Manchester Historian

The Mexican Revolution through Pictures, by Liam York

The Mexican Revolution was a hugely significant moment in modern Mexican history. By 1911, the 34-year dictatorial rule from the Porfirian regime had come to an end, eventually overthrown at the Battle of Ciudad Juárez by a group of revolutionaries, thrusting the country into a decade of social unrest, uprising and uncertainty. Despite this defining moment in Mexican history, it is often hard to reduce the revolution to a singular driver. Political leaders like Francisco Madero represent bourgeois sentiment, yet populist figures like Francisco ‘Pancho’ Villa and Emiliano Zapata played a significant role in mobilising the agrarian classes. What can we learn from the photography of the revolution?

What led to the 19th Century Gaelic Revival? By Erin Kilker

The Gaelic revival refers to the revival of interest in the Irish language and Irish Gaelic culture. While this broad movement emerged as early as the 1840s, it rapidly gained traction in the late nineteenth century. A variety of organisations espoused this revival, for example by promoting Gaelic literature or traditional sports.

St Cuthbert’s Coffin: Devotion in Runic and Roman Lettering, by Catrin Haberfield

In 698 A.D., eleven years after his death, St Cuthbert’s body was exhumed and found to be incorrupt. Removed from its subterranean stone sarcophagus in St Peter’s Church, on the monastery island of Lindisfarne, the body was then transferred into a new oak coffin and placed above ground next to the altar. Almost 200 years later, in 875 A.D., this coffin was evacuated from Lindisfarne and for seven years carried across Northumbria by monks evading Danish armies.

Category: University

Manchester’s most famous lecturer

Posted On 1st April 20112nd December 2012 By Jenny Ho

An examination of the life of Britain’s most controversial historian, A.J.P. Taylor.

Category: In Culture

Taylor lecture series

Posted On 1st April 20112nd December 2012 By Jenny Ho

A review of the engaging lecture series fronted by Manchester’s most famous history professor.

Category: Features

10 things you never knew about the Romans

Posted On 1st April 20112nd December 2012 By Jenny Ho

The Romans used powdered mouse brains as toothpaste. Julius Caesar gave us our modern calendar of 12 months. Originally there were only 10 months, running from March to December, but then they added two more. This meant that September (from the Latin for seven) became the 9th month. October (from the Latin for eight) is Continue Reading

Category: Behind The Headlines