Relaciones Geográficas of Mexico and Guatemala, 1577-1585
Descriptive Summary | ||
| Creator | García Icazbalceta, Joaquín, 1825-1894 | |
| Title | Collection of Relaciones Geográficas of Mexico and Guatemala | |
| Dates: | 1577-1585 | |
| Abstract | Original manuscripts and maps created in response to the first survey of New Spain by King Philip II include historical, cultural, and geographical information about the region in the 16th century. | |
| OCLC No. | 34022876 | |
| Extent | 43 relaciones geográficas, including 37 pinturas. | |
| Language | Spanish | |
| Repository | Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin | |
Historical Note
On May 25, 1577, King Philip II of Spain ordered by royal cédula the preparation of a general description of Spain's holdings in the Indies. Instructions and a questionnaire, issued in 1577 by the Office of the Cronista Mayor-Cosmógrafo, were distributed to local officials in the Viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru to direct the gathering of information. The questionnaire, comprised of fifty items, was designed to elicit basic information about the nature of the land and the life of its peoples. The replies, known as "relaciones geográficas," were written between 1579 and 1585 and were returned to the Cronista Mayor-Cosmógrafo in Spain by the Council of the Indies.
Scope and Contents Note
The collection consists of forty-three relaciones geográficas (one a 19th-century copy) prepared by local officials in New Spain in response to the 1577 questionnaire mandated by King Philip II. Forty-one relaciones pertain to territory in present-day Mexico; two relate to what is now Guatemala. The relaciones contain historical, cultural, and geographical information on New Spain and its peoples during the 16th century and before the Conquest. The Relación de Texcoco is a 19th-century manuscript copy; another copy of this relación, probably made in the 17th century, is part of the Genaro García Collection in Benson.
Twenty-one relaciones are accompanied by printed questionnaires; 26 relaciones are accompanied by one or more maps, known as pinturas. The 37 pinturas are significant in their own right, not only as adjuncts to the texts. In addition to conveying historical information about such topics as 16th-century architecture, the spread of European religion in New Spain, and the colonial economy, the pinturas are artifacts for the study of the history of Latin American art and manuscript painting.
Arrangement | ||
| Arranged numerically among other items in Joaquín García Icazbalceta's Colección de manuscritos relativos a la historia de América, vols. XX, XXIII-XXV. |
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Index Terms | ||
| The relaciones geográficas are classified under the following Subject Headings in the University of Texas Libraries' catalog: | ||
| Art--16th century--New Spain. | ||
| Indians of Mexico--Art | ||
| Indians of Mexico--History--Sources. | ||
| Manuscripts, Mexican | ||
| New Spain--Description and travel. | ||
| New Spain--History--Sources. | ||
| New Spain--Maps, Manuscript. | ||
| Spain--Colonies--History--Sources. | ||
| Mexico--History--16th century--Sources. | ||
| Guatemala--History--16th century--Sources. | ||
| Other Entries | ||
| Spain. Sovereigns, etc., 1556-1598 (Philip II) | ||
| Instrucción y memoria, de las relaciones que se han de hazer, para la descripción de las Indias. | ||
| Place Names in the Relaciones geográficas | ||
| Acapistla (Mexico) | ||
| Ameca (Mexico) | ||
| Amula (Mexico) | ||
| Antequera (Mexico) | ||
| Atengo (Mexico) | ||
| Atepeque (Mexico) | ||
| Atitlán(Guatemala) | ||
| Atlatlauca (Mexico) | ||
| Ayusuchiquilazala (Mexico) | ||
| Cempoala (Mexico) | ||
| Cholula de Rivadabia (Mexico) | ||
| Citlaltepec (Mexico) | ||
| Coatzocoalco (Espíritu Santo) | ||
| Cuautla (Mexico) | ||
| Cuilapa (Guatemala) | ||
| Culhuacán (Mexico) | ||
| Cusalapa (Mexico) | ||
| Cuzcatlán (Mexico) | ||
| Epazoyuca (Mexico) | ||
| Guaxtepec (Mexico) | ||
| Gueytlalpa (Mexico) | ||
| Iguala (Mexico) | ||
| Ixcatlán (Mexico) | ||
| Ixtapalapa (Mexico) | ||
| Iztepec (Guatemala) | ||
| Justlavaca (Mexico) | ||
| Meztitlán (Mexico) | ||
| Mistepeque (Mexico) | ||
| Mizantla (Mexico) | ||
| Oaxtepec (Mexico) | ||
| Pátzcuaro (Mexico) | ||
| Puetla (Mexico) | ||
| Peñoles (Mexico) | ||
| Quatlatlauca (Mexico) | ||
| Querétaro (Mexico) | ||
| Suchitepequex (Guatemala) | ||
| Tanatepec (Mexico) | ||
| Tancítaro (Mexico) | ||
| Tecuicuilco (Mexico) | ||
| Tehuantepec (Mexico) | ||
| Tenamaztlán (Mexico) | ||
| Tepetongo (Mexico) | ||
| Tequaltiche (Mexico) | ||
| Teozacoalco (Mexico) | ||
| Tequisquiac (Mexico) | ||
| Tetiquipa (Mexico) | ||
| Tetlistaca (Mexico) | ||
| Texcoco (Mexico) | ||
| Tiripitío (Mexico) | ||
| Tistla-Zumpango (Mexico) | ||
| Tuscacuesco (Mexico) | ||
| Tutupetongo (Mexico) | ||
| Veracruz (Veracruz-Llave, Mexico) | ||
| Xaltianguis (Mexico) | ||
| Xicayan (Mexico) | ||
| Xilocingo (Mexico) | ||
| Xocoticpaque (Mexico) | ||
| Zacatepec (Mexico) | ||
| Zacatula (Mexico) | ||
| Zapotitlan (Guatemala) | ||
| Zoquiapa (Mexico) | ||
| Compilers of the Relaciones geográficas | ||
| Aguero, Francisco de. | ||
| Alfonso de Estrada, Hernando | ||
| Avila, Pedro de | ||
| Aznar de Cozar, Andrés | ||
| Cangas, Suero de | ||
| Carrion, Juan de, fl. 1581. | ||
| Castañeda Leon, Juan de | ||
| Cervantes, Hernando de | ||
| Chavez, Gabriel de | ||
| Estrada, Juan de | ||
| Franco, Pedro | ||
| Galdos, Alonso de | ||
| Gallegos, Gonzalo | ||
| Gallegos, Hernando | ||
| Gutiérrez de Liébana, Juan | ||
| Hernandez Diosdado, Alonso | ||
| Leyva, Antonio de | ||
| Lopez de Zárate, Juan | ||
| Macarro, Sebastian | ||
| Martinez, Francisco | ||
| Martinez, Juan | ||
| Mendez, Andrés | ||
| Montes de Oca, Pedro de | ||
| Obregon, Luís | ||
| Patiño Avila, Alvaro | ||
| Perez de Arteaga, Diego | ||
| Pomar, Juan Bautista, fl. 1582. | ||
| Rojas, Gabriel de | ||
| Salas, Christoval de | ||
| Salazar, Agustín de | ||
| Solís, Gaspar de | ||
| Suarez, Melchor | ||
| Torres, Juan de | ||
| Vargas, Antonio de | ||
| Vascones, Hernando de | ||
| Velasquez de Lara, Gonzalo | ||
| Villegas, Francisco de | ||
Related Material
Other relaciones geográficas are held by the Real Academia de Historia (Madrid) and the Archivo General de Indias (Seville). |
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Relaciones Geográficas of Mexico and Guatemala, 1577-1585, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.
Acquisition Information
The relaciones were acquired by Joaquín García Icazbalceta in 1853 from an unknown private source.
The relaciones were included in the Joaquín García Icazbalceta Collection purchased by the Benson Latin American Collection from the heirs of García Icazbalceta in 1937.
Processing Information
The Relaciones Geográficas were described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project in March 1994.
Finding aid initially prepared by the Mexican Archives Project.
Alternate Form Available
Also available on microfilm in the Benson Collection.
An online exhibit of some of the relaciones is available at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/benson/rg/
Other Finding Aids
The following guides, as well as a card file and lists, are available in the Benson Collection Rare Books Reference:
García Icazbalceta, Joaquín. Catalogo de la colección de manuscritos relativos a la historia de America. Monografías bibliográficas Mexicanas,
núm. 9.
Mexico City,
Impr. de la secretaria de relaciones exteriores,
1927.
Castañeda, Carlos Eduardo, 1896-1958. Guide to the Latin American Manuscripts in the University of Texas Library.
Cambridge, Mass.,
Harvard University Press,
1939.
Bibliography
The relaciones geográficas have been published in: |
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Acuña, René. Relaciones geográficas del siglo XVI. 1a éd. |
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Inventory