The Tovar Manuscript and Its Veiled Mysteries

Abstract

The Tovar Manuscript has been related to other chronicles of the Nahua-Tenochca tradition created during the first decades of the Novohispanic government in the sixteenth century. The objective of this article is to shed light on the social
relationships of the Jesuit priest Juan de Tovar that enabled him to write this text, as well as to determine the elements on which studies and editions of the manuscript have been based. Following these analytical guidelines, the narrative similarities and discrepancies of the Tovar Manuscript with other sources were identified, along with the confusions and possibilities of future historiographic work that have arisen when comparing the narratives between these Novohispanic chronicles on ancient Mexico-Tenochtitlan.