ABSTRACT
Intent on conquering Mexico, Hernan Cortes arrived in the Mexica city of Tenochtitlan in November 1519, which he incorrectly called “Temixtitan” in this primary source. This revealing and lively description of the city in that year comes from the conquistador’s second letter to King Charles I of Spain, which was printed soon thereafter and became one of the earliest best-sellers in European history. In addition, some of the information that Cortes provides is corroborated by other written primary sources, including the indigenous-authored book, the Codex Mendoza. The largest marketplace in Mexico was located on the north side of the island in Tlatelolco, a city that had lost its independence to expansionist Tenochtitlan in 1474. An estimated 20,000 to 25,000 people per day shopped in Tlatelolco, and even more attended a special market held every five days. The Mexica government did not manage this market economy, but as the passage suggests, some form of centralized commercial authority did regulate market transactions.
