Aztec codices

tograms, but also Classical Nahuatl (in the Latin alphabet), Spanish, and occasionally Latin. Some are entirely
in Nahuatl without pictorial content.
Although there are very few surviving pre-conquest
codices, the tlacuilo (codex painter) tradition endured the
transition to colonial culture; scholars now have access to
a body of around 500 colonial-era codices. Colonial-era
Nahuatl language documentation is the foundational texts
of the New Philology, which utilizes these texts to create
scholarly works from the indigenous viewpoint.

1 Codex Borbonicus

Detail of rst page from the Boturini Codex, depicting the departure from Aztln.

Page 13 of the Codex Borbonicus.

Main article: Codex Borbonicus

The Codex Borbonicus is a codex written by Aztec priests
around the time of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Like
Codex Fjervary-Mayer (Lacambalam 2014)
all pre-Columbian Aztec codices, it was originally pictorial in nature, although some Spanish descriptions were
Aztec codices (Nahuatl: Mxihcatl moxtli Nahuatl pro- later added. It can be divided into three sections:
nunciation: /meikat amoti/) are books written by
pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs. These codices
1. An intricate tonalamatl, or divinatory calendar;
provide some of the best primary sources for Aztec
culture. The pre-Columbian codices dier from European codices in that they are largely pictorial; they were
2. A documentation of the Mesoamerican 52 year cynot meant to symbolize spoken or written narratives.[1]
cle, showing in order the dates of the rst days of
The colonial era codices not only contain Aztec piceach of these 52 solar years; and
1

5 CODEX OSUNA
3. A section of rituals and ceremonies, particu- The Codex Mendoza is a pictorial document, with Spanlarly those that end the 52 year cycle, when the ish annotations and commentary, composed circa 1541.
extquotedblnew re extquotedbl must be lit.
It is divided into three sections: a history of each Aztec
ruler and their conquests; a list of the tribute paid by
each tributary province; and a general description of daily
Aztec life.

Boturini Codex

The Boturini Codex was painted by an unknown Aztec 4 Florentine Codex

author some time between 1530 and 1541, roughly a
decade after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Pictorial
in nature, it tells the story of the legendary Aztec journey Main article: Florentine Codex
from Aztln to the Valley of Mexico.
Rather than employing separate pages, the author used The Florentine Codex is a set of 12 books created unone long sheet of amatl, or g bark, accordion-folded into der the supervision of Bernardino de Sahagn between
21 pages. There is a rip in the middle of the 22nd approximately 1540 and 1585. It is a copy of original
page, and it is unclear whether the author intended the source materials which are now lost, perhaps destroyed
manuscript to end at that point or not. Unlike many other by the Spanish authorities who conscated Sahagns
Aztec codices, the drawings are not colored, but rather manuscripts. Perhaps more than any other source, the
Florentine Codex has been the major source of Aztec
merely outlined with black ink.
life in the years before the Spanish conquest even though
Also known as Tira de la Peregrinacin (The Strip a complete copy of the codex, with all illustrations, was
Showing the Travels), it is named after one of its not published until 1979. Before then, only the censored
rst European owners, Lorenzo Boturini Benaduci (1702 and rewritten Spanish translation had been available.
1751). It is now held in the Museo Nacional de
Antropologa in Mexico City.

5 Codex Osuna
3

Codex Mendoza

Section of page 34 (folio 496) of Codex Osuna showing the glyphs

for Texcoco, Tenochtitlan, and Tlacopn.

Codex Osuna was named after the Spanish nobleman,

Mariano Tellez Grion y Beufort, twelfth Duke of Osuna,
in whose library the codex was held until his death in
1882 and then became part of the collection of the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid.[2] It is part of a lawsuit by
the indigenous of a Nahua community against Spaniards,
and a fragment of a much larger Mexican text; the rst
numbered folio in the facsimile is 464.[3] It is a set
of seven separate documents created in early 1565 to
Part of the rst page of Codex Mendoza, depicting the founding present evidence against the government of Viceroy Luis
of Tenochtitlan.
de Velasco during the 1563-66 inquiry by Jernimo de
Valderrama. In this codex, indigenous leaders claim nonMain article: Codex Mendoza
payment for various goods and for various services performed by their people, including building construction

3
and domestic help. A modest black and while facsimile
was published in Mexico by the Instituto Indigenista Interamericano in 1947, reproduced from the 1878 edition
published in Madrid. The Mexican edition includes 158
pages of documentation in Spanish found in the Archivo
General de la Nacion (Mexico) added by Luis Chvez
Orozco.[4] The Codex was originally solely pictorial in
nature. Nahuatl descriptions and details were then entered onto the documents during its review by Spanish
authorities, and a Spanish translation of the Nahuatl was
added. The Nahuatl text was translated by Ignacio M.
Castillo and the Spanish paleography rendered into modern Spanish by Mara del Carmen Camacho.[5] The pictorial on folio 471v (p. 198 of the Mexican edition) shows
the Viceroy Don Luis de Velasco, with indigenous lords
in colonial attire for their rank, as well as a nahuatlato or
Nahuatl translator in Spanish attire. The illustration is the
cover for Charles Gibson's monumental publication, The
Aztecs Under Spanish Rule.[6] Other important pictorials
include depictions of Spaniards punishing indigenous (folio 474v, page 204), lists of encomienda holders, including ones reverting to the Spanish crown (folios 496v 498r; pages 250-253); cultivation of cacti for the production of the red dye cochineal (folio 500v, p. 258), and
indigenous men laboring in a textile workshop or obraje
(folio 500v, p. 258). The last pictorial is of indigenous
men laboring to extract and transport stone for the construction of a church (folio 501 v., p. 342), with a written
complaint that they had not been paid.

Unlike the account of the conquest of Mexico in the

Florentine Codex, which is primarily from the Tlatelocan viewpoint and denigrates the Mexica of Tenochtitlan, Codex Aubin is from the Tenochtitlan perspective
and makes no reference to events in Tlatelolco.[10] Lockhart sees Codex Aubin as an authentic account likely from
oral sources.[11]
Among other topics, Codex Aubin has a native description of the massacre at the temple in Tenochtitlan in 1520.
Also called Manuscrito de 1576 (The Manuscript of
1576), this codex is held by the British Museum and a
copy of its commentary at the Bibliothque Nationale de
France. A copy of the original is held at the Princeton
University library in the Robert Garrett Collection there.
The Aubin Codex is not to be confused with the similarly
named Aubin Tonalamatl.[12]

7 Codex Magliabechiano

The 1947 Mexican edition is augmented by documentation in Spanish found by Luis Chvez Orozco in the
Mexican archives (Archivo General de la Nacin), Ramo
Civil, tomo 644, giving contextual information for the
pictorial Codex Osuna, and is perhaps the lost portion.
The Spanish documentation includes the review of an indigenous ocials tenure, or residencia, and is typical of Reverse of folio 11 of the Codex Magliabechiano, showing the
day signs Flint (knife), Rain, Flower, and Crocodile.
Spanish ocial documentation of the era.[7]
The Codex Magliabechiano was created during the mid16th century, in the early Spanish colonial period. Based
on an earlier unknown codex, the Codex Magliabechi6 Codex Aubin
ano is primarily a religious document, depicting the 20
day-names of the tonalpohualli, the 18 monthly feasts, the
The Codex Aubin is a pictorial history or annal of the
52-year cycle, various deities, indigenous religious rites,
Aztecs from their departure from Aztln through the
costumes, and cosmological beliefs.
Spanish conquest to the early Spanish colonial period,
ending in 1607. Consisting of 81 leaves, it was most likely The Codex Magliabechiano has 92 pages made from
begun in 1576, it is possible that Fray Diego Durn su- European paper, with drawings and Spanish language text
pervised its preparation, since it was published in 1867 as on both sides of each page.
Historia de las Indias de Nueva-Espaa y isles de Tierra It is named after Antonio Magliabechi, a 17th-century
Firme, listing Durn as the author. James Lockhart has Italian manuscript collector, and is held in the Biblioteca
published an extract of Codex Aubin in Nahuatl and En- Nazionale Centrale, Florence, Italy.
glish dealing with the section on the conquest of Mexico.[8] According to Lockhart, the internal evidence is
that the author was a man from the Mexico-Tenochtitlan
sector of San Juan Moyotlan, writing around 1562, who 8 Codex Cozcatzin
wrote from collected material on the earlier era, including the conquest, and then began writing in his own The Codex Cozcatzin is a post-conquest, bound
voice about current events of the late sixteenth century.[9] manuscript consisting of 18 sheets (36 pages) of Euro-

11

LIBELLUS DE MEDICINALIBUS INDORUM HERBIS OR THE BADIANUS MANUSCRIPT

pean paper, dated 1572, although it was perhaps created Berlin. One of the most interesting and important fealater than this. Largely pictorial, it has short descriptions tures of the map is depictions of fruit trees, both Euroin Spanish and Nahuatl.
pean and local, many of them grafted. Pears, quince, apThe rst section of the codex contains a list of land ple, pomegranates, peaches, and grapevines are shown Ingranted by Itzcatl in 1439 and is part of a complaint come from the sale of fruit would have increased the value
against Diego Mendoza. Other pages list historical of the property. The importation of European fruit trees
and genealogical information, focused on Tlatelolco and is part of the Columbian Exchange, but what is especially
Tenochtitlan. The nal page consists of astronomical de- signicant is that not just the trees were integrated into
local horticulture, but the practice of grafting to increase
scriptions in Spanish.
the health and yield of the plants.[13][14]
It is named for Don Juan Luis Cozcatzin, who appears in
the codex as alcalde ordinario de esta ciudad de Mxico
(ordinary mayor of this city of Mexico). The codex is 11 Libellus de Medicinalibus Inheld by the Bibliothque Nationale in Paris.

dorum Herbis or the Badianus

Manuscript

Codex Ixtlilxochitl

The Codex Ixtlilxochitl is an early 17th-century codex

fragment detailing, among other subjects, a calendar of
the annual festivals and rituals celebrated by the Aztec
teocalli during the Mexican year. Each of the 18 months
is represented by a god or historical character.
Written in Spanish, the Codex Ixtlilxochitl has 50 pages
comprising 27 separate sheets of European paper with
29 drawings. It was derived from the same source as
the Codex Magliabechiano. It was named after Fernando
de Alva Corts Ixtlilxochitl (between 1568 & 1578 - c.
1650), a member of the ruling family of Texcoco, and is
held in the Bibliothque Nationale in Paris.

10

Oztoticpac Lands Map of Texcoco, 1540

The pictorial on native paper (amatl) from Texcoco ca.

1540 is held by the manuscript division of the Library
of Congress, measuring 76 x 84 cm. The contents are
both pictorial and alphabetic text in Nahuatl in red and
black ink. The glosses indicate it deals with lands that
Texcocan lord Ixtlilxochitl I may have given to Don Carlos Chichimecatecatl of Texcoco and with litigation over
the lands ownership. Don Carlos was tried and executed by Bishop Juan de Zumrraga's under his inquisitorial powers in 1539. The Oztoticpic Lands map was
likely created between 1540 and 1544, as part of an effort to reclaim land held by Don Carlos. The map indicates a palace held by Don Carlos in Oztoticpac. In the
schematic cadastrals of particular pieces of land, the map
shows Nahua families who farmed the land as well as the
measurements of the plots. A number of these properties
were rented by tenants with standard glyphic representations of the rents. The names of the pieces of land are
indicated with toponymic glyphs. The Oztoticpac Lands
Map has been linked to another indigenous pictorial, the
Humboldt Fragment VI held by the Staatsbibliolothek of

A page of the Libellus illustrating the tlaholteoacatl, tlayapaloni, axocotl and chicomacatl plants.

Main article: Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis

The Libellus de Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis (Latin for
Little Book of the Medicinal Herbs of the Indians) is
a herbal manuscript, describing the medicinal properties
of various plants used by the Aztecs. It was translated
into Latin by Juan Badiano, from a Nahuatl original composed in Tlatelolco in 1552 by Martn de la Cruz that is
no longer extant. The Libellus is better known as the Badianus Manuscript, after the translator; the Codex de la
Cruz-Badiano, after both the original author and translator; and the Codex Barberini, after Cardinal Francesco
Barberini, who had possession of the manuscript in the
early 17th century.

12

Other codices

Codex Borgia - pre-Hispanic ritual codex. The

name is also given to a number of codices called the
Borgia Group:
--- Codex Selden

Historia de Mexico with the Tovar calendar, ca.

1830-1862. From the Collections at the Library of
Congress
Maya codices
Mesoamerican literature

--- Codex Laud

--- Codex Vaticanus B
--- Codex Cospi
--- Codex Fejrvry-Mayer - pre-Hispanic calendar codex.
Codex Telleriano-Remensis - calendar, divinatory
almanac and history of the Aztec people.
--- Codex Ros - an Italian translation and augmentation of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis.
Ramrez Codex - a history by Juan de Tovar.
Anales de Tlatelolco a.k.a. Unos Anales Histricos
de la Nacin Mexicana - post-conquest.
Durn Codex - a history by Diego Durn.
Codex Xolotl - a pictorial codex recounting the history of the Valley of Mexico, and Texcoco in particular, from Xolotls arrival in the Valley to the defeat
of Azcapotzalco in 1428.
Codex Azcatitlan
Huexotzinco Codex, Nahua pictorials that are part
of a 1531 lawsuit by Hernn Corts against Nuo de
Guzmn that the Huexotzincans joined.
Mapa de Cuauhtinchan No. 2 - a post-conquest indigenous map, legitimazing the land rights of the
Cuauhtinchantlacas.

14 References
[1] Elizabeth Hill Boone, Pictorial Documents and Visual
Thinking in Postconquest Mexico. p. 158.
[2] Howard F. Cline, review of Codex Osuna in Hispanic
American Historical Review vol. xx, 580-81.
[3] Pintura del Gobernador, Alcaldes, y Regidores de Mxico.
Cdice en geroglcos mexicanos y en lenguas castellana y
azteca, existente en la biblioteca del Exmo. Seor Duque
de Osuna. Publicase por vez primera con la autorizacin
competente. Madrid, Imprenta de Manuel G. Hernndez,
1878
[4] Codice Osuna, Reproduccin facsimilar de la obra del
mismo ttulo, editada en Madrid, 1878. Acompanada de
158 pginas ineditas encontradas en el Archivo General
de la Nacion (Mexico) por el Prof. Luis Chavez Orozco.
Ediciones del Instituto Indigenista Interamericano, Mexico, DF 1947
[5] Howard F. Cline, review of Codex Osuna in Hispanic
American Historical Review vol. xx, 580-81.
[6] Charles Gibson, The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule. Stanford
University Press, 1964
[7] Howard F. Cline, review of Codex Osuna in Hispanic
American Historical Review vol. xx, 580-81.
[8] James Lockhart, We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the
Conquest of Mexico, translated and edited. University of
California Press, 1991, pp.274-279; commentary p. 314
[9] James Lockhart, We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the
Conquest of Mexico, translated and edited. University of
California Press, 1991, p. 43

History of Tlaxcala, aka Lienzo de Tlaxcala - written by and under the supervision of Diego Muoz
Camargo in the years leading up to 1585.
[10] James Lockhart, We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the
Codex Vergara - records the border lengths of
Mesoamerican farms and calculates their areas.
Cdice de Santa Mara Asuncin - Aztec census,
similar to Codex Vergara

Conquest of Mexico, translated and edited. University of

California Press, 1991, p. 43
[11] James Lockhart, We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the
Conquest of Mexico, translated and edited. University of
California Press, 1991, p. 43
[12] Aubin Tonalamatl, Tracking Culture Encyclopedia

13

See also

Codex Zouche-Nuttall - one of the Mixtec codices.

Codex Zouche-Nuttall is in the British Museum.
Crnica X

[13] Howard F. Cline, The Oztoticpac Lands Map of Texcoco, 1540, in The Quarterly Journal of the Library of
Congress, April 1966, pp. 77-115. Cline also cites a lawsuit by Pedro de Vergara against the Holy Oce of the Inquisition in the Archivo General de la Nacin, Inquisicin
vol 139, expediente 11, fols 60-72v over trees owned by
the late Don Carlos, executed by the Inquisition in 1539.

15

[14] Howard F. Cline, The Oztoticpac Lands Map of Texcoco, 1540, in A la Carte: Selected Papers on Maps and
Atlases, Washington, DC: Library of Congress 1972, pp.
5-33.

15

External links

Bibliography of Mesoamerican Codices

Detailed interpretation, with annotated photos, of
the last pages of the Boturini Codex
Page-by-page views of Codex Ixtlilxochitl

EXTERNAL LINKS

16
16.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Aztec codices Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_codices?oldid=626730831 Contributors: Ubiquity, Error, Nanahuatzin, Ancheta Wis, Andromeda, Confuzion, Esperant, Kwamikagami, Cohesion, Alansohn, Ground Zero, CJLL Wright, RussBot, Gaius Cornelius,
Ptcamn, Welsh, Arturoramos, Maunus, Saravask, Chris the speller, Madman2001, Uri R, Onlim, Sailko, General Eisenhower, Joseph Solis
in Australia, Mrdthree, Narm00, Astirmays, Pseudo-Richard, Dspart, Dougweller, PKT, Yavidaxiu, Missvain, AntiVandalBot, Tillman,
VoABot II, The cattr, JaGa, J.delanoy, Rgoodermote, Rhinestone K, Radiotik, Johnbod, Je G., TXiKiBoT, Tusbra, Dendodge, TravelingCat, SieBot, Anchor Link Bot, Astrologist, ClueBot, DragonBot, Jnate19, Jbotero, MacedonianBoy, 0XQ, LostAndFool, El Comandante,
Addbot, Glamazon4life, Tide rolls, Luckas-bot, Yobot, TaBOT-zerem, Rubinbot, Galoubet, Pavenis, Materialscientist, Analphabot, Xqbot,
Cavila, Nimbaselama, MastiBot, Jonkerz, Look2See1, ZroBot, Timbobel, ClueBot NG, Ephert, BG19bot, Khazar2, Hmainsbot1, Epicgenius, TheAsianPotatoMan, Amuseclio, Ephemeratta, Lacambalam and Anonymous: 50

16.2

Images

File:Aztec_calendar.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Aztec_calendar.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0

Contributors: 15th century Aztec Sun Stone sculpture, made into a diagram by the uploader. Own work Original artist: Unnamed PreColombian Mexica artists of the 15th century. Keepscases modied it into .
File:Aztlan_codex_boturini.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Aztlan_codex_boturini.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Badianus.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Badianus.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: ?
Original artist: ?
File:CodexMendoza01.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/CodexMendoza01.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: English Wikipedia Original artist: Unknown
File:Codex_Borbonicus,_p11_trecena13.PNG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Codex_Borbonicus%
2C_p11_trecena13.PNG License: Public domain Contributors: Codex Borbonicus Original artist: Unknown
File:Codex_Fjervary-Mayer_(Lacambalam_2014).jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Codex_F%
C3%A9jervary-Mayer_%28Lacambalam_2014%29.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Lacambalam
File:Codex_Magliabechiano_11R.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Codex_Magliabechiano_11R.
jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Codex Magliabechiano Original artist: Unknown
File:Codex_Osuna_Triple_Alliance.JPG Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Codex_Osuna_Triple_
Alliance.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?

16.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0