legacy of mesoamerica exam 2- indigenous writing

Pre-Hispanic codices

• Fifteen codices in total survive to the present

• Bark paper does not preserve in the tropics

• Often survived because they were taken to Europe as curiosities

• Four Maya codices

•  Dresden Codex

•  Madrid Codex

• Paris Codex

•  Grolier Codex

• The Borgia Group (Nahuatl-speaking areas, south and east of Mexico City)

•  The Codex Borgia

• The Mixtec Codices

Dresden Codex

maya codex

Madrid Codex

maya codex

Paris Codex

maya codex

Grolier Codex

maya codex

The Codex Borgia

• The Borgia Group (Nahuatl-speaking areas, south and east of Mexico City)

The Mixtec Codices

Colonial codices

• Four major changes occurred during the Colonial period

• Ritual and divinatory codices are rarely produced, or must be produced in secret, except where commissioned by Spanish priests

• Alphabetic glosses are added to some images, and eventually replace glyphic texts

• Some native artists incorporate stylistic conventions of European art into illustrations

• New genres of pictoral manuscripts are created under European sponsorshi

Titulos

Genres of codices

• Historical accounts of a particular community (sometimes called “titulos”

•  Often from Central Mexico

•  Codex Aubin (see textbook)

Lienzos

Genres of codices

Maps (Lienzos)

• Often prepared for use in court cases over community land boundaries or access to natural resources

• Pictoral art that combines history and geography

Ethnographic codices

Genres of codices

• Ethnographic codices

•  Mostly from Mexico City area

•  Collaboration between Spanish Friars and Indigenous artists

•  Codex Mendoza

•  Florentine Codex

Codex Mendoza

• Commissioned in the 1540’s by the Spanish Viceroy

• 3 main sections:

• A history of the Mexica rulers and their conquests

• Tax records for individual provinces

• Social life of Mexica people from birth to old age 

… mixtec codex? find out 

 Codex mendoza - history of mexica rulers 

• This page shows many warfare-related activities related to Mexica imperial expansion

• The execution of local rulers (“caciques”)

• The execution of merchant-spies

• Merchants on an imperial mission (serving as diplomats).

codex mendoza- social life

-Mother addressing child in cradle

-midwife prepares the baby for a ritual bath and naming ceremony.

-Symbols invoked for a boy consist of arrows and craftspersons' tools.

-Symbols invoked for a girl are a broom, a spindle, and a basket.

-Three boys (at right) call out infant's name

- Gender roles were indoctrinated through teaching, ritual

Florentine Codex

• Bernardino de Sahagún

• Franciscan friar, attended the University of Salamanca, recruited to New Spain in 1529

• Franciscans such as Sahagún thought it was important to learn native languages and religious beliefs to help with conversion efforts

• From 1545 to 1590, he compiled an encyclopedia of Nahuatl culture, called the Florentine Codex

• Authored in Spanish and Nahuatl, with significant input from his students: the sons of elite Aztec nobles who were sent to the monastery for religions instruction

• Originally called: Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España

• 12 books and over 2,000 illustrations

• Longest text in a native language in the Americas

… moxtec codex? find out

Indigenous and Mestizo Historians

• Wrote in both Spanish and Indigenous languages

• Followed many patterns and conventions of European histories

• Often focused on political and military history

• Served to both preserve information about the past, and seek legitimacy in the present

• Often downplayed practices such as human sacrifice

Codex Chimalpahin

Anales or Codex Chimalpahin

• Domingo Francisco de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin (Chimalpahin)

•  Wrote 8 historical chronicles, a diary, and short writings in Nahuatl

•  Also wrote claims and proofs of nobility as a guide for the Spanish viceroyalty in granting priviledges to Indigenous nobles

•  Most of his writings are from 1600-1620

• From Chalco, near Mexico City

•  Worked in Mexico City as a sancristan for a small churc

Don Fernando de Avila Ixtlilxochitl

• Mestizo historian from Mexico City

•  Father and maternal grandfather were Spanish

•  Through his mother’s line, he was descended from Ixtlilxochitl, a lord of Texcoco who supported Cortes, and Nezahualcoyotl, 15th century ruler of Texcoco and famous poet

• His family had a large collection of pictoral manuscripts

• He used them to write several Spanish-language chronicles

• His writings argue in favor of the decisions of Texcoco’s rulers to support the Spanish and glorifies his ancestor, Nezahualcoyotl

• Most famous works:

•  Historia Chichimeca

•  Codex Ixtlilxochitl

Historia chichimeca

one of don fernando de avila ixtlilxochitl’s most famous works 

Codex Ixtlilxochitl

one of don fernando de avila ixtlilxochitl’s most famous works 

The Books of the Chilam Balam

• Chilam Balam = “Jaguar Priest”—legendary author/priest/prophet, the books claim to be a transcription that represent his words

• Nine books exist, all associated with small towns in northern Yucatan

• Mostly written in the late 17th and early 18th century, but some sections may have been written in the 16th century

• Some contain history, some contain calendrical prophecies, some contain medical treatises, some contain traditional prayers

• Most famous examples are from northwest Yucatan:

•  Chilam Balam of Chumayel

•  Chilam Balam of Mani

•  Chilam Balam of Tizimin

Religious texts

Other types of documents

• Religious texts

• Songs and poems

• Devotional texts

•  Morality play

Wills and testaments

Other types of documents

• Wills and testaments

• Insight into Indigenous views on property and inheritance

Legal documents and court cases

Other types of documents

• Legal documents and court cases

•  Land grants, land and property disputes, petitions to the Spanish Crown and other Colonial authorities, complaints against encomenderos and priests, letters, tax records

Dictionaries

Other types of documents