Gore: The Brutal History of Bullfighting
Conflicted: A History Podcast
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The Origins of the Spanish Bullfight
When the romans conquered the iberian peninsula, they brought their appetites for bloodthirsty entertainment with them. The use of charging bulls as the centre piece of athletic events was clearly nothingn but it's difficult to point to any particular ancient culture or tradition and say that that is the definitive seed from which the modern incarnation of the corida de toros sprouted. In ancient times, bull ichinography was everywhere in the mediterranean, spain, italy, greece, north africa, persia, the near east. Spain was hemmed in by sacred cattle and salt water by ideas of bloodshed, death and rebirth. It's hardly surprising that sp
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