Talk:Montezuma II

I've put him in the Monarchs of North American Countries category, but with reservations. His title translates to "speaker," which is not a royal title. A monarch draws legitimacy as a ruler by right of birth; yes there are elected monarchies out there, but those are the results of some very convoluted historical events playing upon the basic pattern of the circumstances of birth dictating a person's monarchy. Furthermore, unlike "President," the title "Speaker," outside of the Second Foundation, has connotations of speaking on behalf of someone else, in this case (I believe) the gods. Of course it's quite common for monarchs to claim that they rule on behalf of God or the gods, but divine right of kings doctrines generally have the kings answerable even to the deity only after death. In the context of Aztec theology as I understand it, which is admittedly tenuous, Montezuma's role was closer to that of the Judges of Israel in the Old Testament, or the ensis of different cities in Between the Rivers: They were afforded the honor due a human ruler, but they did very little ruling of their own. Rather they received divine revelations, which they would then interpret, communicate to the people, and ensure that the revelations were acted upon.

Beyond that comes the very important question of whether the Aztec Empire can be considered a country in the modern sense. I feel that doing so is a huge stretch. Certainly Montezuma was not a Mexican head of state, as there was no such thing as the Mexican state in his lifetime. Turtle Fan (talk) 05:29, May 27, 2013 (UTC)