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Naranjo flip-flopped between Team Tikal and Team Kalakmul again and again. After one swing, Tikal wiped out Naranjo's bloodline entirely, leaving no kings who could conjure the gods. Behind Tikal's back, and with Kalakmul's backing, a young woman from Dos Pilas was married into Naranjo's line, and her son became the next great king.
While he was a boy, she ran everything. Stela after stela shows her as queen, using her power to contact the gods and fighting with weapons in hand. She took over a string of cities during those years. When he turned 12 he became king, and she stepped into a consort position.
Why did kings need a bloodline?
Maya kings held the title of holy lord, a ruler who could contact the gods through ritual. That role passed through the royal family, so a legitimate king had to descend from the city's founder. Inscriptions trace rulers back through named ancestors for many generations. When a line ended, a city could lose its main route to the gods.
How did women hold Maya power?
Royal women appear on monuments across the Maya world. Lady Yohl Ik'nal ruled Palenque in the sixth century CE, and Lady K'abel is named as a military governor at Waka'. Women often carried a bloodline from one city into another through marriage. Some monuments show them in ritual dress, and a few show them holding weapons.
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