History House

On October 2, 1968, a tragic event unfolded in Mexico City that would forever change the nation's history. Between three thousand to five thousand people gathered at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas for a peaceful student protest. However, this gathering turned into a horrific scene, leading to the deaths of over three hundred individuals, including students, men, women, and children. This episode delves into the Tlatelolco Massacre, exploring the years and events leading up to it and the lasting implications it holds for Mexican society.

Episode Icon: Mexican soldiers at the streets. July 30, 1968, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Recommended further reading

• Cline, Howard F. The United States and Mexico, (New York, 1966, Revised Edition).

• Cline, Howard F. Mexico, Revolution to Evolution, 1940-1960, (London, 1962).

• Draper, Susana, 1968: Mexico: Constellation of Freedom and Democracy, (Durham, North Carolina, 2018).

• Flaherty, George F. Hotel Mexico, Dwelling on the ’68 Movement, (Oakland, California, 2016).

• Poniatowska, Elena, ’The Student Movement of 1969’, in Joseph, Gilbert M. and Henderson, Timothy J. (eds.) The Mexico Reader, History, Culture and Politics, (Durham, North Carolina and London, 2022, Second Edition).

• Taibo II, Paco Ignacio, 68, (Madrid, 2006).

Alfonso Cuarón talking about the 'El Halconazo' scene in 'Roma': https://youtu.be/jCa6tRUretU?si=tuqMgsYmI2ZSIpKR

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#Tlatelolco #MexicanHistory #StudentProtests #HistoryHouse #1968

The story of the Irishmen remembered as heroes by Mexico.

Episode Icon: Churubusco's monastery at the height of the 1847 Battle of Churubusco, painted by James Walker, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Recommended further reading…

Bender, Abby, ‘Irish-Mexican Solidarity and the San Patricio Battalion Flag’, Genre Volume 36 Issue 3-4, (2003), pp. 271–293.

Fanning, Tim, Paisanos, The Forgotten Irish Who Changed the Face of Latin America, (Dublin, 2016).

• Hogan, Michael, The Irish Soldiers of Mexico, (Guadalajara, 2011 edition).

• Miller, Robert Ryal, Shamrock and Sword: The Saint Patrick's Battalion in the U.S.-Mexican War, (Norma, Oklahoma, 1989).

• Wallace, Edward S. ’The Battalion of Saint Patrick in the Mexican War, Military Affairs, Volume 14, Issue 2, (Summer 1950), pp. 84-91.

• Wynn, Dennis J. The San Patricios and the United States-Mexican War of 1846-1848, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Loyola University of Chicago, 1982.

Break audio: La Llorona by Tom Deis from Premiumbeat.com (Purchased with Standard License on the 04/05/2026).

Opening and closing theme: 'Classical Orchestral Dvorak Serenade Waltz Strings Music, provided by mrgwertz on https://www.pond5.com (Purchased with license on the 01/06/2024).

The story of the Irishman who declared himself ruler of Mexico and was the inspiration for Zorro. 

Episode Icon: Peter Paul Rubens, Young Man in Armor, Timken Museum of Art, Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en 

Recommended further reading...

• Baracs, Ana Martinez, An Irish Rebel in New Spain, The Tumultuous Life and Tragic Death of William Lamport, (University Park, Pennsylvania, 2021).

• Crewe, Ryan Dominic, 'Brave New Spain: An Irishman's Independence Plot in Seventeenth-Century Mexico', Past & Present, Volume 207, Issue 1, May 2010, pp. 53–87.

• Ronan, Gerard, The Irish Zorro, The extraordinary adventures of William Lamport (1615-1659), (Dingle, Kerry, 2004).

• Silva Prada, Natalia, 'Irish News in the New Spanish Kingdoms: The Circulation of Political Information about William Lamport and Diego Nugent, 1642-1667',  Irish Migration Studies in Latin America, Volume 7, Number 1, March 2009.  

Break audio: Crystal Sonata by Tiny Music from Premiumbeat.com (Purchased with Standard License on the 27/03/2026).

Opening and closing theme: Opening and closing theme, 'Classical Orchestral Dvorak Serenade Waltz Strings Music, provided by mrgwertz on https://www.pond5.com (Purchased with license on the 01/06/2024).

The story of Malintzin/La Malinche. Her life, role in the Conquest of the Mexica (Aztecs) and her evolving legacy in Mexico and beyond across centuries. 

Episode Icon: Lámina del Lienzo de Tlaxcala donde se demuestra qué hizo Hernán Cortés, 1581, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain. 

Recommended further reading…

• Lyall, Victoria I. Romo, Terezita (eds.), Traitor, Survivor, Icon, The Legacy of La Malinche, (New Haven and London, 2022).

• Restall, Matthew, Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest, (Oxford, 2003). 

• Restall, Matthew, When Montezuma Met Cortés, The True Story of the Meeting that Changed History, (New York, 2018).

• Townsend, Camilla, Fifth Sun, A New History of the Aztecs, (Oxford, 2019).

• Townsend, Camilla, Malintzin's Choices, An Indian Woman in the Conquest of Mexico (Albuquerque, 2006).

Break audio: 'Mother Moon' by Soul Driver from PremiumBeat.com (Purchased with Standard License on the 25/02/2026).

Opening and closing theme, 'Classical Orchestral Dvorak Serenade Waltz Strings Music, provided by mrgwertz on https://www.pond5.com (Purchased with license on the 01/06/2024).

The story of Bartolomé de Las Casas, regarded by some as the first human rights defender and the wider efforts to end the Spanish exploitation of the Indigenous People of Americas.

Episode Icon: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, "Fray Bartolomé de las Casas" by Felix Parra (1845-1919) done in 1875 on display at the Museo Nacional de Arte in Mexico City, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-S.A. 4.0., https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ , By using this image, the creator does not endorse History House or its use, no changes have been made.

Recommended further reading…

• Castro, Daniel, ‘Another Face of Empire: Bartolomé de Las Casas, Indigenous Rights, and Eclesiastical Imperialism’, (Durham, North Carolina, 2007).

• Clayton, A. Lawrence, ‘Bartolomé de Las Casas: A Biography’, (Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2012).

• de Las Casas, Bartolomé, ‘A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies’, (London, 2004, Reprint).

• Hanke, Lewis, ‘All Mankind is One: Study of the Disputation Between Bartolomé de Las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda in 1550 on the Intellectual and Religious Capacity of the American Indians’, (DeKalb, Illinois, 1974).

• Hanke, Lewis, ‘Pope Paul III and the American Indians’, in ‘The Harvard Theological Review’, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Apr., 1937), pp. 65-102.

• Hanke, Lewis, ’The Spanish Struggle for Justice in the Conquest of Ameirca’, (Philadelphia, 1949).

• MacNutt, Francis Augustus, ‘Bartholomew de Las Casas; his life, apostolate, and writings’, (Cleveland, United States, 1909).

• Parker, Geoffrey, ‘Emperor: A New Life of Charles V’, (New Haven and London, 2020).

• Thomas, Hugh, ’The Golden Age: The Spanish Empire of Charles V, (London, 2011).

• Thomas, Hugh, ‘Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire’, (London, 2010).

• van Deusen, Nancy E. ‘Why Indigenous Slavery Continued in Spanish America after the New Laws of 1542’, in ‘The Americas’, Vol. 80 No. 3, (2023), pp. 395-432.

Nahuatl Reading of Florentine Codex, 21:12-26:08.

English Reading of Florentine Codex, 26:09-28:42.

Break audio: ‘Song of Summoning’ by Lost Harmonies from PremiumBeat.com (Purchased with Standard License on the 25/01/2026).

Ending and closing theme, 'Classical Orchestral Dvorak Serenade Waltz Strings Music, provided by mrgwertz on https://www.pond5.com (Purchased with license on the 01/06/2024).

The story of Celtic Ireland and the Roman Empire. Trade, religion and possible invasion.

Episode Icon: Ptolemy Cosmographia 1467 - Ireland, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Recommended further reading...

• Di Martino, Vittorio, 'Roman Ireland', (Cork, 2003).

• Freeman, Philip, 'Ireland and the Classical World', (Austin, Texas, 2001).

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Ending and closing theme, 'Classical Orchestral Dvorak Serenade Waltz Strings Music, provided by mrgwertz on https://www.pond5.com (Purchased with license on the 01/06/2024).

The story of the time when the Dutch “ate” their “Prime Minister”. Why it happened, who did it and what effect did it have on the Dutch Republic?

Episode Icon: Adriaen Hanneman, Johan de Witt, 1652, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain. 

Recommended further reading…

• DeSanto, Ingrid Frederika, ‘Righteous Citizens: The Lynching of Johan and Cornelis DeWitt, The Hague, Collective Violence, and the Myth of Tolerance in the Dutch Golden Age, 1650-1672’, University of California, Los Angeles, 2018.

• Israel, Jonathan I. ’The Dutch Republic, Its Rise, Greatness and Fall, 1477-1806’, (Oxford, UK, 1998).

• Rowen, Herbert H. ‘John de Witt True Freedom: Statesman of the "True Freedom” ’, (Cambridge, UK, 1986).

• Schama, Simon, ’The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age’, (New York City, 1997). 

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Break audio: 'A Stormy Spirit by Tiny Music from PremiumBeat.com (Purchased with Standard License on the 29/11/2025). 

Ending and closing theme, 'Classical Orchestral Dvorak Serenade Waltz Strings Music, provided by mrgwertz on https://www.pond5.com (Purchased with license on the 01/06/2024).

The traditions, history and celebrations of Day of the Dead, (Dia de Los Muertos).

Episode Icon: 1. Posada's La Calavera Catrina, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Recommended Further Reading...

• Brandes, Stanley H. ‘Iconography in Mexico's Day of the Dead: Origins and Meaning’, Ethnohistory, Volume 45 No. 2, (Spring, 1998), pp. 181-218.

• ‘Is There a Mexican View of Death?’, Ethos, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Mar., 2003), pp. 127-144.

• ‘Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead: The Day of the Dead in Mexico and Beyond’, (Hoboken, New Jersey, 2007).

• Miliotes, Diana, ‘José Guadalupe Posada and the Mexican Broadside’, (New Haven and London, 2006).

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Beginning and closing theme 'Classical Orchestral Dvorak Serenade Waltz Strings Music, provided by mrgwertz on https://www.pond5.com (Purchased with license on the

01/06/2024).

The story of the "Ethnarch", Eleftherios Venizelos, (1864-1936). His arrival into Greek Politics, his various departures, returns and his final fall from power, along his often forgotten rapprochement with Turkey.

Episode Icon: Autochrome: "La Haye , Pays-Bas Monsieur Venizelos”, 1929, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons.

Links to photos associated with the episode...

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/historyhouse1.bsky.social/post/3lzwdarup6k22

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EcaQxptoA/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPKQIuEjJGI/?igsh=YnRwbmUxMXgzdmlp

Recommended further reading…

• Beaton, Roderick, ‘Greece, Biography of a Modern Nation’, (London, 2019).

• Llewellyn-Smith, Michael, ‘Ionian Vision, Greece in Asia Minor 1919-1922’, (London, 2022 Edition).

• Llewellyn-Smith, Michael, ‘Venizelos, The Making of a Greek Statesman, 1864-1914’, (London, 2021).

• Article by host about the Treaty of Lausanne and the Irish Free State: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/956692

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Break audio: 'Prime Minister of Greece--outtakes', 1929, from the University of South Carolina University Libraries Digital Collections, (permission for use granted on the first of September 2025)

Ending and closing theme, 'Classical Orchestral Dvorak Serenade Waltz Strings Music, provided by mrgwertz on https://www.pond5.com (Purchased with license on the 01/06/2024)

Warning: This episode discusses themes of a Sexual Nature including Prostitution.

The extraordinary story of one of History's most remarkable women.

Episode Icon: Depiction of the Empress Theodora from a contemporary portrait mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, 6th Century, Host’s own photo.

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/historyhouse1.bsky.social/post/3lxarl2osd22s

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DNyivuk2Iu_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Recommended further reading...

• Allan Evans, James, ‘The Empress Theodora: Partner of Justinian’, (Austin, 2003).

• Herrin, Judith, ‘Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe’, (London, 2021).

• Hughes, Bettany, ‘Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities’, (London, 2017).

• Potter, David, ‘Theodora: Actress, Empress, Saint’, (Oxford, 2017).

• Procopius, Sarris, Peter (ed. and translator), Williamson, G.A. (Translator), ‘The Secret History’, (London, 2007).

• Sarris, Peter, ‘Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint’, (New York, 2024).

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