#bernal díaz del castillo

[illustratus]

#conquistadors #craig mullins #aztec empire #spanish empire #conquistador #aztec #aztecs #moctezuma #hernán cortés #spain #spanish #mexico #templo mayor #temple #pyramid #mexica #huitzilopochtli #tenochtitlán #age of discovery #age of exploration #european #pedro de alvarado #mesoamerica #age of empires #cuitláhuac #bernal díaz del castillo #new world #americas #gonzalo de sandoval #cristóbal de olid

[clove-pinks]

So I'm reading the words of Actual Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo, as one does—translated into modern (19th century) English, which ironically makes him a lot more comprehensible than his English contemporaries who I am reading in Early Modern English, god-awful orthography and all.

Anyway, del Castillo comes across like an old Catholic grandpa (which he probably is at the time of his memoirs, thirty years past his days as a soldier). He's very devout, or at least wants to give that appearance, although I find it amusing that the image of the Christian God that he and his compatriots are consistently presenting to the Mexica is Baby Jesus and his Mom. They have a seemingly inexhaustible supply of Virgin statues they keep installing everywhere?!

Cortes ordered the caziques, with the principal men among them and the priest, into his presence, giving them to understand, as well as he could by means of our interpreter, that if they were desirous of becoming our brethren they must give up sacrificing to these idols [...] He then presented them with the image of the Virgin Mary and a cross, which he desired them to put up instead. These would prove a blessing to them at all times, make their seeds grow and preserve their souls from eternal perdition. This and many other things respecting our holy religion, Cortes explained to them in a very excellent manner. 

Repeated descriptions of Cortes and his men kneeling before the Virgin on an alter; really any observer could be forgiven for thinking that they worship a goddess.

#bernal díaz del castillo #i'd call it marian idolatry but i'm not even mad about it #the christian god is genderless and there a long tradition of envisioning them as female or both male and female simultaneously #e.g. the wounds of christ giving birth and looking yonic #although frankly a lot of this feels like swapping out pagan idols for christian ones #the conquistadors come back and are delighted that one of the mary statues is still being cherished on an alter with incense burning #uhh yeah you explained it was the powerful god of your emperor #and not really anything else? #christianity #imperialism #i believe the ballast on spanish galleons was entirely mary statues

[memoriae-lectoris]

True cannibalism is publicly approved by the society which practises it, and is at least potentially a repeated, and usually a ritual, act. What little we know of the ideas and attitudes of cannibals suggests that they might have done shocking things according to our system of rules, but they did not behave with merely random brutish greed. Hunger was doubtless often a driving force behind the practice; excellent arguments have been made that cannibalism can arise as a society’s response to a lack of protein. But descriptions of cannibals usually insist that they surrounded the eating of human flesh with carefully prescribed ritual.

The great Aztec state, for example, fought wars to provide itself with prisoners, who were eventually eaten. Estimates of the number of victims put to death and consumed annually when the Spanish arrived in Mexico in the sixteenth century (estimates made from Spanish sources, but also inferred from archaeological remains such as skull-racks) range from 15,000 to 250,000; the figures are highly uncertain, but everyone agrees that the numbers were huge.

All these thousands of prisoners of war were taken, it is suggested, in order to feast the Aztec elite and also to reward soldiers who distinguished themselves in capturing human “meat.” The argument is that, because the Aztec had never managed to domesticate large animals which they could eat, they hungered for meat, and the desire of some of them was met by killing enemies for food.

The only large animals the Aztec had domesticated—they had killed off all the wild game except that to be found at the edges of their empire—were turkeys and dogs. They bred dogs whose flesh was not too muscular and therefore edible, but these required fattening on meat themselves; and turkeys had to be fed with precious grain.

Other, smaller societies have consumed much less spectacularly large numbers of people—whether the latter were their enemies or their own kind—for similar “biological” reasons.

In 1521, sixty-two Spanish soldiers, captured in war by the Aztec, were led in procession to one of the temple-pyramids of the capital, Tenochtitlán, now Mexico City. As Aztec prisoners of war, they were to be violently killed and their beating hearts offered to the god.

Bernal Díaz del Castillo, a soldier in the army of Cortés, describes the scene: “Again there was sounded the dismal drum of Huichilobos and many other shells and horns and things like trumpets and the sound of them all was terrifying, and we all looked towards the lofty Cue [temple-pyramid] where they were being sounded, and saw that our comrades whom they had captured when they defeated Cortés were being carried by force up the steps, and they were taking them to be sacrificed. When they got them up to a small square in front of the oratory, where their accursed idols are kept, we saw them place plumes on the heads of many of them and with things like fans in their hands they forced them to dance before Huichilobos, and after they had danced they immediately placed them on their backs on some rather narrow stones which had been prepared as places for sacrifice, and with stone knives they sawed open their chests and drew out their palpitating hearts and offered them to the idols that were there, and they kicked the bodies down the steps, and Indian butchers who were waiting below cut off the arms and feet and flayed the skin off the faces, and prepared it afterwards like glove leather with the beards on, and kept those for the festivals when they celebrated drunken orgies, and the flesh they ate in chilmole.”

#Bernal Díaz del Castillo #book: the rituals of dinner #cannibalism #aztec #Tenochtitlán #alimentation #religion

[chicosanchez]

Hace más de veinte años cuando llegué a México comencé a visitar los lugares más importantes que menciona Bernal Díaz del Castillo en su libro La Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España y de estos viajes nacieron varios libros, entre ellos está la Historia Verdadera de los Hijos del Sol, un diario ilustrado con mis fotografías y documentos históricos que puedes comprar desde estos enlaces:

🇪🇸𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐞 𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐚ñ𝐚:

Versión blanco y negro: https://amzn.eu/d/9vlhPq2

Versión en Color: https://amzn.eu/d/gulVEcA

🇺🇸𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐞 𝐄𝐄𝐔𝐔:

Versión blanco y negro: https://a.co/d/dofpXVp

Versión en Color: https://a.co/d/5BP2fVZ

🇲🇽𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐞 𝐌é𝐱𝐢𝐜𝐨:

Versión blanco y negro: https://a.co/d/j2aCWjr

Versión en color: https://www.amazon.com.mx/Historia-Verdadera-Libros-S%C3%A1nchez-Spanish/dp/B0BPG8547Y/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1685547605&sr=8-1

𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢ó𝐧 𝐏𝐃𝐅: https://chicosanchez.com/libros/ols/products/xn--la-historia-verdadera-de-los-hijos-del-sol-de-chico-snchez-bzexn---versin-digital-pdf-rcc

#libros #chicosanchez #historia #lectura #enespañol #literatura #historia verdadera #conquista de la nueva España #Bernal Díaz del Castillo #hijos del sol #libros recomendados

[brostateexam]

The story of Mexican food is usually told as a happy merging of indigenous ingredients and techniques with those brought by the Spanish in the 1500s, as if the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was just a means to a better burrito. In fact, what we now know as Mexican cuisine is the result of centuries of shifting borders and tastes.

“When it came to culinary cultural exchange in the colonial period, the conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo referred to corn dishes as the ‘misery of maize cakes,’” says Stephanie Noell, Special Collections Librarian at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). “On the other side, the Nahuas were not impressed by the Spaniards’ wheat bread, describing it as ‘famine food.’”* The eventual confluence of native and European ingredients and traditions is, of course, what defines North American cuisine to this day.

#long reads #*food

[armatofu]

MITOS EN AMÉRICA

MITO 11: CUAUHTÉMOC EL VALEROSO

¿Fue realmente tan valiente como pintan al último tlahtoani independiente de Tenochtitlan.? Hay algunos que lo elevan a Héroe Nacional de México ¿fue realmente un héroe?

Repasemos sus actuaciones y que luego cada uno saque sus propias conclusiones.

Cuauhtémoc fue primo de Moctezuma Xocoyotzin y tras la muerte de Cuitláhuac, Cuauhtémoc fue elegido Huey Tlatoani. Cuando esto ocurrió, los españoles ya no estaban en Tenochtitlán y lo que hizo fue reorganizar el ejército mexica, reconstruir la ciudad y fortificarla para la guerra contra los españoles.

Cuando Moctezuma salió a una azotea de su palacio para intentar calmar los ánimos de sus compatriotas, Cuauhtémoc lo imprecó con violencia: "¿Qué es lo que dice ese bellaco de Moctezuma, mujer de los españoles, que tal se puede llamar, pues con ánimo mujeril se entregó a ellos de puro miedo y asegurándose nos ha puesto todos en este trabajo? No le queremos obedecer, porque ya no es nuestro rey, y como a vil hombre le hemos de dar el castigo y pago". Una fuente afirma incluso que de su mano partió una de las piedras que mataron al emperador.

No se le conoce que participara en ninguna batalla contra los españoles, ni tan siquiera participó personalmente en las batallas para defender su ciudad del enemigo, simplemente permaneció tras su ejército y tras las murallas mientras su pueblo, incluidas las mujeres combatían y morían en cada calle de la ciudad. Esto dice mucho de su liderazgo y hombría.

Nunc a se atrevió a entrevistarse con Hernán Cortés a pesar de las peticiones de este para llegar a un acuerdo y, lo peor de todo es que fue capturado huyendo disfrazado mientras su pueblo moría defendiendo la ciudad.

Un mito muy extendido es que Cuauhtémoc resistió la tortura a la que le sometieron los españoles para que desvelara el tesoro que perdieron durante la Noche Triste. La realidad es que no aguantó mucho y reveló a donde arrojó aquel tesoro, recuperando los españoles parte de él.

Este mito de que Cuauhtémoc resistió sin soltar prenda proviene de una novela histórica escrita por el mexicano Eligio Ancona en 1870 que le atribuye al tlatoani la frase de “¿Y acaso crees que yo estoy en un lecho de rosas?” Este estoicismo de Cuauhtémoc que se muestra en dicha novela se popularizó tanto que ha pasado a la épica patriótica mexicana como algo verídico sin serlo.

Pero en realidad, como ya he dicho anteriormente, aunque al principio resistió la tortura, al final desveló el lugar donde se encontraba el tesoro:

"confesaron que cuatro días antes habían echado en la laguna [...] ansi el oro como los tiros y escopetas que nos habían tomado cuando nos echaron de Méjico". Bernal Díaz del Castillo.

Cuauhtémoc es posiblemente el personaje más reconocido por los mexicanos como héroe nacional. En todos los rincones de México su nombre se usa en toponimia y onomástica, y su imaginada efigie aparece en monumentos. El 28 de febrero de cada año, la bandera mexicana ondea a media asta en todo el país, recordando su muerte. El nacionalismo mexicano ha creado el envoltorio de un heroísmo cuasi mitológico de exaltación de un personaje histórico más bien por tema político que histórico.

La exaltación de este personaje lleva, en cierto modo, a empañar la imagen del personaje en cuestión, ya que está todo fundamentado en mitos, falsedades y tergiversaciones de la historia.

¿Por qué México no venera a los indígenas vencedores, a los indígenas conquistadores como a los Tlaxcaltecas? ¿Por qué México prefiere la imagen de los indígenas que perdieron, de los conquistados? ¿Está cómodo con su imagen de victima? Y ¿cómo es posible que se ensalce a un personaje del siglo 16 como héroe nacional si los Estados Unidos Mexicanos existen desde 1821?

Y tú, ¿qué opinas? ¿Fue un héroe? ¿Un valiente? En mi opinión difícilmente puede considerarse a alguien Héroe que no salvó nada, más bien destruyó su propia ciudad por su empecinamiento, un joven imberbe muy lejos de la experiencia de Moctezuma, y tampoco puede ser considerado un valiente a alguien que huía de la batalla mientras sus hombres y mujeres morían luchando por las propias ordenes de quien huía…

[jartitameteneis]

Una historia de amor...

Gonzalo Guerrero y Za’azil Há

Gonzalo Guerrero había nacido en Palos de la Frontera, Huelva,en España. Lejos estaba de imaginar que conocería el amor en el nuevo mundo.

En 1511 llegó a costas de Yucatán después de protagonizar un naufragio a causa de una tormenta. Él junto con siete de sus compañeros fueron hechos prisioneros.

Gonzalo Guerrero supo adaptarse a su nueva vida, demostró lealtad y conocimientos militares, esto hizo que ganara su libertad. Como guerrero y hombre libre entre los mayas, participaba con gran éxito en expediciones guerreras. De igual manera empieza a empaparse de la cultura local, haciéndose mutilaciones y tatuajes rituales que eran propios de los guerreros.

Gracias a la cercanía con la realeza maya, Gonzalo Guerrero conoció y se enamoró de la hermosa princesa Za'azil Há. Con quién se casó y tuvo cuatro hijos, además de una vida felíz.

Cuando llegó Hernán Cortés a estas tierras y se enteró que había dos españoles sobrevivientes de un naufragio, rápidamente los mandó a buscar. Jerónimo de Aguilar se presentó ante Gonzalo Guerrero para decirle que había llegado una expedición española, que al fin podrían ser rescatados y le pidió que se uniera con él.

Según las crónicas de Bernal Díaz del Castillo está fue la respuesta de Gonzalo:

—Hermano Aguilar, como verás estoy felizmente casado y tengo estos tres bonitos hijitos, que son toda mi felicidad. Mi mujer es nativa de aquí y es la mejor mujer que pude haber soñado. Hermosa y sensual. ¿A dónde la voy a llevar? En este sitio paradisíaco me respetan y me tienen por cacique y por capitán cuando hay guerra con los poblados cercanos, ¿qué más puedo pedir? Así que idos con Dios, que yo ya soy más de aquí que de

allá. Compruébalo: tengo hasta labrada la cara y horadadas las orejas. ¿Qué dirían de mí nuestros hermanos españoles al aparecérmeles de tal manera?

Jerónimo de Aguilar se despidió de él para siempre.

Gonzalo sabiendo que los españoles venían a conquistar estas tierras organizó a todos los guerreros para combatirlos. Los conquistadores se enfrentan en Yucatán ante guerreros excelentemente entrenados en las artes de la guerra.

La muerte de Gonzalo llegó con una flecha de ballesta, clavada justo en su ombligo y le atravesó hasta el costado, donde fue herido de muerte por un disparo de arcabuz. Sus hombres le sacaron del campo de batalla y le escondieron detrás de unas palmeras. Con su último aliento les pidió a sus más allegados que cuidaran de sus hijos y al resto de sus hombres, más de un millar, que siguieran combatiendo. Tuvieron que replegarse y el cadáver de Guerrero quedó en campo enemigo. Algunos españoles afirmaron luego haberlo visto: tatuado y vestido como un indio pero barbado. Durante la noche, algunos de sus hombres rescataron su cuerpo y como homenaje lo lanzaron al río Ulúa, para que la corriente le llevara hasta el Océano de donde vino.

[whencyclopedia]

The Conquest of New Spain

The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492 to c. 1580) is an account written in 1568 of the early Spanish colonization of Mesoamerica, specifically the conquest of the Aztec civilization in Mexico from 1519 to 1521 when Díaz was a member of the conquistador expedition led by Hernán Cortés (1485-1547).

Continue reading...

#Conquistador #SpanishEmpire

[whencyclopedes]

La conquista de la Nueva España

La conquista de la Nueva España por Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492 a alrededor de 1580) es un recuento escrito en 1568 sobre los inicios de la colonización de Mesoamérica por parte de los Españoles, específicamente la conquista de la civilización azteca de México, de 1519 a 1521, cuando Díaz era miembro de la expedición conquistadora liderada por Hernán Cortés (1485-1547).

Lire la suite...

#Histoire #Conquistador #ImperioEspañol

[his112midterm]

 Model reconstruction of the Templo Mayor, Wolfgang Sauber, (National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City).

Templo Mayor

The Great Temple located in Tenochtitlan, sat in the center of the city. With two grand stairways leading to the top of the temple, where two sanctuaries would be found.¹ Stairs so long if not accustomed to would result in tumors and abscesses, as described by Díaz del Castillo.² One of the sanctuaries was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and war. The other served Tlaloc, the god of rain and fertility.³ Inside their sanctuaries were two giant tall figurines. The one on on the right was of Huitzilopochtli, having a "broad monstrous face", and his body covered with precious stones. Holding a bow in one hand and a bow in the other.⁴ The other statue of Tlaloc was of a half man half lizard, whose body was said to contain all the seeds in the world. In front of them was a "techcatl" a round stone used for making sacrifices.⁵ Rituals were a daily occurrence in this temple, resident priests maintained the worship of the two gods by praying, burning incense, offering blood, and rarely sacrificing a human.⁶ Offers were made for Tlaloc to prevent drought, that he would send his rain for their crops. His offerings consisted of shells, fish, and sculptures of aquatic creatures. In contrast to Huitzilopochtli whose were skulls and sculpted knives. A contrast between the god of Fertility and the god of war.⁷ Huitzilopochtli's victims sacrificed on his side would have their hearts taken out, and thrown down his stairs. Landing on a statue of his sister Coyolxauhqui, which signified their weakness being thrown on a "defeated woman" This comes from the story of Huitzilopochtli killing his sister as revenge for attempting to murder him before his birth.⁸ Human Sacrifices kept Huitzilopochtli "satiated and happy".⁹ The Templo Mayor was extremely sacred to the Aztecs with its placement in the center of the whole city linked to the creation of Tenochtitlan. When Huitzilopochtli guided the four priests to find a nopal cactus tree which would signify they had found their home. That tree was said to have become Templo Mayor.¹⁰

------------------------------------------------------

Bibliography

Díaz del Castillo, Bernal. The Conquest of New Spain, Vol. 2. E-book. Nendeln: Kraus Reprint, 1967, URL

Diel, Lori Boornazian. Aztec Codices: What They Tell Us about Daily Life. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2020. URL

Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos. Archaeology & Symbolism in Aztec Mexico: The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 1985. URL

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Eduardo Matos, Moctezuma, Archaeology & Symbolism in Aztec Mexico: The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan (Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 1985,) p799, URL

Bernal, Díaz del Castillo, The Conquest of New Spain, Vol. 2. E-book, (Nendeln: Kraus Reprint, 1967,) p79 URL

Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos, Archaeology & Symbolism in Aztec Mexico: The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan, p799

Díaz del Castillo, Bernal, The Conquest of New Spain, Vol. 2. E-book, p76

Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos, Archaeology & Symbolism in Aztec Mexico: The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan, p804

Lori Boornazian, Diel, Aztec Codices: What They Tell Us about Daily Life, (New York: Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2020,) p142 URL

Diel, Lori Boornazian, Aztec Codices: What They Tell Us about Daily Life, p151

Diel, Lori Boornazian, Aztec Codices: What They Tell Us about Daily Life, p152

Diel, Lori Boornazian, Aztec Codices: What They Tell Us about Daily Life, p168

Diel, Lori Boornazian, Aztec Codices: What They Tell Us about Daily Life, p142

[acapulcopress]

141 aspirantes a legisladores federales renuncian a sus apoyos económicos

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO * 5 de marzo, 2024. ) Apro Diputadas y diputados que participarán en la elección consecutiva manifestaron su renuncia voluntaria a apoyos económicos, informó la Cámara Baja en un comunicado. La Mesa Directiva informó que 141 legisladores federales que participarán en la elección consecutiva en el proceso electoral 2023-2024 manifestaron su renuncia voluntaria a los apoyos económicos a que tienen derecho. Estos apoyos consisten en asistencia legislativa, atención ciudadana, casa enlace, transporte y hospedaje y tarjeta Viapass para peaje, y dejarán de contar por ellos por el periodo que comprende del 1 de marzo al 2 de junio. De la cifra total, 45 son de Morena, 47 del PAN, 29 del PRI, 19 del PT y uno del PRD. Estos son los legisladores que expresaron su deseo de renunciar a los apoyos: Morena César Agustín Hernández Pérez, Carol Antonio Altamirano, Reyna Celeste Ascencio Ortega, Ana Elizabeth Ayala Leyva, Manuel de Jesús Baldenebro Arredondo, Rocío Natalí Barrera Puc, Juan Ángel Bautista Bravo, María del Carmen Bautista Pelaéz, Bruno Blancas Mercado, Francisco Javier Borrego Adame, Héctor Armando Cabada Alvidrez, Óscar Cantón Zetina, Olegaria Carrazco Macías, Mario Miguel Carrillo Cubillas, Alejandro Carvajal Hidalgo, Favio Castellanos Polanco, Olga Leticia Chávez Rojas, Armando Contreras Castillo, Armando Corona Arvizu, Roberto Ángel Domínguez Rodríguez, Olga Juliana Elizondo Guerra, Leonel Godoy Rangel, Juanita Guerra Mena, Rosa Hernández Espejo, Arturo Roberto Hernández Tapia, Mónica Herrera Villavicencio, Irma Juan Carlos, Mayra Alicia Mendoza Álvarez, Moisés Ignacio Mier Velazco, Evangelina Moreno Guerra, Julio Cesar Moreno Rivera, Blanca Araceli Narro Panameño, Araceli Ocampo Manzanares, Pedro David Ortega Fonseca, Jaime Humberto Pérez Bernabe, Sonia Rincon Chanona, Carlos Sánchez Barrios, Azael Santiago Chepi, Paola Tenorio Adame, Teresita de Jesús Vargas Meraz, Manuel Vázquez Arellano, Julieta Kristal Vences Valencia, Dulce María Corina Villegas Guarneros, Merary Villegas Sánchez y Joaquín Zebadúa Alva. PAN Marco Humberto Aguilar Coronado, Laura Patricia Ahedo Bárcenas, Salvador Alcántar Ortega, Marco Antonio Almendariz Puppo, Daniela Soraya Álvarez Hernández, Ana Teresa Aranda Orozco, Itzel Josefina Balderas Hernández, Ana María Balderas Trejo, Carolina Beauregard Martínez, María Teresa Castell de Oro Palacios, Román Cifuentes Negrete, Erika de los Ángeles Díaz Villalón, Yesenia Galarza Castro, María Josefina Gamboa Torales, Pedro Garza Treviño, Mariana Gómez del Campo Gurza, Carmen Rocío González Alonso, Karla Verónica González Cruz, Diana Estefanía Gutiérrez Valtierra, Genoveva Huerta Villegas, Jorge Ernesto Inzunza Armas, Julia Licet Jiménez Angulo, Berenice Juárez Navarrete, Diana María Teresa Lara Carreón, José Elías Lixa Abimerhi, Noemí Berenice Luna Ayala, Gustavo Macías Zambrano, Esther Mandujano Tinajero, Noel Mata Atilano, Miguel Ángel Monraz Ibarra, Sarai Núñez Cerón, Ali Sayuri Núñez Meneses, María Elena Pérez-Jaén Zermeño, Gabriel Ricardo Quadri de la Torre, Éctor Jaime Ramírez Barba, Sonia Rocha Acosta, Juan Carlos Romero Hicks, Martha Estela Romo Cuéllar, Paulina Rubio Fernández, Ana Laura Sánchez Velázquez, Rodrigo Sánchez Zepeda, Luis Gerardo Serrato Castell, Armando Tejeda Cid, Héctor Saúl Téllez Hernández, Fernando Torres Graciano, Roberto Valenzuela Corral y Margarita Ester Zavala Gómez del Campo. PRI Norma Angélica Aceves García, Yeimi Yazmín Aguilar Cifuentes, María de Jesús Aguirre Maldonado, Pablo Guillermo Angulo Briceño, Karla Ayala Villalobos, Frinné Azuara Yarzábal, Sue Ellen Bernal Bolnik, Jaime Bueno Zertuche, María del Refugio Camarena Jáuregui, Adriana Campos Huirache, Alma Patricia Cardona Ortiz, Eufrosina Cruz Mendoza, Carolina Dávila Ramírez, Juan Francisco Espinoza Eguia, Xavier González Zirión, Marcela Guerra Castillo, Fuensanta Guadalupe Guerrero Esquivel, Johana Montcerrat Hernández Pérez, Ana Lilia Herrera Anzaldo, Jazmín Jaimes Albarrán, Roberto Carlos López García, Tereso Medina Ramírez, Rubén Ignacio Moreira Valdez, Rafael Alejandro Moreno Cárdenas, Mariana Erandi Nassar Piñeyro, Lorena Piñón Rivera, María Elena Serrano Maldonado, Maribel Guadalupe Villaseñor Dávila y Cynthia Iliana López Castro. PT Lilia Aguilar Gil, José Alejandro Aguilar López, Mary Carmen Bernal Martínez, Francisco Amadeo Espinosa Ramos, Alfredo Femat Bañuelos, José Gerardo Rodolfo Fernández Noroña, Irma Yordana Garay Loredo, Margarita García García, Jesús Fernando García Hernández, Maribel Martínez Ruiz, Luis Enrique Martínez Ventura, Brígido Ramiro Moreno Hernández, Magdalena del Socorro Núñez Monreal, Jorge Armando Ortiz Rodríguez, Ángel Benjamín Robles Montoya, Ana Karina Rojo Pimentel, María de Jesús Rosete Sánchez, Reginaldo Sandoval Flores y Dionicia Vázquez García. PRD Francisco Javier Huacus Esquivel. ] Síguenos en facebook.com/acapulcopress.news ) Síguenos en facebook.com/angelblanco.press ] Síguenos en ) acapulcopress.com Read the full article

[wonderandwanderinginmexicocity]

The Grasshoppers of Oaxaca

I have always been interested in the connection between food, history, and culture. I previously wrote about how the food of today can be a road map of past migration and cultural fusion, and how it can explain the evolution of a place like modern Mexico. Like communion in the Catholic Church, food can be a connection to our ancestors, a process and ritual that transcends time and generations. Food can be a bridge to the past…if we can find it. 

Unfortunately we do not know a whole lot about what was eaten in Mesoamerica before the arrival of the Spanish. This is due in part to the great devastation brought by war, genocide, and disease during the Spanish Conquest, and approximately 90% of the population died by 1530. So much cultural knowledge and insight was lost. Another factor is that much of what the Spanish brought with them to the New World became common and integral to contemporary Mexican cuisine: Lime, honey, meat, and cheese. 

We do have a few Spanish sources that wrote about what the Mexica ate before the Conquest. Hernán Cortés wrote in letters that Emperor Moctezuma’s feasts could be all day affairs, and Bernal Díaz del Castillo wrote in his book, The Conquest of New Spain, the following: “Every day they cooked fowls, turkeys, local partridges, quail, tame and wild duck, venison, boar, marsh birds, pigeons, hares and rabbits, also many other kinds of birds and beasts native to their country, so numerous that I cannot quickly name them all.” But this is of course describing how the most powerful man in the Triple Alliance ate on special occasions. The Great Speaker was hardly the common man. While Moctezuma may have eaten well, people had to do their best catching wild game like duck or raising the only two domesticated animals, turkeys and chihuahuas (which were considered food). How did the common people get enough protein to survive? 

On a recent trip to Oaxaca, I was shocked by how common it was to eat grasshoppers (in Mexican Spanish chapulin, which comes from the Nahua word chapollin). They would sell them in large quantities on the street, or you could order them in dishes like quesadillas and omelets. From the U.S. perspective, eating insects seems strange, but is common in many parts of the world. They are quite common in a warm place like Oaxaca and not hard to find. People enjoy the crunch they provide, like one would from a potato chip. In Mexico City, you can order guacamole with chapulines. Many Mexicans are proud of the cultural heritage this food provides, and there is a sense it connects them to their culture and history and land. It may seem like a bizarre food to a foreigner, but it has some merits. 

While eating grasshoppers in Mexico is both a thing of the past and the present, it may well be a thing of the future. Insects are a bountiful natural resource of animal protein in the world today, in part because there are a lot more insects than people. They do not have the carbon footprint of cows, chickens, and pigs, and do not require the time, space, or resources  those animals require. In his collection of short stories Brief Encounters with Che Guevara, Ben Fountain writes the story of a PHD student that came to the jungles of Colombia to study a rare colony of parrots only to be kidnapped by a Marxist rebel force clearly based on FARC. At one point, the graduate student, John Blair, makes the case to his captors that eating insects is the future, because they are affordable and sustainable. The heavily armed rebels laugh in his sunburnt face. “We are not fighting for the revolution to eat bugs, cabrón,” they say dismissively. 

And yet, here in Mexico, the future may already be here. 

#grasshoppers #mexicanfood #mexicanhistory #mexico #mexicocity #oaxaca #cuidaddeoaxaca #travelgram #culturamexicana #mexicanculture #mexicancuisine #cdmx #comidaprehispanica

[kerrkez5ec]

🇪🇸 María de Estrada fue una mujer soldado española que participó en la Conquista de México junto a Hernán Cortés. De procedencia andaluza y cántabra se sumó al grupo de soldados . María de Estrada (el apellido se encuentra escrito como Destrada o Estrada) nació en Sevilla, aunque su padre era originario del norte de España. Su hermano, el conquistador, Francisco de Estrada, había acompañado a Cristóbal Colón como grumete, y cuando regresó al "Nuevo Mundo" para instalarse de forma permanente en 1509, María probablemente viajó con él Estuvo en Cuba donde se casó con Pedro Sánchez Farfán y participó en combates en la actual Matanzas. "Hasta es posible que su hermosura la salvara de morir, pues un cacique la tomó para sí: duró hasta que los españoles se recuperaron de la derrota y volvió con su marido a Trinidad, al sur de la isla" explica el especialista de Historia de América Manuel Lucena Giraldo Participó en acciones bélicas y luchó con bravura durante la batalla de Otumba. Representación de María de Estrada en la batalla de Otumba

El cronista Diego Muñoz Camargo escribió sobre ella: «se mostró valerosamente haciendo maravillosos y hazañeros hechos con una espada y una rodela en las manos, peleando valerosamente con tanta furia y ánimo, que excedía al esfuerzo de cualquier varón, por esforzado y animoso que fuera, que a los propios nuestros ponía espanto»También los cronistas Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Juan de Torquemada y Francisco Cervantes de Salazar mencionaron a esta soldado, que a ratos se dedicaba al cuidado de heridos y enfermos Francisco Cervantes de Salazar recuerda que María de Estrada siguió a Hernán Cortés cuando este quiso dejarla descansando en Tlaxcala tras la mortífera «Noche Triste», en la que murieron muchos españoles e indígenas aliados Cortés la recompensó con las ciudades de Tetela del Volcán, Nepopualco (que pasó a ser un barrio de Tetela) y Hueyapan de las que fue encomendera. Los cronistas cuentan que "rica y reconocida peleó hasta el final" y no dudó en protestar incluso ante el rey Carlos I por hacerle pagar demasiados impuestos.​ Después de que su primer marido muriera, se casó con Alonso Martín Partidor y juntos participaron en la fundación de lo que hoy es la Ciudad de Puebla de los Ángeles Entre sus hazañas se destaca que logró la conquista del Pueblo de Tetela del Volcán, participar en la lucha de Otumba y vencer en un mano a mano a Pánfilo Narváez.

Murió cerca de los 40 años por cólera y fue enterrada en la Catedral de Puebla aunque se desconoce su paradero pues en remodelaciones de la Catedral se perdieron sus restos.

[casadechiles]

Amaranth

Amaranth is a Mexican superfood, but during the colonial period, it was banned and on the verge of extinction. The amaranth was a part of the Mexica diet and rituals and was banned for a long time. Amaranth is one of the most beautiful purple flowers in our country, and it is used to make the famous "alegrías" (a type of candy), atole (a traditional hot drink), fresh water, and other traditional dishes. Its scientific name is Amaranthus, derived from the Greek word "arnárantos," and in Nahuatl, it is called "huahtli," which means "the smallest life-giving particle." This plant has been cultivated and consumed in Mexico for thousands of years. Seeds of a species of the plant have been found in the Coxcatlán cave in Tehuacán, Puebla, dating back six thousand five hundred years. Since 2017, October 15th has been celebrated as National Amaranth Day in Mexico. For the Mexicas, amaranth was as important as beans and maize, and even the Mexica ruler Moctezuma received nearly four thousand tons of it as tribute from other peoples each year. However, the plabt was a prohibited product during the colonial era, largely because the Mexicas created figures of their deities using ground amaranth seeds, mixed with agave honey, and called it "tzoalli." Research suggests that the Aztec Empire demanded tribute from its subject peoples in the form of "huautli," the amaranth plant, from which seeds were extracted, roasted, and transformed. Although amaranth was used in various ways, one of the surviving and most popular methods was to mix amaranth with agave honey to create animal and even deity figures. It is said that the Mexicas associated the plant with Huitzilopochtli, so during festivals dedicated to this god, figures were made in his likeness, and these figures were consumed as if partaking of the deity himself. It is also believed that this was a creative way to personify and sanctify various deities, which were later consumed in various rituals. Some of the deities given form included Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcóatl, Tláloc, Chalchiuhtlicue, Coatlicue, Xiuhtecuhtli, Chicomecóatl, Matlalcueye, Iztactépetl, and Opuchtli. These figures were made using the same technique used to make amaranth candies like "alegrías." However, like many other practices, this did not sit well with the Spanish, who then banned the cultivation and consumption of amaranth, putting it at risk of disappearing. As we know, the process of evangelization for the Europeans was complex because many religious and liturgical customs of indigenous peoples did not align with the Western vision. Additionally, many practices were considered incompatible with the Catholic religion. According to accounts from Bernal Díaz del Castillo, when Hernán Cortés discovered the ceremonial use of amaranth seeds, he immediately banned their consumption, as he believed it sacrilegious to "eat" their god. This prohibition caused amaranth production to decline for several centuries, leading to its abandonment in much of the national territory and pushing it to the brink of extinction. Fortunately, amaranth's natural qualities, which allow it to adapt to virtually any climate and terrain condition, helped it survive despite the ban. Thanks to the natural virtues of amaranth, today we can consume one of the foods with the highest amount of proteins, vitamins, and minerals, making it a superfood. In fact, NASA scientists chose amaranth as part of the diet for astronauts traveling to the International Space Station because it is lightweight, versatile, and highly nutritious. Furthermore, amaranth and the "alegría" from Tulyehualco, Xochimilco, were declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mexico City in 2016. In this town in Mexico City, the tradition of cultivating amaranth in "chinampas," an ancient agricultural system, is preserved. Additionally, Tulyehualco claims the designation of origin for amaranth, as this town in the capital, along with some areas in Morelos, continued to cultivate it despite the restrictions of the colonial period. Read the full article

#amaranth

[chicosanchez]

La historia verdadera de la justicia. Parte 52

Jueves 21 de marzo de 2024 a las 22:00hs de España, 15:00hs de México, 18:00hs de Argentina.

Gracias por compartir.

#libros #chicosanchez #historia #traiciones #justicia #españa #tenochtitlán #méxico #montezuma #endirecto #conquista #hernán cortés #nueva españa #bernal díaz del castillo

[mexicodailypost]

17 “Los Motonetos” members arrested for riots in San Cristóbal de las Casas: VIDEO 

After the riots in San Cristóbal de las Casas, in Chiapas, the authorities managed to arrest a dozen alleged members of Los Motonetos, a criminal group that is related to drug dealing activities and homicides.  Preliminary reports indicated that on the morning of Sunday, July 30, several shots were heard on Bernal Díaz del Castillo and Ejército Nacional streets, located in the Barrio de…

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#los motonetos #san cristobal de las casas