Aztec Ritual Weeping

Aztec Ritual Weeping

Current Location: Laurentian Library of Florence
Date: 1499-1590
Author: Fray Bernardino de Sahagún
Collection: Florentine Codex, book 1

These women were mostly hired to mourn the death of kings and noblemen who were killed in battle, which would have been common at the time. However, these women also wept for ‘lesser’ families as well. Grieving was public and a very extended time for both the community and the family. This time of great mourning lasted, most often, for 80 days before it came to a symbolic end with the physical burial of the body.