Bullfighting is one of the many spectacles and games that can be grouped under the term "bullfighting." While modern bullfighting is a relatively recent phenomenon in historical terms, humankind's fascination with the bull is immemorial.
The most ardent among us, bullfighting enthusiasts, trace the earliest depictions of bullfighting back to the cave paintings of Roc de Sers, Villars, and Lascaux in France. This interpretation is probably overly enthusiastic. On these walls, where man and animal appear together for the first time in human history, the non-bullfighting enthusiast might interpret these scenes as depictions of hunts. While hunting was a necessity for prehistoric man, playing with bulls was not. However, certain images do catch the eye of the aficionado. Indeed, sometimes the hunter appears to be facing the animal. In my opinion, if one is determined to hunt a wild bull using primitive spears, it's a miscalculation. Logic dictates that one should approach the animal from behind. Yet here, the man faces the beast. And, in addition to facing the beast, he presents himself with his arms raised, holding an object in one of his hands, in a defiant attitude, reminiscent of common images in arenas.
Could games have been improvised during these primitive hunts? We will never know, but the possibility remains.
From the 3rd millennium BCE onward, there is no longer any doubt. In Egypt, Crete, Turkey, Mesopotamia, and elsewhere, the Mediterranean world offers a multitude of paintings, sculptures, and other engravings depicting man and bull in combat. At Knossos, Crete, paintings of breathtaking beauty present us with the spectacle of young men leaping over bulls and outwitting their attacks. These acrobatic feats, performed during religious ceremonies, are called "votive games." In Egypt during the 15th century BCE, pharaohs captured bulls and then fought them from their chariots in vast enclosures called "paradises." In Greece, the myth of the Minotaur is based on the Cretan custom of capturing bulls and then using them in games and sacrifices.
Plato and later Herodotus refer to the practice of taurokathapsia in the territory that would become Andalusia. This involved chasing a bull on horseback and unseating it by sliding down onto its horns. This practice, discovered by Julius Caesar during his crossing of the Baetic Plain, was brought to Rome. On the sands of the Colosseum, these bestiaries fought the bull, both on horseback and on foot, sometimes even with their bare hands. These specialists were called Taurari.
These games, if we were to simply copy and paste them into the contemporary world, still exist. I'm thinking here of the Spanish recortadores , the Portuguese forcados , the Landes dodgers, or even our Camargue raseteurs.
In fact, today, bullfighting practices remain active far beyond the Franco-Iberian Peninsula. In India, for example, in the Tamil Nadu province, Jallikattu is practiced, where intrepid locals attempt to cling to the humps of zebu cattle. Similar games also exist in Madagascar, such as Savika, and especially in Latin America. Finally, one cannot overlook rodeo, wherever it is practiced. In bull riding, the cowboy, gaucho, vaquero, or jackaroo, depending on the country, mounts the wild bull. He is assisted by a character often dressed as a clown. These assistants' role is to attract the bull's attention when the rider is unseated. To do this, they use exactly the same technique as the recortadores, the Landes bullfighters, or the Minoans. No cape or muleta in their hands. No tricks. Only the body works. This is the oldest form of bullfighting. The most widely shared is also bullfighting with a clean body.
A bull, people playing with it… These are popular bullfights. And they have flourished around the Franco-Iberian Mediterranean for millennia.
Meanwhile, since the dawn of horsemanship, riders have hunted wild bulls. These hunts for sustenance also served as secondary training in the art of war. Indeed, what better sparring partner for a soldier than the bull? A formidable and aggressive opponent, present throughout Europe, it is the perfect partner. Numerous texts refer to this practice. One, for example, mentions Charlemagne jousting with bulls in the forests near Aachen.
Bullfighting, for its part, is the result of the convergence of these two bullfighting practices. Today, among all bullfighting activities, it is the most refined, the most structured, and the most regulated. It is the culmination of several centuries of evolution.