Origins and History of Bullfighting

Origins and History of Bullfighting

Bullfighting is certainly one of the best-known-although at the same time most controversial-Spanish popular customs. This Fiesta could not exist without the toro bravo, a species of bull of an ancient race that is only conserved in Spain. Formerly this bull's forebears, the primitive urus, were spread out over wide areas of the world. Many civilizations revered them; the bull cults on the Greek island of Crete are very well known. The Bible tells of sacrifices of bulls in honour of divine justice.Bulls also played an important role in the religious ceremonies of the Iberian tribes living in Spain in prehistoric times. The origins of the plaza de toros (bullring) are probably not the Roman amphitheatres but rather the Celtic-Iberian temples where those ceremonies were held. Near Numancia in the province of Soria one of them has survived, and it is supposed that bulls were sacrificed to the gods there.
While religious bull cults go back to Iberians, it was Greek and Roman influences that converted it into a spectacle. During the Middle Ages it was a diversion for the aristocracy to torear on horseback-a style known as suerte de cañas.
In the 18th century this tradition was more or less abandoned and the poorer population invented bullfighting on foot. Francisco Romero was a key figure in laying down the rules for the new sport..

The Papal Bull

The Papal Bull
"Divine Providence granted us the responsibility for caring for the Lord's [human] flock and with deep concern we are so compelled by relevant pastoral duties to at all times deviate all the faithful of our congregations from imminent perils to the body and from condemnation of the soul.

"Verily, although the abominable use of the duel, introduced by the devil to also gain condemnation of souls through the cruel death of bodies, was forbidden by a Decree of the Council of Trent [the council that from 1560-1563 formally began the Counter Reformation], up to now in many cities and places, so as to demonstrate their strength and courage at public spectacles, many individuals have not ceased engaging with bulls and other wild animals, frequently resulting in the death of men, in mutilation of members and endangering [human] souls.
"Therefore, considering such spectacles which are removed from Christian piety and charity, in which bulls and wild animals are challenged in circuses and plazas, and desiring to abolish such cruel and base spectacles of the devil and not of man, and to take measures for the salvation of souls as far as we are able with the power of God -- to each and every Christian prince, in any kingdom or enjoying any high position, whether ecclesiastical, civil or imperial, proclaimed by any name by any community or republic in perpetuity, by means of our constitution valid for the future, on pain of ipso facto excommunication and anathema, we interdict and prohibit the carrying out of spectacles of this nature in their provinces, cities, lands, castles and places where spectacles of this kind are realized, where bullfights and similar sports with other wild animals are permitted. We forbid military personnel and other persons from daring to join such spectacles, whether on foot or on horseback, to confront bulls or other animals.
"Ecclesiastical burial will be denied to anyone who is killed as a result of participating in such bullfights.
"We also prohibit churchmen, both regular and secular, with ecclesiastical benefices or constituted in Holy Orders, from participating in such spectacles, on pain of excommunication.
"We totally prohibit, we abrogate, annul and decide and declare forever invalid, null and useless all obligations, oaths and vows made by persons, communities or groups of persons to this date, or which may be made in the future, related to bullfights, even though they may have erroneously thought that they were honoring the saints or giving greater splendor to ecclesiastical solemnities and festivities. Such festivities must be celebrated with divine praise, spiritual joy and pious works and not with similar sports. ...
"And all venerable patriarch brethren, primates, archbishops and bishops and other high Church officials, by virtue of the holy obedience and on pain of divine judgment and eternal interminable condemnation, shall adequately divulge and seek to obey our letter in their own cities and dioceses, on pain of incurring ecclesiastical punishment and censure. ...
To ask Pope John Paul II to condemn bullfighting publicly, write to: His Holiness Pope John Paul II, Vatican City, Palazzo Apostolico, Rome 00187, Italy. Jean Thaler is the founder of Big Apple Vegetarians. Thanks to Adela Pisarevksy for help on this article.

Bloody spectacle now disappearing

Bloody spectacle now disappearing.

by Charles Adams, columnistThe Reading EagleDecember 9, 2006
The United States has its ballparks. Spain has its bullrings. Here, major league cities sport stadiums that seat tens of thousands of baseball fans, while minor league cities have their own, smaller ball yards.
Go to a city like Seville and you'll see a 10,000-seat bullring. Head south into the heart of Andalusia and you'll reach Ronda, with its 5,000-seat plaza de toros.
Ronda is recognized as the birthplace of bullfighting in Spain, and its elegant showplace opened in 1785. It drew the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles, who found fascination in what Spaniards call the “equestrian art” of bullfighting.
Welles' ashes, incidentally, are secreted in a well on an estate just outside of Ronda.
As I wandered the spectator galleries framed by 68 arches of Tuscan columns; as I stood on the gravel oval once soaked with bull blood; as I examined the art and artifacts in the museum under the stands; and as I watched horses being trained in the paddock, I felt the history, heritage and pride that reside in that ring.
I do not know the proper terms and the strategies of bullfighting; I don't want to know. I prefer to purge the images of bullfighting from my mind and memory with the last, expiatory words of this column.
With all due respect to the “art” of bullfighting, I just don't get it. To be quite honest, I should amend that last sentence. I don't believe that bullfighting is due any respect.
Call me a cultural infidel. Say I have no appreciation for a great tradition.
But be aware that I am not alone in my thoughts. Surveys show that 70 percent of Spaniards have no interest in bullfighting. Many Spaniards are repulsed by it. Those who continue to follow it are generally male and generally older.
Corporate sponsorships of matadors and events are way down. Attendance is sagging in Spain's 600 bullrings. Television coverage has been cut drastically. Some cities, towns and regions have banned bullfighting altogether.
I did attend an event in the Ronda bullring: a show featuring renowned Spanish dancer Joaquín Cortés. The only blood that flowed was the hot blood of the flamenco dancers, and only within their bodies.
Hemingway was oddly ambivalent about bullfighting. He attended corridas and befriended matadores, but he called bullfighting “a wonderful nightmare.”
In the 1930s, he wrote, “How long the bullfight survives as a lynchpin of Spanish life probably depends on whether the majority of the population thinks it makes them feel good.”
It would appear, Papa, that the lynchpin is loose.
Truth in journalism time: I have never attended a live bullfight. To write with a modicum of intelligence on the topic, I did watch a couple of hours of bullfighting on Spanish state TV.
There is no argument that a bullfight is a spectacle. The fanfare, the pasodoble, the sway of purple and yellow capotes and the mounted picadores; the daring banderilleros and the dashing torero pure spectacle of Spanish lore. But unfortunately, it is a spectacle of gore.
The picadors plunge lances into the bull's neck muscle. The banderilleros stab the weakened beast with wooden spikes. The torero, or star matador, exchanges the purple capote for the red muleta cape that conceals a razor-sharp sword.
It is with that sword, after agonizing taunting and teasing, that the matador delivers death to the stunned, staggering steer.
On television, the taunting and killing were repeated in slow motion, instant replay, over and over, ad nauseam.
Literally, ad nauseam.

Toro de Jubilo, Bull of Fire

Toro de Jubilo, Bull of Fire

This particular savagery consists in putting a ball of pitch on both the horns of the bulls and setting fire to the balls. The bulls are released on the streets. These balls burn for hours, burning the horns, body and eyes, causing terrible suffering.
Several times the bulls try to kill themselves against walls, due to the horrible pain. This horror occurs in the second weekend of November in the Spainish town of Medinaceli.

Bullfighting - Bullfighting Terms

Bullfighting - Bullfighting Terms

*Toro Bull
*Plaza de toros Bullring
*Corrida Bullfight
*Matador Star Bullfighter

*Torero Bullfighter (general term applicable to any person who engages in the ultimate death of the bull)

*Picador Lancer (on horseback)
*Banderillero Bullfighter (on foot) who inserts barbed wooden decorated sticks into the bull´s neck muscle

*Traje de luces Suit of lights (colourful sequinned suit worn by bullfighters)

*Veronica A type of pass whereby the cape is drawn over the bull´s head while the man holds a posture.(There are many terms used for defining moves, which makes reading an article in the press on bullfighting rather esoteric)

*Novillos A novice bullfighter is called a novillero and fights not in a corrida, but in a novillada with young bulls (novillos)