Christianizing the Nahua
Bernardino de Sahagún
Apendix (Appendix Containing Doctrinal Admonitions for the Indians)
1590
The missionary friars feared misinterpretation of the Christian doctrine among new converts, whom they regarded as not truly committed to Catholicism. Responding to this concern, Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún added an appendix to the collection of his doctrinal writings, in which he included admonitions specifically warning the Indians against some of their traditional beliefs.
A fragment of the Appendix begins by questioning the Nauha belief that the tears and the penitence of children can gratify Titlacahuan, the tloque naoaque (the Lord of the Close and the Near, an indigenous idea of “supreme being” sometimes applied to the Christian god).
Newberry Library: Ayer MS 1486d