Calmecac
Encyclopedia
The Calmecac was a school for the children of Aztec
nobility (pīpiltin [piːˈpiɬtin]) in the Late Postclassic period
of Mesoamerica
n history, where they would receive rigorous religious and military training. The calmecac is to be contrasted with the Tēlpochcalli ([teːɬpotʃˈkalːi] "house of youth") where mostly commoners received military training. Only a few commoners (mācēhualtin [maːseːˈwaɬtin]) entered the Calmecac, and those who did only trained for priesthood.
The calmecac of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, was located in the ceremonial center of the city and it was dedicated to Quetzalcoatl
.
The calmecac was the students' home for the duration of their training, and they would enter the school as young as five to seven years of age. The students received instruction in songs, rituals, reading and writing, the calendar
(tōnalpōhualli
[toːnaɬpoːˈwalːi]) and all the basic training which was also taught in the telpochcalli.
Students commenced formal military training around age fifteen.
Promising sons of nobles would be trained especially by the military orders of the Jaguar warriors (ōcēlōmeh [oːseːˈloːmeʔ]) or Eagle warrior
s (cuāuhtin [ˈkʷaːʍtin]) in their quarters, the cuāuhcalli ([kʷaːʍˈkalːi]).
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
nobility (pīpiltin [piːˈpiɬtin]) in the Late Postclassic period
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
of Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
n history, where they would receive rigorous religious and military training. The calmecac is to be contrasted with the Tēlpochcalli ([teːɬpotʃˈkalːi] "house of youth") where mostly commoners received military training. Only a few commoners (mācēhualtin [maːseːˈwaɬtin]) entered the Calmecac, and those who did only trained for priesthood.
The calmecac of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, was located in the ceremonial center of the city and it was dedicated to Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and has the meaning of "feathered serpent". The worship of a feathered serpent deity is first documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE...
.
The calmecac was the students' home for the duration of their training, and they would enter the school as young as five to seven years of age. The students received instruction in songs, rituals, reading and writing, the calendar
Aztec calendar
The Aztec calendar is the calendar system that was used by the Aztecs as well as other Pre-Columbian peoples of central Mexico. It is one of the Mesoamerican calendars, sharing the basic structure of calendars from throughout ancient Mesoamerica....
(tōnalpōhualli
Tonalpohualli
The tonalpohualli, a Nahuatl word meaning "count of days", is a 260-day sacred period in use in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, especially among the Aztecs. This calendrical period is neither solar nor lunar, but rather consists of 20 trecena, or 13-day periods...
[toːnaɬpoːˈwalːi]) and all the basic training which was also taught in the telpochcalli.
Students commenced formal military training around age fifteen.
Promising sons of nobles would be trained especially by the military orders of the Jaguar warriors (ōcēlōmeh [oːseːˈloːmeʔ]) or Eagle warrior
Eagle warrior
Eagle warriors or eagle knights were a special class of infantry soldier in the Aztec army, one of the two leading military orders in Aztec society. These military orders were made up of the bravest soldiers of noble birth and those who had taken the greatest number of prisoners in battle. Of...
s (cuāuhtin [ˈkʷaːʍtin]) in their quarters, the cuāuhcalli ([kʷaːʍˈkalːi]).