he Aztecs used complex pictographic writing to record their history, religious customs, laws, and literature. Many of their books were seized and burned during the Spanish Conquest. Fortunately some works survived and other chronicles were written after the Conquest by Indians determined to preserve information about their pre-Conquest life and history. These chronicles often employed European script as well as pictographs.The Spaniards also left behind important documents describing Aztec culture. Letters written by Hernán Cortés to Charles V and recollections of the Conquest written by the soldier Bernal Díaz provide accounts of the conquest seen through Spanish eyes. Spanish friars devoted considerable effort to recording Indian customs and beliefs to assist them in their mission of converting the Indians to Christianity. Father Bernardino de Sahagún is the most well-known. He learned Nahuatl and wrote the monumental work A General History of the Things of New Spain, which provides information on virtually every facet of Aztec life.
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Aztec Empire