History of the Indians of New Spain

In 1536 Motolinía wrote Historia de los indios de la Nueva España (History of the Indians of New Spain) where he scrupulously recounts the history of the conversion and the customs, rites, and culture of the Indians. The Franciscan Toribio, known as Motolinía for his simple and poor life, was born in Zamora, Spain at the end of the 15th century and died in Mexico, after having developed an immense evangelizing work. He consecrated all his life to the Indians of Mexico and Guatemala whom he loved deeply and defended from the injustice with which they were treated. His work is one of the most important for the knowledge of ethnography and life in Mexico during the conquest. The History of the Indians of New Spain, was published in 1848 (Lord Kingsborough published some fragments). The first complete edition appeared in 1858. This is one of the main sources on the ethnography and civilization of Mexico at the time of the conquest. Although defending the Conquest censures the abuses of the settlers.

(Description has been translated into English, book edition is in Spanish)