People / group
Macehualtin
The macehualtin (singular macehualli) were the commoners of Aztec society, most of them farmers working land that belonged to their calpolli, which a family kept as long as it did not lie fallow for more than two years. They grew maize, beans and squash and paid tribute from their produce to the nobility. Their children attended the telpochcalli from the age of fifteen, and taking captives in war offered a commoner the one slim chance of rising into the nobility. Moctezuma II (1502–1520) widened the divide, barring them from service in the royal palaces.
See also
Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Macehualtin. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/macehualtin
- MLA
- “Macehualtin.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/macehualtin. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Macehualtin.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/macehualtin.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Macehualtin’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/macehualtin (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻