He was the great grandson of Nezahualcoyotl, and was of mixed indigenous and Spanish heritage 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 Nezahualcoyotl, in Texcoco.
He was bilingual and spoke and wrote in both Spanish and the native language of the Aztecs, Nahuatl.
He interviewed aged Nahuas, 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 Sahagún and Fernando Alva Ixtlilxochitl.