Codex Laud
Also known as: Laudianus, MS Laud Misc. 678, Codex Mictlan
A Central Mexican pictorial almanac of the 260-day ritual calendar, Codex Laud gathers deity tables, omens, and rites for divination and ritual timing. It preserves a compact Borgia-Group handbook painted on deerskin screenfold panels.
Description
Codex Laud is a screenfold manuscript of twenty-four deerskin panels painted on both sides, presenting tightly structured almanacs tied to the 260-day tonalpohualli. Its images catalogue deities, day-signs, directional complexes, and offerings used to assess auspiciousness for births, journeys, warfare, agriculture, and other undertakings. The book reads in conventional Borgia-Group fashion across panels, with sequences that bundle patrons, ritual paraphernalia, and omen sets rather than continuous narrative. Preserved at the Bodleian Library (MS. Laud Misc. 678) and incomplete at its extremities, the codex exemplifies Mixteca-Puebla–style painting and shares format and content with Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, Cospi, and Vaticanus B.
Historiography
Part of the Borgia Group identified by 19th–20th-century scholarship, Codex Laud likely originated in the Puebla–Tlaxcala–Western Oaxaca sphere. William Laud donated it to Oxford in 1636. Modern cataloging numbers the painted sides 1–46 across obverse and reverse panels; the work appears truncated at the ends. ADEVA issued a facsimile with C. A. Burland’s introduction, and detailed Bodleian descriptions note deerskin support and former jaguar-skin covers. Debates persist over precise ethnic attribution (Nahua vs. Mixteca-Puebla) and the presence of multiple painting hands or phases.
Date Notes
Pre-Hispanic ritual/divinatory pictorial codex from Central Mexico; reached the Bodleian Library via Archbishop William Laud in 1636
Major Characters
- Tezcatlipoca
- Quetzalcoatl
- Tlaloc
- Xipe Totec
- Tonatiuh
Myths
- Underworld and Night Lords
- Tonalamatl Calendar Pages
- Storm and Death Deities
- Divinatory Rituals
Facts
- Preserved at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, shelfmark MS. Laud Misc. 678.
- Painted on deerskin screenfold; covers were historically of jaguar skin.
- Modern scholarly pagination numbers 1–46 across obverse and reverse sides.
- Comprises twenty-four physical panels (leaves), likely incomplete at the ends.
- Belongs to the Borgia Group of Central Mexican ritual almanacs.
- Organized around the 260-day ritual calendar (tonalpohualli).
- Sequences present patrons, offerings, and omen sets rather than continuous narrative.
- Associated with Puebla–Tlaxcala–Western Oaxaca cultural sphere (Mixteca-Puebla style).
- Donated to Oxford by Archbishop William Laud in 1636.
- Facsimile published by ADEVA with an introduction by C. A. Burland.
- Scholars note evidence for multiple painting hands or phases.
- Reads primarily in the conventional Borgia-Group right-to-left screenfold manner.