Florentine Codex

Published Date

May 1, 2004

Resource Type

Primary Source

This resource was developed in 2004 as part of “The Conquest of Mexico” by Nancy Fitch.

Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de. Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España. Edited by Francisco del Paso y Troncoso. 4 vols. Madrid: Fototipia de Hauser y Menet, 1905. [My translation]

This version of the Códice Florentine is based on the version of the codex held in Florence as well as on the summary of the original codex, Primeros memorials, held in the Bibliioteca de Palacio, Madrid. The four volumes reveal the friar’s attempt to understand native culture, plants, medicine, and language by encouraging older men to draw in the traditional style of the Mexicas. There are many images which accompany the text. The images of Malinche portray her with her hair tied up on her head unlike her images in El Lienzo de Tlaxcala.