The laws and customs of the Aztecs varied because even though there was a central emperor who oversaw the cities that made up the Aztec empire, each city had its own customs, laws and punishments.
The Aztecs thought that being practical was more important than religion therefore priests were less involved in the law making than the Emperor and nobles.
The laws and customs were relevant to everyday life. Most customs revolved around a class system where nobles and emperors had many more privileges. Men were allowed to marry and have other relationships but only children from his original wife inherited his estate.
Aztecs had a system of rites and rituals they followed for the worshipping of their Gods.
When the Aztec empire overtook societies they would allow the people they conquered to continue worshipping their God/s.
Every month of the Aztec year was sacred to one God and the God would change every month.
There was a custom where on the final day of the month a child would be placed over a sacrificial stone at the steps of the Great Temple and his heart would be pulled out from his chest. His body would be cooked and served to the most important people in the society. This was a sacred worship for their Gods.
The Aztec people migrated for over 200 years during which time they waged warfare on many other civilisations. Eventually the settle in one area but where surrounded by other civilisations that were their enemy. Some of the rituals mentioned above led to differences between the Aztec people and their neighbours. It is thought that the reason for the hatred by the Spanish and eventually why they waged war with the Aztec empire was because although they were not the only civilisation to sacrifice humans, they number of human sacrifices was much larger than any other. The Spanish wanted to conquer an evil culture.
This war with the Spanish was so significant that it eventually led to the demise of the Aztec empire.
The Spanish got all the surrounding tribes to join together to help wage war on the Aztecs. This war is thought to have been more easily won due to the smaller population of the Aztec empire which had been caused by their extremely large number of sacrifices. The Spanish also brought with them diseases that even further reduced the population. Another contributing factor to the defeat of the Aztecs was the Spanish advancements in weaponry technology.
For New Spain,