Quetzalcoatl Totec Tlamacazqui (Our Lord the Feathered Serpent Priest) was the title of one of the two co-equal high priests standing at the summit of the Aztec priesthood, serving the cult of Huitzilopochtli, while his counterpart bearing the same title served Tlaloc; Sahagun's informants describe the two as chosen for learning and lineage and equal in dignity, ranking above every other office in the priestly hierarchy.
Facts
Significance
Sacred RoleOne of the two highest priestly offices in Tenochtitlan, bearing the honorific title Quetzalcoatl regardless of which god's temple the holder served; this office was associated with the cult of Huitzilopochtli at the Templo Mayor and, by tradition, was filled by merit from within the priesthood rather than by inheritance. 1 Status
Status TodayHistorical; not practised continuously 1 Current StatusExtinct with the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan and the suppression of the Aztec state cult in the sixteenth century. 1 Connections
Associated With
This source names Huitzilopochtli directly: "Aztec priesthood, serving the cult of Huitzilopochtli, while his counterpart bearing the same title served Tlaloc; Sahagun's informants describe the two as chosen for learning and lineage and equal..."
Source Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New SpainBernardino de Sahagun; translated by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble
This source names Quetzalcoatl directly: "Quetzalcoatl Totec Tlamacazqui (Our Lord the Feathered Serpent Priest) was the title of one of the two co-equal high priests standing at the summit of the Aztec priesthood, serving the cult of..."
Source Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New SpainBernardino de Sahagun; translated by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble
This source names Tlaloc directly: "bearing the same title served Tlaloc; Sahagun's informants describe the two as chosen for learning and lineage and equal in dignity, ranking above every other office in the priestly hierarchy."
Source Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New SpainBernardino de Sahagun; translated by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble
Belongs to Tradition
Source Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New SpainBernardino de Sahagun; translated by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble
Related To
Both entries describe the same twin high priesthood of Tenochtitlan, one office-holder serving Huitzilopochtli's cult and one Tlaloc's; Quetzalcoatl Totec Tlamacazqui, Our Lord the Feathered Serpent Priest, is the fuller Nahuatl form of the shortened title carried here.
Source Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New SpainBernardino de Sahagun; translated by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble
Sources
1. Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain
Bernardino de Sahagun; translated by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble, School of American Research and University of Utah Press, 1950on the two co-high priests of the Aztec priesthoodView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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