The first American valentine: Nahua courtship and other aspects of family structuring in Mesoamerica

Journal of Family History

Volumn 23, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 341-354

  Schroeder, Susan ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0032193053     PISSN: 03631990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/036319909802300401     Document Type: Article

References (111)

1. Although often also called Aztec or Mexica, the term Nahua refers to the Nahuatl-language speakers who lived in central Mesoamerica during the precontact and colonial eras, including the numerous sophisticated and well-populated kingdoms of the central basin. Mexica describes the Nahuatl speakers who settled on the island called Mexico Tenochtitlan. It was these same Mexica who were instrumental in forming strategic alliances on the island and beyond and who became the dominant rulers of what is known as the Aztec empire.
2. Don Domingo de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin is the only known Nahua to write a comprehensive history (A.D. 670-1631) of greater Indian Mexico in his own language and sign the account himself. Yet due to the inaccessibility of his works and the difficulty of his Nahuatl prose, his writings are hardly known. The six-volume Codex Chimalpahin (hereafter, CC) in Nahuatl and English translation will represent the complete oeuvre (the last four volumes are forthcoming). Unless stated otherwise, the references to Chimalpahin's writings in this essay are to the first two volumes of CC: Society and Politics in Mexico Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco, Texcoco, Culhuacan, and Other Nahua Altepetl in Central Mexico, ed. and trans. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Susan Schroeder, gen. ed. Susan Schroeder (Norman, 1997). Also, the use of the term Nahua may overgeneralize here, but as far as the Mexica Tenochca Nahuatl annals are concerned, and as the Aztecs constructed their ideology of empire, Nahua serves well.
3. Having always taken valentines and St. Valentine's Day pretty much for granted, I was much surprised to discover the great confusion regarding the identity of the martyr as well his association with matchmaking. My search led me to Charles Dickens's Christmas Carol, "'O Valentine,' said Scrooge, 'and his wild brother, Orson; there they go!'" Arthur Dickson, Valentine and Orson: A Study in Late Medieval Romance (New York, 1929), 1; to Geoffrey Chaucer, whose poems and Canterbury stories make much use of the festivity of love and its seasonal coincidence; and finally, to St. Valentine of Genoa, St. Valentine of Terni, and St. Valentine of Rome. See Ruth Webb Lee, A History of Valentines (New York, 1952), 5, who states that a Roman (St.) Valentinus was beheaded on February 14, A.D. 270, the eve of the feast of Lupercalia, or the feast of Juno Regina, where boys drew by lot the names of girls who were to be their partners at the celebration. Lee also reports that the martyred Valentine signed a farewell note to the daughter of his jailer, "From your Valentine." According to Henry Ansgar Kelly, Chaucer and the Cult of St. Valentine (Leiden, 1986), 48-51, Chaucer warrants most of the credit for making an issue of the combined pagan-Christian postwinter rites of spring, with heady allusions to blossoming flowers, arrays of birds heralding a new season with their courting songs, and human lovers as well. (Apparently the big dispute is whether Chaucer can be credited with designating February 14, as opposed to May 2 or 3, as the appropriate date for all the rapture.) The Italian Valentines may be one or three, dating back to the Roman era of Emperor Claudius II (A.D. 268-270), when a Christian priest suffered martyrdom for evangelizing the emperor's attendants. According to Kelly, the hagiographies overlap, but Valentine's fame is such that there is solid archaeological evidence of a Roman basilica for Valentine, but his remains were taken to Spain, where his body may be found in Baga (near Barcelona) and his head at Toro (near Zamora). Locals claim that St. Valentine is also a relative of St. Benedict, which leads us off into another direction. There is another Valentine's head in Winchester, England, dating from the thirteenth century.
4. Having always taken valentines and St. Valentine's Day pretty much for granted, I was much surprised to discover the great confusion regarding the identity of the martyr as well his association with matchmaking. My search led me to Charles Dickens's Christmas Carol, "'O Valentine,' said Scrooge, 'and his wild brother, Orson; there they go!'" Arthur Dickson, Valentine and Orson: A Study in Late Medieval Romance (New York, 1929), 1; to Geoffrey Chaucer, whose poems and Canterbury stories make much use of the festivity of love and its seasonal coincidence; and finally, to St. Valentine of Genoa, St. Valentine of Terni, and St. Valentine of Rome. See Ruth Webb Lee, A History of Valentines (New York, 1952), 5, who states that a Roman (St.) Valentinus was beheaded on February 14, A.D. 270, the eve of the feast of Lupercalia, or the feast of Juno Regina, where boys drew by lot the names of girls who were to be their partners at the celebration. Lee also reports that the martyred Valentine signed a farewell note to the daughter of his jailer, "From your Valentine." According to Henry Ansgar Kelly, Chaucer and the Cult of St. Valentine (Leiden, 1986), 48-51, Chaucer warrants most of the credit for making an issue of the combined pagan-Christian postwinter rites of spring, with heady allusions to blossoming flowers, arrays of birds heralding a new season with their courting songs, and human lovers as well. (Apparently the big dispute is whether Chaucer can be credited with designating February 14, as opposed to May 2 or 3, as the appropriate date for all the rapture.) The Italian Valentines may be one or three, dating back to the Roman era of Emperor Claudius II (A.D. 268-270), when a Christian priest suffered martyrdom for evangelizing the emperor's attendants. According to Kelly, the hagiographies overlap, but Valentine's fame is such that there is solid archaeological evidence of a Roman basilica for Valentine, but his remains were taken to Spain, where his body may be found in Baga (near Barcelona) and his head at Toro (near Zamora). Locals claim that St. Valentine is also a relative of St. Benedict, which leads us off into another direction. There is another Valentine's head in Winchester, England, dating from the thirteenth century.
5. Having always taken valentines and St. Valentine's Day pretty much for granted, I was much surprised to discover the great confusion regarding the identity of the martyr as well his association with matchmaking. My search led me to Charles Dickens's Christmas Carol, "'O Valentine,' said Scrooge, 'and his wild brother, Orson; there they go!'" Arthur Dickson, Valentine and Orson: A Study in Late Medieval Romance (New York, 1929), 1; to Geoffrey Chaucer, whose poems and Canterbury stories make much use of the festivity of love and its seasonal coincidence; and finally, to St. Valentine of Genoa, St. Valentine of Terni, and St. Valentine of Rome. See Ruth Webb Lee, A History of Valentines (New York, 1952), 5, who states that a Roman (St.) Valentinus was beheaded on February 14, A.D. 270, the eve of the feast of Lupercalia, or the feast of Juno Regina, where boys drew by lot the names of girls who were to be their partners at the celebration. Lee also reports that the martyred Valentine signed a farewell note to the daughter of his jailer, "From your Valentine." According to Henry Ansgar Kelly, Chaucer and the Cult of St. Valentine (Leiden, 1986), 48-51, Chaucer warrants most of the credit for making an issue of the combined pagan-Christian postwinter rites of spring, with heady allusions to blossoming flowers, arrays of birds heralding a new season with their courting songs, and human lovers as well. (Apparently the big dispute is whether Chaucer can be credited with designating February 14, as opposed to May 2 or 3, as the appropriate date for all the rapture.) The Italian Valentines may be one or three, dating back to the Roman era of Emperor Claudius II (A.D. 268-270), when a Christian priest suffered martyrdom for evangelizing the emperor's attendants. According to Kelly, the hagiographies overlap, but Valentine's fame is such that there is solid archaeological evidence of a Roman basilica for Valentine, but his remains were taken to Spain, where his body may be found in Baga (near Barcelona) and his head at Toro (near Zamora). Locals claim that St. Valentine is also a relative of St. Benedict, which leads us off into another direction. There is another Valentine's head in Winchester, England, dating from the thirteenth century.
6. CC 1:118-19. Although Chimalpahin often asserts that he has corroborated his sources, there are from time to time discrepancies in the dates in the various sets of annals to which he had access. Compare CC 1:210-13 , where he states that Huitzilihuitl's rulership was 1393 to 1418. Obviously, as a copyist he was working with many different materials, many of which were anonymous and of unknown provenience.
7. CC 1:118-19. Although Chimalpahin often asserts that he has corroborated his sources, there are from time to time discrepancies in the dates in the various sets of annals to which he had access. Compare CC 1:210-13 , where he states that Huitzilihuitl's rulership was 1393 to 1418. Obviously, as a copyist he was working with many different materials, many of which were anonymous and of unknown provenience.
8. CC 1:118-19.
9. For specifics about what are somewhat unique Mesoamerican forms of empire, see Ross Hassig, War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica (Berkeley, 1992), passim; for details about Aztec empire formation, Frances F. Berdan, Richard E. Blanton, Elizabeth Hill Boone, Mary G. Hodge, Michael E. Smith, and Emily Umberger, Aztec Imperial Strategies (Washington, DC, 1996); and for context and discussion of Western concepts of empire, see Patrick Wolf, "History and Imperialism: A Century of Theory, from Marx to Postcolonialism," American Historical Review, 102, no. 2 (1997): 388-420.
10. For specifics about what are somewhat unique Mesoamerican forms of empire, see Ross Hassig, War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica (Berkeley, 1992), passim; for details about Aztec empire formation, Frances F. Berdan, Richard E. Blanton, Elizabeth Hill Boone, Mary G. Hodge, Michael E. Smith, and Emily Umberger, Aztec Imperial Strategies (Washington, DC, 1996); and for context and discussion of Western concepts of empire, see Patrick Wolf, "History and Imperialism: A Century of Theory, from Marx to Postcolonialism," American Historical Review, 102, no. 2 (1997): 388-420.
11. For specifics about what are somewhat unique Mesoamerican forms of empire, see Ross Hassig, War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica (Berkeley, 1992), passim; for details about Aztec empire formation, Frances F. Berdan, Richard E. Blanton, Elizabeth Hill Boone, Mary G. Hodge, Michael E. Smith, and Emily Umberger, Aztec Imperial Strategies (Washington, DC, 1996); and for context and discussion of Western concepts of empire, see Patrick Wolf, "History and Imperialism: A Century of Theory, from Marx to Postcolonialism," American Historical Review, 102, no. 2 (1997): 388-420.
12. CC 1:116-17; fray Diego Durán, The History of the Indies of New Spain, trans. Doris Heyden, (Norman, 1994), 66-80; and Ross Hassig, Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control (Norman, 1988), 132-33.
13. CC 1:116-17; fray Diego Durán, The History of the Indies of New Spain, trans. Doris Heyden, (Norman, 1994), 66-80; and Ross Hassig, Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control (Norman, 1988), 132-33.
14. CC 1:116-17; fray Diego Durán, The History of the Indies of New Spain, trans. Doris Heyden, (Norman, 1994), 66-80; and Ross Hassig, Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control (Norman, 1988), 132-33.
15. The child of this union is Chimalpopoca, and he will be the first to succeed his father. CC 1:124-25; fray Juan de Torquemada, Monarquía indiana, ed. Miguel León-Portilla, (1615; reprint, Mexico, 1975), 1:103-5; Diego Durán, History, 61-63.
16. The child of this union is Chimalpopoca, and he will be the first to succeed his father. CC 1:124-25; fray Juan de Torquemada, Monarquía indiana, ed. Miguel León-Portilla, (1615; reprint, Mexico, 1975), 1:103-5; Diego Durán, History, 61-63.
17. The child of this union is Chimalpopoca, and he will be the first to succeed his father. CC 1:124-25; fray Juan de Torquemada, Monarquía indiana, ed. Miguel León-Portilla, (1615; reprint, Mexico, 1975), 1:103-5; Diego Durán, History, 61-63.
18. CC 1:118-19.
19. Ross Hassig, Aztec Warfare, 144.
20. There are many discrepancies among the various indigenous and hispanic accounts regarding dates, individual's names, and even who won a battle. Much can be attributed to ethnopatriotism and individual authors exalting their own kingdoms. For a structuralist approach to Aztec rulers and their dynasties, see Susan D. Gillespie, The Aztec Kings: The Construction of Rulership in Mexico History (Tucson, 1989) Even Gillespie, though, at least in part, misunderstood the nature of annals production and the resultant contradictions. Additionally, the much-acclaimed work by Walter D. Mignolo, The Darker Side of the Renaissance: Literacy, Territoriality, and Colonization (Ann Arbor, 1997), 92, reports Chimalpaín's (sic) writing (the relaciones) as representative of "the repetitive structure of the oral," which indeed it may be, but not as determined by the purpose and authorship of ethnocentric altepetl annals production. See also Anthony Grafton, "The Rest and the West," New York Reviews of Books, 44 (10 April 1997): 57-64.
21. There are many discrepancies among the various indigenous and hispanic accounts regarding dates, individual's names, and even who won a battle. Much can be attributed to ethnopatriotism and individual authors exalting their own kingdoms. For a structuralist approach to Aztec rulers and their dynasties, see Susan D. Gillespie, The Aztec Kings: The Construction of Rulership in Mexico History (Tucson, 1989) Even Gillespie, though, at least in part, misunderstood the nature of annals production and the resultant contradictions. Additionally, the much-acclaimed work by Walter D. Mignolo, The Darker Side of the Renaissance: Literacy, Territoriality, and Colonization (Ann Arbor, 1997), 92, reports Chimalpaín's (sic) writing (the relaciones) as representative of "the repetitive structure of the oral," which indeed it may be, but not as determined by the purpose and authorship of ethnocentric altepetl annals production. See also Anthony Grafton, "The Rest and the West," New York Reviews of Books, 44 (10 April 1997): 57-64.
22. There are many discrepancies among the various indigenous and hispanic accounts regarding dates, individual's names, and even who won a battle. Much can be attributed to ethnopatriotism and individual authors exalting their own kingdoms. For a structuralist approach to Aztec rulers and their dynasties, see Susan D. Gillespie, The Aztec Kings: The Construction of Rulership in Mexico History (Tucson, 1989) Even Gillespie, though, at least in part, misunderstood the nature of annals production and the resultant contradictions. Additionally, the much-acclaimed work by Walter D. Mignolo, The Darker Side of the Renaissance: Literacy, Territoriality, and Colonization (Ann Arbor, 1997), 92, reports Chimalpaín's (sic) writing (the relaciones) as representative of "the repetitive structure of the oral," which indeed it may be, but not as determined by the purpose and authorship of ethnocentric altepetl annals production. See also Anthony Grafton, "The Rest and the West," New York Reviews of Books, 44 (10 April 1997): 57-64.
23. The following is paraphrased from the English translation of the Nahuatl text, CC 1:118-25.
24. CC 1:118-19; Torquemada, Monarquía indiana, 1:104-5. Not to contradict studies on Aztec sumptuary laws stating that the Aztecs unequivocally included regulations on attire to distinguish elites from commoners, in this passage the going about nude or wearing of crude loincloths is intended to signify the impoverished state of Mexica society in pre-Aztec times as well as, in contrast, to emphasize the benefits of war, conquest, and empire building. For additional information about apparel, see Patricia Rieff Anawalt, "A Comparative Analysis of the Costumes and Accoutrements of the Codex Mendoza," in The Codex Mendoza, ed. Frances F. Berdan and Patricia Rieff Anawalt (Berkeley, 1992), 1:103-50.
25. CC 1:118-19; Torquemada, Monarquía indiana, 1:104-5. Not to contradict studies on Aztec sumptuary laws stating that the Aztecs unequivocally included regulations on attire to distinguish elites from commoners, in this passage the going about nude or wearing of crude loincloths is intended to signify the impoverished state of Mexica society in pre-Aztec times as well as, in contrast, to emphasize the benefits of war, conquest, and empire building. For additional information about apparel, see Patricia Rieff Anawalt, "A Comparative Analysis of the Costumes and Accoutrements of the Codex Mendoza," in The Codex Mendoza, ed. Frances F. Berdan and Patricia Rieff Anawalt (Berkeley, 1992), 1:103-50.
26. CC 1:118-19; Torquemada, Monarquía indiana, 1:104-5. Not to contradict studies on Aztec sumptuary laws stating that the Aztecs unequivocally included regulations on attire to distinguish elites from commoners, in this passage the going about nude or wearing of crude loincloths is intended to signify the impoverished state of Mexica society in pre-Aztec times as well as, in contrast, to emphasize the benefits of war, conquest, and empire building. For additional information about apparel, see Patricia Rieff Anawalt, "A Comparative Analysis of the Costumes and Accoutrements of the Codex Mendoza," in The Codex Mendoza, ed. Frances F. Berdan and Patricia Rieff Anawalt (Berkeley, 1992), 1:103-50.
27. Torquemada, among other sources for Hassig's Aztec Warfare, 134-35, gives Tezcacoatl as the name of the Quauhnahuac tlatoani. Since Chimalpahin's corpus of indigenous annals is so extensive, I shall refer to his materials alone for this study.
28. Susan Schroeder, "The Noblewomen of Chalco," Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 22 (1992): 45-86, and James Lockhart, The Nahuas after the Conquest: A Social and Cultural History of the Indians of Central Mexico, Sixteenth through Eighteenth Centuries (Stanford, 1992), 80-81.
29. Susan Schroeder, "The Noblewomen of Chalco," Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 22 (1992): 45-86, and James Lockhart, The Nahuas after the Conquest: A Social and Cultural History of the Indians of Central Mexico, Sixteenth through Eighteenth Centuries (Stanford, 1992), 80-81.
30. CC 1:120-21. On the deadly nature of some of these creatures, see Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón, Treatise on the Heathen Superstitions that Today Live Among the Indians Native to this New Spain, 1629, ed. and trans. J. Richard Andrews and Ross Hassig (Norman, 1987), 69, 204-8.
31. CC 1:120-21. On the deadly nature of some of these creatures, see Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón, Treatise on the Heathen Superstitions that Today Live Among the Indians Native to this New Spain, 1629, ed. and trans. J. Richard Andrews and Ross Hassig (Norman, 1987), 69, 204-8.
32. See fray Bernardino de Sahagún, Florentine Codex, the General History of the Things of New Spain (Santa Fe, 1979, and Salt Lake City, 1961), 5:192-93, 10:31, for information about sorcerers.
33. Inga Clendinnen, Aztecs: An Interpretation (Cambridge, 1991), 55, in referring to Sahagún's writings, "sorcerers apostrophized as 'evil old men,' attracting fear and dread for their antisocial power."
34. CC 1:120-23.
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid., 122-23. Becoming pregnant in such a fashion was not necessarily peculiar. See Louise M. Burkhart, "Mexica Women on the Home Front: Housework and Religion in Aztec Mexico," in Indian Women of Early Mexico, ed. Susan Schroeder, Stephanie Wood, and Robert Haskett (Norman, 1997), 34, who tells of women conceiving while sweeping.
37. Ibid., 122-23. Becoming pregnant in such a fashion was not necessarily peculiar. See Louise M. Burkhart, "Mexica Women on the Home Front: Housework and Religion in Aztec Mexico," in Indian Women of Early Mexico, ed. Susan Schroeder, Stephanie Wood, and Robert Haskett (Norman, 1997), 34, who tells of women conceiving while sweeping.
38. "Cupid" in Middle America is not as farfetched as it may seem, for even the Society of Jesus claimed that their missionary efforts were symbolized by Cupid, that is, Christian love; Eric Holzenberg, Edifying and Curious Letters: Jesuit Accounts of the Americas, 1565-1896 (Chicago, 1992), 20.
39. Torquemada, Monarquía indiana, 1:104.
40. Ibid.
41. CC 1:122-23, and see Frances F. Berdan et al., Aztec Imperial Strategies, 270-71, for an informative description of Quauhnahuac's key resources and as a major polity in its own right by the fifteenth century.
42. CC 1:122-23, and see Frances F. Berdan et al., Aztec Imperial Strategies, 270-71, for an informative description of Quauhnahuac's key resources and as a major polity in its own right by the fifteenth century.
43. Don Domingo de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, in Die Relationen Chimalpahin's zur Geschichte México's, vol. 1, ed. Günter Zimmermann (Hamburg, 1963), 79-80.
44. The Nahuatl accounts used by both Chimalpahin and fray Diego Durán laud the exploits of Tlacaelel Cihuacoatl, especially, CC 1:138-39, which refer to Tlacaele Cihuacoatl as "conqueror of the world." and Diego Durán, History, passim, who champions his power and his successes. Additional paeans to Tlacaelel can be found in CC 1:40-53.
45. The Nahuatl accounts used by both Chimalpahin and fray Diego Durán laud the exploits of Tlacaelel Cihuacoatl, especially, CC 1:138-39, which refer to Tlacaele Cihuacoatl as "conqueror of the world." and Diego Durán, History, passim, who champions his power and his successes. Additional paeans to Tlacaelel can be found in CC 1:40-53.
46. The Nahuatl accounts used by both Chimalpahin and fray Diego Durán laud the exploits of Tlacaelel Cihuacoatl, especially, CC 1:138-39, which refer to Tlacaele Cihuacoatl as "conqueror of the world." and Diego Durán, History, passim, who champions his power and his successes. Additional paeans to Tlacaelel can be found in CC 1:40-53.
47. Torquemada, Monarquía indiana, 104.
48. Diego Durán, History, 212.
49. See Frances F. Berdan, The Aztecs of Central Mexico: An Imperial Society (New York, 1982), 36, and Matrícula de Tributos (Códice de Moctezuma), ed. and trans. Frances F. Berdan and Jacqueline de Durand-Forest (Graz, 1980), 30, for details about the tribute goods.
50. See Frances F. Berdan, The Aztecs of Central Mexico: An Imperial Society (New York, 1982), 36, and Matrícula de Tributos (Códice de Moctezuma), ed. and trans. Frances F. Berdan and Jacqueline de Durand-Forest (Graz, 1980), 30, for details about the tribute goods.
51. According to Edward E. Calnek, "Patterns of Empire Formation in the Valley of Mexico, Late Postclassic Period, 1200-1521," in The Inca and Aztec States, 1400-1800: Anthropology and History, ed. George A. Collier, Renato I. Rosaldo, and John D. Wirth (New York, 1982), 43-62, it seems that Quauhnahuac was not listed among those considered as principal ethnic states in the imperial realm of the Tepaneca, 56.
52. But see Michael E. Smith, "The Role of Social Stratification in the Aztec Empire: A View from the Provinces," American Anthropologist 88, no. 1 (1986): 70-91, whose archaeological fieldwork demonstrates a Quauhnahuac that would eventually be an up-and-coming, formidable altepetl in its own right.
53. Frances F. Berdan, "Birds and Beasts in Nahua Thought," in Chipping Away on Earth: Studies in Prehispanic and Colonial Mexico in Honor of Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble, ed. Eloise Quiñones Keber (Lancaster, CA, 1994), 153-62.
54. Frances Berdan, Aztecs of Central Mexico, 10.
55. In another set of annals, Chimalpahin notes that when Huehue Moteucçoma Ilhuicamí natzin was conceived, "this was when stars fell scattering to the ground; they were an omen of evil. Dogs went about with their stomachs dragging, and it was also when Popocatepetl no longer smoked," CC 1:228-29.
56. Ross Hassig, War and Society, 137-39.
57. See Andrea Hopkins, The Book of Courtly Love: The Passionate Code of the Troubadours (San Francisco, 1994), 13, who notes that as early as the first century B.C. Ovid composed his Ars amatoria ("The Art of Loving") to "instruct its readers in the arts by which men could seduce women."
58. "Woe to the gem whose beauty bears no force!" Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Book 2, cited in Andrea Hopkins, The Book of Courtly Love, 31-32.
59. "Woe to the gem whose beauty bears no force!" Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde, Book 2, cited in Andrea Hopkins, The Book of Courtly Love, 31-32.
60. The Nahua, Maya, Mixtec, and Zapotec literature that traces to the prehispanic era is rich in information about gender parallelism and the complementarity of social roles. For examples, see the many essays in Indian Women of Early Mexico, Susan Schroeder, et al. And see especially Jay Miller, "Society in 1492," in America in 1492: Selected Lectures from the Quincentenary Program, ed. Frederick E. Hoxie (Chicago, 1992), and "A Kinship of Spirit," in America in 1492: The World of the Indian Peoples Before the Arrival of Columbus, ed. Alvin M. Josephy Jr. (New York, 1992), 305-37.
61. The Nahua, Maya, Mixtec, and Zapotec literature that traces to the prehispanic era is rich in information about gender parallelism and the complementarity of social roles. For examples, see the many essays in Indian Women of Early Mexico, Susan Schroeder, et al. And see especially Jay Miller, "Society in 1492," in America in 1492: Selected Lectures from the Quincentenary Program, ed. Frederick E. Hoxie (Chicago, 1992), and "A Kinship of Spirit," in America in 1492: The World of the Indian Peoples Before the Arrival of Columbus, ed. Alvin M. Josephy Jr. (New York, 1992), 305-37.
62. The Nahua, Maya, Mixtec, and Zapotec literature that traces to the prehispanic era is rich in information about gender parallelism and the complementarity of social roles. For examples, see the many essays in Indian Women of Early Mexico, Susan Schroeder, et al. And see especially Jay Miller, "Society in 1492," in America in 1492: Selected Lectures from the Quincentenary Program, ed. Frederick E. Hoxie (Chicago, 1992), and "A Kinship of Spirit," in America in 1492: The World of the Indian Peoples Before the Arrival of Columbus, ed. Alvin M. Josephy Jr. (New York, 1992), 305-37.
63. For more on the great significance of marriage alliances to the spread of empire (especially as opposed to military conquest), see Michael E. Smith, "Role of Social Stratification," passim.
64. Frances Berdan, Aztecs of Central Mexico, 68.
65. In a recent presentation (Newberry Library, Chicago, 17 April 1997), Muscogee Joy Harjo reiterated the reason for the absence of "nuclear family organization" among Native Americans (paraphrasing), adding that it would be too explosive. Lisa Mary Sousa notes that there is no equivalent concept among the Mixtecs and Zapotecs either, "Women and Crime in Colonial Oaxaca: Evidence of Complementary Gender Roles in Mixtec and Zapotec Societies," in Indian Women in Early Mexico, 199-214.
66. See Elizabeth Hill Boone, "Manuscript Painting in Service of Imperial Ideology," in Aztec Imperial Strategies, 181-206, who states that specifically by means of their manuscript annals, the "Aztec . . . make the [Mexica] Tenocha and later their empire central to all that occurs," 204.
67. Fray Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana (1571; reprint, Mexico, 1970), 62.
68. James Lockhart, Nahuas after the Conquest, 59.
69. Louise M. Burkhart, "Mexica Women on the Home Front," 29.
70. Ibid., and James Lockhart, Nahuas after the Conquest, 61-62, 73.
71. Ibid., and James Lockhart, Nahuas after the Conquest, 61-62, 73.
72. Louise Burkhart, "Mexica Women," 29; and see Susan Schroeder, Chimalpahin and the Kingdoms of Chalco (Tucson, 1991), 143-52, for the meanings and use of these terms in other annals by Chimalpahin.
73. Louise Burkhart, "Mexica Women," 29; and see Susan Schroeder, Chimalpahin and the Kingdoms of Chalco (Tucson, 1991), 143-52, for the meanings and use of these terms in other annals by Chimalpahin.
74. James Lockhart, Nahuas after the Conquest, 61, 72-80.
75. For a careful study of indigenous naming practices in early colonial Coyoacan, see Rebecca Horn, "Gender and Social Identity: Nahua Naming Patterns in Postconquest Central Mexico," in Indian Women of Early Mexico, 108.
76. See S. L. Cline's study of Nahuatl testaments for an excellent analysis of "women's" properties in early Culhuacan, Colonial Culhuacan, 1580-1600: A Social History of an Aztec Town (Albuquerque, 1986), 99-101, 141, 149-50.
77. "A Letter by Juan de San Antonio," in Codex Chimalpahin: Society and Politics in Mexico Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco, Texcoco, Culhuacan, and Other Nahua Altepetl in Central Mexico, (cont.), vol. 2, ed. and trans. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Susan Schroeder, gen. ed. Susan Schroeder (Norman, 1997), 2:222-23.
78. CC 1:116-17; CC 2:200-201.
79. CC 1:116-17; CC 2:200-201.
80. S. L. Cline, Colonial Culhuacan, and as ed. and trans., The Book of Tributes: Early Sixteenth-Century Nahuatl Censuses from Morelos (Los Angeles, 1993); Jerome A. Offner, "Household Organization in the Texcocan Heartland: The Evidence in the Codex Vergara," in Explorations in Ethnohistory: Indians in Central Mexico in the Sixteenth Century, ed. H. R. Harvey and Hanns J. Prem (Albuquerque, 1984), 127-46.
81. S. L. Cline, Colonial Culhuacan, and as ed. and trans., The Book of Tributes: Early Sixteenth-Century Nahuatl Censuses from Morelos (Los Angeles, 1993); Jerome A. Offner, "Household Organization in the Texcocan Heartland: The Evidence in the Codex Vergara," in Explorations in Ethnohistory: Indians in Central Mexico in the Sixteenth Century, ed. H. R. Harvey and Hanns J. Prem (Albuquerque, 1984), 127-46.
82. Frances F. Berdan and Michael E. Smith, "Imperial Strategies and Core-Periphery Relations," in Aztec Imperial Strategies, 216-17.
83. Chimalpahin's own genealogy gives examples of such interdynastic second-and third-level marriages in his home altepetl of Amecameca, Susan Schroeder, Chimalpahin, 8-9.
84. Pedro Carrasco, "Royal Marriages in Ancient Mexico," in Explorations in Ethnohistory, 41-81.
85. Susan Schroeder, "The Noblewomen of Chalco," passim.
86. Edward Calnek, "Patterns of Empire Formation," 58.
87. For a wonderful facsimile pictorial representation of a wedding ceremony, see:The Codex Mendoza, ed. Frances F. Berdan and Patricia Rieff Anawalt (Berkeley, 1992), 3:129 (fol. 61r).
88. Louise Burkhart, "Mexica Women on the Home Front," 47.
89. Lisa Sousa, "Women and Crime in Colonial Oaxaca: Evidence of Complementary Gender Roles in Mixtec and Zapotec Societies," in Indian Women of Early Mexico, 199-214; the quotation, 201.
90. Ibid.; Susan Schroeder, "Noblewomen of Chalco," 81-82; and Edward Calnek, "Patterns of Empire," 49. And see especially CC 1:36-39. "From here, from him [Huitzilihuitl], also come the kings, emperors, and princes of the House of Mexico Tenochtitlan, those that there have been and those that there are of his descendants until the present day, the year 1621, through both female and male lines."
91. Ibid.; Susan Schroeder, "Noblewomen of Chalco," 81-82; and Edward Calnek, "Patterns of Empire," 49. And see especially CC 1:36-39. "From here, from him [Huitzilihuitl], also come the kings, emperors, and princes of the House of Mexico Tenochtitlan, those that there have been and those that there are of his descendants until the present day, the year 1621, through both female and male lines."
92. Ibid.; Susan Schroeder, "Noblewomen of Chalco," 81-82; and Edward Calnek, "Patterns of Empire," 49. And see especially CC 1:36-39. "From here, from him [Huitzilihuitl], also come the kings, emperors, and princes of the House of Mexico Tenochtitlan, those that there have been and those that there are of his descendants until the present day, the year 1621, through both female and male lines."
93. Ibid.; Susan Schroeder, "Noblewomen of Chalco," 81-82; and Edward Calnek, "Patterns of Empire," 49. And see especially CC 1:36-39. "From here, from him [Huitzilihuitl], also come the kings, emperors, and princes of the House of Mexico Tenochtitlan, those that there have been and those that there are of his descendants until the present day, the year 1621, through both female and male lines."
94. Pedro Carrasco, "Royal Marriages," 43; and Susan Schroeder, "Noblewomen," 54-74.
95. Pedro Carrasco, "Royal Marriages," 43; and Susan Schroeder, "Noblewomen," 54-74.
96. CC 1:34-39, 1:114-15 ; Diego Durán, History, 49-54.
97. CC 1:34-39, 1:114-15 ; Diego Durán, History, 49-54.
98. CC 1:34-39, 1:114-15 ; Diego Durán, History, 49-54.
99. "Descent of don Pedrillo," CC 2:184-85.
100. CC 1:136-39; 2:50-51.
101. CC 1:136-39; 2:50-51.
102. For examples, see CC 2:194-95.
103. CC 1:60-61. Another example is found in sixteenth-century Texcoco when the Marqués, Hernando Cortés, interfered with succession practices, and the legitimate ruler abandoned his kingdom and sought refuge in Tlaxcala, another ethnic state entirely. Seriously troubled, the natives left behind questioned just what they should do to save Texcoco: "We are mother and father of the altepetl of Texcoco.... Let us sometime indeed once more take the rulership," CC 2:200-201.
104. CC 1:60-61. Another example is found in sixteenth-century Texcoco when the Marqués, Hernando Cortés, interfered with succession practices, and the legitimate ruler abandoned his kingdom and sought refuge in Tlaxcala, another ethnic state entirely. Seriously troubled, the natives left behind questioned just what they should do to save Texcoco: "We are mother and father of the altepetl of Texcoco.... Let us sometime indeed once more take the rulership," CC 2:200-201.
105. Diego Durán, History, 59.
106. See Doris Heyden's comment in Diego Durán, History, 59, n. 2.
107. For examples, see The Art of Nahuatl Speech: The Bancroft Dialogues, ed. Frances Karttunen and James Lockhart (Los Angeles, 1987).
108. Louise Burkhart, "Mexica Women," passim.
109. Ibid., 26.
110. Ibid., 30-31.
111. During the colonial era, the altepetl as a corporate sociopolitical entity will eventually disappear. The calpolli, tlaxilacalli, and indigenous cofradía, as colonial aspects of the altepetl's former subunits, will become primary loci for ethnic identity and solidarity. Charles Gibson, The Aztecs under Spanish Rule: A History of the Indians of the Valley of Mexico, 1519-1810 (Stanford, 1964), 152, adds that "the calpulli, the group unit in which a number of Indian families were associated, persisted in most areas through colonial times."