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The Pre-Columbian City: Tenochtitlan: the First Mexico City

WARWICK BRAY

in Mexico City through History and Culture

This chapter attempts to visualize how Tenochtitlan may have looked and functioned before the Spanish invasion. This usually assumed barbaric society with a culture of sacrificing thousand of ... More

This chapter attempts to visualize how Tenochtitlan may have looked and functioned before the Spanish invasion. This usually assumed barbaric society with a culture of sacrificing thousand of captives for the blood-thirsty Aztecs was truly a civilized city by any criteria used to define civilizations such as the existence of bureaucracy, sophisticated agricultural technology, ceremonials and monumental architecture. Aztec Tenochtitlan was built and has been civilized more than 2,000 years ago. This ancient Mexican city started in the year Two Reed, it proliferated into stone-built city larger than Europe and had functions and bureaucracy similar to that of the sixteenth century Madrid. In terms of agriculture, the Aztec city has sophisticated agricultural technology—the chinampas which provided for the Aztecs and which provided insight into the chinampa ownership history of this ancient civilization. Complex architectural buildings also graced the Aztec civilization before the invasion of the Spaniards. Palaces, temples and avenues were dominant in this old Mexican civilization. These buildings were characterized by their complex decorations of serpents, murals and sculpture celebrating the state, its rulers, its gods and their conquests.Less

Introduction

LINDA A. NEWSON and JOHN P. KING

in Mexico City through History and Culture

This volume was a result of a symposium that discussed the history and culture of Mexico. It focuses on the city's culture and history and presents specific perspectives derived from the observant ... More

This volume was a result of a symposium that discussed the history and culture of Mexico. It focuses on the city's culture and history and presents specific perspectives derived from the observant eyes and lens of the different authors and scholars of the chapters here, containing insight from various fields. While Mexico is generally assumed to be a city afflicted with problems such as social inequality, environmental denigration and traffic congestion made worse by government inadequacies and mismanagement, this volume presents a rather optimistic note that reverberates in the chronicles and voices in the chapters. Building on this sentiment, the chapters that follow aim to celebrate Mexico City as a focal point of cultural creativity, dynamism and diversity. From its foundation in 1324 as Tenochtitlan to the present day, the volume provides a window to the constantly evolving space that is Mexico City.Less

The Poetic City: From the Consecration to the Degradation of Spring: the Poet in the Street

VICENTE QUIRARTE

in Mexico City through History and Culture

This chapter discusses the ways in which the poet and poetry have traced the invisible map of Mexico City and how this literary art protected and strengthened memories while also helping the Mexicans ... More

This chapter discusses the ways in which the poet and poetry have traced the invisible map of Mexico City and how this literary art protected and strengthened memories while also helping the Mexicans to live each day with an increased dignity. The focus of this chapter is on the reflections created by the poets and their poetry from the Tenochtitlan period to the early twenty-first century with emphasis on the mid-nineteenth century onwards. This period is specifically a century of prose and poetry that stood as testaments to the beauty, downfall and the rise of Mexico City. Through the poets, poetry has became an avenue for the rich illustrations of the transformations Mexico has undergone such as the rise of nationalism, and the emergence of a gender role and a new gender awareness. Writing in this period has become a source of enlightenment and poets specifically have played a prominent role as urban planners, insiders who narrated the city’s transformations, educators who enforced virtues, and biographers of emotions. From the King Nezahualcóyotl to the poet Eduardo Lizalde, poets have found ways of describing and celebrating the city without falling into despair, because the very naming and exploration of despair is a way of transcending it.Less

Activities of the Tenochca

José Luis De Rojas

in Tenochtitlan: Capital of the Aztec Empire

The Tenochca had many different occupations. Many were employed in construction, while others worked to process raw materials of various kinds. Most occupations fell into the category of services: ... More

The Tenochca had many different occupations. Many were employed in construction, while others worked to process raw materials of various kinds. Most occupations fell into the category of services: administration, domestic services, medical care, commerce, the priesthood, education of the young, etc.Less

A Visit to Tenochtitlan

José Luis De Rojas

in Tenochtitlan: Capital of the Aztec Empire

This chapter deals with the city's religious buildings and their uses, the palaces and the houses, Motecuhzoma's zoo, and the huge markets where everything imaginable could be purchased. The ... More

This chapter deals with the city's religious buildings and their uses, the palaces and the houses, Motecuhzoma's zoo, and the huge markets where everything imaginable could be purchased. The education of children and popular games are also described.Less

Supply and Distribution

José Luis De Rojas

in Tenochtitlan: Capital of the Aztec Empire

This chapter mainly focuses on the needs and activities of Tenochtitlan's denizens, including the supply of food and fresh water, the systems of transportation and storage, and the tribute system and ... More

This chapter mainly focuses on the needs and activities of Tenochtitlan's denizens, including the supply of food and fresh water, the systems of transportation and storage, and the tribute system and its role in the life of the city.Less

The Construction of a Metropolis

José Luis De Rojas

in Tenochtitlan: Capital of the Aztec Empire

This chapter deals with the construction of the city, specifically its streets and neighborhoods. The geographic extent of the city is a key point, and the communications system and population ... More

This chapter deals with the construction of the city, specifically its streets and neighborhoods. The geographic extent of the city is a key point, and the communications system and population estimates are discussed.Less

The Rise of Warfare in Mesoamerica

Ross Hassig

in War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica

This chapter describes the development of warfare in Mesoamerica. Organized warfare and domination by foreign groups did not truly begin in Mesoamerica until the rise of the Olmecs. The Olmecs ... More

This chapter describes the development of warfare in Mesoamerica. Organized warfare and domination by foreign groups did not truly begin in Mesoamerica until the rise of the Olmecs. The Olmecs probably did not rely on the atlatl as a weapon. Defensive armor was also rare among them. The demise of the Oaxaca trade had significant effects in the Olmec area. San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan's local dominance rested in large part on its unrivaled ability to import elite goods. During the La Venta phase, trade underwent a number of changes, both in type of goods and method of procurement. The role of the Olmec military remained protective rather than expansionistic. The Olmecs did not fight to maintain their position—they lacked the manpower and logistical capability to do so—but simply withdrew when they could no longer sustain mercantile relations.Less

The Life of the Tenochca

José Luis De Rojas

in Tenochtitlan: Capital of the Aztec Empire

This chapter is about the ordinary lives of the Tenochca as well as more extraordinary events, such as births, marriages, deaths, and so on. Rites and feasts are a key point.

What Lies Beneath: Carving on the Underside of Aztec Sculpture

Claudia Brittenham

in Conditions of Visibility

Not all ancient art was made to be seen. Consider, for example, a sculpture of a rattlesnake, today in the British Museum. Its visible body is smooth and simple, ... More

Not all ancient art was made to be seen. Consider, for example, a sculpture of a rattlesnake, today in the British Museum. Its visible body is smooth and simple, coiled into three highly polished circuits. The mouth is daubed with red paint, open to reveal fierce fangs and an elongated forked tongue; the body terminates in thirteen rounded rattles. In between, the only decoration is the varied coloration of the gleaming stone. On the underside, the carving is far more elaborate. The rattles and then the ventral scales of the serpent are lavishly detailed as they spiral upwards. At regular intervals, dots of red pigment have been added to these hidden coils, ornamenting the rattlesnake’s belly. The three-dimensionality of this sculpture challenges display; photographs, casts, or ingeniously rigged mirrors can simultaneously make both the top and bottom of the sculpture visible for modern audiences, but it is likely that in Aztec times the serpent’s coils were invisible, only hinted at by the rounded forms at the base of the sculpture. One of over one hundred Aztec sculptures with documented carving on its underside, this coiled serpent was not an isolated caprice but part of a coherent and meaningful practice. Much ancient art was difficult to see in its original context. From the dedicatory inscription on the back of a Neo-Assyrian sculpture such as the Lamassu in Chicago’s Oriental Institute to the surface of the Column of Trajan spiraling out of sight or the gargoyles on medieval cathedrals, ancient art frequently thwarted the gaze. Many objects alternated between moments of visibility and concealment: displayed briefly, but crucially, at a funeral ceremony before being sealed within a tomb, for example; or stored in darkness between moments of exposure in procession or performance. Other images ended up hidden after complex histories of reuse and recycling. Still other examples hovered at the edge of a gradient of diminishing visibility—possible to see, perhaps, if only one’s gaze were powerful enough. Less

What Happened to the Mexican Miracle?

Frans J. Schryer

in They Never Come Back: A Story of Undocumented Workers from Mexico

This chapter provides a historical background of the Alto Balsas. The Alto Balsas, named after a section of the Balsas River, consists of eighteen towns located on both sides of that river. This area ... More

This chapter provides a historical background of the Alto Balsas. The Alto Balsas, named after a section of the Balsas River, consists of eighteen towns located on both sides of that river. This area was once part of the pre-Columbian region of Mesoamerica. Historians have discovered that, prior to the Spanish conquest, people in the Alto Balsas paid tribute to rulers who lived in Tenochtitlan—now known as Mexico City—the Aztec capital that was then larger than any European city. By the eighteenth century, Mexico—then called New Spain—was the envy of the world; its mines produced gold and silver, and large landed estates called haciendas rivaled the properties owned by the European aristocracy. However, the first half of the nineteenth century was a period of rapid decline, when Mexico was engulfed with political infighting between Liberals and Conservatives, as in the rest of Latin America.Less

Living in a Fluid Landscape

Vera S. Candiani

in Dreaming of Dry Land: Environmental Transformation in Colonial Mexico City

In the lacustrine basin of Mexico, pre-Hispanic technologies of water and wetland ecosystems management had developed at both the city-state and village scales. Village hydraulic and soil management ... More

In the lacustrine basin of Mexico, pre-Hispanic technologies of water and wetland ecosystems management had developed at both the city-state and village scales. Village hydraulic and soil management technology depended on land becoming water and then land again, and sustaining domesticated and wild plant and animal life with use value. The main village-level hydraulic structures in the northwest quadrant were the Cuautitlan River diversion dam, its irrigation network, and the Xaltocan chinampas; causeways and albarradones were the main structures around Tenochtitlan; all were multipurpose and designed to contend with both wet- and dry-season events. Ushering in technologies used mainly for the creation of exchange values, and with single purposes predicated on wet-season events, the Spanish conquest affected indigenous technologies without destroying them, as they used them to contend with the effects of ongoing deforestation and changes in the usage of the soil: increased urban flooding.Less

. Templates of Conquest Warfare & Alliance in the Shadow of Tenochtitlan

Laura E. Matthew

in Memories of Conquest: Becoming Mexicano in Colonial Guatemala

This chapter emphasizes that to understand the sixteenth-century Central American conquests, patterns of regional migrations, wars, and alliances should be taken into account. Focusing on those of ... More

This chapter emphasizes that to understand the sixteenth-century Central American conquests, patterns of regional migrations, wars, and alliances should be taken into account. Focusing on those of the Tenochca (also known as the Aztec or Mexica) empire, this chapter analyzes the rise and fall of Tenochtitlan, which set the stage for thousands of indigenous warriors from Nahua and Oaxaca to march toward Guatemala and remain as colonists and neighbors of Ciudad Vieja.Less

Reclaiming the Conquest: An Assessment of Chimalpahin's Modifications to La conquista de México

David E. Tavárez

in Chimalpahin's Conquest: A Nahua Historian's Rewriting of Francisco Lopez de Gomara's La conquista de Mexico

This chapter evaluates Chimalpahin's modification to the manuscript of Historia de las Indias y Conquista de México. It analyzes Chimalpahin's motivation for producing this manuscript and suggests ... More

This chapter evaluates Chimalpahin's modification to the manuscript of Historia de las Indias y Conquista de México. It analyzes Chimalpahin's motivation for producing this manuscript and suggests that his “hybrid” La Conquista is the sole extant attempt by a colonial American indigenous author to appropriate and modify a historical narrative by a Spanish chronicler about the Americas. This chapter also argues that Chimalpahin approached Francisco López de Gómara's La Conquista as an important chronicle about the defeat of Mexico Tenochtitlan that needed to be copied, amended, and preserved.Less

The Spanish-Mexica War

David M. Carballo

in Collision of Worlds: A Deep History of the Fall of Aztec Mexico and the Forging of New Spain

The decisive Spanish-Mexica war is covered in this chapter. The war lasted for close to two years but alternated between periods of uneasy diplomacy with the Great Speaker Moctezuma and other Mexica ... More

The decisive Spanish-Mexica war is covered in this chapter. The war lasted for close to two years but alternated between periods of uneasy diplomacy with the Great Speaker Moctezuma and other Mexica leaders and violent battles. Most important were the expulsion of the Spaniards and their allies from Tenochtitlan and their retreat to Tlaxcala, where they regrouped and were resupplied from boats landing in Veracruz, during which time a disease epidemic devastated Native communities. More Mesoamerican allies joined the Spaniards as the war progressed, including, most importantly, the second most powerful Aztec city-state of Texcoco. It was from here that Cortés launched small ships onto the lake surrounding the imperial capital and brought naval and siege battle tactics, born of millennia of bloodshed in the Old World, to the New World.Less

Tenochtitlán and Cuzco

Kathleen James-Chakraborty

in Architecture since 1400

This chapter explores the history and architecture of Tenochtitlán, Mexico, and Cuzco, Peru. The city of Tenochtitlán was the center of the Mexica empire while the Inca empire centered on Cuzco. Both ... More

This chapter explores the history and architecture of Tenochtitlán, Mexico, and Cuzco, Peru. The city of Tenochtitlán was the center of the Mexica empire while the Inca empire centered on Cuzco. Both societies were technologically advanced, with complex political structures capable of organizing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people. The remains of their architecture provide us with the richest evidence of their accomplishments and forms the worldview that inspired them. However, these cities and their buildings were not enough to sustain the cultures that had created them. In the sixteenth century, the Mexica and the Inca fell victim to Spanish conquerors and their thirst for gold. The process was violent and terrifying, destroying the social and architectural patterns that had once ordered these unusually prosperous societies.Less

Becoming Conquered (The 1560s)

Camilla Townsend

in Annals of Native America: How the Nahuas of Colonial Mexico Kept Their History Alive

The 1560s were a pivotal decade for the Nahuas. For the first time, the urban Indians had to pay a head tax like all other Mexican indigenous peoples. They made extraordinary efforts to prevent this ... More

The 1560s were a pivotal decade for the Nahuas. For the first time, the urban Indians had to pay a head tax like all other Mexican indigenous peoples. They made extraordinary efforts to prevent this change, which they foresaw would impoverish them, and they recorded for their posterity traditional histories or annals recounting their efforts. Because of high unrest, a plot against the Crown by don Martín Cortés, son of Hernando Cortés, reverberated in terrible ways. Several indigenous texts illuminate not only the political moment but also the traditional indigenous notions of historiography, among them the Codex Aubin, the Codex Osuna, and the Annals of Juan Bautista.Less

The Riches of Twilight (Circa 1600)

Camilla Townsend

in Annals of Native America: How the Nahuas of Colonial Mexico Kept Their History Alive

By about 1600, indigenous intellectuals in the City of Mexico began to fear that knowledge of the old histories was truly being lost, which led to an outpouring of indigenous history writing. ... More

By about 1600, indigenous intellectuals in the City of Mexico began to fear that knowledge of the old histories was truly being lost, which led to an outpouring of indigenous history writing. Chimalpahin from Chalco was the most famous of such writers. He was a contemporary of don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl from Tetzcoco and Tezozomoc of the Mexican royal family, both of whom he seems to have known. The cosmopolitanism of Chimalpahin’s vision is extraordinary. He commented not only on current events (such as the desagüe) but on ancient ones (such as the reign of Axaycatl), and on both Nahuatl texts and European ones.Less