The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700

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Tenochtitlan and the Aztecs in the English Atlantic world, 1500-1603

Secondary Title (i.e. Proceedings Title): Periodical Title:Atlantic Studies Publication Type: Authors:Valencia-Suarez, Maria Fernanda Editors: Publisher: Place of Publication: Publication Date:Dec 2009 Alternate Date (i.e. Conference Date): Volume:6 Issue:3 Start Page:277 End Page:301 Abstract:This article studies sixteenth-century English views of Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs and the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the framework of the Atlantic world. It analyses the process by which English scholars and politicians collated, understood, appropriated and used information about Mexico - circulating in the rest of Europe - to produce their own interpretations and productions. This was made with the aim of promoting English exploration and colonial ventures in the New World, supporting English claims to the Americas, fostering anti-Spanish sentiments and Protestant solidarity against Spain and satisfying curiosity and desire for fresh knowledge. Paying especial attention to the investigation of a water-coloured map of the city of Tenochtitlan, produced in London in 1571, this article illustrates how the English departed from a pro-Spanish narrative of the conquest and began to use information about the Aztecs - in the framework of increasing Anglo-Spanish rivalries - to criticize the Spanish and to legitimize the fight against Spain in the Old and New world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Descriptors/Keywords: Aztecs
Mexico -- History -- Conquest, 1519-1540
Mexico -- Civilization -- Spanish influences
Mexico -- History -- Spanish colony, 1540-1810
Indigenous peoples
Mexico -- Civilization -- European influences
Early maps ISBN: URL:
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