History 482/582 Reader
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History 482/582 Reader
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History 482/582, Fall 1998 LATIN AMERICA'S INDIGNENOUS PEOPLES: MESOAMERICA AND THE ANDES IN THE FORMATIVE CENTURIES, A DOCUMENTARY READER EXCERPTS FROM THE PLAY CUAUHTÉMOC, BY SALVADOR NOVO Scene 2 Moctezuma enters rapidly from the right. Cuauhtémoc turns toward him and bows.
CUAUHTÉMOC: Lord--my Lord--Great Lord. MOCTEZUMA: Cuauhtémoc! Get up, my son. I've summoned you so we could talk, not as king and subject, but as friends and relatives. CUAUHTÉMOC: I'm listening, Moctezuma. MOCTEZUMA: I need your aid and your counsel. You're young. I was once too. Like you, I swept our gods' temple. I bled my flesh and my tongue as an offering and as penitence. Like you, I was a tecuhtli--and I tested my strength in the flowery wars. CUAUHTÉMOC: I know, Moctezuma. MOCTEZUMA: The kingdom I received from your grandfather Ahuízotl grew in my hands until it reached the jade skirts of the sea. From this little lake, Huitzilopochtli extended his ruling gaze over all the towns that today render their riches in tribute. CUAUHTÉMOC: Fine, and so? MOCTEZUMA: Those towns hate us, Cuauhtémoc. They are rising up against me. They have allied themselves with the white gods; they have informed them and guided them to Tenochtitlan. CUAUHTÉMOC: Gods? MOCTEZUMA: They are gods, Cuauhtémoc! It's Quetzalcóatl who has returned, angry and vengeful! CUAUHTÉMOC: Have you attempted anything against them? MOCTEZUMA: To placate them. Win them over. CUAUHTÉMOC: With blood? With sacrifices? MOCTEZUMA: These gods scorn our blood, and they don't want our hearts. CUAUHTÉMOC: Then they're not gods. MOCTEZUMA: Gold delights them. They throw themselves upon it like birds of prey, to pick it up and caress it. I've tried to satiate them with gold; let them carry off all the gold in their floating houses and on their stages--but let them leave us in peace. CUAUHTÉMOC: The true gods scorn gold. They nourish themselves with the blood from our tongues and our ears--our silence and our listening. Take those false gods captive. Sacrifice them in the temple. MOCTEZUMA: How could I? They have lightening. They're like giants when they're on their stags that grunt and shout. Their skin is impenetrable to our arrows. They are gods, I tell you. It's Quetzalcóatl who has returned for the throne that he abandoned, that your father had on loan, that I inherited--and I must return it to the blond, bearded god.
Scene 4 Axayácatl's palace, residence of Moctezuma's Spanish guests. A chamber. SOLDIER 2: I wonder when we'll go back to Spain--if we are going back. SOLDIER 1: Do you want to go back? SOLDIER 2: Naturally! With all the gold I've talked people out of, I have enough, and with what the Capitán owes us...I hope he'll keep his word about splitting the booty with us. SOLDIER 1: You're never happy with anything! I'd like to stay here. SOLDIER 2: You're crazy! do you think these Indians would let us? There's scarcely a handful of us--they're like ants. They could do away with us in an instant if they wanted to. SOLDIER 1: But they don't want to! They take us for gods! The Capitán at least. SOLDIER 2: Yes. But you've already seen what they do with their gods. From here you can see the Temple--from the terraces. That big urn up there is for the victim's blood. It could be filled with ours. **** SOLDIER 1: I don't like this peace. I didn't get on that boat for this. I want action--and here there's nothing but gifts and pampering. These Indians! The Montezuma has a bath. And he bathes himself completely every day! SOLDIER 2: Every day! That's not possible! SOLDIER 1: I've seen the bath! And what about the beds? They have awnings and feather blankets! I sleep like a king! But enough is enough; I want war! SOLDIER 2: We'll get our war. (Walks around the room, feels the walls.) Look! Come here! SOLDIER 1: What is it? SOLDIER 2: This wall. It looks like it's been covered recently. It was a door and now they've closed it off with stones. **** SOLDIER 1: I'm going to warn the Capitán. SOLDIER 2: No! Wait! Let's open it ourselves. Give me your sword. SOLDIER 1: Here. SOLDIER 2: Help me. This rock is already giving way. Pull here. SOLDIER 1: There it goes! (They struggle; pull out a stone.) SOLDIER 2: (Sticking his head in the hole.) Look! (Enter: Cortés, Alvarado, Fray Bartolomé de Olmedo.) CORTÉS: What are you doing here? SOLDIER 1: The wall, Capitán. There's a door that's been covered recently. We took out this stone to look. SOLDIER 2: Gold! Mountains of gold! (Cortés goes forward, brusquely pulls Soldier 2 away, and puts his head in.) CORTÉS: Gold! Gold! Up to the ceiling! Without a doubt this is Montezuma's treasure! It was Montezuma's treasure! FRAY BARTOLOMÉ: God be praised! ALVARADO: Amen. Finish opening that door! CORTÉS: No! Not yet. On the contrary, replace that stone. Don't let them notice that we've discovered it. **** CORTÉS: This treasure, this palace, this city, these lands, these thousands of men--all will render themselves to the service of God and the king, as soon as we, their delegates: I, your Capitán, establish the right that will give us legitimate and complete possession of what today is paid in tribute to the devil and to the pagan Montezuma. ALVARADO: And that right... CORTÉS: Emanates from God--is infused in the king--comes down to my fist--and finally is delegated in my sword. Father... FRAY BARTOLOMÉ: Yes, Capitán? CORTÉS: Have you gone to Montezuma to insist that he convert to our holy faith? FRAY BARTOLOMÉ: As many times as I've been able. But I'm starting to believe that it's useless. CORTÉS: What a shame. Keep insisting. His body doesn't matter. We all have to die. But it would be so edifying to save his soul...if there's still time.... Let's get out of here, Capitán Alvarado... (They leave.) Scene 10 Cortés's tent. FRAY BARTOLOMÉ: What a mortal silence there was all of a sudden! After days and days of deafening us with shouts, drumbeats, and conches! CORTÉS: A mortal silence. The stones have gone mute. As if they'd all been knocked down. Is Guatemocín there? SANDOVAL: With the other caciques. And with his wife. His wife is beautiful, Capitán. CORTÉS: I know her. Montezuma's daughter. But bring Guatemocín in alone. Are you there, Doña Marina? MALINCHE: (Entering.) At your side, Lord. I was waiting for your call. CORTÉS: You will tell Guatemocín to have no fear whatsoever. That I have always wished to be his friend. That I forgive him the war he waged on me, and that if he sears loyalty to our king--and is baptized--I will see that he governs his people, as before. MALINCHE: His people no longer exist, Lord. They've all died. Can't you hear the silence? (Enter Guauhtémoc. At his sides, Sandoval and Alvarado. He and Cortés regard each other for an instant. Cuauhtémoc advances to face Cortés.) CORTÉS: Be welcome, Guatemocín. Take a seat. (Cuauhtémoc remains standing.) CUAUHTÉMOC: Here I am, Malinche. I did what I was obliged to do in defense of my city and my people. CORTÉS: It was your duty, Guatemocín. And I admire you for it. But you refused peace, many times. And your people suffered, and the town is in ruins. (Cuauhtémoc quickly grabs Cortés's knife. Sandoval and Alvarado intervene to protect their Capitán, who dismisses them with a motion of the hand. Cuauhtémoc returns the knife by the hilt and offers it to Cortés.) CUAUHTÉMOC: Finish your work, Malinche. give me a clean death. Bury your knife in my chest. CORTÉS: No, Guatemocín. (Sheathes the knife.) Now we are no longer enemies. You will come with your family and with me to Coyoacan, while Tenochtitlan is being reconstructed. And then... (To the others.) Let's go outside, men. Doña Marina needs to speak with our royal guest. (They exit. Cortés gives the signal to Doña Marina. La Malinche and Cuauhtémoc are left alone.) MALINCHE: Wouldn't you like to sit down, Lord? (Cuauhtémoc doesn't respond.) The Capitán has put me in charge of speaking with you. He's not going to do you harm. His God is good, you know? I have been baptized, and I go to mass and take communion every day... Why are you turning your back on me, Lord? CUAUHTÉMOC: I don't understand your tongue, Malinche. MALINCHE: Do I speak the language of Anáhuac badly? CUAUHTÉMOC: You speak a language--that I will never know. (Darkness.)
Source: Salvador Novo, The War of the Fatties and other Stories from Aztec History, translated by Michael Anderson (Austin, 1994).
THE CAPTURE OF ATAHUALPA, BY GARCILASO DE LA VEGA, "EL INCA" From: The Incas, edited by Alain Gheerbrant, Avon Books, 1961, 386- The following are excerpts from de la Vega's account (written in the first years of the seventeenth century) of the capture of the Inca Atahualpa by Spaniards following Francisco Pizarro. Garcilaso de la Vega was a mestizo, or half Peruvian, half Spaniard, who wrote a long a detailed account of prehispanic and conquest-era Peru. He assumes a critical tone towards the Spaniards here, and is clearly sympathetic with the Incan side. De la Vega claims to have consulted translations of quipus, the knotted string record keeping device of the Andes, that had been kept and translated by indigenous specialists after the Spanish invasion. He is also well schooled in the standard Spanish histories of the Incas and of the Spanish conquest. As the account which follows opens, Pizarro and his 168 followers have taken up residence in the regional center of Cajamarca, which has been deserted by its inhabitants. Atahualpa was camped in the countryside with a huge army. Atahualpa is on the point of entering the main square of Cajamarca with a large force of apparently unarmed retainers to meet Pizarro. The Spaniard has hidden most of his forces, around 60 of them mounted on horses, around the square.
With the help of a Quechua-speaking indigenous interpreter, the friar launched in a long-winded speech about Spain, its king, and above all about the Christian God, inviting Atahualpa to renounce his false deities, embrace Christianity, and place himself under the authority of the King of Spain. Not surprisingly, Atahualpa was not impressed nor eager to follow the friar's suggestions. De la Vega calls Spanish versions of this encounter "fairy tales" which had the soul purpose of justifying the capture of Atahualpa; these "fairy tales" include the story that Atahualpa hurled a Bible he had been given to the ground, that the Inca ordered his army to attack, and that a panic-stricken Father Valverde called on the Christians to punish "these infidels who despise our law and scorn our friendship!" What follows is the "truth," according to de la Vega:
THE TRIALS OF TOWN SERVICE: PETITION OF PEDRO FELICIANO, ALCALDE OF CUERNAVACA, TO THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CORTÉS ESTATE Archivo General de la Nación, México, Hospital de Jesús legajo 210, exp. 30, fol. 1r-v. C. 1605-07.
[1 recto] May the Lord our God give his precious, honored health to you, Lord Ruler Señor Don Gerónimo Leardo, Governor for the Marqués. I am appearing here in your ruler's presence, I your humble vassal Pedro Feliciano, householder of the Villa of Cuauhnahuac [Cuernavaca]. Here is what I have come into your ruler's presence to relate. I come to you with complete confidence in your ruler's word, what your precious heart will desire. Here is my humble words that you are to hear: I, your vassal, served your altepetl [Cuernavaca] for two years as alcalde. And for two years the tribute disappeared there into the hands of Don Francisco [indigenous governor of Cuernavaca]. Since we served as alcaldes and others of us were regidores, the monetary equivalent of the maize tribute was collected in our presence. We were aware of what the mayordomos did; they keep it in the community chest. They put it in only when we ask, and it was counted in our presence. The mayordomos knew how they were to do it. Now I come before you in entire confidence about the salary of 20 pesos for two years of my work that I am to pay back. But I was not given it; the mayordomos did not give it to me. They are to state that in 1605 I was given 4 pesos, and in 1606 I was given 3 pesos. This is what I came before you about. This is how my work was carried out: For two years my affliction became excessive. I was in Mexico City all the time, and I suffered there for six months when I worked for Don Francisco. I was unable to cultivate maize, and now there is nothing planted in my fields. Yet we must pay maize tribute. [1 verso] And my younger brother Francisco Feliciano was there working with me in Mexico City, but he died there. Then my wife and children died here [in Cuernavaca], but I was away in Mexico City. They were only buried because of a loan made by others, since during all that time I had gone to work in Mexico City for six months. And then when I served [as alcalde] in 1605 I went to Taxco 15 times taking people [to work in the mines]. I was charged with the back tribute owed by 9 of these people who ran away, so I paid 22 pesos, 4 tomines. I had to take out a loan because I did not earn enough to live on; thus we suffer on behalf of your altepetl. This is what I am appearing in your ruler's presence about. What does your heart desire? I was given nothing as salary; as the mayordomos about it. I came before your in entire confidence, I, your humble vassal. I greatly revere you, Pedro Feliciano
ELECTORAL FRAUD? A CUERNAVACAN POLITICAL FACTION COMPLAINS TO THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR OF THE CORTÉS ESTATE Archivo General de la Nación, México, Civil vol. 2229, exp. 4, fol. 24r. 1673.
Don Francisco Bernardino, don Nicolás de Santiago, don Antonio García, don Diego Blas, and Baltasar Nicolás, all citizens of the town of our precious mother [Nuestra Señora de la] Asunción villa de Cuernavaca, and other of God's vassals: All of us are appearing in your regal presence, our ruler [chief administrator of the Cortés estate], you who are the representative of our ruler the Marqués [del Valle]. We declare that we have discovered that they [a rival political faction] carried out an election in which don Miguel de Santiago was elected governor for the coming year. But those who voted did not do so properly. For this reason we have come before you and request that you not allow him to enter [the office of governor]. He is not a noble, but only a commoner. Others of his faction are the same and are drunkards. He will not give up the governorship in which only don Francisco de Santiago, don Diego de la Cruz, and don Nicolás de Santiago supported him. Because of them there is a great amount of suffering. For this reason our collective desire is that our son don Antonio de Hinojosa take the rulership right away. He is the son of a tlatoani. He did not come from just anywhere because his grandparents, both men and women, and his father served [Cuernavaca]. We your children declare that you should support the wish of all the commoners and likewise our hearts' desire. He [don Antonio] is not a drunkard and can perform his duty well, for he cares for the holy doctrine and speaks for and cherishes the poor. Do not allow those whom we mentioned to be installed and take office, so we will not suffer from it.
We know that you will help us. Thus we appear in your regal presence, you who are the representative of the Marqués and [who are] our justicia mayor. The statement we are making here is true and we take an oath before God. May you thus do justice. Don Francisco Bernardino, [don] Nicolás [de] Santiago, don Antonio García, [don] diego blas, Felipe de San Nicolás.
TESTAMENT OF DON TORIBIO CORTÉS OF CUERNAVACA, DECEMBER 5, 1559. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Cuernavaca Papers fols. 96r-98v
96r/ May the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit be praised. I, Don Toribio Cortés, am here in my home of Tepetenchi. I already desire death; my God, my ruler wants to come and summon me. Even though my flesh is very weak [moçtlahua] [and] my earthly body will die, nothing is wrong with [my soul]; it is glad. First, I leave my soul [noalma] in God, my ruler's, hands, for it is his creation. And I leave my flesh to the earth, for it emerged from there; it is just dirt, just clay. I, Don Toribio Cortés, set down my testament here; it is with my complete will, for no one forced me [cuitlahuiltia]. Before my witnesses, four of whom are noble elders of Ollac [and] six people: Juan Tlapaltecatl of Ollac, Francisco Tlapaltecatl of Tlapallan, Don Miguel García of Analco, Toribio Sánchez of Calnahuac, Felipe Ollacatl of Ollac, Miguel Analcatl of Analco, Francisco Tocalpanecatl of Ixtlahuaca, Pedro Chiapanecatl of Huaxtla, Francisco Huitznahuatl of Otlan: They are my witnesses, before whom is set down my testament, all the things of my will [tlanelquilistli] which my soul will desire. The first thing I say, I, Don Toribio Cortés: If I die I ask that my body be buried there in the newly-built church. For my body to be buried an offering [huentzintli] of two pesos, 4 tomines is to be paid to the church. The second thing I say about my will: I ask that my body be wrapped in a habit [habito; probably of the Franciscan order]. An offering of five pesos is to be paid to the church for the representation habit [ixiptla habito], for from my heart I am asking for the habit. The third thing I say about my will: I am giving the singers [cuicanime], the cantors [cantores] two pesos so that they will come to take my body. I ask that they sing four responses [responso] for me on the road. My children know how many of the responses they are to make/compose [tlayocolia] for me. The fourth chapter [capitulo] [in which] I speak about my will: I am leaving 2 pesos to the Hospital [ospital] so that candles will come out of there; they are to be set up along the road when they bring my body. The fifth thing I say, I, Don Toribio Cortés, about my will: I ask for ten masses to be said for me. An offering of 25 pesos is to be paid to the church. When I die the 25 pesos are left to the church immediately. They are to leave it as I set down in my testament before my witnesses. 96v/ The sixth thing I say about my will: If I die in the morning [yohuatzinco], when my body is to be buried in the evening then a vespers [visperas] is to be said for me. If I die in the afternoon or in the morning perhaps my deity God will remember me sometimes. When my body is to be buried, in the morning a mass is to be said for me. Nothing I have stated in my will is to be lost; what is needed for my soul is to be fashioned/made by my deity God, for he gave me my life. The seventh thing I say, I, Don Toribio Cortés: My late daughter, Doña Ana Cortés Xiloyactzin, was my only child. But she died. Now only my granddaughter named Doña Lucia Cortés is left, and she was married in Tetecala to Don Tomás Trisuel [?]. I say in my statement that it is my will, I, Don Toribio Cortés, that if somehow Doña Lucia had just been married here, all my house would be with her. But she was married a long way off. So I say that it is my will that I am leaving my whole house at Tecpan in the hands of my witnesses. They are to sell the stone. Whoever buys it is to pay 100 pesos in cash. Whoever will buy it is not to be a Spaniard. Then [the buyer] is to take [the stone] away, but the land is not to be sold, just the stone. When the 100 pesos are paid, my granddaughter Doña Lucia Cortés is to be given 40 pesos. 40 pesos will be necessary on my behalf so that three masses will be said for me. My witnesses are to leave the 40 pesos to the church. And I am giving 20 pesos to my witnesses. They are to divide up everything mentioned above. The eighth thing I say about my will: I am giving the calmilli [field associated with the houselot] on the east to my granddaughter Doña Lucia Cortés: When it comes to a canal at a cut tree [i.e. stump] it descends to Ochpantenco, at a tree stump it arrives at its end. No one is to take it from her, as I am setting it down here in my statement. The ninth thing I say about my will: I am giving my granddaughter Doña Luicia Cortés the non-irrigated land [tlalhuactli] at Ahuehuetitlan and the non-irrigated land at Ocotepec, which is low-lying land following the edge of the road, and the narrow field at the entryway to the church at Caltitlan, and the field at Copalhuacan, and the large field laid next to the entryway to the church. There were mayeque assigned to work on it, but they have left the pillalli [noble's land]. They know that if they return again they are to serve my granddaughter Doña Lucia Cortés. 97r/ The tenth thing I say about my will: My nephew Don Francisco Quauhpachiuqui is being given the irrigated field [amilli] located at Tzaualpanapan, upon which the mayeque live. These mayeque serve y daughter-in-law Doña Juana, but my heart knows that she and her father Don Toribio do not love my nephews. [Or "she does not love her father Don Toribio and my nephews"?] Again I say in my statement that Don Toribio will not be able to take the mayeque, for I have already assigned them to my nephew Don Francisco Quauhpachiuhqui, for the mayeque had served me. The eleventh thing I say about my will: I am giving my nephew Don Francisco Quauhpachiuhqui the irrigated field at Acatonco, and the irrigated field at Tetlalpan, and the non-irrigated land at Quauthtla, Tlatzintitla, and Zacamilpa. I am giving it to my nephew Don Francisco Quauhpachiuhqui. The twelfth thing I say about my will: My younger brother Don Melchor de los Angeles left behind my niece Francisca Xiuhtlamiyahuatl. I am giving her the calmilli, which is the site of the house sold off as stone mentioned above. I am giving the calmilli and land to her; I am assigning it to my niece Francisca Xiuhtlamiyahuatl. It arrives at Ochpantenco, down below it goes straight to a canal, at a tree stump it descends in the east towards the calmilli at Oxomalacac where the governor Cortés built a plaster wall [tenextepantli]. I am leaving it to my niece Francisca Xiuhtlamiyahuatl, for it was always the calmilli of my younger brother, the late Don Melchor de los Angeles. No one is to speak up about it, for I shared the land with my older brother [sic, should be younger brother], as I am setting down in my statement. When our governor Cortés tried to take our calmilli and house from us, we complained before the authorities [justicia], so we evicted our governor Cortés. I am the older brother, who was first born. When we were given our house and our calmili I, Don Toribio, shared the calmilli with him [the younger brother]. Now I have given everything on it, [but] I have not given him the non-irrigated land. He [the governor Cortés] is not to claim anything from my nephews and grandchildren, where I am setting it down here in my statement. I left the calmilli and the non-irrigated land at Tlacomulco to my late younger brother, Don Melchor. Today, at the edge of my death / 97v /, at the end of my life again I am dividing the land among my nephews and grandchildren so that my deity God will not punish me. No one is to take it from my niece Francisca Xiuhtlamiyahuatl. I say in my statement that if my niece Francisca Xiuhtlamiyahuatl dies, her older brothers are to take the land I gave her. I am not giving anything to Gaspar and Baltasar [now]: You say that your uncle is poor; may he raise it [bring it up?], may he ask for good [mercy?]. But they [the two men] are just dissolute. The thirteenth [thing] I say about my will: I am giving my niece Francisca Xiuhtlamiyahuatl land, the non-irrigated land at Ocotepec. It begins above the sweat house [texcalticpac] and arrives at the edge of the roads [ototlica]. No one is to take it from my niece Francisca Xiuhtlamiyahual. Everything I gave her I set down here in my statement and am verifying it. I divided all the land among my nephews and my grandchildren, for I have done all of it. Since I am the eldest brother our late father Teohuantzin left it to me. If my children existed I would leave them the land. But my deity God did not give any to me. So I give the land to all three of my nephews and grandchildren, as here it is being written in my testament; I am naming them. The fourteenth thing I say, I Don Toribio Cortés: If our Lord God desires that he will make all of my grandchildren and nephews older [i.e. let them survive] [and] if they do not have children the land I left to them, which I dived among them, those who survive are to do it [i.e. take over the land?]. Again I say my word: if our Lord God greatly favors my nephews and grandchildren, if they have children, [someone] is to gather/combine the Tecpillalli [noble palace/house land] at Tepetenchi. No one there is to say that "it [the land] is not of our lineage [totlacamecayo], it is not our relatives. For they are just my nephews and grandchildren, all three of whom I mention in the writing of my testament. 98r/ The fifteenth thing I say about my will: My wife, the noblewoman Doña Magdalena Cortés, and I no longer have living children. I am leaving 20 pesos which will be needed by her, and two cazos, a bed [tlapechtli], and 4 metates. No one is to say anything there, for I am verifying it and setting down my statement. [This section of text was omitted from the Spanish translation.] The sixteenth thing I say about my will: Both of my stepdaughters [notlacpahuitectzitzinhuan cihuatzintzintin] made atole for me and gave it to me. I say that it is my will that I am leaving María Tiacapan six pesos, a cazo, and a metate. To Juana Teicictiuh I am leaving 5 pesos, a cazo, and a metate. Everything we enter into the house, the stone jars and pottery jars [tecontzintli; contzintli], I am giving it all to my stepdaughters. Their mother, Doña Magdalena Cortés, is to divide it among her children, for I am leaving it up to her. The seventeenth thing I say about my will: If my wife, Doña Magdalena Cortés, would have stayed here [in Cuernavaca] forever a house would have been assigned to her; but if she goes to her home in Tlaquiltenango then my witnesses are to sell the house when my masses end [or "to pay for my masses?], all of those I am requesting mentioned above in writing. The eighteenth thing I say about my will: All the ears of maize [centli] which were harvested, however many of the kernels of maize [tlayolli] that will be cut off, are to be distributed to my wife, Doña Magdalena Cortés, who is to eat it here. And half of the maize will be assigned on my behalf to those who are my aides when a mass is to be said for me; it will be needed by them/necessary for them. All the things I mention in the testament I am writing in the presence of all my witnesses are my will. May he who takes care of justicia know it, if sometime before them [Spanish officials] my testament appears, there they [the witnesses] are to see about it. Thus I set down everything of my will which is necessary for my soul. Also this is how I am giving things to my grandchildren and nephews, all three of whom are mentioned above. It is [done] in the presence of / 98v / my witnesses: Don Miguel García, Toribio Sánchez, Francisco Tlapaltecatl, Juan Tlapaltecatl, elders, Felipe Ollacatl, Miguel Analcatl, Francisco Tocalpanecatl, Pedro Chiapanecatl, Francisco Huitznahuatl; all of them are my witnesses. Here my testament ends, it concludes, today, Monday, the fifth day counted in the month of December, 1559. So that I verify it, I set down my name and my signature here, and my witnesses set down their names and signatures; they do not know how to write, so the notary will set down their names [which indeed are all in one hand]. Don Martín Cortés, Juan Tlapaltecatl, Don Miguel García, Toribio Sánchez, Francisco Tlapaltecatl, Felipe Ollacatl, Miguel Analcatl, Francisco Tocalpanecatl, Pedro Chiyapanecatl, Francisco Huitznahuatl. It was done in my presence, Francisco Romano, notary. 99r/ We the nobles, Don Toribio Cortés, governor, and we the alcaldes [and] regidores here at the Villa of Santa María de la Asunción Quauhnahuac: We govern and serve here at the altepetl, and our authority is in the presence of [i.e. in the name of] our great ruler the King and our ruler the Marqués del Valle. No one is to destroy my statement, about how we are laying out all the altepetl land [altepetlalli] here in the Villa of Quauhnahuac. God's children [i.e. the people] are to enter it [tlacalaqui]; from it they are to pay the tribute of our Lord the King and our ruler the Marqués del Valle. Never is someone to speak about it, nor is someone to evict them [or] appropriate the land, neither a Spaniard, nor a mestizo, nor a mulatto, nor a priest, for it is really our property, land of the altepetl. God is the one who is to uphold it, for he is to make people see this, my testament. Our Lord the King is to know about whoever will appropriate it; he is to help God's children. In their presence, the nobles and my witnesses, it is being laid out: straight at Zacanco, as it ends at a ridge [telilhuitl], straight to the west at the large river [huey atl = possibly lake?], comes straight to Telquchecan, straight to Tenanpa, straight to Tetzicaac, straight to Tlapitzaco Tlaltataco ["place of humped, bumpy land"?] at the land marker [tlalmachiotl], straight to Atzinco and Popotla, straight to Quauhtamala, straight to Cuauhtla by [yca = "by way of"?] Huitzillac, straight to Cuezcontitlan, coming to descend at Quexomalitlan, straight by way of Xiuhtepec, comes straight to Texalpan by way of Yzcuintepec, by way of Cocotehuacan, comes to cross the big river, [and] comes together at Zacano [Zacanco?]. On Monday, the 5th of December, in the year 1559 here we set down our names and signatures, so that it is true. Don Martín Cortés, Don Toribio Cortés, Juan Tlapaltecatl, Don Miguel García, Don Toribio Sánchez, Francisco López Tecpanecatl, Francisco Tlapatecatl, Felipe Olacatl, Miguel Analcatl, Pedro Chiapamecatl, Francisco Huiznahuatl. It was done before me, Francisco Ramano, notary.
TESTAMENT OF DON JUAN JIMÉNEZ OF CUERNAVACA, 1579 Archivo General de la Nación, México, Tributos vol. 52, exp. 17, fols. 430r-431r. In the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit I begin my testament. Let all know who see this document that I, don Juan Jiménez, whose home is here in Cuernavaca in the Tecpan district in the subdistrict of Otlipan, make my testament. Although my body is sick, nothing is wrong with my spirit and will, my thought and discernment; they are completely healthy. I await death, from which no one can escape. For this reason I am putting my testament, my final will with which I come to an end, in order that it will be obeyed, in order that no one will violate it; it is this that I am beginning. First of all I place my soul in the hands of our lord God, since he made it, and I ardently implore him to show me mercy and pardon me of my sins and carry me to his heavenly home when my soul leaves my body. And I leave my body to the earth, for it emerged from there and is earth and clay. And I want my body to be shrouded in a habit, a cloak of the friars of Saint Francis; I will pay for it with five pesos. And I wish that my body be buried where my late wife doña María lies buried, for this is our agreement. May our father guardián, fray Andrés Guerrero, be instructed about it. I also desire for the aid of my soul--so that it will not spend a long time in purgatory--that a mass be said for me on the seventh day; I make an offering of five pesos. I leave it up to my wife doña Bárbara; she is to take charge of it. And as to whether or not a few more masses should be said for me, I leave myself in the hands of the noblewoman, my wife doña Bárbara; she is to help me as much as she can. I also desire that when my body is buried the cantors, my children, be given one peso so that they will help me with my soul; and for tomines [is to be given] to the cofradía [lay soldality]. I offer four tomines to be delivered to the hospital, which is to belong to those who are ill. Here I mention my sole possessions and property. My house and everything in it is my sole possession. I fixed everything up. I bequeath it all to my wife doña Bárbara because she has given birth and there is an infant, María. She is to bring her [María] up there [in the house] and no one is to take any part of my house lands from her. I have not enlarged [the land] on either side. And I declare that my field at Teocuauhco is ruler's land, my patrimony. I give [a section of] twenty [brazas (about 40 yards)] wide to my nephew don Diego de San Gerónimo: he is to take it. What he is being given goes through to the other side, down below. Everything [else] located on it [the land] belongs to my wife doña Bárbara. Perhaps she will cultivate it or rent it; she is to decide. The second piece of land is hill land at the placed called Atlinepilohuayan, forty brazas square. I myself sold it, [but now] it belongs to doña Bárbara. The third is called Tlatzallan and is hill land. It is now occupied by Andrés de Santiago. Once and for all he is to take it, but first he is to present sixteen pesos for it and give this to my wife doña Bárbara. Next I mention my fields, lands here in Tepepan. There are nine of them: the first is Zacualpan, the second Olactzinco, the third Cuauhchiltonco, the fourth Ahuacacuauhyo, the fifth Yoatlica, the sixth Techialco, the seventh Tepetitlan, the eighth Cohuatepec, and the ninth Zacualpan Amilli. Each is really my field and land. My houses are on them. They are to take care of them. I also declare that my deceased child, don Diego Noquihuix, gave an irrigated field called Calnepantla to don Bartolomé; he really made it his [don Bartolomé's] property. It is twenty brazas square and located at Xalmomolocayan at a place called Lower Zapotitlan. His [don Diego's] grandparents gave him a second plot at the placed called Xochtlan Atlauhtzinco. It is not big, just small. All of this I am leaving to the noblewoman, my wife doña Barbara. No one is to take any of what I mentioned from her, for all of it if really my fields and land; it belongs to no one else. And I declare that I have one living illegitimate child named Juan Noquihuixtli whom I engendered with María of Calihuacan. Let my wife doña Bárbara take him and bring him up. And I mention everything that is kept here inside my residence: a horse, saddle and bridle, eight [Spanish-style] chairs, one log drum, one skin drum, one skin drum standing on the ground, three tables, and four large parrots. All of it is to belong to my wife. And [there are] eight large chests with latches and a ninth small one and three different little shields used for dancing. All of this I am leaving to my wife doña Barbara. She can decide whether or not she will sell them. And there are four feathered headdresses. And I name those who are to take care of my testament: my younger brother Francisco de San Pedro, Baltasar, and Lorenso de Sandoval. All three are to remind my wife doña Bárbara when the mass is to be said for me, and they are to take care of all my property and fields so that no one will take anything from my wife; they are to see to it. These are all the different things that I am setting in order in my testament. If another testament of mine should appear somewhere, or if someone has my word that I was to give something to him or her when I die, I cancel it all and it is to count as nothing. The only one which is to be carried out is the one I made today before witnesses. If this my testament is ever brought before the authorities, it is really with my voluntary will that I put it in order today, Wednesday the sixteenth of September 1579. In order that I verify it, with my own hand I affix my name and signature here: don Juan Jiménez. Here are written the names of all the witnesses before whom the testament was issued: The first is Toribio Acolnahuacatl; the second is Miguel de San Pedro of Metla; the third is Francisco de Chávez of Quecholactzinco; the fourth is Francisco de San Pedro; the fifth is Lorenzo de Sandoval. In order to verify it they make their signatures here: Don Toribio Acolnahuacatl, Francisco de Chávez, Francisco de San Pedro, Miguel de San Pedro, Lorenzo de Sandoval, Juan Méndez, notary. Here is what I, don Juan Jiménez, remembered afterwards in my testament. Non one at all is to violate it. No one who says something [to contest it] after me [after I have died] is to be believed at all if he or she appears before the authorities. Here I am finally concluding my testament. If someone goes around saying things after my death and not in my presence, his or her word is not to be believed. Everything which I put in my testament is really my property.
TESTAMENT OF JUAN BAUTISTA, CITIZEN OF SAN PEDRO ATLIYACAN, CUERNAVACA, 1640 University of Michigan, Clements Library Cuernavca Papers, fols. 114r-115r 114r/ Jesus, Mary, and Joseph Here are the names of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Let it be done, Amen. Here I set down my memorial testament, I who am named Juan Bautista, of my district [tlaxillacalli] of Atliyacan, [where] I am registered on behalf of my precious father, the Saint San Pedro. This is how I set down my testament here: If my ruler God wants something for my benefit if I die, I forsake all property or goods. I leave my precious soul entirely in the hands of my deity [noteotzin], my ruler God [notlatocatzin dios]. But I just consign my earth and clay [i.e. body] to the earth and clay, since it emerged from them; again it is to enter them. As to how my tomb is to be opened, I do not have an offering. My wife knows about it; just somehow on my behalf four pesos is to be loaned [for it]. Here I am verifying it. 1 The first thing I say: I am leaving this house, for my wife and I built it together; we are leaving it to our children, Juan de Ramos and Gaspar Agustín, if God gives them strength. May they never quarrel about it, nor [the older one] not love his younger brother. They are to divide the house: On the west our older brother Juan de Ramos is to take it; and on the east his older one [tetlanicauh] is to take it. 2 The second thing I say: [The older brother] is to divide two big cloaks [capa] and two stick baskets [quauhchiquihui{tl}] with his younger brother. They are each to take one. And [he] is also to divide three metates they find with his younger brother. 3 The third thing I say concerning our precious father, the Saint San Pedro: They are to take it, those who they are to elect [ixquetza] each year, those who are alcaldes and regidores of the Barrio of San Pedro. For they are to establish it, they are to respect him each year. And then the obligation to provide an offering is to be erased by the / 114v / assignment of land on his [San Pedro's] behalf; he has land which is non-irrigated land at Tianquiztenco Teliuhcan at a site called Ahuehuetitlan. From the edge of it [the land] it [the boundary] goes along, beginning next to the hill called Izhauntecotzin. It ascends straight to where it emerges at Ocotepec, straight towards Cuautla [or "toward the forest"], [which is how] the land of San Pedro is laid out upon which the people of Tianquistenco and Teliuhcan serve. Then there is Ocotepc. They are to explain where the lands of the Saint San Pedro and the land of Atliyaca, also dedicated to the Saint San Pedro, is laid out to all of those assigned to it; this land is non-irrigated land. It also comes out there at Ocotepec, emerging next to the land of the Xalteca at San Miguel [Arch]angel, in front of Tetepango, so that we go to Ocotepec, ascending straight towards the forest [or "towards Cuauhtlan"]. And he has other lands: Acxotenca land, also non-irrigated land, at Olactzinco. This land also belongs to the Saint San Pedro. It departs at Amecaltenco next to a barranca at Tlapan in the west where there is a corral [tepancalli], and it goes to meet them next to Oztoquaticpac in the east next to a large canal [or aqueduct = apantli]. You are to look for a cave where the land of the Saint San Pedro begins; it goes straight to the road where the people of the Saint San Lorenzo are. There in front of it [the road] it comes out straight towards the forest [or "towards Cuauhtla"], and then to where the children of the Saint San Pedro are. They are to explain it to them, they are to speak about all the many of his lands, where they are located, however much was sold. Our grandfathers just foretold [or perhaps litigated?] about the land of the Saint San Pedro, the Acxoteca land. And the community [comunidad], the alcaldes and regidores who serve in the barrio of San Pedro are never to pursue a lawsuit about the Axcotla land. And I have a large piece of land / 115r /; I owned it [onictencococahui], I cultivated it. I am leaving it to my children Juan de Ramos and Gaspar Agustín; I am giving it to them, [and] they are to serve on it. No one is to evict them. They are to serve on it if God will give them strength. No one is to evict them, [but if] someone speaks about it they are to litigate about it. I conclude my memorial testament just here, I Juan Bauhtista, and my witnesses, Don Baltasar de Santa María de Valeriano, fiscal of the Holy Church, Don Juan de San Lázaro, alcalde, Don Baltasar Luis, alguacil mayor, Don Juan Bauhtista, notary, Don Diego Tezozomoctzin. Thus it is true, we people of the barrio, in the year of 1640.
LAND AND OTHER POSSESSIONS IN THE TESTAMENT OF MARTA MIS, IXIL, YUCATAN, 1769 From Matthew Restall. Life and Death in a Maya Community: The Ixil Testaments of the 1760s (1995), 178-180
I whom am batab, with the lieutenant and magistrates and regidores and notary of the court in the cah governed by the blessed St. Barnabus, patron here, now take a copy of the will of Marta Mis, who died on 14 of October, 1769, so as to show its arrangement to our lord judge, our great commanding lord, the halach uinic. In the name of God the father and God the son and God the holy trinity, on true God almighty. It will be seen, the document of my testament, inasmuch as I who am Marta Mis, the daughter of Nicolás Mis and the child of Marta Tun, residents here beside the cah of the blessed St. Barnabus of Ixil. Likewise, I supplicate our blessed lord the Padre Guardian that he say one small recited mass; six tomins and two tomins for Jerusalem. Likewise, he shall send up for me a prayer in the mass, so nothing delays my soul in the suffering of purgatory. Thus I divide up the property that is mine. Likewise, one well with the house-plot that goes with it, jointly-inherited with my husband, Roque Yam; thus I now give it to my children, Gaspar Yam and Nicolás Yam and María Yam, Agustín Yam, Manuel Yam, their joint property. Likewise, as for Sebastian Yam, [document damaged] house-plot with its well [document damaged] to Sebastian Chim, his inheritance forever. Likewise, one chest, which I give to my children Gaspar Yam and Agustín Yam; it is theirs both together. Likewise, I give one house-door to my children Nicolás yam and Martín Yam; for them both together. Likewise, as for my daughter, Agustina Yam, I've left her nothing, because she and her husband do nothing on my account, as m'lord the batab and magistrates well know; she has no shame, that one. Likewise, I give one petticoat to my husband, Roque Yam; I leave one dress to my daughter-in-law, María Pech. Likewise, one forest-plot, which is at Tan, I leave to my children--all six together. I inherited it from my father, in his will; it was his joint property. Bonifacio Cob and Josef Mis are to the west, Cristóbal Hucim to the north. One forest that is on the Baca road I leave in the hands of my children, the joint property of all six; Pasqual Coba is on the east, Josef Mis to the north, Diego Pech to the west, Diego Pech to the north. And our Holy Virgin is the inheritance of Nicolás Yam. No more; the end of my statement in my will. I appoint one nobleman, Josef Cob, as executor; he shall take care of the mass request for my soul. Before m'lord the batab and magistrates: Capitán Don Ignacio Tec, batab; Juan Pech, alcalde; Francisco May, alcalde; Pasqual Canche, Pasqual Na, Nicolás Euan, Antonio Kinil, regidores Alonso Cob, notary. Our signatures affirm the truth regarding this forest that Nicolás Yam sold to Ambrocio Tun; it is to the north of the cah; on its approach to the cah, it is five thousand varas, by eight hundred varas; this is a true statement of measurement. This is the will as it was arranged. This is the truth; we give our signatures here below, today 8 of July of 1807. Estéban Tep, batab; Juan de la Cruz Chan, lieutenant; Pedro Mis, Pedro Pan, alcaldes; Estéban Cutz, Pablo Chale, Juan Gaspar Chan, Marcelo Matu, regidores.
INVESTIGATION AND JUDGEMENT IN A LAND DISPUTE, CUERNAVACA, C. 1572 Archivo General de la Nación, Tierras vol. 1962, exp. 8, fol. 23r
[157]2 V Pedro Mexicatl of Tecpan died twelve years ago leaving both of his children [behind], Francisca Xoco [and] María Tlaco. Their noble land [pillalli]. Their noble land.
I, don Toribio de San Martín Cortés, governor by the order of our ruler His Magesty, etc. Both women, named Francisco Xoco and the second María Tlaco, appeared here before me. That which they atated was that it has already been twelve years since their father, Pedro Mexicatl, noble, died. He left an irrigated field located at Texclatitlan; it has been noble land [pillalli] for a long time. He left it to [his daughters]. But a young man took it from them; it has been three years since Diego Hernández, also of the barrio of Tecpan, took it. He is not a noble, just a calpuleque. The I asked the elders of Tecpan, they who care for the barrio, about it. They verified that [the land] was truly noble land which [the women's] father Pedro Mexicatl left to them. And then I asked a topile named Juan of Cuernavaca of the district of Tlachquenco about it, who had gone to measure the land. The field is eighteen [quauitl] long and fifteen [quahuitl] wide. And as to the second piece, it is just a little one measuring five and a half quahuitl long and for and a half quahuitl wide. Now by my orders I restrain the young man because it is not comunity land [calpullalli], it is land of a noble house [tecpillalli]. I grant it to the women Francisca Xoco and María Tlaco, for it is really their property, their noble land, which their father and grandfather left to them. No one is ever to take it from them. In oreter that I verify it here, I set down my name and my signature. don Toribio de San Martín Cortés
MARÍA MAGDALENA OF THE COYOACAN AREA SELLS SOME LAND, 1579 From Rebecca Horn, "Postconquest Coyoacan: Aspects of Indigenous Sociopolitical and Economic Organization in Central Mexico, 1550-1650," Ph.D. dissertation, UCLA, 1989, 323-324
I am María Magdalena, widow, whose home is in Omac Tetitlan. As to how I mention this and name myself, I state that I sell my land which is really my property, my possession. It is not anyone else's land. My late husband, Pedro Sánchez, who died, and I both bought it. And for this reason entirely by my will I now sell it to Señor Francisco [de] Olarte and his wife, Señora María de Bardo. And we agreed that he receives my land at Tlauhtonco, twenty-five quahuitl wide and thirty quahuitl long.... And he gives me twenty pesos in cash, at which the price of my land is set, of the same width and length that I mentioned above. And I receive it and take the money voluntarily. To the east [the land] abuts on Francisco Mejía, citizen of Omac. An now it is already the land of Señor Francisco [de] Olarte, it is his purchased land. And in the west it abuts on Miguel Hernández, citizen of Omac. And toward Mexico City it reaches as far as the road that goes straight to Tlacopac. And towards Quauhtla it abuts on my field which still belongs to me and I am not yet selling the other half, as much as I said above that I am selling. Since it is done voluntarily that I sell it, my children will not make objections, for it is not their land, their property that I am selling. And never again will I go back on my word nor complain. If it happens that I complain, that I go back on my word, then I will pay five pesos in cash, which will belong to the law officers. And if the buyers of the land complain, they will also pay the same way. And I verify our aforementioned agreement [and] my statement before my children Gabriel Moysén, my son-in-law, and his wife, María Magdalena, and my niece Juana Beatriz, who heard my statement by which I sell my land, today in the month of April, the twenty-first, in the year 1579. I verified it; it was done before me, Agustín de Galicia, notary.
A NOBLE WIFE AND HUSBAND JOINTLY RENT OUT LAND, CUERNAVACA, 1586. Archivo General de la Nación, México, Civil volume 1103, exp. 8, folio 67r We say it, Don Diego de San Lucas and Doña María Cortés, my wife. It is quite true that we are renting our lot upon which our neighbor Agustín worked. [It is] next to the house of Gabriel de Chávez. [We rent it] to Señor Melchor Hernández de la Barrera for as long as God wishes that they [his family] live. This is what we agreed: Each year he is to make a payment of four tomines, which is what Agustín used to give each year. And he voluntarily delivered into our hands three pesos, which is the rental on the lot for six years. And in order that our agreement will be verified, so that we will never be punished, we make our signatures and signs here at Cuernavaca on the 12th day of June, 1586. Witnesses: García de Alcala, Pedro Hernández de la Barrera, and Gabriel Tecpanecatl. Don Diego de San Lucas, Doña María Cortés. I am a witness, García de Alcala [his own signature].
SELLING LAND TO THE SPANISH: CUERNAVACA, 1608 Archivo General de la Nación, México, Hospital de Jesús leg. 210
Today in the villa of Cuernavaca, on the eighth day of the month of October, 1608; in the presence of the rulers don Baltasar García Cortés, governor.... In the rulers' presence they verified that they sold Diego de Benavides [a Spaniard], citizen of Cuernavaca, four lots in the Tianquiztenco district.... Two of the lots and an old house were the residence and noble's land of Pedro de Chávez, who with his wife and children are now all dead; none of them are left. But they died with a large debt in money and they had not paid the tribute they owed. We sold his house and noble's land for twenty pesos, so that it [the debt] will be taken care of and paid.... The other two lots are district land, which had been the inheritance of Baltasar Bautista and Juan Huitznahuatl. They are selling them [the lots] because they are just full of trees and grass, [and because] the commoners of the district have died; there is no longer one of them left anywhere.... It is being sold because it is no longer a good place, but difficult, and because a large amount of tribute incumbent upon the district can be repaid.... He [the Spaniard Benavides] takes the land once and for all. We give it to him and it will belong to him, his children, and whoever descends from him. We will never ask him for it; we relinquish it to him once and for all.
PETITION ABOUT THE POSSESSION OF LAND FROM THE ELDERS OF JOJUTLA, TEOCALTZINGO, NEXPA, TETECALA, TLAQUILTENANGO, TLAYAHUALCO, TZINCATLACOTLA, AND ZACATEPEC, CUERNAVACA REGION, C. 1619 Archivo General de la Nación, México, Hospital de Jesús leg. 266, exp. 6, fols. 40r-41r May our lord God strengthen you, our child Pedro Luis de Lorea, lieutenant [to the alcalde mayor]. We urgently implore you, we your fathers who are here in your altepetl of San Miguel Jojutla, San Juan Bautista Teocaltzingo, San Gaspar Nexpa, Santa María de la Asunción Tetecala, Santo Domingo Tlaquiltenango, San Martín Tlayahualco, Santo Domingo Tzincatlacotla, and Santiago Zacatepec. V Here is what we are relating to you about our suffering and worry about some land. We produce this before you. What will you desire, since you already know that Spaniards want to take the land? And now we your fathers petition before you, for we do not want Spaniards to settle among us. You see that all the land here is entirely our land from which our children are aided. And since our fathers and grandfathers left it to us, from there we get our tribute and everything [else] you desire of us. But if our lord the Marqués [del Valle] gives the land to [other] people then all of the commoners will run away. Who will pay all the tribute? The towns of our ruler the Marqués are already suffering. And who will fulfill the Taxco [labor] tribute when all the commoners have run away, taking their goods which they make with them somewhere? Who will pay for all of the community? They [Spaniards] are already making us nobles suffer. With this we petition in our presence. May you issue an order on our behalf and also may you help us, your vassals. But if you do not want to issue a document on our behalf, may you inform our ruler the king about it. Let him forcefully issue a document about this on our behalf; let him help us, your vassals.
V And here is our second worry concerning our precious father Fray Gerónimo de Contreras, vicar of all the churches. He wants to assign the land [i.e. usurp it]. We do not want this, for it is our fields and lands from which we get our tribute and all that we need. And on Holy Thursday our precious father wrote a petition. We do not know what he did; it is just a lie that we signed it. We do not know what was done. We said nothing about it; we reject it, for it was not done with our permission. Now we are petitioning about this before you. May you help your vassals. We strongly implore you, all of your vassals, we nobles. We set down our signatures and names here: Don Pedro de Mendoza, governor; don Juan de Cozma [?], governor; don Diego Hernández, governor; don Deigo López, governor; don Gaspar de Sevilla, governor; don Miguel de Cozma, governor; don Francisco Juárez, governor; don Esteban Cortés, governor; don Gaspar López, fiscal; Melchor Sánchez, principal; don Diego Jiménez, fiscal; don Bernardo Balnava [?], pilli, don Francisco de Santiago; don Diego Hernández.
INVESTIGATION, SURVEY, AND DISTRIBUTION OF LAND, OLLAC, CUERNAVACA, JUNE 17, 1620 University of Michigan, Clements Library Cuernavaca Papers, fols. 120r-v 120r/ I, don Diego de Mendoza, I am the governor, with don Francisco de Santiago Cortés, [and] all of us alcaldes ordinarios: We see to justice [justicia] by the order and rulership of the very honored Lord Don Pedro Cortés, Marqués del Valle, etc. Here into our presence came the elders, youths, and inhabitants of the district of Ollac. They came here into our presence with a petition asking about the land of Ollac, non-irrigated land [tlalhuactli], the companion of the townsite and all the irrigated fields [amilli]. All of the lots and all the irrigated fields have already come out and were given [i.e. were distributed]; they [the people of Ollac] already have it. But as to the non-irrigated land, they were not really granted it the first time they petitioned before Don Baltasar García, former governor, and all the alcaldes who had the power of justice in the altepetl. They worked at it like this: The were ordered in another document [amatl] that remaining irrigated land [could] still have an offering/fee entered. Then they conferred; a long time ago the elders conferred: Gabriel Tepannecatl, Diego Mexcohuacalcatl, [and] Miguel Huitznahuatl. They really know about it and verify that it is land of Ollac; they answered and said that it is just not true that it is ruler's fields [tlatocamilli]. So we took it before God, and like this testified before the Gobernador del Estado Don Gerónimo Leardo and the Secretary Rafael de Santiago. Because of this they verified it, so they granted all the things, the land and the irrigated fields, to the Ollac elders and the youths. So today they came before us to petition about the non-irrigated land, its companion going along [i.e. the non-irrigated land is another part of the total landbase], and thus the rulers were ordered [to inquire] about just how it was possessed. Now this is how they petitioned before us. Then just like this we went there and spoke to [iuhnah?] an old man, an alcalde named Juan Bautista Atlamacane. We appointed him, we left it in his hands and [to] our topile Miguel Tecpanecatl of Acapantzinco, how they are to see about it and give and account of all of the non-irrigated land. So they measured it: as to its length at Ocotepec, it is 66 quahuitl long; as to its width, it is 10 quahuitl. And that located at Tetlapechco, the Chia field [or "at Chiyamilpa"], it is 260 [quahuitl]; as to with is it 30 [quahuitl]. As to how the 120v/ quahuitl were measured: 2 [matl] and 1 bone [omitl]. Then it was distributed and divided among all of the elders and youths; everything was taken by everyone, each person. Today this is how we order and verify what the elders and youths of Ollac petition. We grant it to them once and for all, we conclude as the honored rulers ordered [when] it appeared before the Gobernador del Estado don Gerónimo Leardo and the Secretary Rafael de Santiago. Once and for all we conclude it. No one is to say collectively [and] begin [or attack it with] a lawsuit. Thus as the first order was set down, also thus we order that whoever will attack it as it is stated, then it will be acted upon by the great justicia [Viceroy?], because [someone] is just scorning this official order. We conclude it here and set down our names and our signatures. We verify that this document was done today, Wednesday, the 17th of June, 1620. Don Diego de Mendoza, Don Juan de Santiago Cortés, Juan Baptista, alcalde, Juan de Rivas, alcalde, Juan González, alcalde. Before me, Esteban de la Cruz, notary. Here we begin the measuring of the Ollac land next to the walls [tetepantech?]: Concerning it, it goes emerging at the Xalteca field, goes straight to Aoncotla Atlanmaxac called Atecpan field; it is Ollac land which begins at Tetlapechco. And really there at Cacalla [the various habitations or townsite] all of it comes to an end. Today the Quecholla land is divided, it is distributed by the Calpuleque as it is variously manifested/appears.
LAND OF OLLAC, CUERNAVACA, C. 1620 University of Michigan, Clements Library Cuernavaca Papers, Fols. 119r-v
119r/ The irrigated field at Xayacapechco: As to length it is 110 [quahuitl]; as to width it is 35 [quahuitl]. 119v/ The non-irrigated land at Ocotepec is 66 [quahuitl] long and 20 [quahuitl] wide. The non-irrigated land at Chiyamilpa is 260 long and 30 wide.
DESCRIPTION OF LAND AT CALNAHUAC, OLLAC, CUERNAVACA, JUNE 18, 1620 University of Michigan, Clements Library Cuernavaca Papers, fol. 118r
The land of Ollactzinco Huaxtla Calnahuac begins here: An avocado tree stands there at the highway [huey otli] divided in the middle by the eruption of a barranca. [It goes] straight below to Atenatla, going to end where there is a Copal tree, emerging at the edge of the Xalteca field [or place of the stony field], then in the west straight to the Texco[]li barranca coming along straight to end next to the Tepaneca field, where there was [an image of?] our precious savior [totlasotemaquiticatzin], our lord Jesus Christ. In the midst of the Tecpaneca land it abuts the land of Huaxtla Calnahuac. It goes straight to Quapechco, at the end of the community fields [comonidalmiltenco]. It comes out in the midst of the Xalteca land [tlacohuaticpac?], in from of the site of Calnahuaca land. From there the Caltenca departed; when it [their settlement] was moved they went to Caltenco; they moved it [their settlement]. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was at Xaltelpan, offered it to the Cohuax people. They came down and built a hut [xacaltia] there with many lamentations. For this reason they added to it [the land]; all were supported by a quantity of land, so that we settled on the Ollac land. I am writing today on Wednesday, the 18th of June, 1620. Don Diego de Mendoza, Don Juan González, alcalde, Don Juan Bautista, alcalde, Don Juan Corvibas [?], alcalde. Before me, Esteban de la Cruz, notary.
PETITION ABOUT LAND LOST IN THE CONGREGACIÓN PROCESS FROM THE COUNCIL OF IZTOLUCA, CUERNAVACA REGION, 1722 Archivo General de la Nación, México, Hospital de Jesús leg. 90, exp. 4
Here in the town of San Miguel Tlaltizapan: We belong to another altepetl called San Pedro y San Pablo Iztoluca. With low bowing we appear before our Lord God and likewise before our great ruler the king, our lord, and the Marqués [del Valle]. We are appearing about our town and our land which they made us leave when the congregación was made; they moved our grandfathers and grandmothers, our mothers and fathers. Now we no longer have anyplace to plant maize here in Tlaltizapan. We are just being helped by this: On two sides of the river there are estates, the ingenio of Temilpan and the trapiche of Acamilpa. When we plant maize thee we pay [the estates] rent, tithe, and first fruits. But now we know and declare that there is a Spaniard named Josef Olivarez at the old site of Iztoluca. We want to know who gave it to him? Who does he pay for that land? Now we have no land upon which to support ourselves, but nevertheless we [must] pay tribute and we [must] do rotary labor tribute at the mines [of Taxco]. Now we declare that this year, in May, we want to go to plant maize there at the old site of Iztoluca. And we declare that we do not have titles because they were lost long ago. Compose it for us, our great ruler; give us that land and realize that this Josef Olivarez has been on our land for thirteen years. We made this document honestly and all of us affix our signatures here: Don Jacinto Pablo, governor, don Juan Nicolás, former alcalde, and all of the town notables. I Juan Antonio, notary, wrote it today, Saturday the fifth of December, 1722.
TWO COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE TAXCO MINE LABOR DRAFT, ANALCO AND TLAPALLAN, CUERNAVACA, C. 1607 Archivo General de la Nación, México, Hospital de Jesús leg. 210, exps. 46 and 47
Exp. 47: May the lord our God give you his precious health, you who are our ruler, Señor don Jerónimo Leardo, governor for the Marqués. We your humble vassals, the nobles of our calpulli of Analco, are appearing here in your regal presence. Here is what we are appearing in your regal presence about: It concerns all of the things we do, each one of our labor tribute [obligations]. They [the tributaries] do not carry out the Taxco labor tribute, the labor tribute for Spaniards, or the community labor service. They just live in idleness and pretend to be nobles. They have increased us [the number of nobles] on the census record. First, a person [named] Bartolomé and his son Lázaro, as well as the people who live in their home: Both of them keep these people in idleness and do not help anywhere. They are on the land of the Marqués, upon which work is carried out. Let us know that if they do not help with something [tribute service] then they are to leave the land and the common people will enter it [instead] and put the tribute, the maize, and the pasturage in order. We ask for your authority; let us know if they have a judgement that they do not have to do any tribute labor. The second thing that we tell you about concerns the document that you saw two years ago in Mexico City. Don Francisco did not obey it, how we are to provide two hired workers, one of whom we are to give to don Diego [and] one to the altepetl [Cuernavaca]. But now there are three whom we provide, two of whom we give to don Diego. May we now give him only one. Now there are two people who just live next to him [don Diego] whom he pretends are nobles, but their obligation is for all the labor tribute. We already give him two hired workers. And they do nothing at the place where he keeps both of them. We have entire confidence in you. Let the document be shown in your regal presence, for we have distributed it [the labor] like this for two years. The third thing we tell you about concerns the salt workers, for you ordered that they are to go to Taxco and that all the tradesman are to go to Taxco. This is that about which we, your humble vassals of the calpulli of Analco, the youths [nobles], came to appear in your regal presence. We have great confidence in you. Francisco de Santiago, Baltasar de San Miguel, Juan de San Francisco, and Juan Payn.
Exp. 46: May our lord God strengthen you, honored ruler. Perhaps your precious father God has granted you good health? You have heard many things about our suffering; may you verify all that has been petitioned about it. It is our desire that the elders and their children who see to the tribute of our lord the Marqués be excused from it [the Taxco labor tribute]. For this reason, other are to come out for it, including those who work at the church. And the butcher [of the church] also, so that he does the Taxco tribute, which he never does, nor does he do any other labor tribute [work]. We won't bother you any longer about what we are telling you, honored ruler. Let it be verified so that we will suffer no longer. Give us your order. That's all our statement. May our lord God be with you. We, the nobles of Tlapallan, wrote it. We greatly honor you. Francisco de San Francisco, Gaspar de Lucas, Baltasar de San Juan, and Diego Sánchez.
AN ATTEMPT TO SWITCH ETHNICITIES, CUERNAVACA, C. 1607 Archivo General de la Nación, México, Hospital de Jesús leg. 210, exp. 31
May our lord God give you [good] health; may your precious mother, the eternal maiden [the Virgin Mary] console you forever. I, Cristobal de la Cruz, am appearing before you; I came before you about the tribute work, my going to Taxco. I have a license to raise flowers at Tlalnepantla. But they [local town officers] want me to do the [Taxco] labor tribute. And the Spaniards here in Cuernavaca really make fun of me when I meet them, because they recognize me, they know who my father was. As if my father was not a Spaniard, I go along being burdened by service to the town government. I am doing all the work that the common indigenous people do. It has been at least three months that they have be giving me tribute work. Because of it I am truly shamed as far as the Spaniards are concerned. You have heard all of my humble words. I kiss you precious hands. What is your desire? I request a license, perhaps I will be empowered with you aid to me, with your order that the rulers no longer summon me about all the tribute labor. Since I am [living] on the land of the Marqués I will give him his tribute [in money and goods]; I will not forsake it. If I am to be empowered, [if] you will help me, I am to attain your judgement that the nobles [and] elders will no longer summon me. That's all you are hearing [with] my bowing down. May God forever grant you his peace. That's all of my statement you are hearing. I, your humble servant, Cristobal de la Cruz.
RESISTANCE TO THE TAXCO MINE REPARTIMIENTO, OTLIPAN, CUERNAVACA, C. 1607 Archivo General de la Nación, México, Hospital de Jesús leg. 210, exp. 28
May our lord God grant you his precious, revered health, you [who are our] lord and ruler, Señor don Jerónimo Leardo, governor of the Marqués. You came here to his town to help us. Here it that about which we came into your lordly presence: We the nobles of Otlipan have already appeared once before about our suffering [in the] Taxco labor tribute, as you saw in the petition from each of us tributaries. You said that another two people are to come from the youths who are cantores, since eight of them live there at the church of our calpulli of Otlipan. There are several living there who are already grown up. These two came out [for the tribute service]: One was a youth named Diego, and the other was his older brother named Juan Hernández, who was a cook at the church. Then our precious father the Guardián asked him why his brother Diego comes out [for the labor service]. And right away he [the older brother] went to usurp our authority, and brought him [the youth Diego] before the Guardián. Thereupon he [the Guardián] hit him [the youth]; he whipped him repeatedly; he spun him around repeatedly. [The Guardián said ?] that his duty is to work at the church for two months. Revered ruler, this is what we have come to you about, because we are concerned about how he is to help us through the labor tribute. And there is something more about those who already work there [at the church]. We petition about whether or not they should really come out; may you see whether someone is able to sing or read or play musical instruments, for which reason someone will be excused. And concerning these adults, you are to make a statement about it and let them come out, for there is a large amount of tribute labor that is done now. He [the youth Diego] has been locked up [in the church?]. This child has a father who sings and plays drums. Let him [the father] continue to do the duty instead of giving the tribute duty to his child. Help us, our ruler, about this which is in our petition appearing in your regal presence. But if they arrest us again behind your back we will appear before you again. This is really what the cook says: "The Marqués will not always be here; he will just go away, so that we will continue to work for him at the church." This person, named Gabriel de [San] Rafael, should have gone to Taxco according to your order about how they [two church workers] were to come out [to do labor tribute], but now he violate it and does not go. Now we bring it up; this is all about which we come before you. We cannot help ourselves in any way, because though they should have come, they did not go to Taxco. May you see to the truth. We have entire confidence in you, we the nobles who revere you very much. Baltasar Motolinía, Francisco Juárez, Martín Jacobo, and Esteban de la Cruz.
ANNALS FROM TLAQUILTENANGO, CUERNAVACA REGION, C. 1712 Archivo General de la Nación, México, Hospital de Jesús leg. 115, exp. 37
-1590: In this year the friars came here to the villa of Santo Domingo, the cabecera of Tlaquiltenango. -1604: In this year the congregación was made under the charge of don Gaspar de los Reyes, gobernador juez. -1617: In this year the construction was bung on the church at San Miguel Tlaltizapan. A comet appeared when don Juan Domingo ruled as gobernador juez. 1640: In this year a cross was purchased. It was when don Miguel Nicolás ruled as gobernador juez. -1661: In this year the Holy Cross was made. Don Lucas de Santiago ruled as gobernador juez. -1665: Don Melchor Juárez ruled in this year. -1671: In this year Santa María Rosa appeared. It was when don Domingo Méndez ruled as gobernador juez. -1674: Don Juan de San Pedro ruled in this year as gobernador juez. -1678: This was the year that don Juan de Gaona ruled as gobernador juez. -1681: In this year an altar piece was built in the house of the Holy Sacrament of Tlaquiltenango. don Francisco Miguel was gobernador juez. -1685: Don Pedro López ruled in this year. He became gobernador juez. -1687: In this year the main door of the monastery was built. This was when don Domingo Miguel was gobernador juez. -1691: In this year there was an eclipse of the sun on the eve of the day of San Bartolomé. Don Diego Molares ruled as [gobernador] juez. -1693: In this year a processional cross was made under the charge of don Francisco Gaona, gobernador juez. -1694: In this year a person was thrown down a ravine at Quapanco. Forty pesos was paid [as restitution?]. Don Domingo Miguel ruled as gobernador juez. -1695: In this year a tecalpoqui [?] came under the charge of don Francisco Miguel, gobernador juez. -1698: IN this year don Domingo Miguel ruled as gobernador juez. -1700: In this year a bell was installed in the monastery at Tlaquiltenango. It was when don Francisco Gaona ruled as gobernador juez. -1706: In this year don Gaspar Miguel ruled as gobernador juez. -1708: Don Diego Landa ruled as gobernador juez. -1711: In this year an organ was purchased [for the monastery church]. This was when don Miguel Diego ruled as gobernador juez.
PRIMORDIAL TITLES OF CHIAMILPA Archivo General de la Nación, México, Hospital de Jesús vol. 79, exp. 4, fols. 121r-124v
124r/ I, Don Baltesar de la Cruz, and Don Mateo de Santiago, and all the nobles and elders as well as our grandfathers, collectively set down our statement concerning the lands named with our altepetl, our property and our patrimonial land, and our monte [Zacamolli] here at the place called San Lorenzo Chiamilpan. [Here is] where the boundaries are laid out: It begins here at the highway were there is a big barranca at the place called Olacatzinco, going toward Xiuhtepec. It turns where there is a cross at the highway going to Mexico City. In the east it rises towards Ytzotictlan were there is a small hill called Xacaltepetontli [or "the little shack hill"] where there was a place called Xolocotepetl [or "maize stalk place hill"]. And there at a place called Meyaltonco it comes down to where there is a fountain/spring [meyalli]. At Ocotenco it comes to break where there is a Tzompantli tree in the east, descending at a little barranca where there is a cross. It goes down at a cypress tree, where there is a spring. It goes to a place [called] Tepanapan from where water is taken [cona atla? -- left out of Spanish translation, fol. 123r] at a hill. It rises to where there is a small hill, turning at the narrow road/path/trail which goes to Mexico City, and at Ahuacatitlan it turns where there is a church at two barrios and 16 crosses and roads. They are never to be lost; no one is to destroy them. Whoever is to care for the crosses is to take care of them for us both night and day so that they will never be lost until the end of the world. The church was built in the presence of all the nobles, all of whom helped with its construction. We [helped] with [with the collection of] all the tribute of our great ruler Cortés and our ruler the King and [how] they [the people of Chiamilpa] were gathered and became Christians. Because of this he gave us our patrimonial land, because we immediately received the faith. 124v / This is where the boundaries are laid out. It was here in the presence of Don Toribio Cortés that our patrimonial land was measured; it was in the presence of all the nobles that our land was measured. And the elders have their patrimonial land in the altepetl, and it was here in the presence of all of them that our property and his [sic = probably "their" intended] property was measured, in the presence of Don Toribio, Don Baltasar García, Don Mateo Cortés, Don Nicolás Gregorio, Don Pedro Cortés, and all of our grandfathers and elders. No one is it say anything about it nor dispute it, for it was measured in their presence. Here we set it down truthfully and our empowerment/authority will become our protection. Is someone tries to take our patrimonial land from us, there our justicia will heed us and protect us. We set it down here in the month of October on the 20th [day] of the year that the nobles were gathered when the Faith arrived and they became Christians [may just mean "in the year of our Lord,"] in the year 1592. Don Baltesar de la Cruz Don Toribio Cortés, governor Don Baltesar García, governor Don Mateo Cortés, governor Don Nicolás Gregorio Don Pedro Cortés, governor
In the small barranca where there are two amate trees in the west at the Calvario where our God rests which has a cross and 11 oaks and a rose bush. The people of Te[c]pan, Don Bartolomé de Santiago. The people of Olac, Don Domingo de la Cruz. San Pedro Techachalco, Don Felipe de Santiago. The property of Don Lázaro Díaz is in the East where it is on a cultivated area with a cross and a wall there at a small hill on a road were there is a corral where oxen/cattle were enclosed, there at a small barranca where there is an amate tree. 122r/ Here all of us set down our authority, which is dome with this our coat-of-arms [pictured on the bottom of the page] composed for us by our great ruler. We will be protected by it forever. Today we write it here; all of us nobles set it down here, we will be protected here; no one is to say anything about it. Also we of the calpulli helped build the church of Quauhnahuac. It was done here; we set it down truthfully that we served our God [teotl]. In the presence of Don Fernando Cortés the various boundaries were measured there. And when our great King Charles V entered we served him with it, and we also came out when the various borders of the altepetl were measured. The people were here when Mexico City was flooded in the year 1662. And when the years were put in order [i.e. when an annal was composed?] in the presence of all the nobles and Don Pedro Cuaximatzin, the conquest was [dated in?] 386.
PRIMORDIAL TITLES OF CHIAMILPA Archivo General de la Nación, México, Hospital de Jesús vol. 79, exp. 4, fols. 121r-124v
Nahuatl Text:
121r/ Nehuatl D balteçar de la cruz yhuan D Matheo de S.tiago yhuan mochintin pipiltin yhuan huehueque [sic] yhuan tocolhuan tozepanian titlalia [sic] totlatol ytechcacopa tlallie motone[hua] ynic tonaltepeltl [sic] y nica toaxca y totlalnemac yhua totzacamol motenahua S lorenço chanmilpan yn campa tlantoc quaxotztlie Nican pehua hui [sic] otli y canpa ca hue [sic] atlautli huila xutepeque motenehua otlactzingo oncan ca cruz + tlamalacacholhua hui [sic] otli huilohua mexico yn iquitzaian tonalie yau tlecos Ytzotietlan onpa cae se tepetltontli motenehua xacaltepetltontli onpa ca omotenehua xolocotepetl yhua in capa motenehua meyaltonco huitztemos y canpa ca maeyalie ocotenco huitz poztequiez canpa ca sse çonpantlie huiez yn iquitzaian tonalie temo yn canpa ca atlautontli onpa ca cruz + yau temos y canpa ca ahuehuetl onpa molonie atlal[] yau in canpa ca ttepanapan yn canpan cona altla yn tepetl huitz tlecoz canpa ca ttepetltontli tlamalacachoa otli pitzatli hualhuilohua mexico yahua ahuacatitlan tlamalacachoa yn capa ca teopantlie ocan ca ome barrio + yhuan caxtolie yhuan setle cruz yhuan otli cay [sic = ca ayc] polihuitz yac [sic = ayac] aquien quiixietinis [sic] aquie moquitlahuitz yn cruz techmoquitlahuia ynic ca tonalie yhuan yohualie ay [sic = ayc] polihuitz atzta [hasta] tlamis ssemanahua ca ytla ixpan pipiltin omochio yn teopantlie nochintin otllapalehuieque yca omochio y teopantlie tehuan yca mochie ttequitl tohuitlatocatzin cortes yhuan totlatocatzin Rei yhuan motzentlalique omochique critianos nica ynon otechmomaquilieteo totlalnemac yn ipanpa niman otictzelique y tlaneltoquiliztli / 121v / yni canpa tlalton [sic] quaxoxtli y nica itla ixpa D torivio cortes omotlamachio [sic = tamachiuh] y totllalnemac [sic] yhuan yn itla ixpan nochintin pipiltin omotlamachiu y totlal yhua y huehuetzin quipia yntlalnemac ypan altepetl y nica ynon itla ixpan mochintin omotlamachiuh yn toaxca yhuan yaxca ytla ixpan D toriuio d.o baltaça gar[cia] D.o matheo cortes d.o nicolas gregorio d.o P.o cortes yhuan mochin tocolhuan huehueque ay aqui tlen quitos noço chalanies ca yn itla ixpan omotlamachio Nican titlali neltiliztli yhuan tochicahualis mochihuas yca timopalehuitzque y aquien techqui[xti]liz totllalnemac honca toJusticia techchitil[--] techpalehuitz y nican titlalia mextli otobrepan ssenpohualie manic 20 ypan xihuitlli omossentlanlique pipiltin yn iquac ocalac yn tlaneltoquiliztlli omochique critztianos año de 1592 años D.o baltaçar de la cruz calvario canpa mozehuia yn totzie d.o toriuio cortes g.o quipia cruz + yhuan matlatli yhua d.o balteçar garcia g.o zetl ahuatl yhua se xexochil d.o matheo cortes g.o ------------------------------------ d.o nicolas gregorio ------------------------ tepaneca d.o bartolome ypan atlautotlli onpa ca olaca de Sntiago [] ome amaguautli ycalaquias panchimalco d.o domingo tonalie Sn pedro de la cruz techachalco d.o felipe de de sntiago yaxtzie Do Lazaro dias yn ihuetzian tonalie onpa ca zacamolpan + ypatli ocan oca se tepeltotlie ypan otlie capan ca coral omossaquaya quaquahueque ocan onca atlautotli onpa ca se amaquautlie 122r/ Nican tonocthin ttlalia [sic] tochicahualis mochihua ca ynin toArmas hotechmotlayocoliliteuh yn tohueytlatocatzin yca timopalehuisque semicac Axcan nican titlacuilohua tomochintin pipiltin nica tictlallia nica timopalehuiques ya aquien tlel quitosano [sic = quitos sa no] calpolie ca titlapalehuique omochio yn topantli [sic] quanahua y nican omochio nican titlali y melahua otictequipanoque in toteotzie------------------------------------- yn itla yxp D.n fernando Cor yn capa tlacatica yn omotamachiuh quechquich quaxochtli iCuac ote[m] atl mexico onca yhuan yCuac omocalaqui mopua xiuitl 1662 yhuan tohueytlatoCatzin D.n Carlos yCuac omoyectlalique a.s quinto Rey otitequipanoque yCa no 386 conquista --- yn nochi y tiquisa yCuac omotamachiuh yn pipiltin ytla ychpan Dn P.o quexquix cuaxochtli quipia altepetl Cuaximatzin
EXCERPTS FOR THE MUNICIPAL CODEX OF CUERNAVACA University of Michigan, Clements Library Cuernavaca Papers, fols. 121r-131r
I, don Toribio de Sandoval de San Martín Cortés, governor, am setting down my statement. All of us nobles and elders, our grandfathers, collectively set down our statement concerning this, our coat of arms, with which we will always be protected [in the possession of] our patrimonial lands [totlalnemac], where the stone boundary markers are laid out pertaining to the land mentioned at [the dependency of] Chapultepec. No one is to evict us, because our great ruler Cortés and our great ruler the king granted us this coat of arms, which is our protection and empowerment; so be it. With it we will protect ourselves. No one is to evict us from our patrimonial lands.... The king our lord granted us the right to make this coat of arms; it is our strength and assistance. It will be made so we can free ourselves from the Spaniards, so they will not dishonor us or take something from us, nor will our priests afflict us. For with this protection we will be aided. The reason he [the king] gave it to us [was because] we immediately received the Faith when our ruler Cortés arrived. We won nobility and political sovereignty because we served in the thing we discussed here.... I [don Toribio] tell then and I instruct them about the location of its [Chapultepec's] patrimonial land, where the stone boundary markers are located. How it descends: It descends at Malpan where there are two caves, one of which has an amate tree. It goes to end at the edge of a large body of water, ending at a small barranca. It turns at a large barranca, curves in the east, comes to an end in the west at Huexotitlan, goes ascending where there is a church, there where the spring of Pilatitlan is located, where there is a boundary marker [at a place] called Tlalchichiltepec, where there is a stone lying flat at Cuautla Zayantli. It goes to end next to a corral, where there is a spring, straight to where there is a small ridge, goes turning at Azoquiyanpan, curves next to a barranca where death appeared. In the east it falls to an end where there are two plots of land belonging to our precious, honored father San Miguel. Here we set down with truth how the Faith was offered to Quauhnahuac [Cuernavaca], how the friars came. In order that Quauhnahuac be saved the church was built right at first, right away, so that the administration of sacraments began immediately. The Christians gathered [and] heard the teaching, the sermon.... And Second, we give aid by means of all the tribute, for we did everything serving in the altepetl. And I [don Toribio] just served my God and the Holy Church, by which it was built. And we served our ruler Cortés with the gather of the people. And for this he granted us nobility [pillotl] and rulership/political sovereignty [tlatocayotl], because we received the Faith right away. And for this reason he gave us our patrimonial lands. Here we set down our honorable statement. No one is to reject it, for by means of it our ruler the king is to protect us. No one is to afflict us, [not] even our Justicia [probably the alcalde mayor] and our friars. Here we set it down truthfully, and all of us [affix] our names and signatures: Don Toribio de Sandoval San Martín Cortés. When our alcalde mayor entered Quauhnahuac it was the 30th of January. He came to put Quauhnahuac in order, and his name was don Francisco de la Peña. The market began right away. He was offered a chair, which was set down in the midst of the market. He made good measurements and saw to the almud and vara [both units of measure].... He makes sure no one will cheat with chilli or salt..... Don Lucas de los Reyes. Here we serve with all the tribute. I serve my God and my ruler Cortés, for in my presence the church was built; I helped where the very first [church] was built. It [the land of don Lucas] is located in the east where there is a small hill called Tlalchichiltepec, [where] a boundary marker is made. It goes descending at Temomolpan, where there are two caverns, one of which has an amate tree. It goes to end at Huexotenco [or "at the edge of the willows"] next to a small barranca, goes turning next to a large barranca in the east, descends where there is a [teycali?], straight to Azoquipan, goes turning where death appeared next to a canal, ends at a canal at two parcels of land held by Meyacapan. There it will appear, here my patrimonial home is to be sought where there is a cross next to it. And my patrimonial land is a Huexotenco, may walled land. We set it down truthfully, along with my name, don Lucas de los Reyes, and my signature, Don Lucas de los Reyes. Don Felipe Gómez. for I served with all the tribute; I served my God and my ruler Cortés with all the tribute. It was in my presence that the church was built. As to all the serving of the altepetl, it was in my presence that it was given to Quauhnahuac, when the people gathered to be offered the Faith, Christianity. Then the teaching of the doctrine began, the sermon, [and] we asked for a pulpit and collectively we honored whatever or God created for us. It was in my presence that our patrimonial lands were manifested, where our boundaries lay. You, my children, are to consider [that] no one is to abandon it [or] destroy the roads, whatever the elders also asked of us. You are to remember God's marvel that he died on the Cross; you are to clean before it. No one is to lose it, no one is to destroy our order, for our great ruler Cortés gave it to us of the district of San Miguel Meyacapan, going straight toward Ocoquiapan. Here we set it down truthfully, I don Felipe Gómez, and my signature. Here begins our boundaries, where they begin and end: Otlipan, Xalan, Panchimalco, San Miguel Tlapalan, Apantonco, Cuautetelco, Zayulan, where there is much land, Meyacapan, six roads, fifteen crosses, San Miguel's land, Apantonco, Huehuetonco, Huexotla, where there is much land, Meyacapan ridge, Panchimalcapan, San Miguel, Tlalchichiltepec, Temomolpan, Oztome, Huexotenco, and where there is the spring at Pilatitlan. Concerning the land...no one is to evict us, for our great ruler Cortés and our great ruler the king granted us this coat of arms, with which we will be aided and strengthened.... This altepetl really has a great strength not found in another place [even] there in Spain.
AN EXCERPT FROM FRAY BERNARDINO DE SAHAGUN'S
EXERCICIO QUOTIDIANO, LESSONS FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF INDIGENOUS CONVERTS IN MEXICO, LATER SIXTEENTH CENTURY From: Codex Chimalpahin, Vol. 2, edited and translated by Arthur J.O. Anderson and Susan Schroeder, University of Oklahoma Press, 1997, 131-33.
The following excerpt comes from the beginning of this text, created by the Franciscan Friar Sahagún, justly renowned as a great linguist, with the aid of Nahuatl-speaking indigenous aides. The lessons were intended for the use of friars and priests who were engaged in the religious instruction of Mexico's Nahuas (similar manuals were created by other friars in other indigenous languages for use in other parts of Mexico).
SOME CHRISTIAN LESSONS FROM THE NAHUATL LANGUAGE
DOCTRINA CRISTIANA EN LENGUA MEXICANA OF THE FRANCISCAN FRAY PEDRO DE GANTE (1553), edited by Ernesto de la Torre Villar, Centro de Estudios Históricos Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, 1981. These are lessons from another lesson book similar to, but earlier than, Sahagún's Exercicio Quotidiano. Fray Pedro de Gante was one of the first Friars on the scene in Mexico, and one of the first to learn Nahuatl well. He probably relied on native speakers as aides when this text was put together. This is how the Second Commandment was rendered:
The following entries have to do with lessons about the meaning of the cross:
The following text concerns the Fourth Article of Faith:
TREE OF DEATH, TREE OF LIFE A LESSON ABOUT THE CROSS FROM THE
PSALMODIA CHRISTIANA (CHRISTIAN PSALMODY) BY FRAY BERNARDINO DE SAHAGÚN translated by Arthur J.O. Anderson, University of Utah Press, 1993, 147.
The following is from the "First Psalm," and charges its Nahuatl-speaking listeners to venerate the cross as a tree of life, in opposition to the tree of Eden which led to the expulsion and spiritual "death" of Adam and Eve:
THE APPARITION OF THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE From: The Story of Guadalupe, edited by Lisa Sousa, Stafford Poole, C.M., and James Lockhart, Stanford University Press, 1998, 61-93.
HERE IS RECOUNTED AND TOLD IN AN ORDERLY FASHION HOW BY A GREAT MIRACLE THE CONSUMMATE VIRGIN SAINT MARY, MOTHER OF GOD, OUR QUEEN, FIRST APPEARED AT TEPEYACAC, CALLED GUADALUPE.
The following is an excerpt from a Nahuatl-language account of the Virgin's 1531 apparition in the Valley of Mexico, to which are appended stories of miracles later attributed to the Virgin and her image. This text dates from 1649. The opening of the story concerns the "humble commoner" named Juan Diego, and recently converted indigenous man of Cuauhtitlan, not far from Mexico City. This is what happened one day:
This wish was that a shrine be built in her honor on the site of the apparition. The Virgin sent Juan Diego to the Bishop, Juan de Zumárraga. Juan Diego, a humble and poorly dressed man, only gained an audience with the Bishop with some difficulty. But after the Bishop has heard Juan's tale, he was skeptical and asked him for some kind of proof of what he was saying. Juan Diego returned to Tepeyacac, where the Virgin appeared once again and assured him that all would be well. So Juan went back to the Bishop's palace on Sunday, only to be turned away in disbelief again. Again he went to Tepeyacac, and this time the Virgin told him to return the next day and receive a sign of her apparition that would convince the Bishop. That day, Monday, Juan discovered an uncle of his was terribly ill and so did not return to Tepeyacac as planned. It was only on Tuesday that Juan Diego's path once again took him by Tepeyacac, for he had to travel to the city to summon a priest to give last rites to his dying uncle. Fearful that the Virgin would see and detain him, Juan Diego tried to go around the back side of the hill and thus escape detection. Of course, the Virgin "who sees absolutely everywhere" was not fooled.
And Juan Diego explained his errand, promising to return the next day to carry out his task. The Virgin was compassionate, and told Juan Diego that all would be well, that his Uncle was already fully recovered.
Juan Diego took his leave of the Virgin and travelled once again to the Bishop's palace. He was almost barred from entry, but was finally allowed to have an audience with Zumárraga. Juan Diego told the Bishop everything that had happened, and related everything that the Virgin had said and done.
CATALINA XOCOYOTL COMPLAINS ABOUT THE CONDUCT OF A FRIAR, C. 1607 Archivo General de la Nación, México, Hospital de Jesús legajo 210, expediente 26, folio 1r
My Honored ruler. I, your mother named Catalina Xocoyotl of Texalpa [Cuernavaca region], have come before you. Here is the suffering about which I have appeared in your presence: My husband was supposed to be sent to Mexico by our father, the Guardián of Xiuhtepec. He gave him a document when it was already late in the day. He slept at Oaxtepec. Then, when it was still dark he began again. But a person named Miguel de Chávez, of Quauhxomolco, came along with three dogs. They attacked him at Quauhxomolco; they really darted at him, and right away they bit his flesh. They pierced him all over. He was not able to continue, for they almost killed him. But the dog owner wanted to stop what he carried. He did not want him to deliver it to Mexico City. If it was not for the dogs, he would have been there and back, he would not have been injured. I returned the document to the church, because my husband was very weak, so I left him at home. On the nest day the church topile went there [Mexico City] for a day. Our father [the Guardián] was angry at first. He just beat [my husband], he leapt on him, and then he took away his pants and his shirt and whipped him with him own hand until he fainted. Now because of this whipping he is really worse off, my ruler. He almost lost an eye. It is really the fault of the dog owner. Let him appear before you and give compensation. Here I, your mother, petition before you. I deeply bow before you, [and kiss] your hands. Catalina Xocoyotl.
THE CRIMES OF FRANCISCO GODINO, CURATE OF OHUAPAN, 1611-1612 Archivo General de la Nación, México, Bienes Nacionales leg. 443, exp. 1, fols. 87r-93v
The following document is part of a lengthy case pitting the curate Bachiller Francisco Godino against some of his Nahuatl-speaking parishioners in the Pueblo de Ohuapan, in the Taxco region of New Spain. Godino, who characterized his parishioners as "drunken Indians" who never attended church, was accused of a large number of crimes. Many of them were laid out in detail in the lengthy petition which follows, which was submitted to the ecclesiastical authorities.
Petition: The first of the priest Francisco Godino's blasphemous words with which he makes us alcaldes, regidores, and nobles fearful; he says to us: "This is how I order you. My mistress is to come from an alcalde, perhaps your wife, maybe your daughter, or maybe your mistress, maybe your dear one. So it will be possible for her to live with me, and that she will come to my house, I will take care of her children." This is truly what he did, what all of us saw. The second of the priest Francisco Godino's perverse words: When he gives a sermon he says, "What you sued about, so that I won't hold parties and always dance, is supposed to be enforced [but will not be?]." And he says, "But I am already married. It will not be possible to take away my wife from me, not for the king, the archbishop, or the viceroy. They won't be able to take her away from me, for they are idiots. They didn't appoint me; God sent |