-
1. Introduction
- University Press of Colorado
- Chapter
- Additional Information
1 1 introduction DOI: 10.5876_9781607322412.c001 “Let your Majesty not imagine that what I say is fabulous, for it is true that Moteucçoma had had copied very faithfully all the things created in both land and sea of which he had knowledge, in gold and silver as well as in precious stones and feathers, in such perfection that they almost appear to be the things themselves . . . Besides this, Moteucçoma gave me much clothing that belonged to him, which considering that it was entirely of cotton with no silk, in the whole world the equal could not be made or woven, nor in so many and diverse colors and workmanship, which included very marvelous garments for men and women.”1 As implied by this enthusiastic account by Hernando Cortés, among the first European visitors to imperial Tenochtitlan, the Spaniards were not only attracted by the material value of what they witnessed upon their encounter with one of the most advanced societies in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. Such sensitive observers as Cortés were also impressed by the astounding level of native craftsmanship. He was able to appreciate the high quality, pageantry, and sumptuousness of the accouterments and jewelry of the Mexica of Tenochtitlan and other Nahuatl-speaking groups who occupied the Valley of Mexico and adjacent regions. Indeed, this was one of the most compelling aspects of native culture, deservedly catching the attention of sixteenth-century Spanish authors. And, surprisingly enough, it is a subject that has not received enough scrutiny by modern scholars. My own fascination with native adornments and status items, their meaning and roles,startedmanyyearsagowhenIwasalmostentirelyfocusedonthepre-Hispanic INTRODUCTION 2 world, though already beginning to perceive the research possibilities offered by postconquest sources. I became interested in how the Nahuas themselves referred to their costume and insignia much more than in the descriptions of European observers such as Cortés. I wanted to find out how much can be learned from native records in different genres, especially when these are combined with other categories of extant sources studied in a cross-disciplinary perspective. Perhaps the greatest advantage of the available corpus of data on costume and insignia is in its potential for creating both a very broad systematic study and more focused, interpretative searches. With time, the study of postconquest resources has brought me to the realization that I should not only make full use of them to illuminate earlier times, but that I should include the later time as an equal component within the larger topic and not accept a rigid and unrealistic barrier between the two. As a result of an inclusive approach to the topic in several dimensions, this book has characteristics of a reference work and a research monograph at the same time, providing both a systematic listing and analysis of extensive data and an interpretative study based on contextual reading of a wide range of sources. I now turn to more detailed discussion of the points I have just made. the foCUs and organization of this Book It is a general tendency among Mesoamerican scholars that preconquest and postconquest themes and perspectives are treated separately and are rarely combined in the same study.2 This dominant attitude ignores the important fact that the bulk of currently available evidence dates from the postcontact era and can be explored to address issues referring to both epochs at the same time, instead of focusing exclusively on one or the other. Such a procedure also means shutting our eyes to the native perspective, which saw many preconquest phenomena as continuing after the arrival of the Europeans on the scene and either avoided seeing an abrupt break with the Spanish conquest or tried to minimize it. The nature of the available data makes it virtually impossible to understand many aspects of native culture and its transformations under European impact without studying both epochs within a unified approach combining precontact and postcontact data, though keeping in mind their distinct contextual frameworks and inherent differences. This book is an attempt to reconstruct the repertory of insignia of rank in the Nahua world and the ways they were used, based on the currently available body of native and Spanish written sources in different genres, as well as indigenous painted manuscripts. By insignia of rank I understand all components of elite dress and certain portable items, accessories, or accouterments, such as seats, mats, staffs, and weapons. The chronological framework encompasses the last several decades before [54.197.64.207] Project MUSE...