The Madrid Codex (13th-14th Century)

Maya warrior (upper half) and Deity on lower half

Also known as the Tro-Cortesianus Codex, this fascinating Maya Book is held by the Museo de America in Madrid, Spain. It mainly consists on almanacs, horoscopes, astronomical tables -and even a complete description of the New Year ceremony- used by Maya priests in the performance of their ceremonies and divinatory rituals.

The “bad part” of this codex is a complete description of how to proceed for a human sacrifice to invoke rainfall. It has been demonstrated that the Codex was written before the Spanish conquest and also proceeds from the Yucatán Peninsula. Some of the drawings are similar to the murals found at Chichen Itza, Mayapan and sites on the east coast such as Santa Rita, Tancah and Tulum. (Updated on October 9th: regarding human sacrifices on American precolombine cultures, I forgot to link this post with another codex we presented time ago: “History of Mexico” by Juan de Tovar, 17th Century, that included some rites and ceremonies of the Aztecs like the xocotl huetzi (xocotlhuetzi) ceremony, a human sacrifice...link to post here)

Technical characteristics: 56 sheets painted on both sides to produce a total of 112 pages, on amate paper, folded up in accordion style. It's delicated and not public shown in Spain, because Mayas used a extremely thin layer of fine stucco over the amate paper as painting surface that can be easily damaged (see white areas in the middle of the coloured images on the digitized pages below).

There are 3? additional Maya Codices that survived to our days: Codex Dresde, Codex Paris and Codex Grolier (recently discovered, in 1971; and still under study to determine if its original or false). I will probably complete this post -or create a new one- when I finally can obtain a complete digitized copy of Dresde Codex.

External links, articles and related information about Maya Codices:

• Fundacion para el avance de los estudios mesoamericanos (Foundation to promote Mesoamerican Projects, english version not available). Best link for additional information & deep interest on this matter. They even have a PDF digitized version of the Madrid Codex at FAMSI, divided into 4 blocks... not tested, because I obtained the complete digital facsimil at thepiratebay as safe-verified torrent file (!).
• Article, by Vékony, Atilla (1999). "Mayan Codex Facsimiles" (University of Arizona), link provided. Don't particularly agree with note regarding the "organized book-burnings of Franciscan missionaries"
• Ciudad Ruiz, Andrés; and Alfonso Lacadena (1999). J.P. Laporte and H.L. Escobedo. ed. "El Códice Tro-Cortesiano de Madrid en el contexto de la tradición escrita Maya [The Tro-Cortesianus Codex of Madrid in the context of the Maya writing tradition]". Link to article (tested) here. Best article I could find on internet about this matter (but written in spanish).
• In 1873 J. M. Melgar y Serrano, known for his descriptions of a monolithic Olmec colossal head, published an article which purported to translate a Maya manuscript belonging to Señor Miró. The article showed, somewhat poorly, a copy of an engraving of a drawing of what we now refer to as page 16 of the Madrid Codex, taken from La Ilustración de Madrid, Núm. 29 (March 15, 1871), link here.

For a high resolution, pdf version of this manuscript, contact me (facsimilium AT gmail DOT com).

 

"F de La Rose-croix", or the Early Rosicrucian Manuscripts

There’s a huge amount of well preserved documentation -some of them manuscripts like the Anonymous codex I present today- about Rosicrucian Philosophy in all virtual libraries around the world. After my investigation I found that most of them are in US and has a basic explanation: during the previous phases of United States declaration of independence, a lot of philosophers and free-thinker minds escaped from European internal conflicts –frequently related with religion or philosophy- to establish on the new land of America.

Probably one of the best source –at least in terms of Rosicrucian Philosophy documentation- is the Getty Research institute (Los Angeles, CA; US). Let me briefly start with some basic definitions about the term itself: Rosicrucianism is a generic term referring to studies or membership within a philosophical secret society said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe and the spiritual realm."

Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rosy Cross, usually represented in the first page of every related Codex 

Some other basic characteristics to understand this Secret Society:

• Rosicrucianism was -in its origin- associated with Protestantism (Lutheranism)
• It's opposed to Roman Catholicism.
• Rosacrucians reject Muhammad, though they traced their philosophy and science to the Moors, asserting that it had been kept secret for 120 years until the intellectual climate might receive it.
• Early seventeenth century occult philosophers such as Michael Maier, Robert Fludd and Thomas Vaughan studied the Rosicrucian world view (About Michael Maier in particular, I'll post soon a complete article based on its life and Opus, as there's a relatively good part of his Books preserved today in all virtual libraries around the world)
• Many esoteric and secret societies have claimed to derive their doctrines, in whole or in part, from the original Rosicrucians. Several modern societies have been formed for the study of Rosicrucianism and allied subjects.
• According to some Historians, it was also influential to Freemasonry as it was emerging in Scotland.

Some related references:

• Nesta Webster's, "Secret Societies and Subversive Movements", London, 1924, p. 87 and note 37. Book available on the internet, I recommend save prior to read -pdf version-, link here
• Very good reference for a general overview about Rosacrucianism and its influence: Lindgren, Carl Edwin, The way of the Rose Cross; A Historical Perception, 1614–1620. Journal of Religion and Psychical Research, Volume18, Number 3:141-48. 1995. Link to the article here.
• Rosacrucianism served as inspiration for Essays, Fictional literature, Conspiracy literature (Umberto Eco, Dan Brown, etc)... for a complete list, I do recommend the final part of the wikipedia article about Rosacrucianism.
• Web pages: The "Alchemy website" treats about Rosacrucians, link provided. I recommend the "Alchemical symbolism and imagery" section, (click on imagery button).

Apart of the manuscript presented today, I couldn't resist to post some other pages from later European Rosacrucianism books (from the Order of the Golden Down),

Observe the similarity to the first image of this post (from another Rosicrucian codex)

De Figura seu imagine mundi, 15th Century



Andromeda and Perseus constellations



Original title for this 15^th Century jewel is “De Figura seu imagine mundi”, issued in 1456 by Luis de Angulo (Spaniard origin), a.k.a. Louis de Langle (died in Lyon) or even Angulo Ludovicus, in Latin. Couldn’t find details about his bio, but looks clear that Ludovico was mainly focused and got rich skills on Astronomy: He studied, commented and translated the Great “Liber de nativitatibus” or Book of Nativities written by the Spanish Abenezra or Abraham Ibn Ezra -1089, Tudela, Kingdom of Navarra-, probably the most distinguished Jewish men of letters and writers of the Middle Ages.

The codex is basically a detailed astronomy and geography treatise, divided into 3 separated parts: World’s creation, different parts of earth –description- and the stars maps. Copies can be found in Spain (Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional), Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris) and in Saint Gallen (Switzerland), Kantonsbibliothek Vadiana.



Centaurus constellation

Zepheus

Related external references:

• Pousa, Ramon Fernandez, «Una Imago mundi española : Ludouicus de Angulo, De imagine seu figura mundi, Lion, 1456», Revista de Indias, 2, 1941, p. 39-65
• Hustache, Étienne, « Le monde vu de Lyon en 1456: la cosmographie de Louis de Langle », Lyon, cité de savants, 112e congrès national des sociétés savantes, Lyon, 1987, Paris, Éditions du CTHS, 1988, p. 9-16. Link to google books here.
• Referenced on article "Imágenes de los decanos en el Liber astrologiae de Fendulus (París, Bibliothèque Nationale, ms. Lat. 7330)" from Documentation Legal Deposit, University of Barcelona. Complete article here. Reference extracted: "The ilustrations of Fendulus Liber astrologiae lived on into the Late Middle Ages. Apart from studying the iconographic filiation among other copies of the work itsefl, the author of this papers tries to demonstrate tha one of thes manuscripts should have been the iconographic source for the decanic images in Louis of Angle Liber de figura seu imagine mundi (c. 1450). The article concludes with a bibliographical essay on the iconography of the Dekanesternbilder".