Mexican textile workers: from conquest to globalization

During the conquest of Mexico, Hernan Cortes wrote to Charles V that ‘the [Indigenous] �omen of ran� �ear s�irts of �ery thin cotton’.1 Prior to the arrival of �paniards, the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica indeed �ore cotton clothing and Aztec �arriors often used cotton armour, though it protected little against Iberian steel. Pre-Hispanic Mexico lacked sheep and therefore wool.