Pipiltin
Encyclopedia
The Pipiltin were the noble
social class
in the Mexica Empire.
These people were members of the hereditary nobility and occupied the top positions in the government, the army and the priesthood. Pipitlin helped increase social stresses which attributed to internal weaknesses of the Aztec
Empire's downfall.
As the Aztecs began settling what would later become their homelands, an elite emerged (the pipiltin) that claimed descent from the Toltecs, the former empire of Central Mexico
. The new hereditary elite unified the clans that had been the center of Aztec
life and paved the way for a conquest empire.
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
in the Mexica Empire.
These people were members of the hereditary nobility and occupied the top positions in the government, the army and the priesthood. Pipitlin helped increase social stresses which attributed to internal weaknesses of the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
Empire's downfall.
As the Aztecs began settling what would later become their homelands, an elite emerged (the pipiltin) that claimed descent from the Toltecs, the former empire of Central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The new hereditary elite unified the clans that had been the center of Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
life and paved the way for a conquest empire.