The Codex of Cholula: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

The purpose of the present work is to make available the results of a study of a Colonial document, known as the Codex of Cholula'. It has so far remained unpublished and largely uninvestigated. My original intentions were to make a completei study of the codex, which I first believed to be the; document investigated in this paper. A little research, however, revealed that there were three documents called The Codex of Cholula2. First, a codex made of amate paper, mhich I assume is the original version. It is known as Codice de Cholula, No. 56. Second, a copy of one side of the latter, which is known as Codice de Cholula, No. 10. Third, Codice de Cholula, No. 57 (fig. 1), which is the one examined in the following study. It is preserved in the Mused Nacional de Antropologia e Historia in Mexico City3. As I had only a few months to spend on my project, I decided to limit the scope of this work to that codex which first attracted my attention. I have called this a preliminary study, as it could not possibly be considered exhaustive or final without an investigation of the uncopied side of the original codex and comparison of the paleographies of all three documents. Furthermore, I feel that the data contained in the texts could be compared with and checked against information in archives or other historical sources in a more thorough manner than I have attempted. I believe the document here studied may be of some value to those interested in early post-Hispanic historiography and documentation done in Mexican villages and towns--in spite of its obvious errors-and that it may in a small way contribute to our further understanding of the Indian and mestizo cultures of Mexico. In agreement with Barlow and Smisor, citing Garcia Icazbalceta, I think that: