The Codex Laud, or Laudianus, (catalogued as ''MS. Laud Misc. 678'',

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

in Oxford) is a sixteenth-century

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

n codex named for

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 16 ...

, an English archbishop who was the former owner. It is from the Borgia Group, and is a pictorial manuscript consisting of 24 leaves (48 pages) from Central Mexico, dating from before the Spanish takeover. It is evidently incomplete (part of it is lost). In its content, it is similar to Codex Bodley and

Codex Borgia The Codex Borgia ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Borg.mess.1), also known as ''Codex Borgianus'', ''Manuscrit de Veletri'' and ''Codex Yohualli Ehecatl'', is a pre-Columbian Middle American pictorial manuscript from Central Mexico featuring calendrica ...

. It is published (with an "Introduction" by C. A. Burland) in Volume XI of ''CODICES SELECTI'' of the ''Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt'', Graz. The Bodleian Library holds four other Mesoamerican codices: Codex Bodley,

Codex Mendoza The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codex, believed to have been created around the year 1541. It contains a history of both the Aztec rulers and their conquests as well as a description of the daily life of pre-conquest Aztec society. The codex is w ...

, Codex Selden and the Selden Roll.

Gallery

File:Codex Laud (1).jpg, Other views of the Codex Laud on display at the Bodleian Library File:Codex Laud (3).jpg, File:Lauda22.jpg,

References

* *Facsimile: odex Laud, Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms. Laud Misc. 678, pre-colonial, Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) Graz 1966. Colour facsimile edition of the Old Mexican manuscript. 48 pp., size: 165 x 155 mm. Encased in box with leather spine. Scholarly introduction: C. A. Burland, London, 42 pp. text, 4 plates on art print paper, 1 table. CODICES SELECTI, Vol. XI

External links

A.D.V.G. facsimile of the Laud Codex

Codex Laud
digitised by J.Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah
Codex Laud commentary
Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt 966edition, digitised by J.Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah
MS Laud. Misc. 678
Images available on Digital Bodleian
MS Laud Misc. 678
In the Bodleian Libraries Catalogue of Medieval Manuscripts Laud Bodleian Library collection Middle American pictorial manuscripts {{Mesoamerica-stub