Mexican Great Chain of Being

Valadés’ ingenuous mnemonic synthesis of ancient and medieval cosmography, Aristotelian physics and Neoplatonist hierarchies graphically introduced native Mexicans to the concepts of the Great Chain of Being, the Genesis creation, and Original Sin. This synthesis, however, placed Mexico at the centre of a hierarchical cosmic order. Valadés located Mexican crops (prickly pear and corn), fishes, animals, birds and native peoples along the central ascending axis of his global natural and preternatural hierarchy. In this hierarchy, Chichimecas and Nahuas appeared closer to the Church than Ottomans and Asians.