Bear baiting is the process of intensely feeding bears deliberately to fatten them up and make them return to the same feeding spot repeatedly. The bear gardens consisted of protective walls around them, flint which is made of stones. The Role of Animals in Shakespeare's Time Sports. Hunting was very popular among the upper class and the royalty; it was a particular favorite of Queen Elizabeth I. One feature of Elizabethan society was the enjoyment of blood sports, or cruel sports. Bear-baiting was very popular in medieval and early modern times, attracting everyone from servants to royalty. London: W. & R. Chambers, 1883. This quote shows the general idea of bear baiting. It relates to the topic of bear baiting because it is an original quote that again gives the idea of bear baiting. Even some had about 1000 seats. This quote is from ,The Book of Days, a book written during Elizabethan times. You can read more about Elizabethan England in the theatre section. Entertainment in Shakespeare's Time. Reference Chambers, Robert. This consisted of a bear being chained to a post and a pack of ''wild'' dogs being set off on the bear. Bear-baiting was a popular spectacle for all kinds of people: both Henry VIII and Elizabeth 1 enjoyed the “sport” in which the bear was chained to a post to defend itself against the attack of mastiff dogs. The book of days: a miscellany of popular antiquities. Bear Baiting:In the late 1500's and early 1600's Bear baiting was a popular form of entertainment. Bear-baiting was particularly popular in 16th- and 17th-century England. /B> The main role of animals in Elizabethan England was in sports. Single or multiple dogs were set loose to bite or worry the bears. In England many large groups of bears were kept expressly for the purpose. This makes the bears gain excess weight and create a pattern for big game hunters to exploit. Bearbaiting, alternatively bullbaiting, the setting of dogs on a bear or a bull chained to a stake by the neck or leg. Dog and horse racing were both very popular forms of entertainment. Shakespeare alludes to bear-baiting in Macbeth: "But, bear-like, I must fight the course" (5.7.2). During the fight people would bet on which animal would survive. The famous ‘Paris Garden’… Of these the most popular were bull-baiting, cockfighting and bear baiting. Much of … On Sunday 13 January 1583 one of the bear-baiting arenas that had stood on the Thames’s south bank collapsed. Dogs were then unleashed into the pit to torment the wild animal. Cruel sports. How to cite this article: Mabillard, Amanda. The sport involved chaining a bear to a stake either by its leg or by its neck. Bear Baiting Bear baiting is a blood sport that was very popular during the Elizabethan era in England. 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