Codex Mendoza

The manuscript covers Mexica rulers and conquests, tribute obligations imposed on provinces, and aspects of everyday life and education. Indigenous-style pictorial records are accompanied by Spanish explanations prepared in colonial Mexico.

The codex is associated with Antonio de Mendoza, the first viceroy of New Spain, and was probably produced during the early 1540s. Its name comes from that association, although the individual Indigenous artists and scribes are not securely identified.

It is a colonial manuscript that combines Mexica pictorial conventions with Spanish-language commentary. That hybrid format reflects its creation after the Spanish conquest while preserving extensive information about the preconquest empire.

The original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. It reached Europe rather than remaining in Mexico, and it is now one of the best-known surviving sources on Mexica tribute and society.