THE NOBLE HOUSES 407 CHAPTER NINE THE NOBLE HOUSES Ñuu Dzaui history may really be divided into the periods before and after the dramatic episode of Lord 8 Deer and Lady 6 Monkey. Their tragedy was crucial in shaping the Mixtec politics of the Late Postclassic, and most likely it was repeated, ceremonially performed, at dynastic events (such as enthronements, marriages or New Fire rit- uals) to explain precisely the resulting structure of independent small polities (yuvui tayu) to the rulers themselves and to their people. Lord 8 Deer had tried to unify the Mixtec world under his rule and to trans- form it into a homogeneous state after the Toltec model. This intent, however visionary and courageous, had failed, because of his exces- sive ambition and violence. His assassin and successor as ‘strong man’ in the region, Lord 4 Wind, lived in a time when the Toltec empire itself disintegrated after the death of its great king Nacxitl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl; he reinstalled the policy of a mosaic of independent peer polities involved in loose alliances, a policy which was to prevail until the Spanish invasion. Obviously this was a subject of political reflection and debate in the late 15th and early 16th century, when the Mexica armies could subdue large parts of Ñuu Dzaui, precisely because of its internal factionalism and lack of unity. It was those reflections and debates that determined the telling and reproduction of Mixtec his- tory in the codices we now know. In this chapter we give an overview of the period between the death of Lord 8 Deer and the Conquista, just as it is described by the codices. In accordance with the style of Mixtec historiography the information is largely genealogical, with a bewildering abundance of calendar names and given names of individuals related to each other by direct succession or by complex kinship ties. Behind those ties we try to discover the ancient alliance policies, factionalism and other dynamics of power. At the same time this structure permits us to locate the dates of the the successive life spans – given in the 52 years’ cycles of the Mixtec calendar – in a linear order and to establish their correlation with the Christian calendar.1 1 We refer again to the enormous work of Alfonso Caso (1977–79) and the correc- tions made by Emily Rabin (2004). M. Jansen and G.A. Pérez Jiménez - 9789004193581 Downloaded from Brill.com10/03/2021 10:32:20PM via free access 408 chapter nine Ñuu Tnoo and Chiyo Cahnu Reunited After Lord 4 Wind’s death it was the ruling family of Chiyo Cahnu (Teozacualco) that rose to prominence. But what happened to the ancient capital, Ñuu Tnoo (Tilantongo)? After the last links with the distant Toltecs became irrelevant, the infant prince, Lord 8 Reed ‘Pheasant’, married his sister Lady 5 Rabbit ‘Jewel’. This was a good strategy to consolidate their estate and keep it within the family, but also limited the possibilities of expanding the influence of their house through marital alliances with important lineages from elsewhere.2 This couple had two sons: 1. Lord 2 Movement ‘Serpent with Markings’ (or: ‘Serpent of Author- ity’), who, while in Ñuu Tnoo, married twice. His first wife was Lady 4 Eagle ‘Blood Quechquemitl ’, daughter of his uncle Lord 10 Rabbit ‘Ñuhu Heart’ and Lady 10 Vulture ‘Jade Fan’, the rulers of Monkey Place (Teita?). His second wife was Lady 10 Eagle ‘Serpent Spiderweb’ from Town of Head and Hands. 2. Lord 2 Eagle ‘Smoke Eye’, who married Lady 8 Serpent ‘Flower Garland’. They were seated at Flowered Feline Town.3 The first-born, Lord 2 Movement ‘Serpent with Markings’, was the heir to the throne. From his first marriage was born Lord 1 Lizard ‘Blood Jaguar’; from the second Lord 8 Grass ‘Coyote Sacrificer’.4 Both half-brothers were engaged in religious duties. Lord 1 Lizard ‘Blood Jaguar’ made offer- ings in the Temple of Blood and Cacao. Lord 8 Grass ‘Coyote Sacrificer’ made offerings in the Temple of Heaven. Both played music, sounding the teponaztle drum and the rattle, for the Sacred Bundle of 4 Alligator, the deified founder of the Ñuu Tnoo lineage. 2 Codex Ñuu Tnoo–Ndisi Nuu, p. 14–II. 3 We suspect that this place is a reference to the Postclassic settlement on Monte Albán . Several people associated with it have a smoke curl around their eye, a sign that characterizes visionary priests. 4 The sequence of generations in Codex Ñuu Tnoo–Ndisi Nuu, p.14/13–II, is open to different interpretations, but Codex Yuta Tnoho Reverse, p. X, clarifies that Lord 2 Movement and Lord 2 Eagle were brothers and that Lord 1 Lizard was the son of Lord 1 Movement. M. Jansen and G.A. Pérez Jiménez - 9789004193581 Downloaded from Brill.com10/03/2021 10:32:20PM via free access THE NOBLE HOUSES 409 9.1. Codex Ñuu Tnoo–Ndisi Nuu, p. 14–II (Right to Left): Lord 8 Reed and Lady 5 Rabbit, of the Ñuu Tnoo dynasty, marry and have a son, Lord 2 Movement, who mar- ried Lady 4 Eagle from Monkey Place. Then a conflict arose between the two. Lord 1 Lizard ‘Blood Jaguar’ chased his brother Lord 8 Grass ‘Coyote Sacrificer’ from the Temple of the Brazier. He beat him with sticks; this act suggests an accusation of breaking the vows of chastity.5 As a consequence of this family conflict, Lord 8 Grass ‘Coyote Sacrificer’ and his father Lord 2 Movement ‘Serpent with Markings’ became the enemies of Lord 1 Lizard and went away into exile.6 In the year 12 Rabbit (1206), on the day 5 Lizard, they arrived in Mountain of Hair or Ixtle Fiber, possibly Yucu Ndaa (Tepozcolula). There Lord 2 Movement married again. The name of his third wife was Lady 12 Flint ‘Jewel Hummingbird’. They had a daughter: Lady 3 Flint ‘Jade Bird’. Lord 8 Grass ‘Coyote Sacrificer’ also married there. His wife’s name was Lady 10 Jaguar ‘Jewel of Heaven’. Meanwhile Lord 1 Lizard remained in Ñuu Tnoo. He married Lady 6 Reed ‘Jewel’, the daughter of his grand-uncle Lord 7 Lizard ‘Arrows’ and Lady 2 Rain ‘Red Fan’, the rulers of Plain of the Sinking Disk. Their marriage is mentioned after the above, but probably took place earlier, before Lord 1 Lizard chased away his half-brother and his father. Lord 1 Lizard and Lady 6 Reed had the following children: 5 A similar brazier is depicted in the Libro de la Vida (Codex Magliabechi), p. 74r. Herrera explains: “cuando alguno quebraba la castidad, era muerto a palos” (decade XIII, book XIII: ch. 12). 6 We read the feet (nduvua in reverential speech) and flames (ñuhu) as nduvua ñuhu, ‘arrow and fire’, a difrasismo (hendiadys) for ‘war’. The expressions ‘throwing someone out’ (yodzaquay ñahandi) and ‘putting someone in the mountain and on the road’ (yosaq yucu ichi ñahandi) also mean ‘sending someone into exile’. M. Jansen and G.A. Pérez Jiménez - 9789004193581 Downloaded from Brill.com10/03/2021 10:32:20PM via free access 410 chapter nine 9.2. Codex Ñuu Tnoo–Ndisi Nuu, p. 14–I (Left to Right): the conflict between Lord 1 Lizard and Lord 8 Grass. 9.3. Codex Ñuu Tnoo–Ndisi Nuu, p. 16–II: Lord 12 Reed and Lady 3 Jaguar, ruling Ñuu Tnoo. 1. Lord 12 Reed ‘Coyote Sun ’. 2. Lady 3 Jaguar ‘Precious Butterfly Sun ’. 3. Lord 8 Jaguar ‘Burning War Venus ’. 4. Lady 6 Grass ‘Transparent Butterfly’. She was to marry Lord 8 Rab- bit of Chiyo Cahnu, who had been born in the year 8 House (1189) as the son and heir of Lord 13 Eagle.7 5. Lord 7 Movement ‘Blood Jaguar’, who married Lady 3 Water ‘Venus Quechquemitl ’ and so became ruler of Puma Town. 6. Lord 4 Jaguar ‘Serpent, War Snare’ who married Lady 13 Flower ‘Jewel of the Rising Ñuhu ’: both ruled Place of the Drum (Añuu, Soyaltepec?). The first two children, Lord 12 Reed ‘Coyote Sun ’ and Lady 3 Jaguar ‘Precious Butterfly Sun’, contracted a brother-sister marriage. They ruled in Ñuu Tnoo, where they had two children: 7 Codex Ñuu Tnoo–Ndisi Nuu, p. 16–I; cf. Cf. Tonindeye, p. 30 and Codex Ñuu Naha p. 2. Chiyo Cahnu is represented here with its alternative glyph, Flower Town, which probably refers to the specific location of the settlement, Yuu ita ini (Smith 1973a: 58). M. Jansen and G.A. Pérez Jiménez - 9789004193581 Downloaded from Brill.com10/03/2021 10:32:20PM via free access THE NOBLE HOUSES 411 1. Lady 1 Monkey ‘Jade Quechquemitl ’, who married Lord 12 Rain ‘Fire Serpent with Bloody Claw’ of Ndisi Nuu (Tlaxiaco).8 2. Lord 5 Rain ‘Sun Movement’. The second child, Lord 5 Rain ‘Sun Movement’, married his niece Lady 13 Lizard ‘Truly Precious Butterfly’, the daughter of his father’s brother Lord 7 Movement ‘Blood Jaguar’ and Lady 3 Water ‘Venus Quechquemitl ’, the rulers of Puma Town. Their son was Lord 13 Wind ‘Fire Serpent ’, who married his father’s cousin Lady 1 Eagle ‘Jade Fan’ on the day 3 Eagle of the year 5 House (1277).9 She was a daughter of Lord 12 House ‘Fire Serpent that Flies through Heaven’ and Lady 11 Alligator ‘Quetzal Spiderweb’, rulers of Chiyo Cahnu (Teozacualco), both children of Lady 6 Grass ‘Transparent Butterfly’ and Lord 8 Rabbit.10 The marriage of Lady 6 Grass ‘Transparent Butterfly’ and Lord 8 Rabbit ‘Fire Serpent , Destruction of Ndisi Nuu’ had been an important dynastic event, as it reunited the leading noble houses of the neighbor- ing polities Ñuu Tnoo and Chiyo Cahnu.