During the eight centuries of the Spanish War of the Reconquest (711-1492 A.D.),
the knights, Moors and Christians, weary of killing one another, would
occasionally allow themselves a respite; but in order to avoid boredom, and also
to release their pugnacious instincts, they would compete in hunting wild-life
existing in the Iberian lands. Deer and other equally docile animals were easy
prey, and while a cornered bear or boar would occasionally put up a fight, it
was never a challenge for such valiant knights. However, the scenario changed
every time they faced the Iberian bull. This beautiful and awe-inspiring beast,
with its unique noble bravery would, when provoked, rather die fighting than
flee - in essence, transforming the hunt into an avid exchange in which the
bravest warriors could bring to light their courage. Perhaps a nobleman with an
entrepreneurial spirit thought about capturing several of these horned beasts,
taking them to the village, and recreating the thrill of the hunt so that the
knights could demonstrate their skill and win the admiration of their subjects.
Thus, in a remote corner of Medieval Spain, the beginning of what today is the
national Spanish spectacle of bullfighting was created.
The first historic bullfight, corrida, took place in Vera, Logroño, in 1133,
in honour of the coronation of king Alfonso VIII. From that point on, history is
full of instances in which kings organized corridas to commemorate important
events and to entertain their guests. After the Spanish War of the Reconquest,
the celebration of corridas expanded throughout Spain and became the outlet
where the noblemen demonstrated the zeal that allowed them to defeat the Moors.
Even the Emperor Charles I in Valladolid in 1527, and later King Philip IV took
part in the lancing of bulls in the bullfighting arenas,
(such
a the Plaza Mayor in Madrid), plazas de toros.
During the reign of King Philip II, Pope Pius V, appalled at the
unconscionable carnage of the bullfights, forbade the practice of the corridas.
The people, however, ignored the papal decree and continued to relish the fiesta
brava, forcing Pope Gregory VIII to recant the decree, following the advice of
the writer and mystic Fray Luis de León, who said "the bullfights are in
the blood of the Spanish people, and they cannot be stopped without facing grave
consequences."
With the arrival of the French Bourbon dynasty in Spain, the nobility gave up
the thrill of the arena for the pleasures of the royal court. As a result,
bullfighting was left to the plebeians who in turn enthusiastically took up to
its practice, and took it to heart as a symbol of something genuinely Spanish.
Bullfighting was transformed and democratised.
The
squire, on foot, became the master of the arena, today's matador, and the
knight, on horseback, the picador of the present time, undertook the secondary
role of helping to show the prowess of the squire who was once his servant. The
people, aware of the changing social hierarchy rendered an act of symbolic
social justice by allowing
Francisco
Romero, a man of humble origins, to become the first professional
bullfighter of historical significance in 1726. The people transformed Romero
from a simple man into a legend whose skills are still praised in popular songs
today. In Cossio's five volume encyclopedia, Los Toros, the most
complete history of bullfighting, we find many notable characters, who followed
in Romero's footsteps; among them
Rafael
Molina (Lagartijo), Belmonte and Manolete, three
outstanding matadors, who elevated the toreo to great heights. Each
introduced changes that converted what once was a primitive and cruel encounter,
the Medieval hunt, into the skilful
art
form which is practiced today in the bullfighting arenas of Spain, France,
Portugal, and in the Latin American republics of Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala,
Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.
Let's look at the nature of this cultural expression so innately Spanish.
What is bullfighting? Is it barbarism, a sport rooted in the hunt or, an
artistic expression similar to the dance? There have been many different
opinions, often coloured by the cultural background of the person expressing his
or her thoughts. However, most Spanish people agree that it should not be
considered a sport. Indeed, the translation of the Spanish term torear
into the English word bullfighting, shows the prejudicial view of this event in
the Anglo world. A person would have to be insane to fight a 1,200 pound beast;
the objective of the bullfight is, in fact, the opposite: to avoid a brutal
confrontation by using the human attributes of intelligence, grace, and
elegance. In a sport, the important thing is to win; the sport fan is satisfied
with the accumulation of points, hits, and records. In full fighting, there is
no scorekeeping. Satisfaction is implicit in the expected triumph of human
cunning over brute force; a bullfight fun screams olé not because the
matador has won, but because of the manner, the form, the grace, the wit, the
dexterity of the torero performing a veronica, a natural, or any
other pass with the capote or muleta, as the piece of cloth that he holds in his
hand is called. The trophies awarded to the bullfighter are often nothing more
than the people's momentary show of emotion; it is not unusual for a matador who
may have only performed one artful move in the entire event to be the true
winner of the day. For just as in painting, singing, or dancing, the quality
that made that move special cannot be quantified or described. The appreciation
of its worth is intuitive.
Nevertheless, based on my reading on the subject, my practical experience as
a matador, and my intuition, I define bullfighting as a type of dramatic ballet
dance with death. As he would in dancing, the bullfighter must control his
movements maintaining the rhythm, not of music, but of danger. On stage, a
faux-pas means an interruption of artistic flow; in the bullfighting arena, a
mistake could mean the death of the star of this drama.
Between the
bullfighter and
the bull there should always be a relationship based on distance. This
plastic art form is based on the fact that the matador's dexterity makes him the
creator and master of this relationship, instead of allowing the bull a chance
to take command. In theory, this artistic event is simple, the difficulty lies
in carrying out the task. The bull, by his very nature, attacks everything that
moves; the man, unrelenting, standing tall, exhibiting elegance and poise,
should move the cape in such a way that the bull will pursue it without ever
catching it, and at the same time, in order to enhance the feeling of danger, he
should direct the trajectory of the attacking animal as close to his body as he
dares. Not so close, however, that in order to avoid being injured or killed, he
should have to briskly step aside, because by doing so he will disturb the
fluidity of the movement. Referring to this skill, a Spanish critic of this art
form once said: "Anyone can bullfight if he knows the technique, anyone who
has courage, the difficulty lies in being able to bullfight like Belmonte or
Manolete as if the bulls were made of glass and one were afraid to break
them."
