Mapa del Pueblo de Tetela de Ocampo, año 1581
Title
Mapa del Pueblo de Tetela de Ocampo, año 1581
Alternative Title
Map of Tetela de Ocampo in Puebla, 1581
Description
Set as but one element of a collection of facsimiles, this map finds itself alongside other colonial Spanish maps of the territories of New Spain that make up modern day México. These maps include:
- Mapa de Nueva Galicia: Estado de Jalisco (1550)
- Mapa del Pueblo de Tetela de Ocampo (1581)
- Plano de Antequera: Oaxaca de Juárez (1771)
- Plano de Guanajuato (XVIII century)
This one in particular is a city view of the settlement Tetela de Ocampo in Puebla.
Visually, the map is drawn in portrait -- taller than it is wide. It places emphasis on the geography surrounding the cityscape: blue-gray chains of what appear to be mountains or hills or bluffs go throughout the landscape, together encircling five basin- or valley-like areas of exaggerated buildings painted in yellow. The largest basin is centralized, in the upper half, with smaller ones to its upper and lower left, as well as the upper and lower right. There is no compass rose to orient cardinal directionality.
Churches in particular are emblematically depicted large and outstanding from their surroundings, the largest of which being near the center, drawn as if made of brick, and captioned underneath as: "San(c)ta [sic] Maria Assump(ción)". The caption "Tetela" appears above the church, with a miniature priest standing behind it holding a book -- presumably a bible -- in hand. There is a second person in this central area towards the left of the church -- wearing a cloak and with staff in hand. These are the only two persons not drawn as travelling on the roads that weave through the map. Those roads are shaded reddish-brown, and feature caravans of men with horses and individual men. They are captioned, with the road to the right of the map being the "Camino real de México".
All persons depicted on the map appear to be Spanish, and are clothed in Spanish dress.
There appear to be rivers depicted as wavy lines sourcing from hills/mountains and heading outwards. They are not coloured. The trees are generally depicted the same with the exclusion of the bottom left, which is populated by palms, and the top right, which has no trees, possibly depicting a desert or marsh with rolling designs in the land.
The art style of map is indicative of either non-Indigenous origin, or the production by an adherent to a European school of art -- possibly from a religious order such as the Jesuits. Therefore, it is likely intended to serve as an interpretable depiction of the area to Europeans unfamiliar with indigenous Mesoamerican cartography, from which this map differs heavily. (see Buisseret, David. 2007. „41 - Spanish Colonial Cartography, 1450 –1700“. In The History of Cartography. Vol. 3, Pt. 1)
As referenced, there is a footnote written upon a small uncoloured area of the map at the base.
While the commissioner, and various then-contemporary correspondents who commented upon this map are known, it's creator, to my knowledge, has not as of yet, been identified. The owner/custodian of the original map from which the facsimile is made has also not been described.
The writer of commentary for the fascimile collection is quoted as the following, translated by self into English:
« It has the signature M. P. Mexico, 31 and comes from file 1529 of the "Indiferente General". Pen drawing and colored with watercolor in ochre and gray tones, measuring 443 x 703 mm. It was commissioned by the corregidor Don Cristóbal Godínez y Maldonado on July 9, 1581, and was sent to Spain along with an informational report that is also preserved in the General Archive of the Indies. P. Lanzas Torres described it in his "Catalog of Maps and Plans of Mexico. General Archive of the Indies" (Madrid, 2nd ed. 1985, p. 34).
Of the towns called Tetela that have endured since the Spanish era, we must identify the one represented in our map as the one called Tetela de Ocampo (State of Puebla) due to the series of towns that appear around it: San Pedro de Hueytentlán, San Juan Tututla, etc. Each town is represented with a larger building, which, due to the cross crowning it, refers to the church, surrounded by smaller houses. Rivers and roads are well depicted, and along them appear travelers and pack mules loaded with their bundles.
The footnote says: "This head town of Tetela has four hundred and fifty neighbors, not counting more than a hundred old men who live outside. And it was signed by the corregidor Juan Gonçáles (signature). By order of the corregidor, Marcos del Cuenca, scribe." »
(Anton-August "Ashton" Macklin '27)
- Mapa de Nueva Galicia: Estado de Jalisco (1550)
- Mapa del Pueblo de Tetela de Ocampo (1581)
- Plano de Antequera: Oaxaca de Juárez (1771)
- Plano de Guanajuato (XVIII century)
This one in particular is a city view of the settlement Tetela de Ocampo in Puebla.
Visually, the map is drawn in portrait -- taller than it is wide. It places emphasis on the geography surrounding the cityscape: blue-gray chains of what appear to be mountains or hills or bluffs go throughout the landscape, together encircling five basin- or valley-like areas of exaggerated buildings painted in yellow. The largest basin is centralized, in the upper half, with smaller ones to its upper and lower left, as well as the upper and lower right. There is no compass rose to orient cardinal directionality.
Churches in particular are emblematically depicted large and outstanding from their surroundings, the largest of which being near the center, drawn as if made of brick, and captioned underneath as: "San(c)ta [sic] Maria Assump(ción)". The caption "Tetela" appears above the church, with a miniature priest standing behind it holding a book -- presumably a bible -- in hand. There is a second person in this central area towards the left of the church -- wearing a cloak and with staff in hand. These are the only two persons not drawn as travelling on the roads that weave through the map. Those roads are shaded reddish-brown, and feature caravans of men with horses and individual men. They are captioned, with the road to the right of the map being the "Camino real de México".
All persons depicted on the map appear to be Spanish, and are clothed in Spanish dress.
There appear to be rivers depicted as wavy lines sourcing from hills/mountains and heading outwards. They are not coloured. The trees are generally depicted the same with the exclusion of the bottom left, which is populated by palms, and the top right, which has no trees, possibly depicting a desert or marsh with rolling designs in the land.
The art style of map is indicative of either non-Indigenous origin, or the production by an adherent to a European school of art -- possibly from a religious order such as the Jesuits. Therefore, it is likely intended to serve as an interpretable depiction of the area to Europeans unfamiliar with indigenous Mesoamerican cartography, from which this map differs heavily. (see Buisseret, David. 2007. „41 - Spanish Colonial Cartography, 1450 –1700“. In The History of Cartography. Vol. 3, Pt. 1)
As referenced, there is a footnote written upon a small uncoloured area of the map at the base.
While the commissioner, and various then-contemporary correspondents who commented upon this map are known, it's creator, to my knowledge, has not as of yet, been identified. The owner/custodian of the original map from which the facsimile is made has also not been described.
The writer of commentary for the fascimile collection is quoted as the following, translated by self into English:
« It has the signature M. P. Mexico, 31 and comes from file 1529 of the "Indiferente General". Pen drawing and colored with watercolor in ochre and gray tones, measuring 443 x 703 mm. It was commissioned by the corregidor Don Cristóbal Godínez y Maldonado on July 9, 1581, and was sent to Spain along with an informational report that is also preserved in the General Archive of the Indies. P. Lanzas Torres described it in his "Catalog of Maps and Plans of Mexico. General Archive of the Indies" (Madrid, 2nd ed. 1985, p. 34).
Of the towns called Tetela that have endured since the Spanish era, we must identify the one represented in our map as the one called Tetela de Ocampo (State of Puebla) due to the series of towns that appear around it: San Pedro de Hueytentlán, San Juan Tututla, etc. Each town is represented with a larger building, which, due to the cross crowning it, refers to the church, surrounded by smaller houses. Rivers and roads are well depicted, and along them appear travelers and pack mules loaded with their bundles.
The footnote says: "This head town of Tetela has four hundred and fifty neighbors, not counting more than a hundred old men who live outside. And it was signed by the corregidor Juan Gonçáles (signature). By order of the corregidor, Marcos del Cuenca, scribe." »
(Anton-August "Ashton" Macklin '27)
Creator
Unknown, possibly Marcos del Cuenca
Source
Colección: Sección de Cartografía y Artes Gráficas — Signatura: C-099-013 — Nº de registro: 04035 — Notas: En el ángulo inferior derecho sello en tinta negra con las siglas de la Academia: "R.A.D.L.H."
Format
sheet map taken from a collection, 443 x 703 mm
Publisher
Madrid : Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte : Testimonio Compañía Editorial
Date
commissioned by the magistrate don Cristóbal Godínez y Maldonado on 9 July, 1581
Medium
Pen drawing, colored-in with watercolours
Contributor
Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
General Archive of the Indies (Archivo General de Indias), Seville
Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, y Deporte Española, Madrid (Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport)
Emilio Olmos García-Calamarte (como representante legal de: / as a legal representative of:) Testimonio Compañia Editorial, S.A.
TEyPE, S.A., Sauce, 30. Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid
José Manuel Ruiz Asencio, Catedrático de Paleografía de la Universidad de Valladolid (Professor of Paleography at the University of Valladolid)
General Archive of the Indies (Archivo General de Indias), Seville
Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, y Deporte Española, Madrid (Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport)
Emilio Olmos García-Calamarte (como representante legal de: / as a legal representative of:) Testimonio Compañia Editorial, S.A.
TEyPE, S.A., Sauce, 30. Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid
José Manuel Ruiz Asencio, Catedrático de Paleografía de la Universidad de Valladolid (Professor of Paleography at the University of Valladolid)
Relation
https://www.facsimilefinder.com/facsimiles/mapas-de-mexico-archivo-indias-facsimile
https://bibliotecadigital.rah.es/es/consulta/registro.do?id=62218
https://bibliotecadigital.rah.es/es/consulta/registro.do?id=62218
Language
Spanish (Castillian), Latin
Type
regional map, city view
Identifier
https://bridge.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01BRC_INST/1tn7c8c/alma991016542481902971
Carleton Library Special Collections (Horizontal Shelving) (G4411.A1 1550 M3 2002) https://bridge.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01BRC_INST/1tn7c8c/alma991016542481902971
Spatial Coverage
Tetela de Ocampo, Puebla, Reino de Mexico, Nueva España
Tetela de Ocampo, Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, United Mexican States (Mexico)
References
Ruiz Asencio, José Manuel, Cultura y Deporte Spain. Ministerio de Educación, issuing body: Testimonio Compañía Editorial, Archivo General de Indias., Cultura y Deporte Spain. Ministerio de Educación, issuing body Testimonio Compañía Editorial, and Archivo General de Indias. “Mapa del Pueblo de Tetela de Ocampo, año 1581.” In Mapas de México en el Archivo de Indias Sevilla. Madrid: Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, 2002.
Facsimile Finder. “Mapas de México, Archivo de Indias Facsimile.” Accessed October 16, 2024. https://www.facsimilefinder.com/facsimiles/mapas-de-mexico-archivo-indias-facsimile.
Facsimile Finder. “Mapas de México, Archivo de Indias Facsimile.” Accessed October 16, 2024. https://www.facsimilefinder.com/facsimiles/mapas-de-mexico-archivo-indias-facsimile.
Buisseret, David. 2007. „41 - Spanish Colonial Cartography, 1450 –1700“. In The History of Cartography. Vol. 3, Pt. 1 University of Chicago Press. https://press.uchicago.edu/books/HOC/HOC_V3_Pt1/HOC_VOLUME3_Part1_chapter41.pdf.
Rights
Rights for maps held by individual publishers and institutions. Thumbnails displayed constitute fair use.
Collection
Citation
Unknown, possibly Marcos del Cuenca, “Mapa del Pueblo de Tetela de Ocampo, año 1581,” Mapping the World, accessed April 30, 2025, https://hist231.hist.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/59.