This document, which likely formed part of a land claim, contains three genealogical diagrams tied back to Nezahualcóyotl, the tlatoani, or ruler, of the Texcoco city-state in the Valley of Mexico. He is identified with a glyph depicting the head of a coyote and a blue scarf-like sash in the upper right. The line of descent connects him to his son and heir to the throne the tlatoani Tepiçiatzin [Tepiziatzin]. He is linked by dotted lines to a series of women identified as Teyaualco, Tezcapuctzin ichpuch ("his wife"), and Malteotzin ichpuch ("his wife"). This last woman is also connected by a series of dots to Mixtecatzin at the center of the circular genealogy. From Teyaualco a solid line connects to another series of descendants: Ycenhuictzin and his wife Quecholtecpantzin, their son Ytzapuicpaltzin and his wife Namoltzin, their son Xpoual [Cristobal] Tetecuintzin and his wife Itzcohuatzin, and their son Juan de Suelo.
The family tree in the top left concerns the descendants of Itzcoatl, identified by a name glyph featuring a snake (coatl) and a partly legible alphabetic gloss "[tlato]ani tenochititlan [Itzco]atzin", or "the honorable Itzcoatl, ruler of Tenochtitlan" and his wife, identified by a glyph and the alphabetic gloss "ollintzin ichpuche" or "his woman Ollintzin". This family tree continues their daughter and her husband Nezahualcoyotzin. The line of descent continues off the surviving page and appears to return with a line of women: Tiyacupantzin, Tlacoyeuatzin, and Xocutzin facing the Tlatoani Nezahualpiltzintli. From the latter, a trail of footprints continues to the center of the circular genealogy.
The central circular genealogy shows Mixtecatzin seated on a throne and accompanied by a glyph of a cloud (mixtli) and linked by dotted lines to a series of women, who are connected by solid lines indicating their descendants radiating out from the center of the diagram. These women are Azcatlxochitzin who is accompanied by a glyph of a flower (xochitl) and the glyph of Nezahualcoyotl, Tlacoteotzin, Acauipiyatzin, Maltan, Tiomecatzin, a woman identified by a petate glyph and an illegible alphabetic name, Tecçizatzin, and Huitznauacatzin.
In total there are twenty-one women and twenty-four men depicted in five generations. While all these individuals are identified by alphabetic glosses, onomastic glyphs are used more frequently for individuals near the center of the diagram, with none of the outermost individuals are shown beside glyphs. At the same time, the alphabetic names closer to the center of the diagram are fully Nahuatl names, with Spanish names dominating the outermost rings.
Creator/Contributor:
no attribution (Artist), Stendahl Art Galleries (Former owner), Huntington Art Galleries (Former owner), and Boturini Benaducci, Lorenzo, 1702-1751 (Former owner)
Date Created/Date Issued:
1570
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin