ABSTRACT
The Codex Mendoza is one of the most valuable Post-Conquest written sources on the Pre-Columbian Mexica of Tenochtitlan, which expanded to become what is referred to as the Aztec Empire. The first viceroy of Mexico, Antonio de Mendoza, or members of his government organized the production of the Codex for King Charles I of Spain. The new European empire-builders required information about Mexico and its people so that they could extract resources as efficiently as possible. Produced with guidance from Spanish friars, the book contains seventy-two drawings and written glyphs executed by one or several indigenous tlacuilos. The Mexica tribute system reached as far south as Chiapas and northern Guatemala, the source of resources found only in the cloud forests there: liquidambar, the resin of the sweet gum tree, used for smoking and medicinal purposes; and the feathers of the quetzalli, the rare quetzal bird.
