means there were lots of levels, like on a pyramid stairway). At the top were rulers, at the bottom slaves. But it wasn’t that simple: there were plenty of different ranks for the nobles and commoners in between... (Compiled by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)

There were really only two main ‘classes’ in Mexica (Aztec) society: nobles and commoners. Most experts agree that if you took 100 Aztec people, 5 of them would be nobles and the other 95 commoners (that’s ‘5 per cent’, or ‘5%’). That’s no big deal: in most countries in the world there’s usually always been a small minority of very rich and a large majority of poor...

The Aztec empire grew and grew over something like a century, and as rulers could have many wives, you can imagine that they ended up with LOTS of children, all of whom were automatically ‘nobles’ (‘N’), who expected to be maintained by the mass of ordinary ‘commoners’ (‘C’). In general ‘once a noble, always a noble’ and the same for commoners. BUT...

Nobles were expected to set an example in their behaviour; if you ‘let the side down’ you’d be severely punished. And nobles had a lot to lose: they lived in large, beautifully decorated buildings made of stone - commoners lived in small, simple, one-room huts made of ‘wattle and daub’ (mud/clay/chalkdust mixed in between a framework of wood or reed slats).

Nobles tended to go to ‘élite’ schools where priests were trained, whereas commoners tended to go to regular schools where warriors were trained. But nobles might also end up as teachers, advisors, ambassadors, tribute collectors, judges, military leaders, officials, accountants or scribes.

Apart from training to be (part-time) warriors, many commoners also worked in farming, fishing, making crafts, building work, entertainment, trade, transport and many types of extra services. Most commoners belonged to their local calpolli or neighbourhood grouping of families, with its own temple and school. Each calpolli was under the control of a local noble.

The power and wealth of Aztec nobles came from their control of land, labour and tribute. Whilst land wasn’t usually privately owned as we understand it, the ruler often granted estates to high-ranking lords (the nobles’ upper class) and to important temples. Commoners had duties towards their lords, in the form of regular payments of tribute and labour, each family contributing several weeks of work each year. They could also be called up for one-off community projects like constructing a temple or building a canal.

Though nobles and commoners generally went to different schools, ALL parents could actually choose which school to send their child to and apply directly; if the child showed talent and potential (s)he was accepted! This was one way - by training for the priesthood for instance - in which individuals could move up the social ladder. Another was success on the battlefield or - as a travelling merchant - in foreign trade.

There were strict rules on who could wear what (these are called ‘sumptuary laws’). For instance, only nobles could wear cotton clothing - commoners had to wear clothes made of (rough) maguey cactus fibre. Commoners could only wear sandals when travelling on roads. The term ‘commoner’ could actually cover a wide range of individuals: to cut a long story short, there were both rich and poor commoners.

Of course nobles could fall down the social scale - by gambling or making a bad judgment in a court of law, for instance - but the stories of poor Mexica citizens being blessed with good luck and moving UP the scale are particularly inspiring. In one case, the emperor Moctezuma II was so impressed with the behaviour of a lowly gardener that he raised him to noble status, at a stroke!