The Florentine Codex is one of the most important primary sources for understanding Aztec civilization and the early history of Spanish colonial Mexico. Compiled in the 16th century by the Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún in collaboration with Nahua scholars and artists, the work—originally titled Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España—is a massive 12-book encyclopedia documenting Aztec religion, society, language, natural history, and daily life. Written in Nahuatl and Spanish and illustrated with more than 2,000 indigenous drawings, the manuscript preserves invaluable Indigenous perspectives on Aztec culture and even includes a detailed account of the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan from the viewpoint of the conquered. Today preserved in the Laurentian Library in Florence, the Florentine Codex remains a foundational source for Mesoamerican history, ethnohistory, and the study of Aztec beliefs, rituals, and social structures.

The Codex Mendoza is one of the most important surviving Aztec codices and a key primary source on the Aztec Empire. Created around 1541 in Mexico City, roughly twenty years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, the manuscript was commissioned by Antonio de Mendoza, the first Viceroy of New Spain, to inform King Charles V of Spain about the newly conquered territory. The codex combines traditional Aztec pictograms painted by Indigenous scribes with Spanish explanations, offering detailed insights into Aztec rulers and their conquests, the tribute system of the empire, and aspects of daily life in Aztec society. Today, the Codex Mendoza is preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University and remains one of the most valuable documents for understanding Mexica political organization, economy, and culture in the early colonial period.

Diego Durán’s History of the Indies of New Spain is one of the most important primary sources on Aztec civilization and early Spanish colonial Mexico. Written in the late 16th century by the Dominican friar Diego Durán, the work documents the religion, customs, rituals, and political structure of the Aztec Empire using information gathered from Indigenous informants, early Nahuatl traditions, and surviving pictorial codices. The chronicle provides detailed descriptions of Aztec mythology, sacred ceremonies, human sacrifice, and the reigns of rulers such as Moctezuma II, making it invaluable for historians studying pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Today, Durán’s account remains a foundational text for understanding Aztec history, Indigenous cultural memory, and the early efforts by Spanish clergy to record and interpret Mesoamerican civilizations.

The Codex Borbonicus is one of the most important surviving Aztec codices and a vital primary source for understanding Aztec religion, ritual life, and the Mesoamerican calendar system. Created by Aztec priests shortly before or during the early period of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, the manuscript is painted on amate paper and records the sacred Tonalpohualli calendar, a 260-day ritual cycle central to Aztec cosmology and divination practices. The codex also illustrates ceremonies tied to the 52-year calendar round, including the important New Fire ceremony, which symbolized cosmic renewal in Aztec mythology. Preserved today in Paris, the Codex Borbonicus remains a crucial document for scholars studying Aztec culture, pre-Columbian manuscripts, and the religious worldview of Tenochtitlan’s priestly class.

Bernal Díaz del Castillo’s The True History of the Conquest of New Spain is one of the most important primary sources on the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Written by a veteran Spanish conquistador who participated in the expedition of Hernán Cortés, the chronicle provides a detailed eyewitness account of the conquest of Mexico, including encounters with the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II and the dramatic events leading to the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521. Composed decades after the campaign, the narrative aims to correct earlier accounts and highlight the role of ordinary Spanish soldiers in the conquest. Today, Díaz’s work remains a foundational text for studying the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, the clash between Spanish and Indigenous civilizations, and the formation of colonial New Spain, making it a vital resource for historians of Mesoamerican history and early colonial Latin America.

Cortés’ Letters from Mexico, commonly known as the Cartas de Relación, are among the most important primary sources of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Written by Hernán Cortés between 1519 and 1526 and addressed to King Charles V of Spain, these detailed reports describe the Spanish expedition to Mesoamerica, the encounter with Moctezuma II, and the eventual fall of Tenochtitlan. The letters portray the wealth, cities, and political structures of the Aztec civilization, while also presenting Cortés’ actions in a way that justified his conquest and secured royal support. As a result, the Cartas de Relación are essential documents for understanding Spanish colonial expansion, the early European perceptions of the Aztec world, and the historical narrative of the conquest of Mexico.

The Codex Borgia is one of the most important surviving pre-Columbian Mesoamerican manuscripts, created in central Mexico before the Spanish conquest. This richly illustrated pictorial codex, likely produced between the 13th and early 16th centuries, contains complex imagery related to Mesoamerican religion, ritual practices, and the sacred 260-day divinatory calendar (tonalpohualli) used by priests to interpret fate and cosmic cycles. Painted on animal skin and folded accordion-style, the manuscript contains dozens of vividly colored pages depicting Aztec and central Mexican deities, ceremonies, and symbolic cosmological scenes. Named after the Italian collector Cardinal Stefano Borgia, who owned it in the 18th century, the codex is now preserved in the Vatican Library and remains a crucial source for studying Aztec cosmology, ritual divination, and the iconography of Central Mexican religion.

The Codex Aubin is an important Aztec historical manuscript that preserves an indigenous account of Mexica history from their legendary migration out of Aztlán through the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and into the early colonial period of New Spain. Created beginning around 1576, the codex contains about 81 leaves written in Nahuatl using alphabetic text combined with pictographic illustrations, a style typical of many Mesoamerican codices. The manuscript chronicles key events such as the foundation of Tenochtitlan, the arrival of Hernán Cortés, the 1520 massacre at the Templo Mayor, and the political changes that followed the fall of the Aztec Empire. Because it records events from a Mexica perspective, the Codex Aubin is considered a valuable primary source for Aztec history, offering insight into indigenous memory, culture, and historical interpretation during the transition from the pre-Hispanic world to Spanish colonial rule.

The Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs is a widely acclaimed work of Aztec history by historian Camilla Townsend that reinterprets the story of the Aztec civilization through Indigenous-language sources rather than traditional Spanish chronicles. The book draws heavily on Nahuatl-language documents written by Aztec descendants, allowing readers to see the rise of the Mexica Empire, the political dynamics of Tenochtitlan, and the dramatic events of the Spanish conquest of Mexico from an Indigenous perspective. By reconstructing Aztec history using native accounts, the book challenges long-standing myths about Aztec culture, religion, and society, offering a more nuanced understanding of Mesoamerican history. Widely praised by scholars and readers alike, The Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs has become one of the most influential modern books on the Aztec Empire and the transformation of central Mexico in the early 16th century.

The Broken Spears is one of the most influential books on the conquest of Mexico, presenting the dramatic events of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire from the perspective of Indigenous Nahua sources. Compiled and translated by Miguel León-Portilla, the book draws heavily on Nahuatl-language chronicles, including testimonies recorded by Indigenous survivors of the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521. Unlike traditional conquest narratives centered on Hernán Cortés, The Broken Spears highlights the voices, experiences, and suffering of the Aztec people during the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. The work is widely regarded as an essential resource for understanding the Aztec perspective on the conquest, the cultural devastation that followed the collapse of the Aztec Empire, and the lasting impact of Spanish colonization in Mesoamerica.

Daily Life of the Aztecs by Jacques Soustelle is one of the most widely read and influential books on Aztec civilization and Aztec culture. The book explores the everyday experiences of people in the Aztec Empire, describing family life, education, religion, agriculture, markets, and the structure of Aztec society in the capital city of Tenochtitlan. Soustelle combines historical sources, archaeological evidence, and early Spanish chronicles to reconstruct how nobles, priests, merchants, warriors, and commoners lived before the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Through detailed descriptions of Aztec homes, food, rituals, and social customs, the book provides readers with a vivid picture of daily life in the Aztec world, making it an essential resource for understanding the history of Mesoamerica and the complexity of pre-Columbian civilizations.