The first known bull cults were around 1500 B.C in the Greek island of Crete, the rite of this cult consisted in jumping over the bulls. We can trace the origins of Spanish bullfighting back to 711 A.D. This is when the first bullfight took place in celebration for the crowning of King Alfonso VIII. There are some differences between the bullfights then and now. In earlier times the bullfigther was on a horse, so that common people couldn’t participate because only knights had horses. Bullfighting was originally a sport for the aristocracy and took place on horseback. King Felipe V banned the aristocracy from taking part because he thought that it was a bad example to the public. After the ban commoners accepted the sport as their own and, since they could not afford horses, developed the practice of dodging the bulls on foot, unarmed. This transformation occurred around 1724.