Relaciones Geográficas
of Mexico and Guatemala

The Relaciones Geográficas of Mexico and Guatemala, 1577-1585, form part of the Juan García Icazbalceta Collection, which was purchased by the Benson Latin American Collection from the heirs of García Icazbalceta in 1937. The Relaciones Geográficas were described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project in March 1994.

The collection comprises contains 43 items, which are arranged numerically among other items in Joaquín García Icazbalceta's Colección de manuscritos relativos a la historia de América, vols. XX, XXIII-XXV. They are also available on microfilm.

The following guides, as well as a card file and lists, are available in Rare Books Reference:

The suggested citation is "Relaciones Geográficas of Mexico and Guatemala, 1577-1585, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin."

Other relaciones geográficas are held by the Real Academia de Historia (Madrid) and the Archivo General de Indias (Seville).

On May 25, 1577, King Philip II of Spain ordered by royal cédula the preparation of a general description of Spain's holdings in the Indies. Instructions and a questionnaire, issued in 1577 by the Office of the Cronista Mayor-Cosmógrafo, were distributed to local officials in the Viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru to direct the gathering of information. The questionnaire, comprised of fifty items, was designed to elicit basic information about the nature of the land and the life of its peoples. The replies, known as "relaciones geográficas," were written between 1579 and 1585 and were returned to the Cronista Mayor-Cosmógrafo in Spain by the Council of the Indies. In 1853 Joaquín García Icazbalceta acquired 42 relaciones geográficas from an unknown private source.

The collection consists of forty-three relaciones geográficas (one a 19th-century copy) prepared by local officials in New Spain in response to the 1577 questionnaire mandated by King Philip II. Forty-one relaciones pertain to territory in present-day Mexico; two relate to what is now Guatemala. The relaciones contain historical, cultural, and geographical information on New Spain and its peoples during the 16th century and before the Conquest. Twenty-one relaciones are accompanied by printed questionnaires; 26 relaciones are accompanied by one or more maps, known as pinturas. The 37 pinturas are significant in their own right, not only as adjuncts to the texts. In addition to conveying historical information about such topics as 16th-century architecture, the spread of European religion in New Spain, and the colonial economy, the pinturas are artifacts for the study of the history of Latin American art and manuscript painting. The "Relación de Texcoco" is a 19th-century manuscript copy; another copy of this relación, probably made in the 17th century, is part of the Genaro García Collection, which also is housed at this institution.

Aguero, Francisco de
Alfonso de Estrada, Hernando
Avila, Pedro de
Aznar de Cozar, Andrés
Cangas, Suero de
Carrion, Juan de
Castañeda Leon, Juan de
Cervantes, Hernando de
Chavez, Gabriel de
[Estrada, Juan de]
Franco, Pedro
Galdos, Alonso de
Gallegos, Gonzalo
Gallegos, Hernando
Gutiérrez de Liébana, Juan
Hernandez Diosdado, Alonso
Leyva, Antonio de
Lopez de Zárate, Juan
Macarro, Sebastian
Martinez, Francisco; Bazan, Martinez, Juan
Mendez, Fr. Andrés
Montes de Oca, Pedro de
Obregon, Luis
Padilla, Juan de
Patiño Avila, Alvaro
Perez de Arteaga, Diego
Pomar, Juan Bautista
Rojas, Gabriel de
Salas, Christoval de
Salazar, Fr. Agustín de
Solís, Gaspar de
Suarez, Melchor
Torres, Juan de
Vargas, Antonio de
Vascones, Hernando de
Velasquez de Lara, Gonzalo
Villegar/s, Francisco de

Acapistla
Ameca
Amula
Ameca
Atengo
Antequera
Atepeque
Atitlán
Atlatlauca
Ayusuchiquilazala
Cempoala
Cholula
Citlaltepec
Coatzocoalco (Espíritu Santo)
Cuautla
Cuilapa
Culhuacán
Cusalapa
Cuzcatlán
Epazoyuca
Guaxtepec / Oaxtepec
Gueytlalpa
Iguala
Ixcatlán
Ixtapalapa
Iztepec
Justlavaca
Meztitlán
Mistepeque
Mizantla
Pátzcuaro
Puetla
Peñoles
Quatlatlauca
Querétaro
Suchitepec
Tanatepec
Tancítaro
Tecuicuilco
Tehuantepec
Tenamaztlán
Tepetongo
Tequaltiche
Teozacoalco
Tequisquiac
Tetiquipa
Tetlistaca
Tiripitío
Tistla-Zumpango
Texcoco
Tuscacuesco
Tutupetongo
Vera Cruz
Xaltianguis
Xicayan
Xilocingo
Xocoticpaque
Zacatepec
Zacatula
Zapotitlan
Zoquiapa

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