A Hearth Library collection
The Valley of Mexico
Tenochtitlan, the Mexica and their neighbors, about 1450 to 1600
Life in and around Tenochtitlan, the island city of the Mexica, and in the lakeside towns of the Valley of Mexico: markets, food, family, schools, songs and gods, and the Spanish conquest of 1519–1521. Written and painted by Nahua elders and artists, Spanish soldiers and friars, and their mestizo descendants. A companion to our game The Lost Settlement.
Sources
Map
The First Printed Map of Tenochtitlan
Nuremberg map, 1524, printed at Nuremberg, March 1524; the city as Cortés's men saw it in 1519–1520, Mexico-Tenochtitlan
LatinEarly version
MesoamericaMaps and chartsHomes, towns and building
Poetry
Songs of Flowers and Parting
Nahua singers, sung before and after the Spanish conquest; written down in the sixteenth century; printed 1887, Mexico-Tenochtitlan
Classical NahuatlEarly version
MesoamericaPoetryIndigenous American beliefs
Speech
A Lord's Advice to His Daughter
Sahagún, compiled from the 1550s to the 1570s, from speeches remembered from before the Spanish conquest; printed 1829, Tlatelolco
SpanishEarly version
MesoamericaFamily and lossIndigenous American beliefs
Manuscript painting
Raising Children, Ages Three to Fourteen (Codex Mendoza)
Codex Mendoza, painted in Mexico City, probably about 1541; the customs are those before the Spanish conquest of 1521, Mexico City (Mexico-Tenochtitlan)
SpanishEarly version
MesoamericaFamily and lossFood, farming and hunger
Report
Growing Up in Texcoco
Pomar, dated at Texcoco, March 9, 1582; first printed at Mexico, 1891, Texcoco
SpanishEarly version
MesoamericaSchools and teachingFamily and loss
Report
The Calpulli and Its Lands
Zorita, written in Spain after Zorita's return from Mexico in the mid-1560s; first printed in French in 1840 and in Spanish in 1864, Mexico-Tenochtitlan
SpanishEarly version
MesoamericaRulers and courtsFood, farming and hunger
Description
Good and Bad Sellers in the Market
Sahagún, compiled from the 1550s to the 1570s; printed 1830, Tlatelolco
SpanishEarly version
MesoamericaTrade, markets and moneyWork and wages
History
The Markets and Their Laws
Durán, written in Mexico in the mid-1570s; first printed at Mexico, 1880, Mexico-Tenochtitlan
SpanishEarly version
MesoamericaTrade, markets and moneyIndigenous American beliefs
Description
Tenochtitlan, Its Food, Drink and Market
The Anonymous Conqueror, written in Spanish some years after 1521 (original lost); printed in Italian at Venice, 1556, Mexico-Tenochtitlan
ItalianEarly version
MesoamericaFood, farming and hungerCooking and recipes
Letter
The Great Market of Tenochtitlan
Cortés, dated October 30, 1520; printed at Seville, 1522, Mexico-Tenochtitlan
SpanishChecked
Conquest and resistance in the AmericasMesoamericaTrade, markets and money
Manuscript painting
“They Gave Him Food”: Two Scenes from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala
Lienzo de Tlaxcala, painted at Tlaxcala between about 1550 and 1561; the events of 1519, Tlaxcala
Classical NahuatlEarly version
MesoamericaConquest and resistance in the AmericasFood, farming and hunger
History
Moctezuma's Table and the Market of Tlatelolco
Bernal Díaz, written in Guatemala, finished in a fair copy in 1568, Mexico-Tenochtitlan
SpanishEarly version
MesoamericaTrade, markets and moneyFood, farming and hunger
Letter
The Siege of Tenochtitlan
Cortés, dated at Coyoacan, May 15, 1522, Mexico-Tenochtitlan
SpanishEarly version
Conquest and resistance in the AmericasMesoamericaFood, farming and hunger
History
The Smallpox in Mexico, 1520
Sahagún, compiled from the 1550s to the 1570s, Mexico-Tenochtitlan
SpanishEarly version
Epidemics in the Americas after 1492SmallpoxFirst contact in the Americas
History
The Mexica Embassy and the Smallpox in Michoacán
Relación de Michoacán, compiled about 1539–1541, Tzintzuntzan
SpanishEarly version
MesoamericaRulers and courtsConquest and resistance in the Americas
Government report
Teotihuacan Answers the King
Teotihuacan elders, March 1, 1580, San Juan Teotihuacan
SpanishEarly version
MesoamericaFood, farming and hungerHomes, towns and building
Natural history
Cacao, Chili and Maize
Hernández, written in New Spain about 1571–1577; Recchi's selection printed at Rome, 1651, New Spain
LatinEarly version
MesoamericaPlants and animalsFood, farming and hunger
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