those of Mexico, though their courts were of course considerably less magnificent. 'The two other states of the Mexican confederacy, Tezcoco and Tlacopan, were similarly administered, and the court of the former was only less brilliant than that of Tenochtitlan. The Tlaxcalan state:is often erroneously mentioned as a republic, but it was in fact a confederation of four cities, built, as the population expanded, in the following order: Tepeticpac, Ocotelolco, Tizatlan and Quiauitztlan. Coyoacan, Xochimilco and Chalco were always more or less in a state of revolt against Mexican authority, and must be regarded as quasi-independent; at any rate they possessed rulers of their own.
When the Mexican throne fell vacant, the nobles and principal officials of the kingdom appointed four electors, usually of royal blood, to select the sovereign from the members of the ruling family. As stated before, in normal cases the choice fell upon a brother of the late king, or on a nephew belonging to an elder branch. The kings of Tezcoco and Tlacopan also acted as electors, but probably only in name.
The election usually took place on the day 1. itzcuintli, and the candidate was conducted in silent procession, clad only in a waist-cloth, to the temple of Uitzilopochtli, where he was clothed in a robe with a design of skulls and other insignia, and offered incense to the god. 'The offering was repeated at other shrines, namely those of the earth-goddess, Xipe, and Tezcatlipoca, and again at the edge of the lake (probably to Tlaloc), and the king, after receiving the homage of his subordinates, retired to an apartment in the temple where he fasted for four days. At the end of this period he was escorted back to the palace, and a great feast was held. At Tezcoco and Tlacopan the rulers were elected by the nobles on similar lines, and the kings-elect were invested by the king of Mexico. In Michoacan the proceedings were similar, save that the king designated his
