The privileges of Tlaxcala in the law of the Indies

Laws of the Recopilación set the Tlaxcalan republic apart from every other indigenous polity in New Spain: its own ordinances of 1545 confirmed, its Indian governors required to be natives of the province, its people freed from serving the Spaniards of Puebla, exempt from tribute, and licensed to write to the king without the viceroy stopping the letter. The same code states the crown's motive and pierces the exemption in a levy of 1591.