- Published: November 15, 2021
- Updated: November 15, 2021
- University / College: Pennsylvania State University
- Language: English
- Downloads: 27
The Aztec community, who are the modern Mexica, are considered to be one of the most famous and important civilization of the Mesoamerica. Back in the Postclassical period, they are said to have moved to the Centre of Mexico and there is where they have settled ever since. They are known to control most of Mexico for most part of their stay in Mexico. Their rich history is explained by many documents and artifacts found in these sites including the Annals of Tlatelolco, Florentine Codex and excerpts of Oaxaca and Yucatan.
Florentine Codex is a manuscript of the 16th century said to be written by Franciscan Friar Bernardino in Mesoamerica. Bernardino is said to have conducted research with the help of Aztec men from 1545 to 1590. He wrote a 2400 page article in which it included his research, evidence and findings regarding his work. The book mainly consisted of arts as a means of trying to explain to the readers his findings. The codex is seen to analyze the lives of the Aztec people in various capacities including natural history, economics, society, culture, ritual practice and religious cosmology. This book has been described as one of the best books that has accounts relating to non-western culture in the Americas. The Codex was composed of twelve books in total and each book talked about different natures of the culture that was practiced by this people.
The first book dealt with the gods that were worshipped by the natives of the lands, New Spain. With the second book, we would have established the sacrifices and the cultures the Aztec people practiced during the early period. In the third book, we would have educated on ways their Gods were created. This goes on and on as each book talked about different aspects of the culture of the Aztec community.
The Anales de Tlatelolco commonly known as the Annals of Tlatelolco, is a codex written in Latin Characters in the Nahuatli by unknown Aztec writers in 1528. This codex is said to have been written nearly seven years after the collapse of the Aztec Empire. With this book, a historian would be in a position to understand and learn the outlooks and thoughts of the defeated Aztec Culture. In this book, the ways of the Aztec Empire and traditions are portrayed vividly but in a given dimensional ways which could not help in the fully understanding of the Aztec Empire. This being the earliest codex, its revelations were not that detailed but stated facts that are not stated in the Bernardino codex.
There were short articles that were also found in Oaxaca and Yucatan that were recovered from various sites. These articles showed various cultural perspectives of the Aztec indigenous population. In these articles recovered from these two regions, it can be noted that there was a new perspectives of the culture of the Aztec people.
With these three codex, the writer can acquire three different perspectives of the Aztec communities. This enables the historians to have knowledge of the culture of the Aztec community from three points of view. The one disadvantage that exists is that the data is from a long time period. This means that the information gathered may not reflect the modern population due to the large time difference that exist among the two. Therefore, the codex used is useful to understand the history of the Aztec community of the fifteen and the sixteenth century.