HST2502   Understanding the Aztecs: Life and Death in Early Sixteenth-Century Mexico   (20 credits)

Description

Human sacrifice has cast a long shadow over the history of the Aztecs, obscuring the complexity, sophistication and compassion of the distinctive society which dominated central Mexico in the early sixteenth century. But the Aztecs' unique island-capital of Tenochtitlan was not only a centre for spectacular religious bloodshed, but also a sophisticated metropolis, home to a civilised society of highly educated individuals and close loving families. Taking a principally ethnohistorical and cultural approach, this module examines life in Tenochtitlan on the eve of its shattering conquest by the Spanish invaders whose records are also the principal source for Aztec history.

Reading List