Sistemas caóticos

Indigenous Calligraphy in Religious Context

During the viceregal period, indigenous scribes worked in two clearly dif- ferentiated areas: one religious and the other administrative. In the case of religious writing, native people were the support staff for chroniclers and missionaries, sources of information on their cultures, and copyists of their traditions. Writing soon became a means of bicultural commu- nication and it was extremely useful for the friars that some indigenous people were trained, especially in calligraphy. Brother Toribio de Bena- vente, known as Motolinia, refers to the native people’s superb capacity for imitating all sorts of written models, when he states,

they were taught to write in little time, because they wrote in a few days, then they imitated the material that their teachers gave them, and if the teacher changed to another form of writing, which is a very common thing that different men have different ways of forming letters, then they also changed the letter and made it in the way that their teacher gave it to

them.1

However, apparently they also attempted to imitate the shape and arrangement of printed texts. The same missionary described how an indigenous scribe copied a bull:

and he did it so naturally that the letter that he made seemed to be the same, because the first line was in large letters, and below he wrote the signature just the same, and a Jesus with an image of Our Lady, all the same that it seemed there was no difference from the shape of the other letter, and as a noteworthy and important thing, he did it in proper Castil-

ian Spanish.2

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2. Benavente, Historia de los indios de la Nueva España, chap. XII.

visual decisions are some of the aesthetic guidelines that may be studied to gain a deeper insight into the nature of the document.

A factor contributing to the breach between content and language is the body of rules governing the arrangement of writing. Transformed through time, these rules have also taken on particular characteristics for each language and each literary genre, and to a large extent, they are not a “natural” by-product of the spoken language. Language and writing are related on a basic lexical and syntactic level, but the actual development of both levels requires the consideration of contextual and pragmatic fac- tors, which may also transcend pure language and be associated with edi- torial production or with the author-scribe-reader relationship. Therefore, one should keep in mind not only phenomena concerning linguistic and historical aspects in texts, but also material facts, artifacts resulting from the process of design.

Based on these considerations, we should understand that the Codice Fiorentino (Florentine Codex), in addition to being a historical and his- toric text, is a visual space that makes it possible to evaluate how the indig- enous people of Mexico appropriated and used the guidelines of written communication: the page format, the layout of the text field, the charac- teristics of the calligraphy, and the interaction of the text with the images and ornaments. Now then, how were these characteristics chosen? And what were the patterns and models that the scribes used as referents when it came time to do the graphic layout of a work? These are questions that I will attempt to answer based primarily on a graphic description of the document itself.

The following discussion offers a panorama of the education that the indigenous population received in New Spain in calligraphy and typog- raphy. Then attention will focus on the Colegio de la Santa Cruz in Tla- telolco and particularly on the formation of its library, whose volumes were without doubt one of the principal sources used by scribes. Finally, I will examine how the scriptorium there functioned before moving on to a description of the design, calligraphy, and ornamentation of the Florentine Codex.

This calligraphic education took place in schools established by the friars for the native population. At the beginning of 1527, Fray Pedro de Gante founded the Colegio de San José de los Naturales. This founda- tion arose from the need to educate an indigenous elite in Christian val- ues and to produce images for worship. For visual and manual educa- tion, they had models of painting, sculpture, prints, and printed books from Flanders, Spain, and Italy. This made it possible for the indigenous people to begin to become familiar with the use of Latin characters and diverse styles of lettering: humanist, gothic, Greek, and musical notation. Therefore, it would seem logical to think that if there was a school that trained indigenous scribes in different aspects of calligraphy, there would have been a certain propensity for the standardization of written models.

The writing produced at that time adopted the characteristics of European books in different formats: loose sheets and small prints with religious images, leading to the virtual abandonment of the traditional pre-Hispanic screen-fold, or amoxtli [book], format. Despite its scarcity in New Spain, the scribes used European paper, and in a smaller propor-

tion, traditional indigenous paper.3 _{Among the tools and materials used}

for sixteenth-century manuscript production were brush, pencil, and quill

pen, with mineral, plant, and animal pigments.4

Indigenous Calligraphy in Administrative Context

Administrative writing was the other major area where indigenous scribes worked. The role of these scribes of diverse ethnic backgrounds within their own communities was of extreme importance because they served as a bridge between the native groups and the Spaniards. This work encompassed population censuses, delimitation of lands and drawing of maps, inheritance litigation, description of genealogies and lineages, and tribute collection, to mention some of the main textual genres. In that written production, it was not unusual to see the simultaneous use of alphabetic glosses and pre-Hispanic pictograms until well into the eigh-

teenth century.5

3. Indigenous papers included those manufactured from bark and agave.

4. On this point I recommend reading the text by Arellano Hoffmann, “El escriba mesoamericano y sus utensilios de trabajo,” pp. 219–256.

5. The pre-Hispanic system of writing was used to refer to places, in other words as toponyms, as well as a substitute and complement to the numeric and calendric system of

Scribes and notaries trained their own amanuenses, but teaching was restricted in those cases to the cursive styles of lettering such as procesal [a flowing Spanish script], its joined version (procesal encadenada), and chancery. Although testimonies exist in diverse languages, the majority of the documents produced were in Náhuatl, which served as a lingua franca in New Spain.

Native Printers6

In addition to education in reading and writing, the indigenous popula- tion was given more specific training in book matters, in typographic

printing, engraving, and binding.7 _{Technical education and craftsman-}

ship were taught mainly in Franciscan schools, although it is also possible to find references from other religious orders, such as one that mentions “the Indians who have an unusual ingenuity for all of these trades” when speaking of the publication of printed works in Otomí and Náhuatl at the

Jesuit school in Tepotzotlán.8 _{At the same time, it is important to mention}

that in the vast majority of wordbooks in indigenous languages produced during the sixteenth century, terms related specifically to the world of books were given, e.g., translations for writing, printing, illumination, and binding, in addition to terms for objects and materials pertaining to the graphic arts. That suggests that there was the need for clear, precise com- munication on these subjects between Europeans and indigenous speak-

ers of Náhuatl, Mixtec, Otomí, Tarascan, and Zapotec.9

European tradition.

6. Diverse authors have dealt to a greater or lesser extent with the subject of indigenous printers in Mexico. García Icazbalceta presents some references in his Bibliografía mexi- cana del siglo XVI. See also Grañén Porrúa in “El ámbito socio-laboral de las imprentas novohispanas,” and finally, Jiménez Hernández provides interesting references in Colección de Lenguas Indígenas.

7. Although we will not refer to religious materials, it is necessary to note that the native people did more than print books for the friars and execute devotional prints, as shown by a 1582 decree on vendible trades. This document refers to the production of playing cards in New Spain, and lists different categories of production and costs. It details the payment of three “tomines” for twelve dozen sets of playing cards for “the Indians who print them and paste them.” Document consulted in the Archivo Histórico Nacional de España: Diversos- colecciones 25, no. 56.

8. “Carta del provincial de la orden Antonio de Mendoza a Claudio Aquaviva, noviembre de 1585, Tepotzotlán,” in Zubillaga, Monumenta Mexicana, vol. 5, doc. 213, pp. 702–722.

9. I have discussed this subject in a paper, “Diseñadores de la lengua propia: Calígrafos y tipógrafos indígenas en la Nueva España,” presented at the Primer Coloquio Internacional

Even though explicit references to indigenous manual skills in print- ing occur later, dating to the beginning of the seventeenth century, they are brought to bear because they refer specifically to the school estab- lished in Tlatelolco. The prologue of the Sermonario en lengua mexicana of Fray Juan Bautista (Mexico, Diego López Dávalos, 1606) reads, “Diego Adriano, native of this City of Tlatilulco, was expert in Latin, and so skilled that he learned to typeset, and he typeset in the printing press in any language, as ably as any other Master no matter how deft he might be

in this art.”10 _{Later, the same friar mentioned other names:}

Of no less importance has been the help and ongoing communication of Agustín de la Fuente, also a native of Santiago de Tlatilulco, and a teacher at the Colegio de la Santa Cruz.… Who wished to see the collection of sermons that he wrote printed, has learned to typeset and to typeset admi- rably, and so he has almost everything typeset at the press: which has been of much help, so that it be well corrected, and not have any errata of impor- tance.

Mendieta commented with regard to the native people at that Fran- ciscan school that, although there was opposition to teaching Latin to the

indigenous population,11 _{training was necessary because}

with these Latin schools they learned their language perfectly through the skill of those who knew it well, and with their help, in the same language they translated the doctrines and treatises that have been necessary for teaching all the Indians and with their help the printers have printed them,

which otherwise they could not have done.12

Some documents from the Inquisition also mention native people learning typography. For example, there is the Flemish printer Cornelio

Lenguas y Culturas Coloniales, 3 September 2008, Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.

10. The friar was referring to Latin, Spanish, and Náhuatl, although the notion should not be dismissed that he might also have been referring to some other indigenous language— Otomí, for example.

11. Jerónimo López wrote to Emperor Charles V that having taught the Indians to read and write “had been as harmful as the devil” (20 October 1541). See Toribio Medina, Historia de la imprenta, vol. I, prologue by Feliu Cruz.

12. Mendieta, Historia eclesiástica indiana, book 4, chap. XV, pp. 78–80.

Adrián César, who addressed a letter to the judges of the Inquisition to denounce the ill treatment he received from Fray Juan Bautista, guard- ian of the Colegio de Tlatelolco, where he was sent to serve his prison sentence. César stated that

[the guardian] attempts to explain and teach my art to the Indians, so that they rob me and I want you to know because once they have learned [it], and once the terms of my sentence are fulfilled (when God is served), I will not be able to earn a living with what is my said trade, because of [what] said Indians will have learned about it and it will be of no use [to me], and since Your Honor has always treated me with mercy and charity, it is unfair,

Your Honor being served, that I be treated with such harm.13

The Colegio de Tlatelolco

The appointment of Fray Juan de Zumárraga as bishop of Mexico in 1527 brought about a shift in indigenous education and in the means it was carried out. Three years after his arrival, he informed the Crown of the advances made in this area, and during his stay on the Iberian Peninsula from 1532 to 1534, he requested the establishment of a seminary to train an indigenous clergy—an establishment that would need a library, a print-

ing press, and a paper factory.14 _{In 1535 the appointment of Antonio de}

Mendoza, first viceroy of New Spain, contributed favorably to financing the work to establish the seminary. However, the printing press and the paper mill never materialized, except partially in 1539 when Juan Pablos, an emissary sent by the Sevillan printer Juan Cromberger, set up shop in

the Mexican capital with printing equipment.15 _{As indicated by the covers}

and colophons of the first printed works in Mexico, Zumárraga was one of the print shop’s principal clients; in the same year that Pablos arrived, the bishop ordered and paid for a variety of works.

The Colegio de Tlatelolco opened its doors in 1534. In January 1536, Zumárraga, Sebastián Ramírez de Fuenleal, García de Cisneros, Ber-

13. The letter is undated, but it might have been written in 1602. Archivo General de la Nación, Inquisición, vols. 65, nos. 5, 252 A.5, 236 A.18.

14. These subjects have been discussed by José Toribio Medina, José María Kobayashi, and Joaquín García Icazbalceta.

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nardino de Sahagún, Arnaldo de Basacio, Gabriel Alonso de Herrera, and Pedro de Rivera y Villalón attended Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza’s for- mal inauguration of the school. The three-year program comprised read- ing, spelling, music, rhetoric, logic, philosophy, and theology. Arnaldo de Basacio and Juan de Gaona were among the teachers and in 1540, Bernardino de Sahagún, Andrés de Olmos, Juan Focher, and Francisco de Bustamante joined the school.

Ten years after its foundation, the school faced serious political chal- lenges, especially concerning the training of indigenous clergy, a project that was completely abolished after the First Mexican Council (1555). In the wake of these difficulties, some of the most advanced native students, such as Miguel de Cuautitlán and Juan Badiano, died in the 1545 epi- demic, which led to the transfer of Sahagún and Gaona.

A few years later, the school redirected its work to researching indig- enous culture and linguistics. Bernardino de Sahagún, Juan de Gaona, and Alonso de Molina played a major role in this shift. Texts by Gante, Rangel, Benavente, and Gilberti, as well as those by Sahagún, Gaona, and Molina, produced in several indigenous languages, enriched the holdings

of the library at Tlatelolco.16 _{Among the indigenous students who col-}

laborated in the bibliographic production were Antonio Valeriano from Azcapotzalco, Hernando de Ribas from Texcoco, Martín Exidio, Mar- tín Jacobita, Bernardo Jerónimo, Antonio Ramírez, José de Castañeda, Gregorio de Medina, Mateo Sánchez, Bonifaz Maximiliano and Diego de Grado, both from Tlatelolco, Mateo Severiano from Xochimilco, and Pedro Juan Antonio, who traveled to Spain in 1568 to continue his stud- ies in Salamanca. Beginning in 1572, the indigenous collaborators were Alonso de Verjerano from Cuautitlán, Agustín de la Fuente, Martín Jaco- bita, Severino Bernabé Velásquez, Andrés Leonardo, and San Buenaven- tura, among others.

After several transfers and other posts, Bernardino de Sahagún returned to Tlatelolco in 1572 as a supervisor. At that same time, and in response to a royal decree that authorized the gathering of information for a history of the Indians of the American continent, with the help of several native informants he prepared the Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España [General History of the Things of New Spain]. Although the school suffered new losses from the epidemic of 1576, Sahagún

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continued to supervise the teaching of reading and writing to children, in addition to his work of an ethnographic nature.

Those studies were temporarily suspended with Sahagún’s demise in 1590. Nevertheless, Fray Pedro de Oroz continued with the work of the linguistic project, and guardian Juan Bautista, a native of New Spain, resumed the general studies later. Just as other padres had done before him, Bautista worked alongside indigenous Mexicans: Antonio Valeriano, Agustín de la Fuente, Pedro de Gante, Diego Adriano, Juan Bernardo from Huejotzingo, Esteban Bravo from Texcoco, and Francisco Contreras Bautista from Cuernavaca. Fray Juan Bautista continued as guardian of the Colegio until his death in 1613.

At the end of the sixteenth century, linguistic and ethnographic work continued in the school: Jacobo de Mendoza Tlaltenzin, Alfonso Izehuezcatocatzin, and Pablo Nazareno were informants of Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc, Juan Bautista, Alonso Zorita, and Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxóchitl. However, higher education came to a halt with the death of Antonio Valeriano. As a number of studies have noted, the Colegio Impe- rial de la Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco was abandoned and in ruins by the mid-seventeenth century.

The Library in the Colegio de Tlatelolco

Printed books played an unquestionably important role in the educa- tion and acculturation of indigenous groups in the Americas. Prior to the foundation of the Colegio de Tlatelolco, there were other projects for the education of indigenous groups: spelling and reading classes that Pedro de Gante, Juan de Tecto, and Juan de Ahora undertook in Texcoco around 1523; the Colegio de San Francisco in Mexico City for higher- level studies during the same period; and the Colegio de San José de los Naturales mentioned earlier. However, at all of these centers of learning, native students had but a restricted access to books; not only was book

importation regulated, but also the very reading of these works.17

From the founding of the Colegio de Tlatelolco, the library began to be formed. Fray Juan de Zumárraga himself donated the first works to

17. As for the rules issued by the First and Second Mexican Councils, in which the use and access to books by the indigenous population was determined, see “Concilio Mexicano Primero (1555),” chapters I and XXIII in Concilios Provinciales Mexicanos.

the institution, and later it acquired others.18 _{Classic texts (Aristotle, Plu-} tarch, Virgil, Juvenal, and Prudentius), holy scriptures, catechisms, doc- trines, grammars, and wordbooks formed part of the library. The books came from Spain, although not all of them were printed on the Iberian Peninsula, for there were also books from Flemish, Italian, French, and