Southwark bear-baiting arena

The Southwark bear-bating arena is a venue outside of London where the English sport of bear-bating, in which a bear battles ten mastiffs to the death, was watched in the sixteenth century. In 1597 Lope de Vega brought his latest mistress, Nell Lumley, to observe the sport. While there she ran into another mistress, Martha Brock. The confrontation between the two caused both to leave de Vega.

A year later, de Vega and a number of other Spanish soldiers were imprisoned in the arena following the fall of Queen Isabella and King Albert after Robert Cecil's rebellion against the Hapsburg monarchs and the restoration of Queen Elizabeth.