The Bull: A Cultural History

Tamed more than 10,000 years ago, the bull remained the most wild domestic animal. In all times and across all cultures, the bull symbolized energy and fertility, and for many ancient peoples the bull was a terrifying deity. However, Christianity, from the very beginning of its existence, began to fight bull cults; as a result of this influence, the bull became a peaceful, calm, hardworking animal—and over time fully moved into pastoral landscapes. Only much later, during the industrial revolution era, does the bull regain strength in culture, becoming a symbol of power, industriousness, primordial forces, and the earth itself. This book by the world-famous historian Michel Pastoureau tells the story of this evolution—from cultural development of the bull’s image to artistic representations and its impact on humankind. Michel Pastoureau is a world-renowned medieval historian, a specialist in heraldry, researching cultural and symbolic history of Europe. Pastoureau is a professor at the Sorbonne and at Paris’s École pratique des hautes études, author of popular books on the cultural history of flowers and images of animals.