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  • Essay / An Analysis of the Florentine Codex in the Aztec Empire

    IntroductionThe Florentine Codex documents Aztec culture during the time of the Spanish Conquest, from approximately 1545 to 1588. Written by Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, this manuscript attempts to capture indigenous life from an indigenous perspective. Although originally titled Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espana, it is commonly referred to as the Florentine Codex in honor of the Medicea Laurenziana Library where it currently resides. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayHistory of Latin American Art – Analysis of the Florentine CodexFray Bernardino de Sahagun is considered one of the first founders of the method ethnographic research. Rather than study indigenous culture in the abstract, he decided to integrate directly into the Aztec way of life. Working with his students from the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlateloco, who were originally from the area, he interviewed community elders to better understand the times before the conquest. Although it seems like an attempt at goodwill or research in the name of social science and history, Fray Bernardino was motivated by religion. Like most of the brothers, he aimed to convert the natives to Christianity in order to save their souls. Yet he believed that to do this he must first understand their native religion and their “false” gods. In fact, about half of the books are devoted to some aspect of religious life. Yet the volumes also document the social life, economy, myths, plant use, calendars, and general history of the Aztecs. Fray Bernardino also paid special attention to medicine, including the use of medicinal plants and surgeries. Both natives and missionaries died en masse from new diseases, so this research helped both sides. Due to the similarity of the answers, it is believed that this research was also conducted through questions. The book was completed in 1577 and purchased by the Medici family in 1588 when it was transferred to the Florence Museum. The Florentine Codex is divided into twelve books, with each book dedicated to a specific aspect of Aztec life. Among the collections, the most important are book 1, devoted to the gods, book 2 to ceremonies, book 10 to general history, book 11 to earthly things and book 12 to the Conquest. It is important to note that Book 12 is the only attempt to capture the indigenous perspective on the Spanish conquest. The pages have been formatted so that the native Aztec language, Nahuatl, is written on the right, while the Spanish translation is recorded on the left. . However, due to the nature of the responses (the Church was not necessarily happy with Sahagun's work), the translations were largely summaries in shorter paragraph form. Some sections have been left completely blank, although it is unclear whether this is due to censorship or lack of time. These twelve volumes span over 2,000 pages and contain 2,468 illustrations. Most of the illustrations were done in the left column, where blocks of space were intentionally left blank and written around them. We know this because some parts of the manuscript still contain blank spaces, indicating that the books were not finished when Fray Sahagún died. The vast majority of images coincide with the meaning of the text, in that they align with Nahuatl passages, but some are simply ornamental. Thus, images served as a third mode of translation to connect Nahuatl to the Western world. Book 11 was.