Hueyi Tlatoani (Nahuatl "great speaker", also spelt Uei Tlatoani or Huey Tlahtoani; plural Hueyi Tlatoque) was the Nahuatl title used for the emperor of the Mexica (Aztec). They were rulers of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, and as such became the heads of the Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlán, Texcoco, and Tlacopan.
The title of tlatoani has often been translated as 'Aztec emperor'. The succession of tlatoque was not passed on by direct inheritence. The tlatoani was elected by a consensus of the Aztec élite. The tlatoani was the head of government and the army, and also the high priest of the Mexica.
Ténoch, the legendary founder of Tenochtitlan, was the first tlatoani of the city. He was followed by eleven tlatoque in succession, under whom Mexica became a powerful Mesoamerican state, only to be eventually overcome by internal dissension and the conquistadores of New Spain.
Aztec people | Lists of office-holders | Heads of state Mesoamerica | Nahuatl words
Tlatoani | Tlatoani | ტლატოანი | Hueyi tlahtoani | Tlatoani
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"Hueyi Tlatoani".
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