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The Florentine Codex is the name given to 12 books created under the supervision of Bernardino de Sahagún
Bernardino de Sahagún

Bernardino de Sahag?n , was a Franciscan missionary to the Aztecs people of Mexico, best known as the compiler of the Florentine Codex, also known as Historia general de las cosas de Nueva Espa?a ....
 between approximately 1540 and 1585. It is a copy of original source materials which are now lost, perhaps destroyed by the Spanish authorities who confiscated Sahagún's manuscripts.






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Codex Florentino 51 9
The Florentine Codex is the name given to 12 books created under the supervision of Bernardino de Sahagún
Bernardino de Sahagún

Bernardino de Sahag?n , was a Franciscan missionary to the Aztecs people of Mexico, best known as the compiler of the Florentine Codex, also known as Historia general de las cosas de Nueva Espa?a ....
 between approximately 1540 and 1585. It is a copy of original source materials which are now lost, perhaps destroyed by the Spanish authorities who confiscated Sahagún's manuscripts. The original source materials were records of conversations and interviews with indigenous sources in Tlatelolco
Tlatelolco

Tlatelolco may refer to:*Tlatelolco , a pre-Columbian Aztec citystate.*Tlatelolco , an area within modern Mexico City.*Tlatelolco , an archaeological site in Mexico City....
, Texcoco, and Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan

Tenochtitlan was a Nahua peoples altepetl located on an island in Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico. Founded in 1325, it became the seat of Aztec Empire in the 15th century, until being Fall of Tenochtitlan....
.

The Florentine Codex is primarily a Nahuatl language
Nahuatl language

Nahuatl is a group of related languages and dialects of the Nahuan branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family.Collectively they are spoken by an estimated Nahua peoples, most of whom live in Central Mexico....
 text, written by trilingual Nahuatl, Spanish and Latin Aztec
Aztec

Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl and who achieved political and military dominance over large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology....
 students of Sahagún. This Nahuatl text is written on the right side of the codex. Sections of this text were translated into Spanish, and written in the left column. However, many sections were not translated and some only summarized in their translation. In their place, the Florentine Codex has roughly 1,800 illustrations done by Aztec tlacuilos using European techniques. Some of the Spanish translation was censored or otherwise rewritten by Sahagún.

Perhaps more than any other source, the Florentine Codex has been the major source of Aztec life in the years before the Spanish conquest
Spanish conquest of Mexico

The Spanish Empire conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The invasion began in February 1519 and was achieved on August 13, 1521 by conquistadors led by Hern?n Cort?s....
 even though a complete copy of the Florentine Codex, with all illustrations, was not published until 1979. Before then, only the censored and rewritten Spanish translation had been available.

Other versions

There is also a Spanish-only version of Sahagún's document. This copy was taken to Europe in 1580 by Rodrigo de Sequera, and is also referred to as the Sequera manuscript.

The Spanish text was the basis for the Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España (General History of the Things of New Spain) which is kept at the Laurentian Library
Laurentian Library

The Laurentian Library in Florence, Italy is famous as a repository of more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. Built in a cloister of the Medicean Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze under the patronage of the Medici pope, Clement VII, the Library is renowned for the architecture planned and built by Michelangelo ....
 in Florence
Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
.

The Codex Matritense is a copy and compilation from the same sources as the Florentine Codex, corresponding to the material recompiled in Tlatelolco
Tlatelolco

Tlatelolco may refer to:*Tlatelolco , a pre-Columbian Aztec citystate.*Tlatelolco , an area within modern Mexico City.*Tlatelolco , an archaeological site in Mexico City....
 and Texcoco in Nahuatl. It has five books, and includes 175 illustrations. It is a very heavily censored translation of the Florentine Codex by Sahagún himself, done to appeal to the Spanish authorities. The two codices are housed in the Library of the Royal Palace and the Royal History Museum, in Madrid. Other names include the Codices Matritense and the Madrid Codex (not to be confused with the Maya Madrid Codex).

Florentine Codex Ix Aztec Warriors
A short version of this document, "Breve compendio de los soles idolátricos que los indios desta Nueva España usaban en tiempos de su infidelidad" ("Short Compendium of the Idolatry Used by the New Spain Indians during their Unfaithfulness"), was sent by Sahagún to Pope Pius V.

See also

  • Aztec codices
    Aztec codices

    Aztec codices are books written by pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs. These codices provide some of the best primary sources for Aztec culture....