to do penance, or to become deserving for someone (see Molina); also seen in association with becoming deserving of founding a town, of having a town over which to rule (see attestations)
In the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca, the tlamacazque appear in the shape of town founders, who did penitence and therefore became deserving of founding towns or taking over existing towns. See the attestations from sources in Spanish here in our dictionary. Also, Cohuenan prays to Ipalnemohuani, the Tloque Nahuaque, asking that the people be given "titechtlamacehuia titechmacaz yn mauh y motepeuh" (you grant us, you give us your water, your hill, i.e. your altepetl) after seeing (having a vision of) the Tlachihualtepetl (apparently the pyramid at Cholula). And Quetzalcoatl answers that Cohuenan has earned the benefit of this becoming his altepetl, and the current inhabitants, the Toltecs, will abandon it. (sixteenth century, Quauhtinchan)
…ynic oncan quitlamaceuique yn imaltepeuh yn tolteca…. = …para que los tolteca merecieran su pueblo…. (Quauhtinchan, s. XVI)
yn quitlamaceuitiui yn imaltepeuh = van a merecer su pueblo (Quauhtinchan, s. XVI)
Auh yzcatqui yn intepan yn nonoualca yquac quiquetzque yn quitlamaceuique yn imaltepeuh = He aquí los linderos de los nonoualca. Los levantaron cuando merecieron su pueblo. (Quauhtinchan, s. XVI)
Auh niman yc ualpeuhque yn Couenan tlamacazqui ynic ya tlamaceuaquiuh yn tlachiualtepetl ycatcan yn chollollan ynic ya quitlamaceuiquiuh yn ialtepeuh = Y luego por esto partió el tlamacazqui Couenan, vino a hacer penitencia a Tlachiualtepetl ycatcan en Cholollan, vino a hacer penitencia por su pueblo [i.e. para merecer la fundación de su pueblo y su reino] (Quauhtinchan, s. XVI)