The AskHistorians Podcast is a project that highlights the users and answers that have helped make /r/AskHistorians one of the largest history discussion forum on the internet. You can subscribe to us via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS, and now on YouTube. If there is another index you'd like the cast listed on, let me know!
This Episode:
Usual host /u/400-Rabbits takes a turn as the interviewee, speaking on the relationship between the sister cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco. The early history of the Mexica, the founding of the cities, and their different trajectories in Mesoamerican history are covered, culminating in the 1473 CE war between the two polities. In the background of the episode is the problem of interpreting primary sources, their biases and inconsistencies.
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Thanks all!
Coming up next fortnight: /u/caffarelli does a special episode on Alessandro Moreschi, sometimes called the "last castrato," talking about his life, the musical genre(s) he inhabited, and the early recordings which have preserved his voice.
400 Rabbits must be a Mesoamerican name of some kind, what's the story there?
Since I keep mentions "the sources" in a vague way, here are the primary/early works I consulted (publication dates can be a bit iffy):
Chimalpahin, Domingo 1621 Society and Politics in Mexico, Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco, Texcoco, Culhuacan, and Other Nahua Altepetl in Central Mexico
Clavigero, Francisco 1780 The History of Mexico, Vol. 1
Duran, Diego 1581 History of the Indies of New Spain
Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando 1640 Historia de la Nación Chichimeca
de Olmos, Andrés 1530 History of the Mexicans as Told by Their Paintings
de Sahagún, Bernardino 1577 General History of the Things of New Spain
Tezozomoc, Fernando 1598 Crónica Mexicana
Torquemada, Juan 1615 Monarquía Indiana
Question: How much of these Mexica nobility were able to maintain elite status in Mesoamerica after the advent of the Spaniards? Were rich or landed descendants of the Aztec ruling classes successful and powerful mestizos or even largely New World blooded leading members of Spanish Mexican society in the following centuries? How?
Really enjoyed this, thanks for recording it. I never knew how badly I'd been mispronouncing Nahuatl words until today!
Out of curiosity, how do you guys choose the topics for the podcast?
Hey 400-Rabbits,
I found this podcast really hard to follow actually, I don't think the issue is with your presentation style, because I really enjoyed the Aztec conquest.
I think the issue was all the different groups that sounded very similar to me.
I felt like the annoying guy at the movies saying "but I thought that was a good guy, oh that's the other guy"
I'll have to listen to it again to get more out of it.
Thanks for keeping the podcasts going, I always look forward to them :)