The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codex, believed to have been created around the year 1541. It contains a history of both the Aztec rulers and their conquests as well as a description of the daily life of pre-conquest Aztec society. The codex is written using traditional Aztec pictograms with a translation and explanation of the text provided in Spanish. It is named after Don Antonio de Mendoza (1495-1552), the viceroy of New Spain, who supervised its creation and who was a leading patron of native artists.
The founding of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan; first page of the Codex Mendoza, c. 1541
The Codex Mendoza on display at the Bodleian Library
Folio 2 recto Founding of Tenochtitlan
Folio 4 verso Conquests of Chimalpopoca
Aztec codices are Mesoamerican manuscripts made by the pre-Columbian Aztec, and their Nahuatl-speaking descendants during the colonial period in Mexico.
Part of the first pages of Codex Mendoza, depicting the founding of Tenochtitlan.
Diego Durán: A comet seen by Moctezuma, interpreted as a sign of impending peril. (Codex Duran, page 1)
Detail of first stones from the Codex Boturini depicting the departure from Aztlán.
Codex Magliabechiano: ritual cannibalism. (Folio 73r)
