Religion in Sixteenth-Century Mexico: A Guide to Aztec and Catholic Beliefs and Practices. By Cheryl Claassen and Laura Ammon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. Pp. xviii, 396. Figures. Tables. Glossary. References. Index. $132.00 cloth.

Abstract

This is a unique and curious book. Using a dictionary format, the authors deal with a long list of religious concepts, comparing each as it was considered in fifteenth-century Spain, precontact Mexico, sixteenth-century Spain, and sixteenth-century Mexico. The concepts listed, 140 of them, are an odd lot: some clearly come from Christianity (baptism, communion, crucifix, original sin, and the like) while others come from the religion of the Mexica (arrow, bird, eagle, sacred bundle). Others seem to be vague enough to allow for comparison (creation, dance, death, flower).