Separated by an ocean, the inhabitants of Europe and those of the continent that would later on be called America did not know each other till the end of 15th century. They first came into contact in 1492: this was the beginning of a new step for the universal history.
The prehispanic world was multicultural. Despite their many similarities, the Mesoamericans were not integrated as a “nation” with a shared identity. Rather, each community was considered an autonomous altépetl (water-hill).

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1.    The pre-Hispanic Communities (15th-16th Centuries)
•    Primacy of the community life: the individual was born and would die according to the responsibility he or she was assigned by his or her community.
•    Ceremonial centers run by a priestly and warrior elite, and in some cases, by dynasties of rulers.
At the moment of the encounter with the European world, the Mexicas — a Náhuatl group settled in the Valley of Mexico — dominated many ethnic groups politically, economically and militarily.

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2.    The 15th and 16th centuries Spain

Spain presented a series of characteristics that would define its profile as a conquering and colonizing nation:
•    It was a densely populated country which had extended its dominion (territorial possession) to other European regions such as Flanders, Naples and Sicily.
•    It has waged an uninterrupted war against Islam for many centuries, which allowed its population to have a good war experience.
•    It was willing to transfer all its political and cultural institutions of Christianity to its new territories.
•    Its political principles were based on a messianic ideology, which justified the occupation of the newly discovered lands, considered as a divine prize, in exchange for converting the aboriginal inhabitants (the autochthonous or natives ) to Christianism.
•    Its writing was based on the phonetic sounds of the Latin alphabet.

Selected pieces (press the image to read the description):