This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Bear baiting in England became more popular after the Norman Conquest in 1066, new research shows. The study by Cardiff University and the University of Nottingham brings together archaeological analysis of bear bones and archival records to show the prevalence of the animals in England and northern France during medieval times.
The study is published in the journal Society & Animals. It has long been known that bear baiting—the act of setting dogs on tethered bears to fight—was organized for Queen Elizabeth I and took place in Bankside, London, in Shakespeare's day. These latest findings show it was widespread much earlier—approximately 400 years before.
There is even an image of a bear-baiting scene in the lower margin of the Bayeux Tapestry. Although wild bears were native to Great Britain, they became extinct by the Roman period. Researchers believe that brown bears were imported into England from Europe, with remains confirmed from as far as Colchester and Carlisle.
Liam Lewis, based at Cardiff University's School of Global Humanities, said, "The combination of literary, archival, archaeological and visual analysis enables us to definitively conclude that bear baiting was an established activity in England by the twelfth century. "The lack of bear remains from live animals in England prior to the Norman Conquest, and their appearance in London and North Yorkshire immediately afterward, suggests that there was an increase in the importation of live bears to England after that time "Our research demonstrates that the activity of baiting, while associated with marriages, aristocratic pastimes and raucous festivities in medieval stories and sermons, was clearly popular entertainment among the general public as well, with bear bones indicative of live animals being found in a number of English towns. This is despite bears needing to be imported to England from overseas and therefore presumably carrying costs for importation, travel and sustenance." Researchers have long looked at images of dancing and performing bears in the margins of medieval manuscripts and wondered whether it was common for people to encounter bears in the Middle Ages.
This is the first detailed study bringing together archaeological and documentary evidence that shows a widespread pattern of owning bears and moving them around England as far back as the time of William the Conqueror. Bear bones from the period have been identified at 10 sites in England and France, with a new date on a shoulder blade from Richmond demonstrating bears were in northern England immediately after the Norman Conquest. Documents such as the Domesday Book, historical records and medieval manuscripts were also surveyed for information about medieval bears.
Professor Hannah O'Regan of the University of Nottingham's Department of Classics and Archaeology said, "Bear baiting was an important social and economic activity in early modern England, and here we demonstrate that it has much longer roots. "This is the first study of its medieval origins, and the new radiocarbon date on the bear from Richmond, North Yorkshire, shows that bears were widespread very early in the medieval period." The authors worked with The Yorkshire Museum to sample the Richmond scapula for radiocarbon dating. The scapula was dated by Dr.
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