Hueyi Tlatoani

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Huey Tlatoani (Nahuatl "great speaker", also spelt Uei Tlatoani or Hueyi Tlahtoani; plural Huey Tlatoque) was the Nahuatl title used for the emperor of the Mexica (Aztec). They were rulers of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, and as such became the heads of the Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan.

The title of tlatoani has often been translated as 'Aztec emperor'. The succession of tlatoque was not passed on by direct inheritence. The tlatoani was elected by a consensus of the Aztec élite. The tlatoani was the head of government and the army, and also the high priest of the Mexica.

Ténoch, the legendary founder of Tenochtitlan, was the first tlatoani of the city. He was followed by eleven tlatoque in succession, under whom Mexica became a powerful Meso-American state, only to be eventually overcome by internal dissension and the conquistadores of New Spain.

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