Diego Muñoz Camargo ( – 1599) was the author of '' History of Tlaxcala'', an illustrated

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

that highlights the religious, cultural, and military history of the

Tlaxcala Tlaxcala, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala, is one of the 32 federal entities that comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tlaxcala, 60 municipalities and t ...

n people.

Life

Diego Muñoz Camargo was born in Spanish colonial Mexico of a Spanish father and Indian mother. He acted as official interpreter for the Spanish, particularly the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

. He was also a chronicler of some note, belonging to a group of mestizo chroniclers with Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl and Fernando Alvarado Tezozómoc. His ''History of Tlaxcala'', one version of a work of various forms, stands as an important source for Tlaxcala, in Mexico. Muñoz Camargo was a businessman who entered into lucrative cross-cultural enterprises. He was able to do this since his father was one of the original Spanish conquistadors of Mexico. He was very active in other realms too. Besides business, he acted as a tutor for the Seminole peoples Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca brought to Mexico with him, he took urban Tlaxcalan peoples north to Chichimec country ostensibly to 'civilize' them, and he took a keen interest in the Spanish chronicles being composed which he inserted into a historical frame with Tlaxcalan tlacuilo manuscripts. This led him to become one of the first Spanish-language chroniclers of Tlaxcala.

Bibliography

Primary Reference

*Muñoz Camargo, Diego. ''Historia de Tlaxcala (Ms. 210 de la Biblioteca Nacional de París)''.

Secondary Sources

*Gibson, Charles. "The Identity of Diego Muñoz Camargo." *Leibsohn, Dana, and Barbara E. Mundy, "Reckoning with Mestizaje," Vistas: Visual Culture in Spanish America, 1520–1820 (2015). *Mignolo, Walter D. "El mandato y la ofrenda: la Descripción de la ciudad y provincia de Tlaxcala, de Diego Muñoz Camargo, y las relaciones de Indias." *Miller, Marilyn. "Covert Mestizaje and the Strategy of "Passing' in Diego Muñoz Camargo's Historia de Tlaxcala." *Mörner, Magnus and Charles Gibson. "Diego Muñoz Camargo and the Segregation Policy of the Spanish Crown." *Velazco, Salvador. ''Visiones de Anáhuac: reconstrucciones historiografías y etnicidades emergentes en el México colonial: Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl, Diego Muñoz Camargo y Hernando Alvarado Tezozómoc''.Guadalajara: Universidad de Guadalajara, 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz Camargo, Diego Mestizo conquistadors Governors of Tlaxcala Novohispanic Mesoamericanists Historians of Mesoamerica Scholars of the Aztecs Mestizo writers 1520s births 1599 deaths Tlaxcaltec nobility 16th-century Mesoamericanists 16th-century Mexican historians Historians of Mexico Year of birth uncertain