Cock-fighting in Belgium: About the history of daily life and the preservation of living patrimony

Cock-fights have had a long tradition in Belgium. Few animals had such an immense impact on the recreational world of our ancestors, a phenomenon unknown to historians of daily life and most readers as well. Most publications deal with animals bred for fighting without mentioning any specifications. Furthermore the atrocious nature of cock-fighting is emphasized. The current concern for the well-being of animals, anyway fully appropriate, is an important reason why the breeding of fighting-cocks is put in a bad light. But this leads up to the imminent extinction of three Belgian fighting-cock races. The author wants to attract the readers' attention to this problem. That is why he deals with the history of cock-fighting in Western Europe, more specifically in Flanders and the North of France and he dwells on the history of the fighting-fowl as well. He ends by remarking that fighting-cocks are an essential part of our cultural patrimony.