Impact Of Diego Duran On The Aztecs

Document 12.1-12.2 The first reading titled Diego Duran on the Aztecs is a historical document that details the Aztec Empire through the lens of the Spanish. The first topic discussed is the law put forth by Moctezuma I. In addition, the document covers various aspects of Aztec society, detailing its religion, human sacrifice, social mobility, and slavery. The document was created by a Dominican friar called Diego Duran during 1574 to 1581. Duran learned to speak the native language of the Aztec and interviewed the locals for studying their society and culture. Unfortunately, the document only provides a small glimpse into Aztec society, not the definitive answer. The glaring limitation that prevents the document from being a completely reliable source to learn about Aztec society prior to Columbus is that the information does not match the timeline. In the document, Duran discusses several aspects of Aztec society during the reign of Moctezuma I, 1440 to 1469. However, the local people that he interviewed for the information did not directly experience Aztec society prior to Columbus, but only after Columbus arrived to the new world. The information that he received was several decades

The document sheds a bit of light upon Inca society. In contrast to the previous document, the Inca seems to be perceived in a positive light due to their noble actions whereas the Aztec is viewed negatively due to the human sacrifice. For example, the document states that Inca troops were not allowed to pillage and commit violence upon territory that they acquired through peaceful mean. One possible limitation is that the author did not witness the acts described in the document. Rather, the author “collected a great deal of information.” There is no information about the method in which he used to collect the