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a dependent person on the land of a noble person; plural: mayeque
James Lockhart finds that mayeque were a type of macehualtin, not a separate component of society. He notes that in a document from Tetzcoco in 1589 he saw: "yn macehualtztzintin tomayecauan" = "the poor macehualtin our mayeque." In contrast, in the regions of Cuernavaca and Puebla, it was more common to see "-tech pouhque," = "those who belong to a certain person."
A farm laborer or tenant. In the plural, mayeque. These were "tenants on the patrimonial lands of the nobles, and in lieu of paying tribute to the state directly, they paid it to their noble overlord. They received an allotment of land for their own use, and in return were required to cultivate their master's land, provide domestic service, keep his household supplied with water and firewood, supply kitchen help, give one or more turkeys at specified intervals, spin and weave fibres, and provide other goods and services on a regular basis."
Charles Gibson, The Aztecs under Spanish Rule (1964, p. 505 note 83): "Ramírez Cabañas, 'Los macehuales,' pp. 122–23, observes how infrequently the term mayeque occurs in sixteenth-century texts."
James Lockhart, The Nahuas after the Conquest (1992, p. 97): "Indeed, in one of only two occurrences of mayeque that I have found in a Nahuatl document (Tetzcoco, 1589), the term is paired with 'macehualtin': 'yn macehualtzitzintin tomayecauan,' 'the poor macehualtin our mayeque.' In the Cuernavaca basin and in the Puebla region, dependents are found referred to simply as -tech pouhque, 'those who belong to a certain person.'"
Chimalpahin provides an example of "mayeque," in the plural: auh mac conchiaca yn amihiyotzin amotlatoltzin yn amocolhuan mayeque = And let your seinior officials and the field hands await your utterances, your words.
ynic nicmati ca mocipa hehuatl nictotoca ca timayecahuan = lo se porque siempre yo hago las siembras, pues somos sus mayeque
auh ynin oc oncatca yn macehualtzizintin tomayecauan yn oquichihuaya = Y así se esparcían los macehualtin, nuestros mayecahuan; así se hacía. (Tetzcoco, 1587)
El Códice del Marquesado del Valle, de Yecapixtla en 1564, tiene un padrón de mayeque en la página 15, debajo de la imagen del gobernador don Juan Bautista. Son puros hombres con nombres cristianos (mostrando su bautizo) pero con nombres (y/o títulos) nahuas, además. Ejemplos son: tlacochcalcatl, tuquauhcauhtli, xochitlaneuh, xopeuh, cozcatlaqua, caltoncatl, huistoco, tziuhcohuatl, yaotl, tlilpoton, tlamacazqui, tochtli, matlalaca, xochicalcatl, yecaxochitl, chantli, huitznahuatl, yaoxochitl, petlauhtoc, tecpanecatl, hueyteuhctli, malin, tetlamin, ocexochitl, oyohual, tlaylotlac, quetzalhua, ayhuian, huecamecatl, acal, nehuaton, tlotecatl [sic? toltecatl], yscuinan, tlocuiltecatl, etc.