The government was an elective monarchy, like that of Poland, the king
being selected from the royal family by the votes of the nobles of the
kingdom. There was a royal family, an aristocracy, a privileged
priesthood, a judiciary, and a common people. Here we have all the
several estates into which society in Europe is divided.
There were thirty grand nobles in the kingdom, and the vastness of the
realm may be judged by the fact that each of these could muster one
hundred thousand vassals from their own estates, or a total of three
millions. And we have only to read of the vast hordes brought into the
field against Cortez to know that this was not an exaggeration.
They even possessed that which has been considered the crowning feature
of European society, the feudal system. The nobles held their lands upon
the tenure of military service.
But the most striking feature was the organization of the judiciary. The
judges were independent even of the king, and held their offices for
life. There were supreme judges for the larger divisions of the kingdom,
district judges in each of the provinces, and magistrates chosen by the
people throughout the country.
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