page_109 < previous page page_109 next page > Page 109 surely forms part of the fable that the Mexica community was originally a tribal democracy, of the kind proposed by Bandelier, based more on the system of the Iroquois than of the Aztecs. Certainly no evidence survives that at the time of the Spanish invasion any ruler throughout Mesoamerica was chosen in this way. The suspicion is hard to avoid that the choice of tlatoani was largely prearranged, to judge by the various accounts and by the fact that so many tlatoanis were the holders of the office of tlacatecatl and were perhaps in a sense almost ruler-designate. When a monarch was nearing the end of his active life, the choice of a new tlacatecatl was obviously of vital concern. The royal election appears to have been governed by a consensus of the cihuacoatl, the rulers of Texcoco and Tacuba, and the council of four, in that order of importance. In certain instances it seems that the choice was so inevitable that the rulers of Texcoco and Tacuba did not even bother to attend the elective assembly, if we are to accept the surviving reports as accurate. DurÃÄ„n relates that when Moctezuma I was about to die, he raised with Tlacaélel the question of his successor, a discussion that is surely relevant. A likelihood exists, though seldom mentioned, that the previous occupant of the throne had an important influence in the choice of his successor. The reigning tlatoani presumably had the first say concerning the replacement in the council of four of the tlacatecatl or of any member who retired or died, and the role of that council in the process of election is beyond dispute. J. Rounds in a fairly recent article concurs that the previous tlatoani played a leading role in the choice of his successor and that the election of the new incumbent hence tended to be little more than a formality. He quotes a passage of Motolinía that generally supports this view. 57 The suggestions by Hispanicized chroniclers that the system was based more on election than on a prearranged choice may be somewhat apocryphal. Though Charles V had inherited the Spanish throne, the notion of some form of election was not wholly foreign to the Hapsburgs as traditional contenders for the title of Holy Roman Emperor, which was chosen by a small body of electors. Moreover, even if the choice of tlatoani tended to be prearranged, this does not mean that the succession was immune to intrigue and conflict. If the Mesoamerican sources are fairly reticent on this subject, those of Peru are more revealing. Not only  < previous page page_109 next page >