Bear+Baiting

__By: awarren7ha__ Picture a bloody, biting, clawing, tossing, tumbling, roaring fight. This is what bear baiting, a form of entertainment from about the twelfth century to the nineteenth century, would have sounded like.

Bear baiting ‍is "the setting of dogs on a bear [that is] chained to a stake by the neck or leg" (Bear). They “fastened the bear’s legs to a post by chain, then set fierce dogs on [the bear]” (Ridley 269). The dog’s job was to tear the bear’s throat. The bear would try to defend himself. The bear could sometimes manage to kill the dog with his paws. In those days, “bears roamed the English forests and were captured and placed in charge of a bear ward” (Ridley 269). A bear ward was the person who watched and kept the bears. Many people enjoyed watching bear baiting.

Bear baiting was popular in all classes, but especially the upper class. Kings and nobles, “kept their own bear wards" and watched bear baiting a lot in the gardens at their palaces (Ridley 269). “Henry VII and Elizabeth I enjoyed bear baiting” (Ridley 269). Elizabeth I enjoyed bear baiting so much that she would sit in her garden and watch it for hours at a time (Ridley 269).

‍People would go to the famous London arena, Bear Garden, to watch bear baiting. Bear Garden could hold up to 1000 people, and it was almost always full (Ridley 270). At Bear Garden, people would bet on which animal would live. They would bet a lot of money on bear baiting.‍

Another Renaissance sport similar to bear baiting was bull baiting. It was more common than bear baiting because it was cheaper. Bull baiting is where “trained bulldogs attack tethered bulls” (Britannica). They would tie a bull to a stake in the middle of the ring. The bull would be “baited for almost an hour” (Ridley 270). Bull baiting also had a major arena in London. It was called the Bull Ring Theatre. Bull baiting is just as much of a fight as bear baiting, just cheaper to do because bears cost so much.

Bear and bull baiting were both very popular during the Renaissance and they both had many viewers. People during the Renaissance loved to watch these sports and would pay high prices to see them. Many famous people that lived during the Renaissance loved watching this sport. Bear baiting and bull baiting were very popular and played a role in the history of the Renaissance.

__Works Cited__

Bear baiting.jpg. N.d. Photograph. Wikipedia

Bear Baiting. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2012. <[]>.

Ridley, Jasper. A Brief History of The Tudor Age. London: Constable, 2002.

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