Cihuacoatl (position)

The cihuacoatl (Classical Nahuatl: cihuācōātl [siwaːˈkoːaːtɬ], for "female serpent") was a supreme leader under the Tlatoani (Aztec emperor),[1] or an esteemed advisor, within the Aztec Empire system of government.

The prefix cihua- is a reference to women in Nahuatl, and Cihuacōātl was also the name of a Aztec goddess.[2]

Officeholders

  • Tlacaelel (1420s–1487); office created for him
  • Tlilpotoncatzin (1487–1503)
  • Tlacaelel II (1503–1520)
  • Matlatzincatzin (1520)
  • Tlacotzin (1520–1525); final officeholder

The position features in four historical novels by Simon Levack.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wood, Stephanie (ed.). "Cihuacoatl". Online Nahuatl Dictionary. Retrieved August 21, 2026.
  2. ↑ Kellogg, Susan (1995). "The Woman's Room: Some Aspects of Gender Relations in Tenochtitlan in the Late Pre-Hispanic Period". Ethnohistory. 42 (4): 563–576. doi:10.2307/483143. ISSN 0014-1801.


This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.