Centuries-old Aztec texts detail history of their capital, conquests and fall to the Spanish

[Judi Lynn]

By Owen Jarus
published March 25, 2024

Three codices from the 16th and 17th century describe historical details about the Aztecs and the area that is now Mexico City.



A private family recently sold three Aztec codices from the 16th and 17th centuries to the Mexican government. (Image credit: ©SC, INAH, BNAH)

Centuries-old codices from what is now Mexico hold a wealth of knowledge about the Aztecs in their native language, including details about the founding of their capital, their conquests and their fall to the Spanish, according to Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

The Mexican government recently bought three illustrated codices, known as the Codices of San Andrés Tetepilco, from a private family that had passed down the Aztec documents for generations, the Spanish newspaper El País reported.

The Aztecs ruled over a large area of Mexico during the 15th and 16th centuries. Their capital was at Tenochtitlán, in what is now Mexico City. Between 1519 and 1521, a Spanish force conquered the Aztecs and established Spanish rule over the area. Codices written in the Indigenous Nahuatl language and Spanish continued to be produced into the early 17th century.

One of the newly purchased codices describes the founding of Tenochtitlán around 1300 and the lords who ruled it in pre-Hispanic times, INAH representatives said in a translated statement. The codex also describes the Aztec conquest of the city of Tetepilco around 1440 and how that city's ruler swore vassalage to the Aztecs. It even details the arrival of the Spanish in 1519 and their rule up to the year 1611, the statement said. The Spanish continued to rule Mexico until 1821.



The centuries-old codices still contain traces of color, largely from plants, charcoal, ocher and indigo. (Image credit: ©SC, INAH, BNAH)

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https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/centuries-old-aztec-texts-detail-history-of-their-capital-conquests-and-fall-to-the-spanish