Juan Bautista Pomar

Who was Juan Bautista Pomar?

Juan Bautista Pomar was a historian and writer interested in pre-Columbian Aztec history.

According to references by Fray Juan de Torquemada, he was born around 1535 at Texcoco. He was the great grandson of Nezahualcoyotl, and was half-Spanish on his father's side. Considered noble by the Spaniards, he was able to obtain one of his great-grandfather's royal houses, known as the Netzahualcoyotl, in Texcoco.

Pomar was raised as a Christian but learned Aztec tradition from his mother. He was bilingual and spoke and wrote in both Spanish and the native language of the Aztecs, Nahuatl. He is credited with one of the most important compilations of Nahuatl poetry, Romances de los señores de Nueva España.

Pomar's major work includes an account of the Aztecs and Tlatelolcas Relación de Juan Bautista Pomar completed in 1582. He interviewed aged Native Americans, who recounted memory of the older and lost customs of their people. His account, written at the suggestion of the protomedic of Philip II of Spain, complements with the works of Bernardino de Sahagun and Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl.

Pomar also wrote an account with the intention of claiming his rights to the legacy of Nezahualcoyotl.