Macehualli

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Macehualli ( Nahuatl mācēhualli , plural: mācēhualtin ) was the name of the Aztecs and their Nahuatl-speaking neighbors for the free farmers who made up the majority of the population. The etymology of the name is obscure, a connection with the term ma'cēhualli , merit, is impossible because of the different sounds.

The Macehualtin had the right to use a piece of land. They were obliged to serve in the war and were able to become nobles through service in the war. Towards the end of the Aztec period, a large part of the Macehualtin in Tenochtitlán no longer lived from agriculture, but from handicrafts or retailers.

Máasewal as a Nahuatl loan word in a modern Mayathan text.

Nowadays, the term is also used as an ethnonym for the Nahua and most Nahua groups as a self-name. It is pronounced and written in different variations, e.g. B. Maseuali, Maseualli, Maswoal, Mösiehuali , Spanish Macehual , plural Macehuales . The Nahua word has also passed into other indigenous languages ​​in Mexico , in which it is also used as a self-designation by the peasant population, e.g. B. in Mayathan : Máasewalo'ob or Macehualoob ( Maya farmers of Yucatán ).

literature

  • Olivera de Vásquez, Mercedes: Pillis y macehuales - las formaciones sociales y los modos de producción de Tecali del siglo 12 al 16. Centro de Investigaciones Superiores del INAH, Ciudad de México 1978 (in Spanish)

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