Image – Malintzín and Cortés from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala (1552)

Chapter 1

Malintzín and Cortés from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala

The Lienzo de Tlaxcala ("Linen of Tlaxcala"), also known by its Spanish title, Historia de Tlaxcala, is a mid-sixteenth century Native American portrayal of events from the conquest of Mexico.    In this scene, the interpreter for  Hernan Cortés, Malinche (also known as Doña Marina or Malintzin), a native speaker of Nahuatl, the main language of central Mexico, directs the battle of Tenochtitlán.   In the top panel, Doña Marina commands the Spanish gunboat that native paddlers propel across Lake Texcoco (Cortés looks out from behind.  In the middle panel, she leads native warriors in the attack against the Aztecs on the central causeway.