ALCALDES MÉXICO.pdf

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1/13

Rotation of Alcaldes in the Indian Cabildo of Mexico CityAuthor(s): Charles GibsonSource: The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 33, No. 2 (May, 1953), pp. 212-223Published by: Duke University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2509657.

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2/13


3/13

ROTATION

OF

ALCALDES

IN

THE

INDIAN

CABILDO

213

these

more

widespread practices. The

aboriginal area of the

former

Tenochtitlan

was

organized politically into a subordinate

government

closely analogous to those of lesser Indian

communi-

ties and not to be confused with the

better-known

Spanish cabildo

in

the

same

city.

Local

native governments depended upon the

two

great

traditions

whose

convergence

informs and

gives mean-

ing to early colonial

Mexico: the elaborate ritualistic social heri-

tage

of Aztec times and the humanistic

Catholic

imperialism

of

sixteenth-century Spain

with

its objectives

of

education

and

con-

version.

For

present

purposes

the

political

hispanization only is

relevant. That it existed, that colonial

officials took the task

seriously,

and

that

Indian

governments

were

created

in

local

com-

munities

are incontrovertible

facts.

Seemingly

without

excep-

tion

these

governments

retained elements of

pre-conquest political

organizations-e.g.,

the

vigesimal

classifications,

the

office of te-

quitlato-and subtle

harmonies of

Spanish

and Indian

institu-

tions

were

repeatedly

realized.6 This also was

in

accordance

with

imperial policy, which

insisted that

Indian

practices were to be

preserved so long as

they

did

not conflict with

Hispanic ethical,

social,

or

religious

preconceptions.7

The

original

intention

of Charles V had been

that

Indians

were

to

be

introduced

gradually

into the

Spanish

cabildo

of Mexico

City

in

order that

they might gain political experience through

observation

and imitation.8

In

July, 1530,

cedulas

were

sent

in

blank

to the

Mexican audiencia so

that the

names of

native

officeholders

might

be inserted

para que

los indios se

entiendan

mas

con

los

espafioles

y

se

aficionen a la manera

de

su

gobierno. 9

Although

an instance

is

known

in

Puebla

in

1561,10

direct

ap-

pointment

of

Indians to the

cabildos of

Spanish

towns was rare

in

sixteenth-century

New

Spain,

for

the

Spanish

officeholders

failed to

share

fully

the humane attitude toward the Indians.

Direct association

of

the

two races

in

a

single

governing body

6

Frangois

Chevalier,

Les municipalities

indiennes en Nouvelle

Espagne 1520-1620,

Anuario

de Historia

del Derecho Espanol, XV (1944),

352-386.

* Los

Gobernadores, y Justicias

reconozean con

particular atencion la 6rden

y forma

de vivir de los Indios,

policia, y disposicion en

los mantenimientos,

y avisen

a

los Vireyes

6

Audiencias, y guarden

sus buenos

usos, y

costumbres

en lo

que

no

fueren contra nuestra

Sagrada

Religion . .

,

Recopilaci6n

de

leyes, II,

120 (Lib. V, tit. ii,

ley

xxii).

8

Vasco de Puga, Prouisiones,

cedulas instrucciones

de Su

Magestad,

ordenangas

de

difuntos y

audiencia para

la buena expedici6n de los

negocios

y

administraci6n

de justicia

y gouernaci6nde esta Nueua Espana, y para el buen tratamientoy conseruaci6n de los indios

dende el ano

de

1525

hasta

este presente de 63 (2

vols., Mexico,

1878-1879),

I,

164-166.

9

Colecci6n

de documentos ineditos

relativos

al

descubrimiento, conquista y

organizaci6n

de las antiguas posesiones

espanolas de ultramar (25

vols.,

Madrid, 1885-1932), XXI,

322.

10

Archivo

Municipal, Puebla.

Cartilla vieja (MS),

fol.

54.

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4/13

214

THE HISPANIC AMERICAN

HISTORICAL

REVIEW

in

the

manner

contemplated

by Charles

V

was moreover

con-

sidered impracticable

in

most communities

because Spaniards

were so few in number. In the great Indian towns no Spanish

cabildos

appeared.

Rather the

cabildos

that came

into existence

in

these

places

were

operated

exclusively by Indians, and it was

the boast of

Viceroy

Mendoza

that he had ordered

the creation

of a

cabildo

in

every Indian town.

The normal

Indian

cabildo

consisted of one

gobernador,two

alcaldes, and two or

four regidores.'2

An

examination

of the re-

sponses to the royal

questionnaires of

the late sixteenth and early

seventeenth centuries

will

reveal

some

but

not

many exceptions

to this customary orderingof Indian government.13 Single alcaldes

and three regidores

are

occasionally to be

discovered, but rarely

(so

far

as our

information

goes)

was the number

of

alcaldes

more

than two or the

number

of

regidores

more

than

four. The

special

instance of the

Mexico City government, with its

two alcaldes

and twelve

regidores(reduced

to

eight

in

1559),14 was

one

of

the

very

few

that exceeded the

ordinary

number. In

the

literature

of

the

Relaciones

geogrdficas

one

also

finds

sporadic

references to

rotational systems

in

the

communities of New Spain, as

in

Ama-

tlan where the cacique of 1609, Don Fernando de la Cueba, y

algunos deudos suyos

alternatiuamente gouiernan el

Pueblo. 15

The

composition of the

cabildos

was

fixed

by Philip

III in

1618

according to the

population size

of

the

communities,

measured

vigesimally.

The maximum cabildo

established

in

the early

seven-

teenth

century

contained two

alcaldes and

four

regidores,

and

these

officers

han

de

elegir por

afio nuevo

otros,

como se

practica

en Pueblos

de

Espafioles. 16

The

legislation

of 1618 thus

pro-

11

Fragmento de la visita hecha

a

Don Antonio de Mendoza, Joaquin

Garcia

Icaz-

balceta, ed., Colecci6n de documentos para la historia de Mexico (2 vols., Mexico, 1858-

1866), II, 139.

12

Two

alcaldes

and four

regidores

were

customary

also in

Spanish

cabildos n New

Spain.

Cf.

Cortes'

ordenanzas of

1525, Ap6ndice al tomo

primero, Documentos raros o indditos

relatives a la historia

de

Mejico (Biblioteca de autores mexicanos, XXXV) (Mexico, 1901),

p.

125.

13

The

question respecting the form of Indian government was asked directly only in

the later

interrogation. Hence the responses of 1579-1580 often fail to provide informa-

tion on

this subject. See Francisco del Paso y Troncoso, ed., Papeles de Nueva Espaha

(9 vols., Mexico, 1905-1948) IV,

1

ff., 273 ff.

14

Luis Chavez Orozco, ed., C6dice Osuna,

Reproducci6n acsimilar de la obra del

mismo

titulo, editada en Madrid, 1878 (Mexico, 1947), pp. 130-131 (hereinafter cited as C6dice

Osuna).

15

Paso y Troncoso, op. cit., IV, 317-318.

16

Recopilaci6n

de

eyes, II, 210-211 (Lib. VI,

tit. iii, ley xv).



5/13

ROTATION

OF ALCALDES IN

THE

INDIAN

CABILDO

215

hibited

the

retention

of

office

by

an

Indian alcalde

or regidor

for

longer

than

one

year.

A number of problems arise respecting the system of election

of the

alcaldes

and

their relation

to the

barrios

of

the

towns.

Notices

of

systems

of

election reveal

variant

procedures.

In

Miahuatlan

the

new

cabildo officers were chosen by the

old and

the choice

was

subject

to the

confirmation

of the Spanish co-

rregidor.17

In

Ameca

the Spanish

alcaldemayor 8selected the two

Indian

alcaldes directly.19

In the

very

interesting

instance of

Toluca

three

alcaldes were chosen

so

that the three Indian lan-

guages,

Nahuatl,

Matlatzinca,

and

Otomi,

might

each be

repre-

sented by one alcalde.20 Elsewhere, traditional elections by the

naturales

were

interfered

with

and

illegally influenced

by co-

rrcgidores

and

other

Spaniards.21

In

Tecamnachalcoan interval of

three

years

was

fixed prior

to which Indian

officers might

not

be

reflected.22

In

Ahuatepec

the interval

was fixed at two years.23

These

notices

expressly

or

tacitly

assume a

rotation

in

office, but

in most instances

they

fail to indicate

the systematic procedure

whereby

rotation

was to be

achieved.

In

this

respect

Mexico

City

manifests

characteristic

problems.

The Indian portion of the metropolitan capital was divided into

four

barrios,

Sant.-,

Maria,

San

Sebastian,

San

Juan,

and

San

Pablo.

The

number

of

alcaldes

in

the

mid-sixteenth

century was

two.

Several notices

provide

information

on

the

manner of

their

election. (1)

Los

dichos

alcaldes

y

regidores

tienen de costum-

bre

cada

afio,

al

tiempo

de

elegir

los alcaldes

nuevos

que

an

de

ser

de

aquel

afio, y regidores

y alguaziles,

los

escogen

entre

ellos

secretamnente,

sin

entrar

sobre

ello en

cabildo, y escogen

los

que

son

de

la condici6n

dellos,

ombres

que

saben

beber... .

(2)

I....

antes que se haga la elecci6n, los regidores andan por los

barrios

persuadiendo

a los

naturales

dellos, para

que

nombren

para

aquel afio,

a los

yndios

que

tienen

entre si

acordado, que

17

Paso y

Troncoso, op. cit.,

IV,

294.

18

Consistent

with

a

common

practice

in

sixteenth-century Hispanic

political

termi-

nology,

the word

alcalde

is used in this paper

in reference

to the alcalde ordinario,

whether

Indian or Spaniard.

The alcalde

mayor,

a

Spaniard,

occupied

a

totally

different

office.

19

Jesds Amaya,

Ameca, protofundaci6n

mexicana,

el

origen

de

su propiedad

rural (Mexico,

1951), pp.

4849.

20

The Otomi alcalde

appears

to

have

been added ca.

1575.

Archivo

General

de la

Naci6n, Mexico, Ramo de General de Parte, I, fol. 90.

21

Ibid., I, fol.

88;

II,

fol.

83.

Ramo de Indios, II,

exp. 61, fol. 15;

IV, exp.

183, fol. 56.

22

Ibid.,

Ramro

de General

de Parte, VI,

fol. 370.

23

Ibid., Rarno

de

Indios, IV, exp.

182, fol. 56.



6/13

216 THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL

REVIEW

sean alcaldes o alguaciles

o

regidores aquel

afio. 24 These state-

ments,

which are accusations

of

illegal election methods, are

in-

formative but imprecise; mention is made of

the barrios, but noth-

ing is suggested respecting a formal patterned rotational system

involving

alcaldes

and

their barrios.

Another notice of the 1560's states,

however, that the four

barrios

began

to

have

order

and

system

in

the election

of

gover-

nor, alcaldes,

and regidores

in

1555.25 Of the offices mentioned,

one,

that of

gobernador

(or juez),

had a

continuous existence

in

the

succession

following

the death of

Montezuma.26

The

election

of

judges alcaldess)

and

regidores (as

well as of alguaciles,

escri-

banos,

and

other

officers)

was ordered

by

a

royal

cedula

of 1549

which thus implied that a full cabildo institution was to be or-

ganized.27 Indian

alcaldes in

Mexico

City

are known

by name

at

least from 1550

and

regidores

at least from 1555. Probably

the

full

functioning

cabildo

should be

dated first

in

the latter

year,

when

order and

system began.

The

names

of known alcaldes

in the period 1550-1554 appear to

be

totally

lacking

in

order or

system,

and

in

any

case

the

barrio

affiliations

of

most

of

the

officeholders

are

not recorded.28

But

for a

decade

after

1555 the complete,

or almost complete,

list of Indian alcaldes in Mexico City is available in a document

in

the

Archivo General

de

la Naci6n, Ramo de Civil, Volume 644.

The document

has

been

published by

Luis

Chavez

Orozco

in

con-

nection with the

C6dice Osuna29and used by

him as

the principal

basis

for an

important

and

pioneering

study,

Las Instituciones

democracticas

e

los

indigenas

mexicanos

en

la

epoca

colonial

(Mexi-

co, 1943).

It

is

the thesis of the

present

paper that

this

docu-

ment

contains information

warranting

further

conclusions

respect-

ing the

office of

alcalde

and

strongly suggesting

the existence of

a

systematic rotational office related to the barrio affiliations of the

native

officials.

The Ramo de Civil manuscript indicates

the following persons

as

alcaldes

during

the

period 1555-1565:

24

C6dice Osuna, pp. 15, 19.

25

Luis Chavez Orozco, Las instituciones

democreiticas

de los

indigenas

mexicanos en la

6poca

colonial

(Mexico, 1943), p.

6.

26

J.-M.-A. Aubin, ed., Histoire de la nation mexicaine depuis

le depart d'Aztlan

jusqu'4

l'arriv&

des

conqudrantsespagnols (et

au dei&

1607) (Paris, 1893), pp.

148 if. This is the

Codex

of 1576.

27

See Juan de Sol6rzano

y Pereyra,

Politica indiana

(2 vols., Madrid, 1776), I, 200,

202.

On the other hand,

for

Mexico City, this order may have authorized

an

already effective

institution, without creating any new body.

28

Aubin, op. cit., p. 92: (C6dibe

Osuna,

p.

S1.

29

See note 14.



7/13

ROTATION OF

ALCALDES IN THE

INDIAN CABILDO 217

TABLE

I

1555

Miguel Diaz, alias*

Miguel Cuautli, Miguel Quauhtli, Miguel

Diaz

Qualotle

Alonso de San Miguel, alias Alonso

Temuc

1556 Don

Crist6bal

de

Guzman (?) t

Miguel Sanchez

Yscatl, alias Miguel

Ytzcatl, Miguel Yscac

1557

Don Luis de Santa

Maria, alias Don Luis Zipac

Tomas de Aquino Yspopulac, alias

Tomas

Huixtopulcatl

1558

Don Pedro de la Cruz, alias Don Pedro

Tlapaltecatl, Don Pedro

Tlapaltecal

Martin Cano

1559 Don Lucas Cortes Tenamaz

Pedro Garcia Tenylotl, alias Pedro

Temilotli

1560

Miguel Sanchez Ystecal, alias Miguel Itzac

Melchior Diaz

Suchipepena

1561 Don

Luis de Paz, alias Luis Huehuezaca

Toribio B:asquez,

alias Toribio Tlacuscalcal

1562

Martin Cano

Don Pedro Tlapaltecal, alias Talpaltecal

de Myguel

1563 Lucas

Cortes,

alias

Lucas Tenamaz

Tomas de Aquino, alias Toma's Huixtopolcatl, Tomas Ytztopulcatl

1564 Don Antonio de

Santa Maria, alias

Antonio Mexicaytoa, Antonio

Momexuiaytoa

Don

Martin de San

Juan, alias Martin Ezmalin, Martin Tezmali

1565 Don Pedro

Dionisio

Toribio Vasquez

*The

alternative names

are

samples only. No effort has been

made to

list

all

aliases

or

spelling forms.

tSee

Note

33.

The names as

given

reveal

the

common

orthographic

irregu-

larities

of

sixteenth-century

nomenclature

both

in

their

Spanish

and

in

their Nahuatl versions.

It

was

entirely customary

for

individuals of

sixteenth-century

Mexico

to

bear names

in

both

languages:

the Christian

first

names served

as evidence

of Chris-

tianization

and

baptism,

the

Christian

surnames

gave

evidence

of

a

degree

of

hispanization,

and the native

surnames

preserved

the

record of

noble

Indian

families,

an

important

criterion

for

Indian social

status

and

officeholding.

Variations

in

the written

forms of

the names

may

of course be

ignored:

Toribio

Ba'squez

and

Toribio

Vasquez are versions

of the

same name

and

represent

a

single

individual.

Similarly the

names

Miguel

Sanchez

Yscatl,



8/13

218

THE HISPANIC

AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

Miguel

Ytzeatl, Miguel

Yscac, Miguel

Sanchez

Ystecal,

and

Miguel Itzac

all

refer to

the same

person, alcalde

in

1556 and

1560.

Six

of

the

persons

occur

as

alcaldes

twice

in

this period:

Martin

Cano

(1558, 1562), Miguel Sanchez Yscatl

(1556, 1560), Tomas

de

Aquino

Yspopulac

(1557, 1563),

Lucas

Cortes

Tenamaz

(1559,

1563), Pedro de la Cruz

Tlapaltecatl (1558,

1562), and

Toribio

Basquez Tlacuscalcal

(1561, 1565). The Spanish honorific

title

Don,

as

would

be

expected,

is

attached to some

of the names but

not to

all.

Elsewhere

in

the same document, where

certain of these indi-

viduals

appear

as

witness or

in

other

connections, their

barrio

affiliations are sometimes

indicated. Of the

sixteen individuals

who served

as

Indian alcaldes

in

the years 1555-1565 the affilia-

tions

of

thirteen

may

be

ascertained

as

follows:

TABLE

II

Name

Affiliation

Page*

Alonso de San

Miguel

del

barrio de San Pablo 88

Miguel Sanchez Yscatl

vecino de

San

Sebastian,

42,

45

del barrio de

San Sebastian

Luis de Santa Maria vecino de San Joan 43

Tomas

de

Aquino Yspopulac

del

barrio de

San Pablo 46

Pedro de la

Cruz

del barrio de Santa Maria 43

(Tlapaltecatl)

Martin Cano

del

barrio de San

Sebastian 43,

46

Lucas

Cortes

Tenamaz vecino

de

San Joan,

44,

46,

86

del barrio de San Joan

Pedro

Garcia

Tenylotl

vecino de San Pablo, de la

44,

92

parte

de

los

indios

de

San

Juan

Melchior Diaz

Suchipepena

del

barrio

de

Nuestra Sefiora 45

la rredonda

Luis

de Paz

(Huebuezaca)

vecino de San Pablo

45

Toribio

(Basquez)

vecino de San Joan

45

Tlacuscalcal

Antonio de Santa

Maria del barrio de Santa Maria, 101

(Mexicaytoa)

alcalde

de la

parte

de

los

indios

de

San Juan

Martin de San Juan de la parte de San Sebastian 100

(Ezmalin)

*Page

references

are to the

published

edition

of

the

Ramo de

Civil

document,

Codice

Osuna.



9/13

ROTATION

OF ALCALDES IN

THE

INDIAN

CABILDO

219

These notices seem for the most part sufficiently

straight-

forward.

There

appears

to be no

significant

difference

between

the forms vecino de and del barrio de, for both indicate a

relationship to the barrio given. The barrio noted as Nuestra

Sefiora de

la

Redonda

(Nuestra

Sefiora

la

rredonda)

in

the

in-

stance of Melchior Diaz Suchipepena

is

simply Santa

Maria

under another name.30 Only

in

the

instances where double affilia-

tion

is indicated does

a

question

arise: Pedro Garcia

Tenylotl

and

Antonio de Santa Maria (Mexicaytoa), respectively vecino de

San

Pablo and del

barrio de

Santa

Marla,

are both indicated

also as de

la

parte

de

los indios de San Juan. At first

glance

each of these two individuals appears to represent two barrios,

San

Pablo and

San

Juan

in

the one

case,

and

Santa

Maria

and

San Juan

in

the

other.

A

correct

reading

of

this

text, however,

reveals quite

another situation. The

parte (partido

or

parcialidad)

of San

Juan was not the same

as

the

barrio of

San Juan. The

parte was so called to distinguish Tenochtitlan-Mexico

from

the

parte (partido

or

parcialidad)

of

Santiago (Tlatelolco)

on the

same

island.31

Tlatelolco

had a

separate

Indian

government,

and the

references here to San Juan simply identify these

persons ad-

ditionally as belonging to Tenochtitlan-Mexico rather than to

Tlatelolco.32

The collection

of all

pertinent information

in a

single chart

yields the following:

30

See,

for

example, Diego Dur6n,

Historia de las Indias de

Nueva-Espafa y

islas de

tierra

firme (2 vols., Mexico, 1867-1880),

I,

42. The name is sometimes written Santa Maria

de la O.

31

It is true that

in loose

usage

both

Tenochtitlan

and

Tlatelolco

were

frequently termed

barrios

of the same

city. See,

for

example,

Juan

de

Torquemada,

Prirnera

(Segunda,

Tercera) parte

de los

veinte

i vn libros rituales i monarchia indiana

(3 vols., Madrid, 1723),

I, 93 ( . . . hasta que se dividieron, en los dos Barrios, que aora son Mexico, y Tlatilulco ),

or Francisco Cervantes

de

Salazar,

Cr6nica de la

Nueva Espafa (Madrid,

1914),

p. 300

( Estaba la ciudad repartida en solos los dos barrios que dixe, que al uno liamaban Tate-

lulco y al otro Mexico ).

Loose

usage

was

responsible

at other

times

for

references

to

the barrios as partes.

See for

example

C6dice

Osuna, p.

100.

32

Silvio Zavala

and Maria

Castelo, eds.,

Fuentes

para

la historia del

irabajo

en Nueva

Espafia (8 vols., Mexico, 1939-1948), I, 94-95,

refers to the

gobernador, alcaldes, y

regidores de la . . . parte de Santiago (1576). See also C6dice Osuna, p. 303, and Jos6

Antonio de Villa-Sefnor y Sanchez,

Theatro

americano, descripci6n general

de

los reynos,

y provincias de la Nueva-Espania, y sus jurisdicciones (2 vols., Mexico, 1746-1748), I, 58,

which comments

upon

the continued

separation

of

the

Tlatelolco

from

the

Tenochtitlan-

Mexico Indian government in the eighteenth century. Villa-Sefnorrefers to the former

as the

parcialidad

of

Santiago

and to the latter as the

parcialidad

of San

Juan.



10/13

220

THE HISPANIC

AMERICAN HISTORICAL

REVIEW

TABLE III

San

San San Sebas- Santa

Date Alcalde Pablo Juan tidn Maria

1555

Miguel

Diaz

Alonso

de

San

Miguel

X

1556

Cristobalde Guzman

(?)*

Miguel SanchezYscatl

X

1557 Luis de Santa Maria

X

Tomas

de Aquino

Yspopulac

X

1558

Pedro

de la Cruz

(Tlapaltecatl) X

Martin

Cano

X

1559 LucasCortesTenamaz X

Pedro GarciaTenylotl X

1560

Miguel Sainchez

Yscatl X

MelchiorDiaz Suchipepena X

1561 Luis de

Paz

(Huehuezaca)

X

ToribioBasquez(Tlacuscalcal)

X

1562 Martin

Cano

X

Pedro (de la Cruz)

Tlapaltecatl

X

1563 Lucas

Cortes (Tenemaz)

X

Tomasde AquinoYspopulac X

1564

Antonio

de

Santa Maria (Mexicaytoa)

X

Martin

de San Juan

(Ezmalin)

X

1565

Pedro Dionisio

Toribio

Basquez

(Tlacuscalcal)

X

*See

Note 33.

Placed

in

this

form, the

barrio

affiliations

appear

to

provide

testimony

that

a

rotational

system

of alcalde

officeholding by

barrios was

in

effect

in

the

Indian cabildo

of

Mexico

City. The

pairs

of barrios

emerge

as San Pablo

and San Juan on

the one

hand, and San Sebastian

and

Santa Maria

on

the

other

in

annual

alternation.

At

no

time,

so

far

as

these indications

go,

did

an

alcalde

from San Pablo or San Juan serve

simultaneously with

an

alcalde from

San Sebastian or Santa Maria. Two

alcaldes,

one

each

from San Pablo

and

San

Juan,

served

regularly

in

odd-

numbered

years;

two

others, respectively

from San

Sebastian and

Santa

Marla,

served

in

even-numbered

years.

The

lack of in-

formation

respecting

three

persons appears

insufficient

to dis-

prove the system, given the

perfect regularity

of

the thirteen

for

whom

the

barrio

connection

is

ascertainable. One

may postulate

with

a

fair

degree

of

certainty

the affiliations

of

two

of

these

three:

Miguel

Diaz

of San

Juan,

and Pedro Dionisio of

San Pablo.

Con-



11/13

ROTATION

OF

ALCALDES IN THE INDIAN

CABILDO

221

cerning the third, whose name is

given

as

Crist6bal de Guzman,

proper identification

of the

man

and office remains

problematic.33

Several

significant

conclusions

may

be

drawn from

this

po-

litical system. It is possible, perhaps even probable, that the

regidores of the cabildo were also

affiliated with the barrios in

a

systematic way.

One may hazard

the guess that three regidores

from each of the

four barrios composed the annual

complement

of

twelve regidores.34 The

hypothesis

remains

unproved,

for

re-

gidores were normally persons of

less consequence than alcaldes;

hence less is known of their

individual biographies, and although

the barrio connections

of many are

known the sum of this infor-

mation

is

still

insufficient to indicate

equality

of

representation.

The hypothesis is supported, however, by comparison with the

practice

in

sixteenth-century

Tlaxcala, where each of four cabe-

ceras

contributed three regidores to

form

an annual cabildo

of

twelve.35

A

second

conclusion relates to the order

in

which the

two

alcaldes of a given

year were listed

in

the

sixteenth-century rec-

ord.

This

order

seemingly

bore no relation to

a

rotational

form.36

In

odd-numbered years, as seen in

the above tables, the name of

the alcalde

from San

Juan

preceded that

of

his

colleague

from San

Pablo on four of six occasions. In even-numbered years the name

of

the

alcalde

from Santa Maria

appeared

before

the

name of

the alcalde from

San

Sebastian on two

of

four occasions. These

positions seem

arbitrary

and

their

unsystematic

character

is con-

sistent also with

regidor

lists

of

the same

(and

other)

periods,

where

no

uniformity may

be

discerned.

In

fact alternative list-

ings

of

the alcaldes

themselves

occasionally transpose the

order.

Finally the question

may be asked

whether the

political

so-

phistication evidenced

in

this

rotational

cabildo

was

derived from

Spanish municipal procedures or whether it derived from pre-

conquest

Indian

political

history.

The

question

does not admit

of

a

simple

or

absolute

solution.

With the

Indian

governments

13

Our texts give the names Don Cristobal and Don Crist6bal de

Guzmdn for one of

the alcaldes of 1556 (C6dice Osuna, pp. 42, 82, 93, 124). He

is

identified as del

barrio de

San

Juan. The

identification may be

an

error,

may represent

an

exception

to the system

in this year, or may refer to the parte. It is contradicted by the Codex of 1576,

which

names Crist6bal de Guzm~n as

gobernador

beginning January 6, 1556 (Aubin, op.

cit., p.

98).

3

The hypothesis assumes that when

eight

regidores

formed the cabildo, as in 1559,

two were chosen from each barrio.

35

Charles Gibson, Tlaxcala in the Sixteenth

Century (Yale Historical

Publications, Mis-

cellany,

LVI.) (New Haven, 1952), pp.

111

ff.

36

The order appears to be arbitrary.

It may, of course, reflect some now unknown

system of seniority or priority.



12/13

222

THE HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

the

student

is

confronted with a composite institution the com-

bined elements of which

stem from

both sources.

The terminology of the main offices of the

cabildo-gobernador,

alcaldes, regidores-was of course Spanish. The judicial functions

of the alcaldes were likewise Spanish, although the judicial sys-

tems

of Aztec

society37 undoubtedly facilitated the transition to

Spanish forms. The principle of rotation in office was, as has

been

suggested,

a

common

one

in

Spanish and Spanish colonial

administration. That the systematic rotation of alcaldes by their

barrios derived

directly

from

procedures

in

the mother country is

evident

from a

number of

documents

of

medieval Spanish munici-

palities.

An

example

is

the thirteenth-century

fuero

of Soria in

Castile. Here the sub divisions (colaciones) of the municipality

numbered

thirty-five,

of which

one (Santa Cruz) was privileged

to

provide

an alcalde

every year.

The

remaining

thirty-four,

divided

into

two

equal groups

of seventeen

each, alternated

an-

nually

so

that in one year one group of seventeen colaciones

furnished

seventeen

alcaldes

whereas

in

the next

year

the other

group

of

seventeen

colaciones furnished

another seventeen al-

caldes.38

In

the

Mexico

City system

no barrio

was

privileged,

as

was the

colacion

of Santa

Cruz in

Soria,

to

provide

an

alcalde

every year. Rather all four of the barrios of Mexieo City were

functionally comparable

to

the

thirty-four

lesser colaciones

of

Soria,

for each

one

provided

one

alcalde

for a

term

of

one

year

every other year.39

It

has

sometimes

been asserted that the division

of

the

Indian

area

of

Mexico

City

into

four

barrios,

a division

persisting through

colonial

times, was

an

act

of

the

post-conquest

Spaniards

for

37

Carlos

H. Alba,

Estudio

comparado

entre

el

derecho

azteca

y elderecho

positive mexicano

(Ediciones

especiales del

Instituto

Indigenista

Interamericano,

III.) (Mexico,

1949),

pp.

27-28.

38

Section

51 of the

fuero

of

Soria reads as

follows: Los alcaldes

deuen sseer dize

ocho

con

el

juez,

por

que

la collation

Sancta Cruz

cadanno ha de auer

un

alcalde,

& delas

otras treynta

& quatro collatjones,

las XVII collationes

dan un anno

sendos las

otras

dize

siete

el otro

anno

sendos

alcaldes.

Et

por

esta

gracia

que

ha la

collation

de

Sancta

Crux demas

delas otras, non

ha derecho

njnguno

enel yudgado.

See

Galo Sdnches,

ed.,

Fueros castellanos

de Soria y Alcala

de

Henares

(Madrid,

1919), p.

22.

39

Equally precise

instances

of rotation

in

office

are difficult to discover

in

pre-conquest

Mexican

society.

The

many

examples

of dual

governorship

in

aboriginal

political

life

appear

not

to be

historically

related to the dual

office of alcalde in

colonial

times.

Atten-

tion may be

called,

however,

to

the

system

employed

in

Mixtec

officeholding,

as

described

by Herrera. A Mixtec priest rose in rank, occupying each position for a period of four

years,

and

then se salia del

Monasterio, porque

no le

quedaba

otro

Oficio que

servir, i el

Cacique

lo

tenia

por

bien,

i era de su consejo, y

si se

queria

casar, podia

(Antonio

de

Herrera,

Historia general

de los hechos

de

los

castellanos

en

las islas

y

tierra

fire

del

mar

oceano

[4

vols., 8

decades;

Madrid,

1726-1730],

Dec.

III,

lib.

iii, p.

99).



13/13

ROTATION OF ALCALDES IN

THE

INDIAN CABILDO

223

purposes

of

religious

conversion.

It

is

true at least that Santa

Maria,

San

Sebastian,

and San Pablo

were

parroquias

of

the

regular clergy in the sixteenth

century.40

But the four-part divi-

sion

of

the

city

is to

be found

also

in

texts

relating

to the

pre-

conquest period, and there

can

be

little doubt that as

in

Cholula,

Tlaxcala,

and

other

Mexican

areas the

four

parts

of

Tenochtitlan

antedated

the

coming

of

the

Spaniards.

Their

Nahuatl names-

Cuepopan

or

Tlaquechiucan (Santa Maria),

Atzacualco

(San

Se-

bastian), Teopan

or

Zoquipan (San Pablo),

and

Moyotlan (San

Juan)-suggest

at

least

a

pre-conquest origin.

Textual

sources

close to sixteenth-century

Indian

informants and

reflecting

oral

or written Indian traditions, speak of the division into these four

quarters as

an

event

of

the period immediately following the

foundation

of

Tenochtitlan.41 Indications

are

numerous,

further-

more, that

in

the

socio-political

life of

the

pre-conquest capital

these

barrios,

as

calpulli,

served

important administrative,

reli-

gious,

and

political

functions.42 Thus

the

exact

number of

urban

barrios participating

in

the rotational

office of

alcalde may prob-

ably

be identified

as

an

Aztec survival.43 The

number

four,

as

is

well

known,

had

many applications

in

Aztec

pre-conquest society.

It fit precisely the Spanish dictum that two alcaldes were to serve

annually

in

Indian

(as

in

Spanish) municipal governments

in

America. The adjustment of Indian to Spanish number was

achieved

through

the

equal

division

of

barrios

and

the

annual

alternation

of barrio

groups

as in

the thirteenth-century

fuero

of

Soria

in

C(Tsdtile

40

Manuel Carrera Stampa, Planos

de

la ciudad de M6xico, Boletin de la Sociedad

Mexicana de Geografia y Estadistica, LXVII (1949), 318. For a list of metropolitan

parroquias,

see Jos6

Bravo Ugarte,

S.

J., La parroquia

del

sagrario metropolitano y

su

compafifa

de

cocheros y lacayos

del santfsimo

sacramento,

Memorias de la

Academia

Mexicana de la Historia, VIII (1949), 51.

41

Duran, op. cit., I, 42; Hernando Alvarado Tezozomoc, Cr6nica mexicana, Manuel

Orozco y Berra,

ed.

(Mexico, 1944), pp. 17, 19, 260.

42

Agustin

de

Vetancurt,

Teatro

mexicano, descripci6n

breve

de

los

svcessos

exemplares,

hist6ricos, politicos, militares, y religiosos del nuevo mundo occidental

de las Indias

(2 vols.,

4

parts; Mexico, 1697-1698), II, Part

IV

(Chr6nica

de

la provincia

del santo

evangelio de

Mexico), p. 40. Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, Oputsculos

varios

(Biblioteca

de autores

mexicanos, I) (Mexico, 1896), p. 369;

Manuel Orozco

y Berra,

Historia

antigua y

de

la

conquista de Mexico (4 vols. and atlas, Mexico, 1880), III, 163-165; atlas,

P1.

19;

Tor-

quemada, op. cit., I, 295.

43

The four-part division

of a

city is,

of

course,

a

widespread

and not a

uniquely Aztec

form. The English word quarter

defines

both

a

section

of a

city

and a fourth

part.

On the four-part division

of

Tenochtitlan-Mexico, prior

to the

conquest

and in colonial

times,

see

S. Linne,

El valle

y

la

ciudad

de

Mexico

en

1550,

relaci6n

hist6rica

fundada

sobre

un mapa

geografico,

que

se conserva

en

la universidad

de

Uppsala, Suecia (Stockholm,

1948), pp. 33-34.

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