Nobility titles

[Archayon]

I don't think there was title for the Aztec Emperors per ce, but the name Motecozuma (called Montezuma by the Spaniards) means "Our strict/harsh ruler", and may have been more of a title than a real name. I don't know about Aztec names, but Mayan and Olmec names for an example generally was the date they were born on ("Eight Deer" for an example is a name mentioned, which means that guy was born on the eight day in the month of the deer). Just felt like popping in and saying that, I just read about it you see...).

I now remember their title: "huetlatoque" (sing.: huetlatoani). They ruled over a confederation of city-states, each ruled by a tlatoani. There were some reforms under Nezahualcoyotl in the early 1430's, but only on the level of tlatoani.

A recent, interesting book on this subject:
S.T. Evans, Ancient Mexico & Central America, Thames & Hudson London, 2004.

Concerning the title of Emperor, you could include the Ottomans as they had the Persian title "Padisha" (Great King/Sultan, I think) and many also took the title Keyser-i-rum (Emperor of Rome).

This is a very interesting example. The Ottomans somehow wanted to establish their power and gaining prestige by taking over the title of the Byzantines, after conquering the big C.
Secondly, they were an eastern, islam civilization after all. The islamic version of the "Pope" and "emperor" were united when the Ottomans took the title of Caliph. There are arguments to compare pope and emperor with caliph and sultan, but then often in one person: the ruler at the Ottoman Porte. When referring to the titles in the first post in this thread, they are all western (medieval) titles.



Arch


edit: my posts always suffer from my bad english ....