Carlos Ometochtzin
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Carlos Ometochtzin (
Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...
for "Two Rabbit"; ) or Ahuachpitzactzin, or Chichimecatecatl (
Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...
for "Chichimec lord," is also known simply as Don Carlos of Texcoco, was a member of the
Acolhua The Acolhua are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in or around the year 1200 CE. The Acolhua were a sister culture of the Aztecs (or Mexica) as well as the Tepanec, Chalca, Xochimilca and others. The most important poli ...
nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
. His date of birth is unknown. In dispute is how old he was when he was executed by an episcopal Inquisition. He is known to history for his resistance to Christian evangelization. He was
burnt at the stake Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment ...
on November 30, 1539 at the order of Bishop
Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...
Juan de Zumárraga Juan de Zumárraga, OFM (1468 – June 3, 1548) was a Spanish Basque Franciscan prelate and the first Bishop of Mexico. He was also the region's first inquisitor. He wrote ''Doctrina breve'', the first book published in the Western Hemispher ...
, the first
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
of
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
, for continuing to practice the pre-Hispanic religion. The main source of information on Don Carlos is the record of his inquisition trial, published in 1910 by the Mexican archives. Don Carlos was a grandson of the famous Texcocan ruler
Nezahualcoyotl Nezahualcoyotl may refer to: * Nezahualcoyotl (tlatoani), the ruler of Texcoco * Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, a city in the State of Mexico * Nezahualcóyotl metro station, in Mexico City * The Nezahualcóyotl Award, a literary prize in Mexico * Nezah ...
through his son
Nezahualpilli Nezahualpilli (Nahuatl for "fasting prince"; 1464–1515, ) was king (''tlatoani'') of the Mesoamerican city-state of Texcoco, elected by the city's nobility after the death of his father, Nezahualcoyotl, in 1472. Nezahuapilli's mother was Azcal ...
. He held significant lands in the Texcoco region in the
Aztec codex Aztec codices ( nah, Mēxihcatl āmoxtli , sing. ''codex'') are Mesoamerican manuscripts made by the pre-Columbian Aztec, and their Nahuatl-speaking descendants during the colonial period in Mexico. History Before the start of the Sp ...
known as the
Oztoticpac Lands Map of Texcoco The Oztoticpac Lands Map of Texcoco is a pictorial Aztec codex on native paper (''amatl'') from Texcoco ca. 1540. It is held by the manuscript division of the Library of Congress, measuring and now on display in the Library of Congress as part o ...
, from ca. 1540 just after his execution.


Map of Texcoco

The pictorial on native paper (''amatl'') from Texcoco ca. 1540 is held by the manuscript division of the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
, measuring 76 x 84 cm. The contents are both pictorial and alphabetic text in
Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...
in red and black ink. The glosses indicate it deals with lands that Texcocan lord
Ixtlilxochitl I Ixtlilxochitl Ome Tochtli (1380-1418) was the ruler (''tlatoani'') of the Acolhua city-state of Texcoco from 1409 to 1418 and the father of the famous "poet-king" Nezahualcoyotl. Early years as ''tlatoani'' Claiming descent from the legendary C ...
may have given to Don Carlos with litigation over the lands' ownership. The Oztoticpic Lands map was likely created between 1540 and 1544, as part of an effort to reclaim land held by Don Carlos. The map indicates a palace held by Don Carlos in Oztoticpac. In the schematic cadastrals of particular pieces of land, the map shows
Nahua The Nahuas () are a group of the indigenous people of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They comprise the largest indigenous group in Mexico and second largest in El Salvador. The Mexica (Aztecs) were of Nahua ethnicity, a ...
families who farmed the land as well as the measurements of the plots. A number of these properties were rented by tenants with standard glyphic representations of the rents. The names of the pieces of land are indicated with toponymic glyphs. The Oztoticpac Lands Map has been linked to another indigenous pictorial, the Humboldt Fragment VI held by the
Berlin State Library The Berlin State Library (german: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It is one of the larg ...
. One of the most interesting and important features of the map is depictions of fruit trees, both European and local, many of them grafted. Pears, quince, apple, pomegranates, peaches, and grapevines are shown Income from the sale of fruit would have increased the value of the property. The importation of European fruit trees is part of the
Columbian Exchange The Columbian exchange, also known as the Columbian interchange, was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, commodities, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the New World (the Americas) in ...
, but what is especially significant is that not just the trees were integrated into local horticulture, but the practice of grafting to increase the health and yield of the plants.Howard F. Cline, "The Oztoticpac Lands Map of Texcoco, 1540," in ''A la Carte: Selected Papers on Maps and Atlases,'' Washington, DC: Library of Congress 1972, pp. 5-33.


Further reading

* Cline, Howard F. "The Oztoticpac Lands Map of Texcoco, 1540," in The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, April 1966, pp. 77–115. Republished in ''A la Carte: Selected Papers on Maps and Atlases'', Washington, DC: Library of Congress 1972, pp. 5–33. *Castaño, Victoria Ríos. "Not a Man of Contradiction: Zumárraga as Protector and Inquisitor of the Indigenous People of Central Mexico." Hispanic Research Journal 13, no. 1 (2012): 26-40. *Don, Patricia Lopes. ''Bonfires of Culture: Franciscans, Indigenous Leaders, and the Inquisition in Early Mexico, 1524-1540''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 2010. *Don, Patricia Lopes. "The 1539 inquisition and trial of Don Carlos of Texcoco in early Mexico."
Hispanic American Historical Review ''The Hispanic American Historical Review'' is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal of Latin American history, the official publication of the Conference on Latin American History, the professional organization of Latin American historia ...
88, no. 4 (2008): 573-606. *Don, Patricia Lopes. "Carnivals, triumphs, and rain gods in the new world: A civic festival in the city of México‐Tenochtitlán in 1539."
Colonial Latin American Review Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...
6, no. 1 (1997): 17-40. *Garagarza, Leon Garcia. "The 1539 Trial of Don Carlos Ometochtli and the Scramble for Mount Tlaloc." Mesoamerican Memory: Enduring Systems of Remembrance (2012). * *García Garagarza, León. "The 1539 Trial of Don Carlos Ometochtli and the Scramble for Mount Tlaloc." In ''Mesoamerican Memory: Enduring Systems of Remembrance'', eds. Amos Megged and Stephanie Wood, 193-214. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 2012.* * *Greenleaf, Richard E. "Persistence of native values: the inquisition and the Indians of colonial Mexico." ''The Americas'' 50, no. 3 (1994): 351-376. *Greenleaf, Richard E. "The Mexican Inquisition and the Indians: sources for the ethnohistorian." The Americas 34, no. 3 (1978): 315-344. *Lee, Jongsoo, and Galen Brokaw. ''Texcoco: prehispanic and colonial perspectives''. University Press of Colorado, 2014. *Medrano, Ethelia Ruiz, translated by Russ Davidson. "Don Carlos de Tezcoco and the Universal Rights of Emperor Carlos V." ''Texcoco: Prehispanic and Colonial Perspectives''. University Press of Colorado (2014). *Smith, Kevin Paul. "Here I stand!: Don Carlos of Texcoco, the Inquisition, and the end of Aztec resistance, 1539," Master's thesis, University of California Santa Barbara 2003.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ometochtzin, Carlos Year of birth missing 1539 deaths Aztec nobility Indigenous Mexicans Nahua people History of Christianity in Mexico People executed for heresy Executed Mexican people 1539 in New Spain People executed by New Spain People executed by Spain by burning Nobility of the Americas