Notes on On Cities: Islamic Urban Life and the Cities of Mexico (Diaz)

Islamic Cities: Guilds, State Power, and Urban Life (9th–13th vs 16th–19th centuries)

• Massignon’s thesis (followed by many) that the life-unit in the Islamic city was the professional corporation—the guilds of merchants, artisans, and scholars—with social, religious, and professional functions.

  • True to a large extent for the 16th–19th centuries, but: there is no evidence that this was true for the 9th–13th centuries.
  • The term “guild” denotes a medieval union of craftsmen or traders that supervised members’ work to uphold standards, arranged apprentice education, and admitted new members; protected members against competition; in Christian Europe tied to religious life.
  • In the Cairo Geniza and Muslim market-surveillance handbooks, there is no Arabic equivalent of the term “guild.” There was no such institution.
  • Quality supervision of artisans’ work in Islamic cities was carried out by the state police, aided by trustworthy expert assistants.

• Apprenticeship and admission to a profession in Islamic cities: informal and flexible, not formalized by rigid rules.

  • Parents were expected to have their sons learn a craft and pay for instruction; Geniza contracts survive showing this practice.
  • Protection of local industries from outsiders was documented in Geniza records, but there was no professional corporation whose sole task was this protection.
  • Responsibility for protecting local crafts lay with the Jewish local community, central Jewish authorities, the state police, or influential Muslim and Jewish notables.

• Religious dimension of artisan/trader associations:

  • In imperial Rome (and parts of the late medieval Christian world) some associations bore religious character and tied to local cults.
  • Christian guilds had patron saints and rites.
  • The 14th century is described as a heyday for Muslim corporations, especially in Anatolia, where they adopted doctrines and rites from Muslim mystic brotherhoods.
  • In the period and regions discussed, there is no equivalent strong combination of artisanship and religious cult as seen elsewhere.

• Partnerships and organizational form:

  • Muslim and Jewish partners frequently engaged in free partnerships in workshops and mercantile ventures; these were common forms of industrial cooperation.
  • The classical Islamic city was a free-enterprise society, not one organized around rigid guilds.

• Citizenship and civic attachment:

  • There was no formal citizenship in the sense of a European city-state.
  • The question arises: to what extent did people feel personal attachment to their native towns?
  • Ibn Battūṭa’s travel account (translated by Gibb) notes that homesickness was unlikely in cosmopolitan medieval Islamic society, yet Geniza records show a striking longing for homeland and strong compatriot ties when abroad.
  • However, neither neighborhood factionalism nor professional esprit de corps were as prominent as in late medieval Europe.
  • Market security and urban protection came more from neighborhood networks and the state than from a self-governing municipal corps.
  • Under a militarized, regulated economy, life could feel insecure; people looked to neighborhood and city as providers of security, economic opportunity, and spiritual comfort, which shaped their loyalties.

• Summary takeaway:

  • The Islamic city functioned largely through state policing, patronage networks, and personal loyalties rather than formal, self-standing professional guilds akin to European models. Its urban life was cosmopolitan, fluid, and commercially vibrant, but lacking the kind of autonomous urban corporations that characterized much of medieval European urbanism.

Bernal Díaz and the Cities of Mexico: An Eyewitness Account of Tenochtitlan and the Mexican Plateau

• Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492–1580) accompanied Hernando Cortés and the conquistadors who encountered central Mexican cities in 1519. Díaz’s Conquest of New Spain provides a vivid, first-hand account of how Mexican cities looked and functioned compared to European cities.

• Central question Díaz asks (and that the chapter invites the reader to consider): What impressed him about the Mexican cities, and how did they differ from European cities? What do these differences reveal about Braudel’s thesis on different kinds of cities?

• The Mexican cities were radically different from Eurasian or Islamic-African urban forms; their development was independent of the cultural streams studied in other regions, which makes them a crucial test case for Braudel’s broader claims about “cities.”

• Díaz’s narrative and questions invite readers to compare Izta-palapa, Coyoacán, and the great city of Mexico (Tenochtitlán) with European cities and with other world urban forms described in prior lectures.

The Arrival at Iztapalapa and the Grand Vision of Mexico City

• The march toward Iztapalapa revealed an urban landscape built partly on water, with towns and palaces rising from the lake and others on dry land.
• The causeway to Mexico was a broad, straight, eight-yard-wide chaussée, leading directly to the city with minimal curvature, a visible sign of deliberate engineering and centralized planning.
• Iztapalapa’s royal residences of Cuitláhuac and Culuacán impressed the Spaniards with spacious, well-built palaces in stone and cedar, with pleasant perfumed woods and awnings of cotton; gardens featured diverse trees, roses, and ponds.
• Canoes could reach the gardens directly from the lake via channels, and crews did not have to disembark, signaling sophisticated hydrological access in urban design.
• The overall impression was of a city that surpassed anything in Europe or elsewhere, at least in Díaz’s eyes; he notes that what he saw then is now overthrown and destroyed (a reminder of conquest-era loss and change).

The Initial Entry into Mexico City: Reception and State Ceremonies

• Díaz describes entering the city of Tenochtitlán on 8 November 1519, with a small expedition (roughly four hundred Spaniards) and in the face of local cautions from Huexotzinco, Tlascala, and Tlamanalco about potential danger.
• Montezuma sent Caciques in advance to receive Cortés; when Cortés and his party arrived before Montezuma, the chieftains touched the ground with their hands and kissed it—an Indian sign of peace.
• A branch-off causeway took them toward Coyoacán; Montezuma’s delegation wore different rich garments, and the arrival included towers and shrines; Montezuma accompanied the Spaniards in a litter, but dismounted to show respect to shrines, considering it an insult to visit idol shrines while in a litter.
• Montezuma’s retinue included papas (Aztec priests) and vassals walking in front, bearing staves like scepters to symbolize his authority; Montezuma himself carried a rod, partly gold, partly wood, as a wand of justice.
• Montezuma escorted Cortés to the city’s great cue (temple platform) and performed ceremonies for Huichilobos as part of Montezuma’s attempt to maintain a diplomatic balance between awe, religion, and diplomacy.
• The Spaniards were invited to observe and participate in this ceremonial entrance, and Montezuma’s reception included lavish ceremonial respect for Cortés as a noteworthy guest, with Cortés acknowledging the moment through interpreters.

The City and Its People: Skilled Crafts, Women, and Entertainment

• Díaz catalogs the skilled workers that Montezuma employed in various crafts, beginning with jewelers and specialists in silver and gold and hollowed objects; a significant contingent lived in Atzcapotzalco (three miles from Mexico).
• Other skilled artisans included those working with precious stones and chalchihuites, feather-work specialists, painters, and carvers; Díaz cites three contemporary Mexican painters (Aquino, Juan de la Cruz, El Crespillo) as comparables to ancient masters if they had lived in the age of Apelles, Michelangelo, or Berruguete.
• The women: weavers and sempstresses producing elaborate robes with feather designs; textiles largely sourced from towns in the Cotaxtla province near San Juan de Ulua; Montezuma kept some women as mistresses in his palaces, while daughters of dignitaries lived in religious retirement near Huichilobos’s shrine and wore featherwork robes;
  • These women were married off after religious retirement, reflecting the intertwining of ritual, marriage, and elite status.
• Entertainment and labor force: Montezuma kept a large number of performers—dancers, stilt-walkers, and others who appeared to fly when they leapt; a troupe of players acted like clowns, and there was an entire quarter of people with no other occupation, plus stonecutters, masons, and carpenters to maintain palaces and structures.
• The social economy also included a major labor and craft base supporting architectural and ritual structures throughout the city.

The Great Market, the Great Cue, and the Urban Layout

• Díaz describes the vast marketplace as an emblem of urban organization and wealth: the market contained gold, silver, precious stones, feathers, cloaks, embroidered goods, and slaves in abundance.
  • Slaves were exhibited for sale, some tied with collars and poles to prevent escape; others left loose.
  • Other goods included coarse cloth, cotton fabrics, and chocolate; the market also contained sisal cloth, ropes, sandals, and a wide variety of animal skins (tigers, lions, otters, jackals, deer, badgers, mountain cats, etc.).
  • Foodstuffs and edible goods included kidney-beans, sage, vegetables, fowls, birds with dewlaps, rabbits, hares, deer, little dogs, tripe, honey cake, flour, honey paste, and sweets like nougat.
  • Pottery of all kinds was present, from large water-jars to small jugs; timber products (boards, cradles, beams, blocks, benches) were sold in their own quarters; and there were supplies like pitch-pine for torches.
  • Excrement: Díaz notes the market also sold human excrement in cargoes destined for salt production and the tanning of skins; he prefaces with a humorous caveat that some readers may laugh, but asserts the claim as true. Roads had shelters for people to purge their bowels unseen, to avoid embarrassment and to prevent loss of waste for salt production.
• The market’s spatial organization: vendors of different goods were arranged in sections with fixed places, mirroring a highly organized market framework seen in Medina del Campo in Spain; overall, the market’s layout and order impressed Díaz as a model of urban commerce.
• The great cue (temple) area: approached via a double-masonry wall, paved with large white flagstones; the area was meticulously clean (no dust or dust-like residue).
• The top of the cue housed the temple platform where ritual stones for sacrifice lay; the idols and sacrificial images dominated sights; Díaz notes a dragon-like image and a great deal of blood from sacrifices.
• Montezuma’s ceremonial entrance to the cue: he descended from the shrine with papas escorting him; Cortés and the Spaniards followed; Montezuma bowed to them at the top, and Cortés thanked him through interpreters.
• A dramatic moment occurred when Montezuma escorted Cortés to view the city from the cue; he highlighted the city’s water-bound architecture—the numerous cities on the water, and the other cities around the lake.
• Díaz notes the sheer scale and beauty of the market, the cue, and the overall urban design, emphasizing that many soldiers who had traveled widely (Constantinople, Rome, Italy) considered it an extraordinary market—large, well-laid-out, orderly, and vibrant.

The City’s Geography: Causeways, Lakes, and Architectural Form

• The narrative emphasizes causeways that connected Iztapalapa, Mexico-Tenochtitlán, and other lake-bound cities; these structures created a network of roads across water, with bridges at intervals enabling water to flow between parts of the lake.
• The lake (a system of Chalco, Xochimilco) and the canals formed the city’s lifeblood; ships and canoes were indispensable for transport and commerce.
• The presence of drawbridges and the extensive use of water-based habitat shaped urban life; houses were built on the water with flat roofs and fortified features that resembled fortress-like towers and shrines on the causeways.
• The Chapultepec freshwater supply and its channels to the city illustrate sophisticated urban hydraulics.

Montezuma, the Palace, and the Treasure

• Montezuma’s palace and the remains of the king’s wealth: there were great halls and a dais hung with local cloth; Montezuma had a ready-made necklace for Cortés—a necklace of golden crabs—an object of awe that stunned Cortés’s captains.
• Montezuma’s wealth: a secret chamber in his palace containing gold bars and jewels, inherited from his father Axayacatl, which he never touched.
• The lodging for Cortés and his men: quarters were arranged in households corresponding to Spanish companies; Cortés’s party slept on matting beds with canopies; Montezuma also arranged for lavish meals in the Spanish style.
• Montezuma’s understanding of Cortés’s status: he treated the Spaniards as Teules (gods) and attempted to keep them comfortable and near his idols, perhaps to placate religious concerns or to display diplomacy.
• The king’s strategy: lodging Cortés near idols could reflect a political calculation to link Cortés’s presence with local religious legitimacy and reciprocal relations with the rulers.

The Craftsmen: Jewelers, Painters, Feather-work, and Textile Production

• The city boasted master jewelers and craftsmen working with precious metals; many lived in Atzcapotzalco; other skilled workers specialized in chalchihuites (obsidian-like in some descriptions), precious stones, and feather-work.
• Painting and carving: famous painters and carvers among the Aztec workforce were compared to greats such as Apelles, Michelangelo, and Berruguete in the level of skill—if they had lived in those Western centuries.
• Women as artisans: textile production included robes with elaborate feather-work; textile goods were produced in Cotaxtla and surrounding areas; Montezuma’s palaces employed women who wove fine cloths; these women also served as mistresses and wives in certain noble households.
• Religious associations: some of the noblewomen connected to Huichilobos’s cult engaged in religious retirement arrangements prior to marriage, aligning ritual worship with social arrangements.
• Entertainment and professional labor: Montezuma maintained a broad array of professionals for entertainments and maintenance of the palace complex, highlighting a combined system of ritual spectacle and practical urban labor.

The Market: Organization, Currency, and Social Dynamics

• Market organization: the market was meticulously organized with stalls and sections for different goods; each line of stalls had its own designated sort of merchandise, reflecting sophisticated commerce management.
• Slavery and exchange: slaves formed a visible part of the market economy and could be traded like other goods; slaves were sometimes paraded on poles and chained with collars, while others were allowed to move more freely.
• Currency and valuation: money and accounting were done with the length and thickness of goose quills (quills from large, white geese) used to quantify value (e.g., cloaks, gourds of chocolate, or slaves).
• Commodities: gold, silver, precious stones, feathers, cloaks, embroidered textiles; slaves; cotton fabrics; chocolate; sisal cloth; ropes; sandals; animal skins; fowls; birds with large dewlaps; rabbits and other small game; deer; dogs; honey cakes; pottery; honey paste; salts and salting materials; and salt-producing excrement (a notable observation that may surprise modern readers but is included by Díaz).
• Food and daily life: there were vendors selling edible goods, cooked foods, flour, honey cake, tripe, and other daily staples, as well as specialized stalls for crafts and tools.
• Salt production and preservation: the excrement was used in salt and tanning processes; roads included shelters for people to purge their bowels to keep the market and roads clean and efficient.
• Cleanliness and order: the market’s design and management facilitated orderliness and the ease of commerce, a feature that impressed even seasoned European travelers.

Ceremonial Spaces and Sacred Architecture: Huichilobos, Sacrifice, and the Great Cue

• The great cue (temple complex) was the focal point of ceremonial life, featuring ritual platforms and a dragon-like idol among other figures; Sacrificial rites left a vivid impression on Díaz and his men.
• Montezuma’s ceremonial escort to the cue underscores the intertwining of religion, politics, and diplomacy in the Aztec capital.
• The practice of ritual incense, offerings, and processions reinforced the sacred status of the city and its rulers; the Spaniards witnessed the authority of Montezuma embodied in such rituals.

Reflections on Braudel’s Thesis: Urban Autonomy, World-City Comparisons, and the Mexican Case

• Reflections section presents Braudel’s thesis that European cities often function as autonomous corporate entities with their own laws and rights, a pattern repeated across Western Europe and the Mediterranean from the 11th to the 15th centuries.
• The chapter argues that London-like urban autonomy existed in Europe due to charters, independent courts, and citizenry empowered to bargain with monarchs for privileges.
• The text juxtaposes European city autonomy with the imperial and non-European contexts:
  • Chinese and Muslim urban dwellers do not identify primarily as citizens of a single city; Muslims and Chinese often think of themselves as part of a broader, supra-city identity tied to empire or religion.
  • Muslims did not need self-governing cities to be mobile within the Islamic world; for many, the city was a node within a larger ummah, rather than a political unit demanding autonomy.
• Braudel’s struggle with American cities: Latin American, particularly Mexican, cities resembled imperial capitals more than autonomous European cities; Mexico City functioned within colonial and imperial frameworks rather than as a self-governing municipal entity.
• Qualifications and extensions of Braudel’s thesis:
  • Autonomy was not exclusive to Europe. Japan’s Sakai, described as the Venice of Japan, exhibited a form of urban independence during the feudal era (14th–16th centuries). This autonomy persisted until 1600, when Tokugawa centralization reined in urban independence.
  • Chinese urban development in the Song era showed a prosperous merchant class; although these merchants did not seek full urban independence, they wielded significant influence on local government and imperial decisions due to their educated class and guild networks.
  • In medieval Muslim cities, a prosperous merchant class existed under enlightened sultans and emirs. Halil Inal̄tik notes that Ottoman policy actively fostered commercial centers (e.g., Bursa, Edirne, Istanbul) by offering tax exemptions and other incentives to attract merchants and artisans; Mehmed II promoted Jewish migration to Istanbul amid expulsions elsewhere, reflecting deliberate state policies to cultivate urban commerce.
• Overall: Braudel’s thesis highlights differences among cities but also emphasizes their common pattern: all cities distinguish themselves from the countryside, concentrate wealth and achievements, and develop distinct social and economic structures; however, the degree of autonomy vs. imperial control varied by region and era.

Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance

• Foundational concept: The city as a social, economic, and political organism—an arena where market mechanics, religious life, governance, and identity interact.
• Real-world relevance: The contrast between Islamic urban life and European urban autonomy shows how governance, religion, and commerce shape city life differently across civilizations.
• Foundational principle: The role of the state and religious institutions in regulating production, labor, and commerce in premodern cities.
• Practical implications: Understanding the absence of formal guilds in certain Islamic contexts helps explain different patterns of apprenticeship, regulation, and market organization compared with European guild-based systems.

Key Numbers, Terms, and References (LaTeX-formatted)

• Causeway width: 8 ext{ yards}
• Entry date to Tenochtitlán: 1519
• Four hundred Spaniards at initial entry: about 4 imes 10^2 (approximate from text)
• Iztapalapa distance from Mexico: 3 ext{ miles} (to Atzcapotzalco)
• Steps on the cue: 114 steps
• Year of Montezuma’s father Axayacatl’s reign context: pre-conquest timeline (historical setting)
• The city’s major temples/shrines: Huichilobos; other idols referenced in rituals
• Notable individuals and places:
  • Montezuma (Montezuma II in later historiography)
  • Axayacatl (Montezuma’s father)
  • Atzcapotzalco (workshops district; three miles from Mexico)
  • Aquilo, Aquino, Juan de la Cruz, El Crespillo (painters of note cited by Díaz)
  • Doña Marina (Malinche) and Aguilar (mission interpreters)
• Footnotes (editorial clarifications):
  • Malinche (Doña Marina) as translator; Huitzilopochtli as Aztec god of sun and war; Aztec priests called papas (priestly class).

Synthesis: What Díaz’s depiction, in concert with Braudel’s framework, reveals

• Díaz’s detailed narrative illustrates a city with a robust, internally coherent urban economy: a centralized political authority (Montezuma) and a dynamic market-driven economy in which labor specialization, crafts, and trade thrived.
• The scale and organization of Mexico City (as Díaz portrays it) challenge simple categorizations of “colonial” or “imposed” urban form; rather, the Aztec capital embodies sophisticated urban planning, ceremonial life, and market architecture that functioned within an imperial framework.
• The juxtaposition with European and other world-cities emphasizes both distinctiveness and commonality: while European cities often claimed autonomous rights, Aztec/Mexican cities operated within, and were shaped by, the political and religious structures of empire and ritual law; nonetheless, like European cities, they concentrated wealth, labor, and cultural production in urban centers.
• Final takeaway: The study of On Cities encourages a nuanced understanding that urban autonomy is not a universal feature but a contingent product of political structure, economic organization, religious life, and historical trajectory across civilizations.