Help me to understand...?

Question

I realize that Hemingway spoke of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, and that this is a yearly event. I have often wondered when the event began, the historical signifance behind it, and if like so many other traditions, does it have a particular meaning that only someone from that part of the country would understand?
PLEASE, PLEASE, only serious answers. Nor do I wish to hear from anyone from PETA. I want only to know the history behind this event.

Answer 1

The Sanfermines began in the medieval period as a commercial fair and secular fiesta, using for that the dates of religious festivals and using dates of festivals much older such as those of the Basques and Romans. Beginning in the 13th century people concluded certain commercial affairs after the eve of the Feast of Saint John the Baptist, 23-24 June, coinciding with the beginning of summer. Because at these commercial festivals cattle merchants came into town with their animals, eventually bullfighting (corridas) came to be organized as a part of the tradition. Thus was born, sometime probably at the end of the sixteenth century, the genuine first Sanfermines.

Archives document the bull runnings only as far back as the late fourteenth century, but even if one does not know that the bull is a sacred animal in the Mediterranean world, or is unaware of the bull-dancers in Minoan frescoes, an unprejudiced outsider still may detect the remnants of an ancient pre-Christian ritual. At Pamplona, Saint Fermin – who was actually martyred at Amiens – is now sometimes said to have met his end by being dragged through the streets of Pamplona by bulls, a fate also attributed to his mentor, Saint Saturnin of Toulouse. Up to the fifteenth century, the festival was held on Saint Fermin's feast day, 25 September. The Pamplona fiesta was transferred to July in 1591.

Answer 2

The runnings start on July 7th, the day of Saint Fermin.
I don't know what's the meaning of it or how it started. I guess it's like other traditions where men try to prove themselves worthy of respect by risking their physical integrity doing dangerous stuff.

Answer 3

google it, dogpile.com it.

This is homework