Rare Books & Special Collections
Resources on Aztec & Mayan Law
Compiled by Mike Widener, Head of Special Collections, in conjunction
with the exhibit, Law in Mexico Before the
Conquest
Contents:
About this site
"Resources on Aztec & Mayan Law" originally accompanied a 1992
Tarlton Law Library exhibit, "Law in Mexico
Before the Conquest". At that time, precolumbian law was still
under-represented in the literature of Latin American legal history, as
Guillermo Floris Margadant observed in his closing remarks to the IV
Congress on Mexican Legal History. Since then, however, there has been a
surge in published research, particularly in the field of ancient Mayan
law.
This bibliography aims to provide comprehensive coverage of works
that deal with Aztec and Mayan law up to the time of the Spanish
conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century. It cites only a few
representative works on post-conquest indigenous law and general works
on the history of the Aztecs and Mayas.
Sources checked include Tallons, the Tarlton Law
Library's online catalog; UTNETCAT, the
online catalog for The University of Texasat Austin; the Handbook of Latin American
Studies (HLAS); the Hispanic American Periodical Index; and legal
history journals published in the U.S. and Mexico.
Thanks to Jane Garner and Michael Hironymous (Benson Latin American
Collection, University of Texas at Austin), and Emma Molina Widener
(Dept. of Spanish & Portuguese, University of Texas at Austin), for
their assistance.
Last update: 11 June 2003.
Return to Table of Contents
Mexican Legal History: General Works
- Bonifaz, Miguel. DERECHO INDIANO: DERECHO CASTELLANO,
DERECHO PRECOLOMBIANO, DERECHO COLONIAL. 2nd ed. Sucre: Universidad Mayor
de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca, 1960.
- "Treats the subject of the legal status of Indians under Spanish law,
and colonial law, as well as under the law of the Indians before the days
of Columbus." -- HLAS.
- Cruz Barney, Oscar. HISTORIA DEL DERECHO EN
MÉXICO. México: Oxford University Press, 1999.
- This textbook on Mexican legal history has an opening chapter on
indigenous prehispanic law which covers the Olmecs, Aztecs and Mayas.
The Maya section covers social classes, family law, and criminal law.
The more extensive section on the Aztecs covers socio-political
organization, the reliance on punishment, the court system, family law,
land tenure, and slavery. The bibliography covers a wide range of
sources.
- Esquivel Obregón, Toribio. APUNTES PARA LA
HISTORIA DEL DERECHO EN MÉXICO. 2a ed. 2 v. México: Editorial
Porrúa, 1984.
- Esquivel Obregón's broad study of Mexican legal history
includes a section on Aztec law. While his fellow legal historians
looked on Aztec law as merely a curiosity of the past, Esquivel
Obregón insisted that its study was indispensible in understanding
the true nature of Mexican legal culture. However, Jerome Offner has
criticized this study as "bizarre" and "replete with theoretical and
substantive inadequacies ... and with anti-Indian and pro-Hispanic
prejudices."
- González, María del Refugio. HISTORIA
DEL DERECHO MEXICANO. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México, Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas, 1983.
- A brief section on "El substrato indígena" (pp. 12-20)
concentrates primarily on public law, covering not only the Aztecs and
Maya but also the Tarascans and the Chichimec tribes of the arid north,
and relies on a few well-chosen secondary sources. Full text
available online.
- Hassig, Ross, and Ronald Spores, eds. FIVE
CENTURIES OF LAW AND POLITICS IN CENTRAL MEXICO. Nashville, Tenn.:
Vanderbilt University, 1984.
- The first several essays in this anthology discuss Aztec legal and
political structures, as well as the participation of indigenous peoples
in colonial politics and litigation. They include Jerome Offner, "The
Distribution of Jurisdiction and Political Power in Aztec Texcoco:
Subgroups in Conflict"; Ross Hassig, "The Aztec Empire: A Reappraisal";
Susan Kellog, "Aztec Women in Early Colonial Courts: Structure and
Strategy in a Legal Context"; and S. L. Cline, "A Legal Process at the
Local Level: Estate Division in Late Sixteenth-Century Culhuacan."
- Margadant S., Guillermo Floris. INTRODUCCIÓN
A LA HISTORIA DEL DERECHO MEXICANO. 9th ed. Naucalpan, Estado de
México: Editorial Esfinge, 1990.
- Chapter 1, "El derecho precortesiano," is an excellent starting
point for the study of indigenous legal systems in Mexico, including
those of the Aztecs and Maya. An uneven English translation of this book
is available (AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF MEXICAN LAW, 1983).
Margadant was the dean of Mexican legal historians until his death in
2002.
- Sánchez Vázquez, Rafael. GÉNESIS Y
DESARROLLO DE LA CULTURA JURÍDICA MEXICANA. México: Editorial
Porrúa, 2001.
- The first chapter is brief notes on legal education in pre-Conquest
Mexico, relying heavily on Esquivel Obregón's APUNTES.
Return to Table of Contents
Legal History of the Aztecs & Mayas
- Ávalos, Francisco. "An Overview of the Legal
System of the Aztec Empire." LAW LIBRARY JOURNAL 86:2 (Spring 1994),
259-276.
- Probably the most thorough English-language overview of the Aztec
legal system, with sections on the form of government, the legal system,
and areas of substantive law including criminal law, family law,
property, commercial law, and international law.
- Alba Hermosillo, Carlos H. ESTUDIO COMPARADO ENTRE
EL DERECHO AZTECA Y EL DERECHO POSITIVO MEXICANO. México, 1949.
- The author reorganizes Aztec law within an artificial framework of
European law codes, and then compares each Aztec law with analogous
provisions in modern Mexican law. Useful as a classified summary of
Aztec law, but draws no conclusions from the similarities or
contradictions.
- Bahamondes Fuentes, Delfin. EL DERECHO EN LA
CIVILIZACIÓN MAYA. [Santiago:] Editorial Jurídica de Chile,
1973.
- Based on scholarship and assumptions about the Maya that are in
many cases now obsolete. Few citations of primary source material on the
Maya.
- Buitrago, Edgardo. EL DERECHO Y EL ESTADO
PRECOLOMBINO EN GENERAL Y ESPECIALMENTE EN NICARAGUA. León,
Nicaragua: Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales, Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, Núcleo de León, 1983.
- Ceballos Novelo, Roque J. "Las
instituciones aztecas: algunas consideraciones sobre su origen,
carácter y evolución." ANALES DEL MUSEO NACIONAL DE
MÉXICO Época 5:2 (1937), 279-304.
- "Very general discussion of formal institutions and social
organization of the Aztecs." -- HLAS.
- Chellet Díaz, Eugenio. EL DERECHO TRIBUTARIO
EN LA NACIÓN AZTECA. México, 1962.
- Thesis for law degree, Universidad Iberoamericana.
- Dary F., Claudia. EL DERECHO INTERNACIONAL
HUMANITARIO Y EL ORDEN JURÍDICO MAYA: UNA PERSPECTIVA
HISTÓRICO-CULTURAL. Guatemala: FLACSO, 1997.
- Opening chapter focuses on ancient Mayan laws and codes regarding
the conduct of warfare, and their relevance to understanding the modern
civil strife between Mayan peasants and the Guatemalan state. Published
in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
- Díaz Vasconcelos, Luis Antonio. NORMA E
INSTITUCIÓN JURÍDICAS MAYAS. Guatemala: Imprenta
Universitaria, 1953.
- The most thorough work so far on the Mayan legal system, relying
heavily on Spanish chroniclers such as the Franciscans Diego de Landa
and Juan de Torquemada, Mayan writings from the colonial period such as
the Chilam Balam, and the American Sylvanus Morley, an
early pioneer in Maya studies.
- Díaz Vasconcelos, Luis Antonio. "Tres
aspectos de la convivencia jurídica del maya." ANALES DE LA
SOCIEDAD DE GEOGRAFÍA E HISTORIA DE GUATEMALA 25:3 (Sept. 1951),
206-224.
- "Classification of the juridical systems of mankind, and
examination of the Maya system of Classic period and protohistoric
times. Assigns the latter to a legal system relatively rationalized by a
society which had become homogeneous through preeminence of the
domestic-political group. It had passed through and lost its theocratic
(legal) character." -- HLAS.
- Esquit Choy, Edgar, & Carlos Ochoa
García, eds. EL RESPETO A LA PALABRA: EL ORDEN
JURÍDICO DEL PUEBLO MAYA. Iximulew, Guatemala: Centro de Estudios
de la Cultura Maya, 1995.
- García Ruiz, Alfonso. "El derecho premial
entre los mayas y los chibchas." In ESTUDIOS HISTÓRICOS AMERICANOS:
HOMENAJE A SILVIO ZAVALA (México: El Colegio de México, 1953),
477-516.
- "Examines native American political structure and processes and
their ramifications, calling attention to the formal legal status of
some Indian judicial systems." -- HLAS.
- Gayosso y Nararrete, Mercedes. "Causas que
determinaron la ausencia de la adopción en el derecho azteca." In
MEMORIA DEL IV CONGRESO DE HISTORIA DEL DERECHO MEXICANO (1986)
(México: Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas, Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México, 1988), Tomo I, 383-397.
- A review of Aztec family law and why it contains no provisions on
adoption.
- Gayosso y Navarrete, Mercedes. "Naturaleza
religioso-jurídica de la institución del matrimonio en el
derecho nahuatl." REVISTA DE ESTUDIOS HISTÓRICO-JURÍDICOS 18
(1996), 421-440.
- Study of marriage in Aztec law as an institution with both
religious and legal aspects, and a comparison with Roman law on
marriage.
- Gilissen, John, ed. INTRODUCTION BIBLIOGRAPHIQUE
À L'HISTOIRE DU DROIT ET À L'ETHNOLOGIE JURIDIQUE /
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 6 v. in 9.
Brussels: Institut de Sociologie, Université Libre de Bruxelles,
1963-.
- Although somewhat dated, these bibliographies continue to be useful
starting points. Most include annotations and commentary. See "Les
Aztèques & les Mayas" (F/2, 1963), "México" (F/9, 1968),
"Amérique espagnole coloniale" (F/4, 1964), and "Les Incas" (F/1,
1963).
- Guerrero Castillo, Julian N., & Lola Soriano de
Guerrero. DERECHO ABORIGEN EN CENTROAMÉRICA Y EL CARIBE.
Managua, Nicaragua: Editora Central, 1965.
- A summary of references to Aztec and Mayan legal institutions from
Spanish chroniclers such as Torquemada, Landa, Sahagún, and Morley,
now outdated by newer studies.
- Guier, Jorge Enrique. DERECHO PRECOLOMBINO. San
José, Costa Rica: Libro Libre, 1991.
- The author's stated purpose is to describe the legal systems in
Central America before the Spanish conquest, and compare these with the
legal systems of the Aztecs, Mayas, Incas, and Caribbean Indians.
- Hernández Rodríguez, Régulo.
ORGANIZACIÓN POLÍTICA, SOCIAL, ECONÓMICA Y JURÍDICA
DE LOS AZTECAS. [México, 1939].
- "A readable account based largely upon published material." --
HLAS.
- Izquierdo, Ana Luisa. "El derecho penal entre los
antiguos mayas." ESTUDIOS DE CULTURA MAYA 11 (1978), 215-247.
- "Summarizes principal historical sources available for partial
reconstruction of legal norms, among preconquest Maya societies,
conceived from anthropological rather than strictly legalistic
standpoint" -- HLAS.
- Kohler, Josef. EL DERECHO DE LOS AZTECAS.
Traducido del aleman por Carlos Rovalo y Fernández. Mexico:
Compañia Editora Latino Americana, 1924.
- Kohler, Josef. "El derecho penal de los aztecas."
REVISTA AMERICANA DE BUENOS AIRES 15:165 (1938).
- "A translation of this standard work. Separately paged from the
rest of the review." -- HLAS.
- Lima, Maria de la Luz. "Control social en
México-Tenochtitlán." In ESTUDIOS JURÍDICOS EN HOMENAJE
AL MAESTRO GUILLERMO FLORIS MARGADANT (México: Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, 1988), 235-258.
- A study of both both formal and informal means of social control,
including social norms, education, and legal sanctions. Includes a good
bibliography.
- López Austin, Alfredo. LA CONSTITUCIÓN
REAL DE MÉXICO-TENOCHTITLAN. Mexico: Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, Seminario de Cultura Nahuatl, 1961.
- "General survey of the sociopolitical, legal, economic,
educational, and ecclesiastical aspect of Tenochtitlan, with frequent
recourse to Nahuatl texts to aid in understanding the internal
conception of the system. Noteworthy principally for its greater
utilization of Nahuatl textual material than any previous study." --
HLAS.
- Luna García, Jonathan E. EL DERECHO EN LAS
CIUDADES DE LA TRIPLE ALIANZA. Thesis, Universidad Iberoamericana, 1996.
- Moncayo Rodríguez,
Socorro. "Consideraciones en torno a la esclavitud entre los
aztecas." In MEMORIA DEL IV CONGRESO DE HISTORIA DEL DERECHO MEXICANO
(1986) (México: Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1988), Tomo II,
793-809.
- A comparison of the Aztec institution of slavery with its
counterparts in Western cultures.
- Noyola Arriaga, Alicia. BREVE EXAMEN DE LAS
DISPOSICIONES PENALES DE LA LEGISLACIÓN MAYA. México, 1964.
- Thesis for law degree, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
Mexico.
- Offner, Jerome A. LAW AND POLITICS IN AZTEC
TEXCOCO. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
- So far, this is the definitive study of the Aztec legal system,
virtually the only one that makes extensive use of primary source
materials and applies the methods of modern comparative law. "Solid
contribution" -- HLAS.
- Pérez Galaz, Juan de Dios. DERECHO Y
ORGANIZACIÓN SOCIAL DE LOS MAYAS. Campeche: Gobierno constitucional
del Estado de Campeche, 1943.
- Romero Vargas e Yturbide, Ignacio.
ORGANIZACIÓN POLÍTICA DE LOS PUEBLOS DE ANAHUAC. México:
Libros Luciernaga, 1957.
- A study of the constitutional law of the Aztecs.
- Sandoval Pardo, Fernando R. HISTORIA CRÍTICA
DEL ESTADO MEXICANO: ANÁLISIS ESTRUCTURAL Y SUPERESTRUCTURAL DE LOS
ESTADOS AZTECA, NOVOHISPANO E INDEPENDIENTE, 1325-1911. México:
Editorial Porrúa, 2001.
- The author's goal is to form a theory of the Mexican state founded
on the historic conceptions that the Mexican people formed about their
state in the past, beginning with the Aztecs. The structural elements of
the Aztec state, including its legal system, are analyzed.
- EL SISTEMA JURÍDICO MAYA: UNA APROXIMACIÓN. Guatemala:
Universidad Rafael Landivar, Instituto de Investigaciones
Económicas y Sociales, 1998.
- A study of the legal system in 20th-century Maya communities of
Guatemala. It includes a useful review of the literature, including a
summary of Díaz Vasconcelos' NORMA E INSTITUCIÓN
JURÍDICAS MAYAS (1953) (see above), and elsewhere refers to
pre-Conquest Mayan law.
- Sodi Bonequi, María Enriqueta. LA TIERRA Y EL
DERECHO ENTRE LOS MAYAS. México, 1962.
- Thesis for law degree, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
Mexico.
- Seus, John M. "Aztec law." AMERICAN BAR
ASSOCIATION JOURNAL 55 (Aug. 1969), 736-739.
- "Brief summary of the subject, based largely on secondary sources"
-- HLAS.
- Toscano, Salvador. DERECHO Y ORGANIZACIÓN
SOCIAL DE LOS AZTECAS. México: Universidad Nacional de México.
1937.
- Thesis for Toscano's law degree. See S. Zavala's review in the Rev.
hist. amer., no. 1 (1938), p. 87-88.
Return to Table of Contents
Primary Sources for Aztec & Mayan Law
- Boone, Elizabeth Hill. STORIES IN RED AND BLACK:
PICTORIAL HISTORIES OF THE AZTECS AND MIXTECS. Austin: University of
Texas Press, 2000.
- "[Boone] takes the reader through dozens of central Mexican and
Oaxacan manuscripts... At the end, the reader not only knows what is in
any given manuscript, according to Boone's reading, but also how to find
one's own way through a manuscript." -- Hispanic American Historical
Review
- THE CODEX MENDOZA. Frances F. Berdan & Patricia Rieff Anawalt,
eds. 4 vols. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.
- "Highly important pictorial manuscript prepared (ca. 1541) by
Indian artist for Viceroy Mendoza was deposited in the Bodleian Library,
Oxford. Consists of 71 folios depicting Aztec conquests, tribute lists,
and ethnographic data. Impeccable scholarship and excellent drawings
characterize this luxurious edition of a primary source for the study of
prehispanic Central Mexico." -- HLAS. Includes several depections of
Aztec courts and crimes. The editors have also published a one-volume
abridgment, THE ESSENTIAL CODEX MENDOZA (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1997).
- Hironymous, Michael O. MESOAMERICAN CODICES.
Austin: Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at
Austin, Mar. 1991.
- No. 59 in the Benson Collection's "Biblionoticias" series. Contains
annotated references to published reproductions of 61 Mesoamerican
codices. Available
online.
- Landa, Diego de. LANDA'S RELACIÓN DE LAS
COSAS DE YUCATÁN: A TRANSLATION. Alfred M. Tozzer, ed. New York:
Kraus Reprint, 1968.
- Landa (1524-1579), a Franciscan who became bishop of Yucatan, is
famous for his account of ancient Maya culture and infamous for having
orchestrated the destruction of Mayan manuscripts. "Reprint of Tozzer's
copiously annotated translation of the most important Spanish account of
late Pre-Hispanic and Contact Yucatecan Maya culture (1566), originally
published in the Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology
and Ethnology, Harvard Univ., 18 (1941)." -- HLAS.
- Landa, Diego de. THE MAYA: ACCOUNT OF THE AFFAIRS
OF YUCATAN. A.R. Pagden, ed. & trans. Chicago: J. Philip O'Hara,
1975.
- "Provides clear, readable, and accurate English translation of 17th
century abstract of Landa's Relación... [I]t remains the most
important single account of prehispanic Yucatec culture. Pagden's
translation, notes, and commentary will be especially valuable to
students and scholars unable to work directly with the original Spanish
text." -- HLAS.
- Landa, Diego de. RELACIÓN DE LAS COSAS DE
YUCATÁN. México: Porrúa, 1959.
- Introduction by Ángel M. Garibay K. Reprinted numerous times.
"Completely lacking in annotations or footnotes, the present edition
nonetheless provides one of the best versions of the original Spanish
text and includes all the illustrations." -- HLAS
- Sahagún, Bernardino de. GENERAL HISTORY OF
THE THINGS OF NEW SPAIN: FLORENTINE CODEX. Arthur J.O. Anderson &
Charles E. Dibble, editors & translators. Salt Lake City: University
of Utah, 1950-1982. 13 parts in 12 vols.
- Sahagún, (d. 1590), a Franciscan missionary, made extensive
use of Indian informants to compile a monumental encyclopedia of Aztec
society and culture, an ethnohistory considered to be centuries ahead of
its time. "Sahagún emerges as the indisputable founder of
ethnographic science. Employing native informants, accommodating himself
to their style of discourse, using their language, checking and
rechecking the responses, his legacy is more than a landmark; rather it
remains an exemplary model of the art. ... The accomplishments of the
joint translators, Dibble and Anderson, will surely rank among the
greatest achievements of American ethnohistorical scholarship in the
present century."--Natural History. The original Nahuatl text and
English translation are presented in parallel columns.
- Sahagún, Bernardino de. CODICE FLORENTINO.
México: Secretaría de Gobernación, 1979. 3 vols.
- A facsimile reprint of the original manuscript of Sahagún's
"Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España," in Nahuatl and
Spanish.
Return to Table of Contents
Indian Law & Indian Rights in the Colonial Era and Beyond
- ANTROPOLOGÍA JURÍDICA. México: Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, 1995.
- Includes several essays on law and anthropology, international
recognition of indigenous legal systems, and a select bibliography on
legal anthropology.
- Archivo General de la Nación (Mexico).
CULTURA Y DERECHOS DE LOS PUEBLOS INDÍGENAS DE MÉXICO.
México: Archivo General de la Nación, 1996. [And] CULTURA Y
DERECHOS DE LOS PUEBLOS INDÍGENAS DE MÉXICO: CATÁLOGO
DOCUMENTAL. México: Archivo General de la Nación, 1997.
- A collection of essays on indigenous law and indigenous rights from
colonial times to the present, by many of Mexico's leading scholars
(including Miguel León-Portilla, Carlos Monsiváis, José
Luis Soberanes, Abelardo Villegas, Luis Villoro, and Silvio Zavala, to
name but a few). The accompanying "Catalogo Documental" pictures and
describes documents from the Archivo General de la Nación that
illustrate the culture and rights of Mexico's indigenous peoples. Both
books were products of "a series of conferences and round tables
organized by the Archivo General de la Nación ... on indigenous
communities and their place within Mexican national space." -- HLAS.
- Belena, Eusebio Buenaventura, 1736-1794.
RECOPILACIÓN SUMARIA DE TODOS LOS AUTOS ACORDADOS DE LA REAL
AUDIENCIA Y SALA DEL CRIMEN DE ESTA NUEVA ESPAÑA. 1a ed.
facsimilar. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de
México, 1981.
- Facsimile edition of an important compilation of legislation, royal
orders, legislation, and criminal court decisions in colonial Mexico,
with index. Contains many provisions on criminal law, labor law,
property rights, and local government of Indians and Indian communities.
- Borah, Woodrow Wilson. JUSTICE BY INSURANCE: THE
GENERAL INDIAN COURT OF COLONIAL MEXICO AND THE LEGAL AIDES OF THE
HALF-REAL. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
- "Masterly study ... a perceptive analysis of transformation in the
Indian world as natives adapted to the Spanish legal system. Destined to
become a classic in the literature" -- HLAS. Borah describes the failure
of the Spanish government's effort to preserve native legal customs, and
the consequences of this failure in terms of disruption of the Indian
social order and the flood of litigation by Indians in the Spanish
courts.
- Carmona Lara, Ma. del Carmen. "La evolución
del pensamiento jurídico en México respecto al derecho
indígena." In MEMORIA DEL IV CONGRESO DE HISTORIA DEL DERECHO
MEXICANO (1986) (México: Instituto de Investigaciones
Jurídicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México,
1988), Tomo I, 211-224.
- Carmona Lara defines the concept of indigenous law and reviews
Mexican legal scholarship on this subject from colonial times to the
present.
- Izquierdo, Ana Luisa. "Casos de vigencia del
derecho prehispánico en la actualidad." ANUARIO MEXICANO DE
HISTORIA DEL DERECHO 10 (1998), 425-433.
- Describes some prehispanic legal customs that have become
incorporated in written Mexican law, and legal customs that have become
protected by the Mexican constitution's protections of cultural
pluralism, especially in municipal elections.
Available online as a PDF file.
- Kellogg, Susan. LAW AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF
AZTEC CULTURE, 1500-1700. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.
- "The story of how Spanish law served as an instrument of cultural
transformation and adaptation in the lives of the indigenous population
during the first two centuries of colonial rule. ... [b]ased on a wide
array of local-level Spanish and Nahuatl documentation and an intensive
analysis of seventy-three lawsuits over property involving Indians
resident in Tenochtitlan/Mexico City that were heard by the Real
Audiencia between 1536 and 1700..." [book jacket].
- Llaguno, Jose A. LA PERSONALIDAD JURÍDICA DEL
INDIO Y EL III CONCILIO PROVINCIAL MEXICANO (1585), ENSAYO
HISTÓRICO-JURÍDICO DE LOS DOCUMENTOS ORIGINALES. México:
Editorial Porrúa, 1963.
- A study of the Catholic Church's debates in the 16th century over
the legal status of Indians. While the Third Mexican Provincial Council
affirmed the basic human rights of Indians, it also considered them as
minors unable to exercise their full rights.
- Lockhart, James, Frances Berdan, and Arthur J. O.
Anderson. THE TLAXCALAN ACTAS: A COMPENDIUM OF THE RECORDS OF
THE CABILDO OF TLAXCALA (1545-1627). Salt Lake City: University of Utah
Press, 1986.
- The city of Tlaxcala received favored treatment from the Spaniards
as a reward for helping overthrow the Aztecs. As a result, it was the
only major city in New Spain whose government was dominated by Indians
for several decades. The city council records studied in this volume
reveal how the native ruling class and the Spanish form of municipal
government adapted themselves to each other.
- Manzano Manzano, Juan. "Las leyes y costumbres
indígenas en el orden de prelación de fuentes del derecho
indiano." REVISTA DEL INSTITUTO DE HISTORIA DEL DERECHO RICARDO LEVENE
18 (1967), 65-71.
- Argues that Spanish jurists recognized a place for indigenous legal
customs as supplementary law in the Indies.
- Mariluz Urquijo, José M. "El derecho
prehispánico y el derecho indiano como modelos del derecho
castellano." III CONGRESO DEL INSTITUTO INTERNACIONAL DE HISTORIA DEL
DERECHO INDIANO: ACTOS Y ESTUDIOS (Madrid, 1973), 101-109.
- Describes the interest that Spaniards took in indigenous legal
systems throughout the Colonial period.
- Mexico. Laws, statutes, etc. LEGISLACIÓN
INDIGENISTA DE MEXICO. Introducción de Manuel Gamio.
Recopilación de Francisco Gonzalez de Cossio (et al.). México:
Instituto Indigenista Interamericano, 1958.
- A compilation of Mexican decrees, legislation, and court rulings
relating to Indians for the period 1810-1954, and covering such topics
as communal property, slavery, agrarian reform, labor relations, and
government agencies responsible for Indian affairs. There are brief,
helpful introductions to each chapter.
- Mörner, Magnus. LA CORONA ESPAÑOLA Y LOS
FORÁNEOS EN LOS PUEBLOS DE INDIOS DE AMÉRICA. Stockholm:
Latinamerikanska-institutet i Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell, 1970.
- Early in the conquest of the New World, the missionaries decided
that the Indians would become much better Christians without the bad
example of the Spanish settlers. Thus began an effort to enforce
residential segregation of the Indian population. Mörner discusses
the ideas behind segregation, the laws drawn up to create it, the
ultimate failure to enforce them, and the social transformations that
took place in spite of the laws.
- Pietschmann, Horst. "Consideraciones en torno al
problema del estudio del derecho indigena colonial." In IX CONGRESO DEL
INSTITUTO INTERNACIONAL DE HISTORIA DEL DERECHO INDIANO, MADRID, 5 A 10
DE FEBRERO DE 1990: ACTAS Y ESTUDIOS, v. 2 (Madrid: Editorial de la
Universidad Complutense, 1991), 7-17.
- Argues against the conclusion that indigenous law slowly
disappeared during the colonial period.
- Rípodas Ardanaz, Daisy. "Imagen del derecho
indígena en el teatro español del setecientos." In XI CONGRESO
DEL INSTITUTO INTERNACIONAL DE HISTORIA DEL DERECHO INDIANO: ACTAS Y
ESTUDIOS, v. 2 (Buenos Aires: Instituto de Investigaciones de Historia
del Derecho, 1997), 167-187.
- Looks at the depiction of indigenous legal systems in the Spanish
theatre of the late 18th-early 19th centuries, and how these depictions
served either to justify the Spanish conquest, or to comment on
contemporary European society.
- Ruz Escalante, José Luis. BREVE HISTORIA DE
LA LEGISLACIÓN MAYA EN QUINTANA ROO: SIGLOS I AL XIX. Quintana Roo:
Fondo de Publicaciones y Ediciones, Gobierno del Estado de Quintana Roo,
1991.
- Spain. RECOPILACIÓN
DE LEYES DE LOS REYNOS DE LAS INDIAS. México, D.F.: Fondo para la
Difusión del Derecho, Escuela Libre de Derecho, 1987.
- Volumes 1-4 are a facsimile reprint of the 1681 edition of the Laws
of the Indies, the first definitive and authoritative compilation of
Spanish law governing its American colonies, as well as landmark in the
history of law. Much of the voluminous and sometimes conflicting
legislation regarding Indian laws and legal rights can be found here.
Volume 5 is a collection of studies on various aspects of the Laws of
the Indies.
- Stevens, Henry, and Fred W. Lucas. THE NEW LAWS OF
THE INDIES FOR THE GOOD TREATMENT AND PRESERVATION OF THE INDIANS,
PROMULGATED BY THE EMPEROR CHARLES THE FIFTH, 1542-1543; A FACSIMILE
REPRINT OF THE ORIGINAL SPANISH EDITION, TOGETHER WITH A LITERAL
TRANSLATION INTO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE; TO WHICH IS PREFIXED AN
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION ... Amsterdam: N. Israel, 1968.
- Reprint of a book first published in London in 1893. Contains the
text in English and Spanish of the "New Laws of the Indies," which the
Spanish crown was later forced to rescind by colonists outraged at
having to give up their allotments of Indian laborers. Most of the book
is taken up by the introduction which denounces Spanish mistreatment of
the Indians.
- Tau Anzoátegui, Victor. NUEVOS HORIZONTES EN
EL ESTUDIO HISTÓRICO DEL DERECHO INDIANO. Buenos Aires: Instituto
de Investigaciones de Historia del Derecho, 1997.
- See his Ch. 7, "Las comunidades aborígenes: impactos,
asimilaciones y supervivencias jurídicas", pp. 97-106.
- Tyler, S. Lyman, ed. CONCERNING THE INDIANS LATELY
DISCOVERED: THE INDIAN CAUSE BEFORE THE LAW OF NATIONS, COLONIAL PERIOD.
Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 1980.
- An English translation, with commentary, of treatises by the
Spanish jurist Francisco de Vitoria (d. 1546) who argued that while the
Indian nations of the New World were sovereign, the Spanish state could
be justified in making war on the Indians if they hindered trade or the
preaching of the Gospel.
- Tyler, S. Lyman, ed. THE INDIAN CAUSE IN THE
SPANISH LAWS OF THE INDIES. Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 1980.
- An English translation, with commentary, of large parts of Spanish
colonial law dealing with Indians and their relationships with Spanish
society, such as the Laws of the Indies. The opening essay gives a
useful literature review.
- Vigil, Ralph H. ALONSO DE ZORITA: ROYAL JUDGE AND
CHRISTIAN HUMANIST, 1512-1585. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
1987.
- Zorita sat as a judge on the highest courts in New Spain and became
an ardent defender of Indian rights. He is also one of the best sources
on Aztec law before the conquest, since of all the Spaniards who passed
on accounts of the Aztec legal system, he was one of the very few who
was legally trained.
- Zorraquín Becú, Ricardo. "Los derechos
aborígenes." REVISTA DE HISTORIA DE DERECHO 14 (1986), 427-451.
- The main theme is the gradual disappearance of indigenous legal
institutions in favor of Spanish law during the colonial period.
Return to Table of Contents
Aztecs & Mayas: General Works
- Clendinnen, Inga. AZTECS: AN INTERPRETATION.
Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
- "Speculative interpretation of Aztec society focuses on daily life
on the eve of Spanish conquest. Author considers roles of victims,
warriors, priests, merchants, and women. Reflections on ritual human
sacrifice serve as a basis to unravel complexities and contradictions of
Aztec life." -- HLAS. See the review in the
online journal GATEWAYS.
- Farriss, Nancy M. MAYA SOCIETY UNDER COLONIAL
RULE: THE COLLECTIVE ENTERPRISE OF SURVIVAL. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1984.
- "Scholarly study of social organization (economy, family, religion
and world view, politics, ethnic relations and population changes) of
the Maya of Yucatan from late preconquest to 1820. What allowed the Maya
to survive, while most other Indian cultures succumbed, is the question
that runs through the pages and threads the chapters of this classic
work." -- HLAS.
- Josephy, Alvin M, Jr., ed. AMERICA IN 1492: THE
WORLD OF THE INDIAN PEOPLES BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF COLUMBUS. New York:
Knopf, 1992.
- A collection of essays on indigenous societies and cultures
throughout both North and South America, on the eve of Columbus' voyage.
- León-Portilla, Miguel. AZTEC THOUGHT AND
CULTURE: A STUDY OF THE ANCIENT NAHUATL MIND. Norman, Okla.: University
of Oklahoma Press, 1963.
- English translation, by Jack E. Davis, of LA FILOSOFÍA
NÁHUATL, ESTUDIADA EN SUS FUENTES (1959).
- Morley, Sylvanus Griswold, & George W.
Brainerd. THE ANCIENT MAYA. Revised by Robert J. Sharer. 4th
ed. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univ. Press, 1983.
- "Extensive revision has brought this classic work up to date
without distorting Morley's personal vision of the ancient Maya." --
HLAS
- Nabokov, Peter, ed. NATIVE AMERICAN TESTIMONY: A
CHRONICLE OF INDIAN-WHITE RELATIONS FROM PROPHECY TO THE PRESENT,
1492-1992. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987.
- Native Americans describe their encounter with Europeans in their
own words in this documentary, which includes Aztec and Mayan accounts
of the conquest. "A strong and moving reminder of a lost dimension in
American history," says Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
- Sanders, William T., and Joseph Marino. NEW WORLD
PREHISTORY: ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN. Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice-Hall, 1970.
- A concise summary of what archaeology and anthropology have taught
us about the development of indigenous culture and society in the New
World, from its beginnings in primitive hunting and gathering societies
to its climax in the great civilizations of the Aztec, Maya, and Inca.
- Schele, Linda, & David A. Freidel. A FOREST OF
KINGS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE ANCIENT MAYA. New York: Morrow, 1990.
- "Beautifully-written exploration of Maya history from preclassic
through classic times, based on the imaginative use of a wide range of
archaeological, linguistic, and ethnohistorical evidence." -- HLAS.
- Smith, Michael Ernest. THE AZTECS. Malden, Mass.:
Blackwell Publishers, 1996.
- "Anthropological description of Aztec civilization emphasizing
recent archeological fieldwork and ethnohistoric analysis. Well
illustrated with extensive bibliography." -- HLAS.
- Townsend, Richard F. THE AZTECS. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1992.
- "Portrait of Aztec civilization draws on data from recent
excavations, studies of Aztec monuments, Spanish records, and
illustrated codices. Topics covered include Spanish conquest, emergence
and expansion of the Aztec State, and everyday life of farmers,
artisans, traders, and elites in late prehispanic Central Mexico." --
HLAS.
- Urban, Greg, and Joel Sherzer, eds. NATION-STATES
AND INDIANS IN LATIN AMERICA. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991.
- A collection of essays, mostly by anthropologists, on the relations
between Indian societies and the modern nations of Latin America.
- Wright, Ronald. STOLEN CONTINENTS: THE AMERICAS
THROUGH INDIAN EYES SINCE 1492. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.
- The author's account of the conquest of the American continent is
based on oral and written sources of the Aztec, Maya, Inca, Cherokee,
and Iroquois.
- See also Aztec Bibliography for
Students by Michael E. Smith, Professor of Anthropology at
SUNY-Albany; the Bibliography
on Aztec History by Ricardo J. Salvador, Professor of Agronomy at
Iowa State; and The
Conquest of Mexico: An Annotated Bibliography by Nancy Fitch,
Professor of History at California State University-Fullerton.
Return to Table of Contents
About the illustration...
The Mayan glyph "k'u hun" means "sacred book", and seems an
appropriate illustration for a bibliography. The glyph and its
translation are taken from Linda Schele & Nikolai Grube,
Notebook for the XIXth Maya Hieroglyphic Workshop at Texas
(1995), and used with permission. The glyph was kindly provided by
N.A.F. McNelly, creator of the award-winning Web site Rabbit in the Moon: Mayan Glyphs and
Architecture. Thanks for additional assistance to Rafael Alvarado of
the Mayan
Epigraphic Database Project, University of Virginia.
