The Marquesado del Valle Codex is a manuscript written in the

Nahuatl language Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan languages, Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in ...

on amate paper, by indigenous writers (tlacuilos) during second half of the 16th century. It contains 28 petitions by landowners from the Marquesado del Valle area of Mexico, located in today's states of

Morelos Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cuer ...

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

, Oaxaca, and Mexico, requesting return of their lands. The lands and sugar mills of this region were seized by explorer

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...

when he became the first

marquess A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

. The manuscript, which consists of Nahuatl language text, glyphs, and maps, provides detailed information about local land ownership, agriculture, leaders, and place names. It is held by the Archivo General de la Nación de México. A similar document, the "Atatepec Land Claim etition to recover a tract of land from the marques" describing litigation against

Martín Cortés, 2nd Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

, is held by the Latin American Library at Tulane University.

References

*{{Cite book , edition = 1a , publisher = Archivo General de la Nación , isbn = 9706287094 , title = Códices del Marquesado del Valle de Oaxaca , location = México, D.F , year = 2003 Mesoamerican codices History of Oaxaca Nahuatl literature 16th century in Mexico Aboriginal title Land law