Handbook Of Middle American Indians
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Handbook Of Middle American Indians
''Handbook of Middle American Indians'' (HMAI) is a sixteen-volume compendium on Mesoamerica, from the prehispanic to late twentieth century. Volumes on particular topics were published from the 1960s and 1970s under the general editorship of Robert Wauchope. Separate volumes with particular volume editors deal with a number of general topics, including archeology, cultural anthropology, physical anthropology, linguistics, with the last four substantive volumes treating various topics in Mesoamerican ethnohistory, under the editorship of Howard F. Cline. Select volumes have become available in e-book format. A retrospective review of the HMAI by two anthropologists discusses its history and evaluates it. One review calls it a fundamental work. Another reviewer says "since the first volume of the HMAI appeared in 1964 is far and away the most comprehensive and erudite coverage of native cultures of any region in the Americas." A review in the journal ''Science'' says that "There ...
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Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Within this region pre-Columbian societies flourished for more than 3,000 years before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Mesoamerica was the site of two of the most profound historical transformations in world history: primary urban generation, and the formation of New World cultures out of the long encounters among indigenous, European, African and Asian cultures. In the 16th century, Eurasian diseases such as smallpox and measles, which were endemic among the colonists but new to North America, caused the deaths of upwards of 90% of the indigenous people, resulting in great losses to their societies and cultures. Mesoamerica is one of the five areas in the world where ancient civilization arose independently (see cradle of civ ...
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Relaciones Geográficas
were a series of elaborate questionnaires distributed to the lands of King Philip II of Spain in the Viceroyalty of New Spain in North America. They were done so, upon his command, from 1579–1585. This was a direct response to the reforms imposed by the , ordinances, of 1573. Format These questionnaires had upward of fifty questions that requested information on various aspects of the Spanish colonial life in each region or major town, in order to govern it more effectively. Thus, these questionnaires had more of an administrative and functional purpose as opposed to intellectual gain. These questionnaires are oftentimes considered the first statistical study of the New World, since they attempted to chart the lands, peoples, and trade routes. The value of these questionnaires continues to grow over time due to these surveys being first-person information. Purpose These extensive questionnaires have provided incredibly rich information with regard to 16th century ethnic gro ...
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Alfredo Chavero
Alfredo Chavero (1841–1906) was a Mexican archaeologist, politician, poet, and dramatist. According to Howard F. Cline, "Chavero's most enduring claim to remembrance rests...on iscompletion and extension of Ramírez's plans to republish major native histories and his editorship of pictorial documents." Research Chavero conducted numerous investigations on Mexican antiquities. He published ''Historia Antigua de Mexico'', as well as several works on Aztec archaeology, especially on ancient monuments. While excavating the pyramids of Cholula, he discovered some idols that are now in the National Museum of Mexico. His books are often referred to because of his research on Father Sahagún and to the Sun Stone. . Political career Chavero became a member of the Mexican Congress in 1869. He supported the Mexican presidents Benito Juárez, Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, Manuel González, and Porfirio Díaz in succession, notwithstanding their different policies. On 25 June 1879 ...
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Joaquín García Icazbalceta
Joaquín García Icazbalceta (August 21, 1824 – November 26, 1894) was a Mexican philologist and historian. He edited writings by Mexican writers who preceded him, wrote a biography of Juan de Zumárraga, and translated William H. Prescott's ''Conquest of Mexico''. His works on Colonial Mexico continue to be cited today. Life García Icazbalceta was born in Mexico City to a wealthy Spanish family. The family was exiled to Spain in 1829, shortly after the recognition of Mexican independence, by an act of Congress, and was not able to return until seven years later. He was educated by tutors and through independent reading. He learned several Continental languages and delved into the study of Iberoamerica. His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Mexican–American War, in which he took part. After the war he returned to scholarly pursuits. He married Filomena Pimentel (who died in childbirth), granddaughter of Count of Heras. He spent the better part of his life amas ...
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Manuel Orozco Y Berra
Manuel Orozco y Berra (8 June 1816 – 27 January 1881; He was born and died in Mexico City) was a Mexican historian and a member of the Mexican Academy of Language. He was a disciple of José Fernando Ramírez and Joaquín García Icazbalceta and together with them, is considered one of the most important historians of Mexico of the 19th century, ranking "as a major figure among 19th-century students of the Mexican Indian past." He produced a significant body of published work on Mesoamerican ethnohistory,Cline, "Selected Nineteenth-Century Mexican Writers on Ethnohistory, Appendix C, Orozco y Berra, Selected writings of Ethnohistorical Interest", pp. 406-07. Career In 1844 he delivered the speech alluding to Independence, publishing various political and literary articles. Three years later he obtained the title of lawyer in the Palafoxiana Seminary of Puebla. In 1850 he was appointed director of the Mexican National Archives. From 1855 to 1857 he served as senior official o ...
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José Fernando Ramírez
José Fernando Ramírez (5 May 1804 – 4 March 1871) was a distinguished Mexican historian in the 19th century. He was a mentor of Alfredo Chavero, who considered him "the foremost of our historians." Ramírez was born in Parral, Chihuahua but grew up in Durango, where he became a prominent liberal politician. After graduating with a degree in law from San Luis Gonzaga he was elected several times to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. He chaired the Ministry of Foreign affairs under three different administrations and became a minister in the Supreme Court of Justice. Ramírez specialized in prehispanic and sixteenth-century Mexican history and excelled as a biographer. During the Second Mexican Empire, he headed the Imperial Academy of Sciences and Literature during the Second Mexican Empire, directed the National Museum (1852) and built an impressive collection of historical documents. Among his works are one on Toribio de Benavente Motolinia and several translations ...
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Carlos María De Bustamante
Carlos María de Bustamante Merecilla (4 November 1774 – 29 September 1848) was a Mexican statesman, historian, journalist and a supporter of Mexican independence. His historical "work early initiated an important Mexican national tradition of searching out and publishing basic materials on the Indian past and its fate in the colonial period." His writings in the 1820s shifted "the antiquarian bias of creole patriotism...into the ideology of a national liberation movement." Biography and works Carlos María de Bustamante was born in the city of Oaxaca on 4 November 1774. In 1796 he took up the study of law, participated in the attempts to secure Mexico's independence from Spain, and, when that was finally achieved, opposed Agustín de Iturbide's designs to transform the newborn republic into a hereditary monarchy. Repeatedly imprisoned and banished, he was nevertheless appointed to important positions in the Government. The Mexican-American War of 1846-48 was a source of ...
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Eduard Georg Seler
Eduard Georg Seler (December 5, 1849 – November 23, 1922) was a prominent German anthropologist, ethnohistorian, linguist, epigrapher, academic and Americanist scholar, who made extensive contributions in these fields towards the study of pre-Columbian era cultures in the Americas. Research Seler is best known for his foundational studies concerning the ethnography, documents, and history of Mesoamerican cultures, for which he is regarded as one of the most influential scholars active around the turn of the 20th century. Seler laid many fundamentals in understanding and deciphering the Aztec pictorial script. A main contribution was the re-discovery and analysis of the basic Aztec calendar system: the existence of two Aztec calendars, a 365-day solar profane (everyday use) and a 260-day religious calendar. He also noted from the sources that the ceremonial killing victim figures alleged by Spanish priests and military (repeatedly reported as being greater than 10,000 or even ...
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Hubert Howe Bancroft
Hubert Howe Bancroft (May 5, 1832 – March 2, 1918) was an American historian and ethnologist who wrote, published and collected works concerning the western United States, Texas, California, Alaska, Mexico, Central America and British Columbia. Early life He was born on May 5, 1832, in Granville, Ohio, to Azariah Ashley Bancroft and Lucy Howe Bancroft. The Howe and Bancroft families originally hailed from the New England states of Vermont and Massachusetts, respectively.Men and Women of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries'' New York: L.R. Hamersly and Co., 1910; p. 87. Bancroft's parents were staunch abolitionists and the family home was a station on the Underground Railroad. Bancroft attended the Doane Academy in Granville for a year, and he then became a clerk in his brother-in-law's bookstore in Buffalo, New York. Move to California In March 1852, Bancroft was provided with an inventory of books to sell and was sent to the booming California city of San ...
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Charles Etienne Brasseur De Bourbourg
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "free man". The Old English descendant of this word was '' Ċearl'' or ''Ċeorl'', as the name of King Cearl of Mercia, that disappeared after the Norman conquest of England. The name was notably borne by Charlemagne (Charles the Great), and was at the time Latinized as ''Karolus'' (as in ''Vita Karoli Magni''), later also as '' Carolus''. Some Germanic languages, for example Dutch and German, have retained the word in two separate senses. In the particular case of Dutch, ''Karel'' refers to the given name, whereas the noun ''kerel'' means "a bloke, fellow, man". Etymology The name's etymology is a Common Germanic noun ''*karilaz'' meaning "free man", which survives in English as churl (< Old English ''ċeorl''), which developed its depr ...
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Francisco Javier Clavijero
Francisco Javier Clavijero Echegaray (sometimes ''Francesco Saverio Clavigero'') (September 9, 1731 – April 2, 1787), was a Mexican Society of Jesus, Jesuit teacher, scholar and historian. After the expulsion of the Society of Jesus, Jesuits from Spanish provinces (1767), he went to Italy, where he wrote a valuable work on the pre-Columbian history and civilizations of Mesoamerica and the Mexican Plateau, central Mexican ''altiplano''. Youth He was born in Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz (Mexico) of a Spanish people, Spanish father and a Spanish Criollo peoples, Criolla mother. His father worked for the Spanish monarchy, Spanish crown, and was transferred with his family from one town to another. Most of the father's posts were to locations with a strong Indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous presence, and because of this Clavijero learned Nahuatl language, Nahuatl growing up. The family lived at various times in Teziutlán, Puebla and later in Jamiltepec, in the Mixteca, M ...
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Fray Juan De Torquemada
Juan de Torquemada (c. 1562 – 1624) was a Franciscan friar, active as missionary in colonial Mexico and considered the "leading Franciscan chronicler of his generation." Administrator, engineer, architect and ethnographer, he is most famous for his monumental work commonly known as ("Indian Monarchy"), a survey of the history and culture of the indigenous peoples of New Spain together with an account of their conversion to Christianity, first published in Spain in 1615 and republished in 1723. was the "prime text of Mexican history, and was destined to influence all subsequent chronicles until the twentieth century." It was used by later historians, the Franciscan Augustin de Vetancurt and most importantly by 18th-century Jesuit Francisco Javier Clavijero. No English translation of this work has ever been published. Life Early years There are few firm biographical details concerning Juan de Torquemada, most of which have to be deduced from his own work. Even basic ...
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