Tlaxcala (Classical Nahuatl: "place of maize tortillas") is a pre-Columbian city and state in central Mexico.Ancient Tlaxcala is a republic ruled by a council of between fifty and two hundred chief political officials.

These officials gain their positions through service to the state, usually in warfare, and as a result come from both the noble (pilli) and commoner (macehualli) classes.

Following the Spanish Conquest, Tlaxcala is divided into four fiefdoms (señoríos) by the Spanish corregidor Gómez de Santillán in 1545 (twenty-six years after the Conquest).

These fiefdoms are Ocotelolco, Quiahuiztlan, Tepeticpac, and Tizatlan.

At this time, four great houses or lineages emerge and claim hereditary rights to each fiefdom and create fictitious genealogies extending back into the pre-Columbian era to justify their claims (Gibson 1952).