Codex Mendoza

The Codex Mendoza is a sixteenth-century illustrated manuscript that records Mexica rulers, imperial tribute, and aspects of everyday life. Its images and Spanish-language annotations preserve information about the Mexica Empire soon after the Spanish conquest.

Aztec Empire: The Indigenous empire centered on Tenochtitlan that dominated much of central Mexico before the Spanish conquest. The manuscript records the rulers, conquests, and tribute system of this empire.
Aztec pictorial manuscripts: Manuscripts that use conventional images and signs to record Indigenous histories and information in central Mexico. Their visual conventions structure the Codex Mendoza’s historical and tribute records.
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire: The campaigns and political upheaval through which Spain defeated the Mexica-led empire between 1519 and 1521. The manuscript was produced in the aftermath of this conquest, amid Spanish rule.
Aztec tribute system: The network of goods and services demanded from communities subject to Mexica imperial power. The codex’s tribute pages detail commodities and obligations across the empire.
Bodleian Library: The University of Oxford’s main research library, which holds major collections of manuscripts and printed books. The Codex Mendoza has been preserved in the Bodleian’s collections since the seventeenth century.
Mexica: The Nahuatl-speaking people who founded Tenochtitlan and led the Triple Alliance empire. They are the people whose history and social life the manuscript depicts.
Pictography: A system of communication that uses pictorial signs to represent objects, actions, or ideas. The manuscript’s images convey meanings that are not simply illustrations of its prose.
Antonio de Mendoza: The first viceroy of New Spain, serving from 1535 to 1550. The codex bears his name and is traditionally associated with his administration.
Aztec rulers: The hereditary rulers of Tenochtitlan who led the Mexica state and its imperial expansion. Its first section presents successive rulers alongside conquests and reigns.
Richard Hakluyt: An English geographer and promoter of overseas exploration who published accounts of voyages and colonial ventures. Hakluyt helped bring the manuscript to England and facilitated its early circulation there.

Linked from 12 pages