Medieval States of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean: Map & History

Little is known concerning Classic Veracruz religion and inferences have to be made from better-known Mesoamerican religions such as those of the Aztec, Mixtec, and Maya. Only some of the many deity figures known from these religions have been recognized with any certainty. Large ceramic figures show a stooped, very old man representing the Mesoamerican fire god. Equally large ceramic statues show female earth goddesses with snake girdles connected to the site of El Zapotal. Based on their closed eyes and wide open mouths, and also on the nearby shrine of a death god and on the surrounding burials, the latter have been identified as deified women who died in child birth, more or less corresponding to the much later Aztec cihuateteo ('female gods') also known from the Codex Borgia.

From Wikipedia: Classic Veracruz culture · Religion (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The art of Classic Veracruz is rendered with extensive and convoluted banded scrolls that can be seen both on monumental architecture and on portable art, including ceramics and even carved bones. At least one researcher has suggested that the heads and other features formed by the scrolls are a Classic Veracruz form of pictographic writing. This scrollwork may have grown out of similar styles found in Chiapa de Corzo and Kaminaljuyu.

From Wikipedia: Classic Veracruz culture · Art (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Unlike the Aztecs and the Inca, the Maya political system never integrated the entire Maya cultural area into a single state or empire. Rather, throughout its history, the Maya area contained a varying mix of political complexity that included both states and chiefdoms. These polities fluctuated greatly in their relationships with each other and were engaged in a complex web of rivalries, periods of dominance or submission, vassalage, and alliances. At times, different polities achieved regional dominance, such as Calakmul, Caracol, Mayapan, and Tikal. The first reliably evidenced polities formed in the Maya lowlands in the 9th century BC.

From Wikipedia: Maya civilization · Politics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Trade was a key component of Maya society, and in the development of the Maya civilization. The cities that grew to become the most important usually controlled access to vital trade goods, or portage routes. Cities such as Kaminaljuyu and Qʼumarkaj in the Guatemalan Highlands, and Chalchuapa in El Salvador, variously controlled access to the sources of obsidian at different points in Maya history. The Maya were major producers of cotton, which was used to make the textiles to be traded throughout Mesoamerica. The most important cities in the northern Yucatán Peninsula controlled access to the sources of salt. In the Postclassic, the Maya engaged in a flourishing slave trade with wider Mesoamerica.

From Wikipedia: Maya civilization · Trade (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Warfare was prevalent in the Maya world. Military campaigns were launched for a variety of reasons, including the control of trade routes and tribute, raids to take captives, scaling up to the complete destruction of an enemy state. Little is known about Maya military organization, logistics, or training. Warfare is depicted in Maya art from the Classic period, and wars and victories are mentioned in hieroglyphic inscriptions. Unfortunately, the inscriptions do not provide information upon the causes of war, or the form it took. In the 8th–9th centuries, intensive warfare resulted in the collapse of the kingdoms of the Petexbatún region of western Petén.

From Wikipedia: Maya civilization · Warfare (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Maya art is essentially the art of the royal court. It is almost exclusively concerned with the Maya elite and their world. Maya art was crafted from both perishable and non-perishable materials, and served to link the Maya to their ancestors. Although surviving Maya art represents only a small proportion of the art that the Maya created, it represents a wider variety of subjects than any other art tradition in the Americas. Maya art has many regional styles, and is unique in the ancient Americas in bearing narrative text. The finest surviving Maya art dates to the Late Classic period.

From Wikipedia: Maya civilization · Art (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During the 9th century AD, the central Maya region suffered major political collapse, marked by the abandonment of cities, the ending of dynasties, and a northward shift in activity. No universally accepted theory explains this collapse, but it likely had a combination of causes, including endemic internecine warfare, overpopulation resulting in severe environmental degradation, and drought. During this period, known as the Terminal Classic, the northern cities of Chichen Itza and Uxmal showed increased activity. Major cities in the northern Yucatán Peninsula were inhabited long after the cities of the southern lowlands ceased to raise monuments.

From Wikipedia: Maya civilization · History: Classic Maya collapse (CC BY-SA 4.0)

While the exact origins of the culture are unclear, it likely developed from a mixture of the Nonoalca people from the southern Gulf Coast and a group of sedentary Chichimeca from northern Mesoamerica. The former of these is believed to have composed the majority of the new culture and were influenced by the Mayan culture. During Teotihuacan's apogee in the Early Classic period, these people were tightly integrated into the political and economic systems of the state and formed large settlements in the Tula region, most notably Villagran and Chingu.

From Wikipedia: Toltec · Origins of society at Tula (CC BY-SA 4.0)

At its height, Tula Grande had an estimated population of as many as 60,000 and covered 16 square kilometers of hills, plains, valleys, and marsh. Some of the most prominent examples of the Toltec material culture at the site include pyramids, ball-courts, and the Atlantean figures on top of Pyramid B. Various civic buildings surrounding a central plaza are especially distinctive, as excavations show the use of columns inside these buildings and in surrounding colonnades. One of these buildings, known as Building 3, is argued to have been a symbolically powerful building for the Toltec due to its reference in architecture to the historic and mythic homes of the people's ancestors.

From Wikipedia: Toltec · Archaeology: Material culture at Tula Grande (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Environmental stress may have caused changes in social structure, leading to conflict and warfare. Near Kayenta, Arizona, Jonathan Haas of the Field Museum in Chicago has been studying a group of Ancestral Puebloan villages that relocated from the canyons to the high mesa tops during the late 13th century. Haas believes that the reason to move so far from water and arable land was a defense against enemies. He asserts that isolated communities relied on raiding for food and supplies, and that internal conflict and warfare became common in the 13th century.

From Wikipedia: Ancestral Puebloans · History: Warfare (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Ancestral Puebloan culture is perhaps best known for the stone and earth dwellings its people built along cliff walls, particularly during the Pueblo II and Pueblo III eras, from about 900 to 1350 CE in total. The best-preserved examples of the stone dwellings are now protected within United States' national parks, such as Navajo National Monument, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Bandelier National Monument, Hovenweep National Monument, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument.

From Wikipedia: Ancestral Puebloans · Cultural characteristics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Almost immediately after the union of the two kingdoms under Ferdinand III, the parliaments of Castile and León were united. It was divided into three estates, which corresponded with the nobility, the church and the cities, and included representation from Castile, León, Galicia, Toledo, and the Basque Provinces. Initially the number of cities represented in the Cortes varied over the next century, until John I permanently set those that would be allowed to send representatives (procuradores): Burgos, Toledo, León, Sevilla, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, Zamora, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Cuenca, Toro, Valladolid, Soria, Madrid, and Guadalajara (with Granada added after its conquest in 1492).

From Wikipedia: Crown of Castile · History: Union of the Cortes and the legal code (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Henry IV unsuccessfully tried to re-establish the peace with the nobility that his father, John II, had shattered. When his second wife, Joan of Portugal, gave birth to Infanta Joanna, it was claimed that she was the result of an affair of the Queen with Beltrán de la Cueva, one of the King's chief ministers.

From Wikipedia: Crown of Castile · History: Second Conflict of Succession (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The population sizes of the various language speakers in the Pátzcuaro basin differed significantly by c. 1200 AD, and among them the Nahuatl-speaking Chichimecs, that is the Uacúsecha of Pátzcuaro city, were small in number. Competition between the elites of these Chichimecs for access to basic resources led to several wars which resulted in the concentration of political and economic power among the Uacúsecha, with the warrior-leader Tariácuri uniting the various polities of the Pátzcuaro basin into a single state over the course of c. 1300 to c. 1350 AD.

From Wikipedia: Michoacán · History: Formation of the Purépecha Empire (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Michoacán is the seventh most populated state in Mexico and the average resident has a life expectancy of 73.3 years. It is estimated that each year about 40,000 people immigrate to the state while 78,000 leave, leading to population loss. Of those who leave, about one third go to other places in Mexico and the rest to other countries, principally the United States. The cities with the densest populations are Morelia, Uruapan and Zamora. The majority of the population are mestizos; meaning that they are part indigenous, part European (mainly from Spain), and some African. Michoacán is one of the most Catholic regions in Mexico.

From Wikipedia: Michoacán · Demographics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Agriculture occupies over a million hectares of land in the state or 20% of the land area. Three-fifths of this agriculture occurs only during the rainy season. Irrigation farming is restricted to areas such as the Apatzingán Valley, the Bajío area of Michoacán, the Zamora Valley and some others. Principal crops include corn, sorghum, avocados, strawberries, peaches, wheat, limes, sugar cane and mangos. While corn accounts for 43% of the crops harvested, Michoacán is the largest producer of avocados in Mexico and in the world. 43% of farmland in the territory is dedicated to the raising of livestock, including cattle, domestic fowl, sheep, goats and pigs. In 2007, the state's production of meat, dairy and eggs was valued at over four billion pesos.

From Wikipedia: Michoacán · Economy: Agriculture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

President Felipe Calderón first sent troops into Michoacán to regain control of the territory and fight the current drug cartels that had power when he took office in 2006. But his efforts backfired and ended up creating more violence instead. The number of homicides increased substantially. The state of Michoacán has one of the highest murder rates in Mexico. In 2013, the criminal group, the Knights Templar Cartel, essentially controlled the state. Although they eventually lost control, excessive criminal violence persisted.

From Wikipedia: Michoacán · Crime: War on drugs (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The state provides public education from preschool level to high school. "Formal preschool" is offered in communities which have twenty five or more qualified students. Less formal preschools are operated in smaller communities. As of 1996, there were 5,433 primary schools serving 705,694 students with 25,485 teachers. There is a failure rate from grade to grade of about 9.7% with just under five percent leaving school permanently before finishing primary studies. The most common reason for departure is poverty. At the secondary level there are 174,354 students, which represent 22% of these eligible to attend. High school level studies are mostly geared to vocational studies and many attend via distance education. There are 24 public and private institutions of higher learning offering 49 different majors.

From Wikipedia: Michoacán · Education (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Tenochtitlan can be considered the most complex society in Mesoamerica in regard to social stratification. The complex system involved many social classes. The macehualtin were commoners who lived outside the island city of Tenochtitlan. The pipiltin were noblemen who were relatives of leaders and former leaders, and lived in the confines of the island. Cuauhipiltin, or eagle nobles, were commoners who impressed the nobles with their martial prowess, and were treated as nobles. Teteuctin were the highest class, rulers of various parts of the empire, including the king. Tlacohtin were slaves or indentured servants. Finally, the pochteca were merchants who traveled all of Mesoamerica trading. The membership of this class was based on heredity.

From Wikipedia: Tenochtitlan · Social classes (CC BY-SA 4.0)

When Cortés and his men invaded Tenochtitlan, Moctezuma II chose to welcome Cortés as an ambassador rather than risk a war which might quickly be joined by aggrieved indigenous people.

From Wikipedia: Tenochtitlan · History: Conquest (CC BY-SA 4.0)