The Codex Bodley is an important

pictographic A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and ...

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

and example of

Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

. It was named after the colloquial name of the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

, where it has been stored since the 17th century.

History

While the exact date of its creation is difficult to establish, judging from its content and style, it was completed before the 1521

Spanish conquest of Mexico The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...

. The history of the Codex Bodley before becoming part of the Bodleian Library's collection at the beginning of the 17th century is not known. J. Eric Thompson, British archaeologist and Mayan expert, has suggested that the manuscript's previous owner was Bishop Heronymous Osorius of Faro, Portugal. The codex may have been looted by

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG, PC (; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a ...

, and given to his friend

Thomas Bodley Sir Thomas Bodley (2 March 1545 – 28 January 1613) was an English diplomat and scholar who founded the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Origins Thomas Bodley was born on 2 March 1545, in the second-to-last year of the reign of King Henry VIII, ...

in the sixteenth century. The Bodleian Library holds four other Mesoamerican codices:

Codex Laud The Codex Laud, or Laudianus, (catalogued as ''MS. Laud Misc. 678'', Bodleian Library in Oxford) is a sixteenth-century Mesoamerican codex named for William Laud, an English archbishop who was the former owner. It is from the Borgia Group, and i ...

Codex Mendoza The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codex, believed to have been created around the year 1541. It contains a history of both the Aztec rulers and their conquests as well as a description of the daily life of pre-conquest Aztec society. The codex is wr ...

Codex Selden The Codex Selden (also known as the Codex Añute) is a Mexican manuscript of Mixtec origin. The codex is an account of the genealogy of the Jaltepec dynasty from the tenth to the 16th century. Codex Selden is possibly a fragment of a much longer i ...

and the

Selden Roll Selden may refer to: Places In the United States: *Fort Selden, in New Mexico * Selden, Kansas * Selden, New York In Switzerland: *Selden (Kandersteg) Other uses *Selden (surname) *Selden, character from Conan Doyle's ''The Hound of the Baskervi ...

Description

The codex is made of deerskin that is 6.7 metres or 22 feet long. The animal skin was folded

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

style to form the distinct pages. Each page was then covered with a white base paint coat and then divided with red bands that extend horizontally. The obverse has five bands while the reverse is only divided into four. The condition of the codex has faded over time with many of the pages missing parts of the pictography.

Reading the codex

The manuscript can be read from right to left on two sides; the obverse and the reverse. The obverse consists of pages 1 through 20 while the reverse starts on page 40 and finishes on page 21. The obverse ends with a genealogy and names Lord Four Deer as the last lord of the Tilantongo dynasty. On the other hand, Page 21 of the reverse names Lord Eight Grass as being the last king of Tiaxiaco. Eight Grass's name-glyph is at bottom center, above the 9-Deer glyph (photo).

Genealogy

The Codex Bodley offers a relatively complete review of family relationships among the dynasties of the main ''

cacicazgo ''Cacicazgo'' is a phonetic Spanish transliteration (or a derivative) of the Taíno word for the lands ruled by a ''cacique''. The Spanish colonial system recognized indigenous elites as nobles in Mexico and Peru, and other areas. Nobles could en ...

s'' (community kingdoms) in the Mixteca Alta region. This information is indispensable for anyone studying

kinship In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that ...

, policies around marital alliances, and peer polity interaction.Jansen, Maarten E. R. G. N (2001). "Bodley, Codex." In Davíd Carrasco
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures
'. : New York : Oxford University Press. Academic interest in the codex has focused on the Tilantongo and Tiaxiaco dynasties depicted on both sides of the manuscript, who once lived in the modern day Mexican State of

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

. In 1949, the archaeologist

Alfonso Caso Alfonso Caso y Andrade (February 1, 1896 in Mexico City – November 30, 1970 in Mexico City) was an archaeologist who made important contributions to pre-Columbian studies in his native Mexico. Caso believed that the systematic study of ancient M ...

was able to determine the primary line of descent for the royal family of Tilantongo and how the family affected Teozacoalco after the creation sagas that are described in the story of War of Heaven and Eight Deer stories. The Tilantongo people had an isolated past but the story of Eight Deer story provides a direct connection to the highest ranked dynasty in

Mixteca The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...

. The reverse of the ''Codex Bodley'' tells the story from a different angle. It starts off by describing Apoala as a creation place (in contrast to Achiutla in the obverse). It goes on to describe the royal house of the Red and White Bundle after the War of Heaven. This is the rival family to the Tilantongo. Four Wind's biography is then used to connect a remote past that the family of the Red and White Bundle had to the promising future of Tiaxiaco.

Gallery

File:Codex Bodley (2).jpg, Other pages of the Bodley Codex on display at the Bodelian Library File:Codex Bodley (3).jpg, File:Codex Bodley (4).jpg,

References

Pohl, John. "FAMSI - John Pohl's - Ancient Books - Mixtec Group Codices - Codex Bodley." FAMSI - John Pohl's - Ancient Books - Mixtec Group Codices - Codex Bodley. Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerica Studies Inc, n.d. Web. 17 November 2013.

External links

{{commons category

Timeline of Mexico, 1000–1400 AD
MS Mex. d. 1
Images available on Digital Bodleian
MS Mex. d. 1
In the Bodleian Libraries catalogue of Medieval Manuscripts 16th-century books Bodley, Codex Bodleian Library collection