Texcalucan y Chichicaspa, Manuscrito Techialoyan de

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This manuscript is associated with the indigenous communities of San Cristóbal Texcalucan and Santa María Magdalena Chichicaspa in the modern state of Mexico, republic of Mexico. The manuscript is an unpublished example from the genre called “Techialoyan Codices” — late colonial, Nahuatl-language manuscripts written and painted on amatl (amate in Spanish, the name for a native fig-bark paper). Techialoyan manuscripts date from the late-seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. This particular manuscript is listed as number 744 in the Techialoyan catalog published in the Handbook of Middle American Indians in 1975. The authors of the catalog state that it was burned by the Audiencia of New Spain in 1703. It was clearly ordered to be burned, but it somehow survived that fate. The small communities of San Cristóbal Texcalucan and Santa María Magdalena Chichicaspa are in the larger municipality of Huixquilucan, another Techialoyan town. The Huixquilucan manuscript is number 724 in the HMAI catalog. The Texcalucan and Chichicaspa manuscript consists of seventeen folios measuring about 8” by 8”, in a typical organization for the genre, of two-sided, single leaves that have been bound on the left margin. The manuscript is both pictorial and textual. Four of the folios contain full, running text in Nahuatl. Graphics tend to represent landscapes in and around the community. We also see men working fields, fishing, and gathering in small meetings. One scene shows two men from pre-Columbian times wearing feathered costumes, one holding a war shield and the other an obsidian-studded club. In the entire manuscript, only one woman appears, doña María Tezozomoctzin, wife of don Alonzo Chimalpopoca, who stands next to her. (Stephanie Wood)

Title variants: 
Manuscrito Techialoyan de San Cristóbal Texcalucan y Santa María Magdalena Chichicaspa
Principal editor: 
Stephanie Wood
Provenance: 
This manuscript was in the private collection of Jay I. Kislak in Miami Lakes, Florida, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first-century. The manuscript was for sale for a time in the mid-1980s at H.P. Kraus Rare Books and Manuscripts in New York. It is not known if Mr. Kislak purchased the manuscript from Kraus or if it changed hands one or more times before he acquired it. Prior to the 1980s, its ownership history is unknown. Mr. Kislak loaned the manuscript to the Library of Congress for a time in the first decade of the twenty-first century.

Transcriptions and Translations

Analytic Transcription English Translation Literal Transcription Spanish Translation Standardized Transcription
[f. 11v. (bottom)] totecyohuan altepemanque [f. 11v. (bottom)] our lords, the altepetl founders [f. 11v. (bottom)] totecyohuanaltepemanque [f. 11v. (abajo)] nuestros señores, los fundadores del altepetl. [f. 11v. (bottom)] totecuyohuan altepemanque
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[f. 12r.] nican memetlan mani ontzontli mecatl tlali nenemi coaxohtli altepehuaque ymaxca neztimani OOOOO XXXXX [f. 12r.] Here in Memetlan are two tzontli [presumably 2 x 400, or 800] mecatl [mecates, in Spanish] of land belonging to the citizens of the altepetl; the boundary runs along. OOOOO XXXXX [f. 12r.] nicanmemetlanmaniontzontlime catl tlalinenemicoaxohtlialtepehu aqueymaxcaneztimaniOOOOO XXXXX [f. 12r.] Aquí en Memetlan hay dos tzontli [presumiblemente 2 x 400, o 800) mecatl [mecates, en español] de tierra que perteneze a los ciudadanos del altepetl; los linderos corren a lo largo. OOOOO XXXXX [f. 12r.] nican Memetlan mani ontzontli mecatl tlalli nenemi coaxochtli altepehuaque imaxca neztimani OOOOO XXXXX
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[f. 12v.] nican motenehua tlamayan[?] man... caxtolpualmecatl tequitcatlali ymaxca altepehuaque huytlaztoc [f. 12v.] Here at the place called Tlamayan [intending Atlamayan?] there is tribute land 300 mecatl [mecates, in Spanish] long, the property of the citizens of the altepetl. [f. 12v.] nicanmotenehua tlamayan[?]man.. caxtolpualmecatl tequitcatlali ymaxcaaltepehuaquehuytlaz toc [f. 12v.] Aquí en este lugar que se llama Tlamaya [la intención Atlamayan?] hay tierra tributaria de 300 mecatl [mecates en español) de largo, la propiedad de los ciudadanos del altepetl. [f. 12v.] nican motenehua Tlamayan[?] mani caxtolpualmecatl tequitcatlalli imaxca altepehuaque huitlatztoc
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[f. 13r., top] niz altepepan ytec moh yzehuycal huytzquilocan tlacopaneca [f. 13r., top] Here all the inner part of the altepetl is entirely a part of Huitzquilocan [Huitzquilucan, today], [settled by] people of Tlacopan [Tacuba]. [f. 13r. (top)] nizaltepepanytecmohyzehuy calhuytzquilocantlacopaneca [f. 13r., arriba] Aquí toda la porción interior del altepetl es totalmente una parte de Huitzquilocan [Huitzquilucan, hoy], [poblada por] gente de Tlacopan [Tacuba]. [f. 13r., top] niz altepepan itec moch icenhuical Huitzquilocan tlacopaneca
[f. 13r. (bottom)] ye niz mani yn itlazocaltzin xante malie mateltzin nican motlapielitoc [f. 13r. (bottom)] Here is the precious house of Santa Maria Mateltzin [Magdalena? in Chichicaspa?]; here she is in charge. [f. 13r. (bottom)] yenizmaniynitlazocaltzinxantema liemateltzinnicanmotlapielitoc [f. 13r., abajo] Aquí esta la preciosa casa de Santa María Mateltzin [¿Magdalena?, ¿en Chichicaspa?]; aquí ella está encargada. [RMG] [f. 13r. (bottom)] Ye niz mani in itlaçocaltzin Santa Maria Mateltzin [Magdalena?]. Nican motlapielitoc.
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[f. 13v.] nican atl ynechicoayan altepetl[a]tquitl atzitzicuylco OOO [f. 13v.] Here where waters are gathered is altepetl property, at Atzitzicuilco. OOO [f. 13v.] nicanatlynechicoayanaltepetl.. tquitlatzitzicuylcoOOO [f. 13v.] Aquí donde las aguas estan reunidas, es propiedad del altepetl, en Atzitzicuilco. OOO [f. 13v.] nican atl inechicoyan altepetlatquitl Atzitzicuilco OOO