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)

Bullfighters Of Bullfighting

Bullfighters (Bullfighting - Bullfighters)
A matador is usually distinguished from his assistants by his satin traje de luces (suit of lights) which is generally decorated in gold. Assistants tend to wear suits decorated in silver. A matator's suit is hand-made, taking six people a month to create and costing from 1.500 EUR to 2.400 EUR, the whole outfit usually costs over EUR 3.000.
The most popular colours are red, black, green, blue and white. Yellow is never worn, even by spectators as it is considered to be unlucky and toreros are highly superstitious. The suit is worn with a white shirt, narrow black tie, a red, green or black sash knotted at the waist, pink, knee-high stockings, black ballet-style slippers and a black astrakhan which is a kind of two cornered hat.
One final adornment is the pig tail which denotes a matador and is clipped to the back of the head and symbolically cut in the ring when the matador retires). The matador's cape is worn only in the parade before a fight commences and then hung on the fence in front of a friend or distinguished spectator.
Short list of bullfighters currently fighting

*_*Antonio Mondejar
*_*Cesar Rincon
*_*El Cordobes
*_*El Fandi
*_*El juli
*_*El Tato
*_*Enrique Ponce
*_*Espartaco
*_*Eugenio de Mora
*_*Finito de Cordoba
*_*Fran Rivera Ordoñez
*_*Gil Belmonte
*_*Javier Conde
*_*Jesulin de Urdrique
*_*Jose Luis Moreno
*_*Jose Thomas
*_*Litri
*_*Morante de la Puebla
*_*Pepin Liria
*_*Rafael Camino
*_*Uceda Leal
*_*Victor Puerto
*_*Vincente Barrera

ABOUT BULLFIGHTING

History

Bullfighting traces its roots to prehistoric bull worship and sacrifice. The killing of the sacred bull tauromachy is the essential central iconic act of Mithra's, which was commemorated in the mithraeum wherever Roman soldiers were stationed. The oldest representations of what it seems to be a man facing a bull is on the celtiberian tombstone from Clunia and the cave painting "El toro de hachos", both found in Spain.

Bullfighting is often linked to Rome, where many human-versus-animal events were held. There are also theories that it was introduced into Hispania by the Emperor Claudius when he instituted a short-lived ban on gladiatorial games, as a substitute for those combats. The latter theory was supported by Robert Graves. Picadors are the remnants of the javelin, but their role in the contest is now a relatively minor one limited to "preparing" the bull for the matador.

Bullfighting spread from Spain to its Central and South American colonies, and in the 19th century to France, where it developed into a distinctive form in its own right.

Religious festivities and royal weddings were celebrated by fights in the local plaza, where noblemen would ride competing for royal favor, and the populace enjoyed the excitement. The Spanish introduced the practice of fighting on foot around 1726. Francisco Romero is generally regarded as having been the first to do this.

As bullfighting developed, men on foot started using capes to aid the horsemen in positioning the bulls. This type of fighting drew more attention from the crowds. Thus the modern corrida, or fight, began to take form, as riding noblemen were substituted by commoners on foot.

This new style prompted the construction of dedicated bullrings, initially square, like the Plaza de Armas, and later round, to discourage the cornering of the action. The modern style of Spanish bullfighting is credited to Juan Belmont, generally considered the greatest matador of all time. Belmont introduced a daring and revolutionary style, in which he stayed within a few inches of the bull throughout the fight.

Although extremely dangerous Belmont himself was gored on many occasions, his style is still seen by most matadors as the ideal to be emulated. Today, bullfighting remains similar to the way it was in 1726, when Francisco Romero, from Ronda, Spain, used the estoque, a sword, to kill the bull, and the muleta, a small cape used in the last stage of the fight.

Styles of bullfighting

Originally, there were at least five distinct regional styles of bullfighting practiced in southwestern Europe: Andalusia, Aragon-Navarre, Alentejo, Camargue, Aquitaine. Over time, these have evolved more or less into standardized national forms mentioned below. The "classic" style of bullfight, in which the bull is killed, is the form practiced in Spain, Southern France and many Latin American countries.

Spanish-style bullfighting

Recortes Style

Portuguese Style

French Style

Freestyle bullfighting

Comic bullfighting

Hazards.

Spanish-style bullfighting is normally fatal for the bull, and it is very dangerous for the matador. Picadors and banderilleros are sometimes gored, but this is not common. They are paid less and noticed less, because their job takes less skill and is perceived as requiring less courage. The suertes with the capote are risky, but it is the faena that is supremely dangerous, in particular the estocada. A matador of classical style notably, Manhole is trained to divert the bull with the muleta but always come close to the right horn as he makes the fatal sword-thrust between the clavicles and through the aorta. At this moment, the danger is the greatest. A lesser matador can run off to one side and stab the bull in the lungs and may even achieve a quick kill but it will not be a clean kill, because he will have avoided the difficult target, and the mortal risk, of the classical technique. Such a matador will often be booed.

Some matadors, notably Juan Belmonte, have been gored many times: according to Ernest Hemingway, Belmonte's legs were marred by many ugly scars. A special type of surgeon has developed, in Spain and elsewhere, to treat cornadas, or horn-wounds: they are well paid and well respected.

Popularity

A 2002 Gallup poll found that 68.8% of Spaniards express "no interest" in bullfighting while 20.6% expressed "some interest and 10.4% "a lot of interest." The poll also found significant generational variety, with 51% of those 65 and older expressing interest, compared with 23% of those between 25–34 years of age.Popularity also varies significantly according to regions in Spain with it being least popular in Galicia and Catalonia with 81% and 79% of those polled expressing no interest. Interest is greatest in the zones of the north, centre, east and south, with around 37% declaring themselves fans and 63% having no interest.