The modern French Bulldog breed descends directly from the dogs of the Molossians, an ancient Greek tribe. The dogs were spread throughout the ancient world by Phoenician traders. British Molossian dogs were developed into the English Mastiff. A sub-breed of the Mastiff was the Bullenbeisser, a type of dog used for bull-baiting. Blood sports such as bull-baiting were outlawed in England in 1835, leaving these 'Bulldogs' unemployed; however, they had been bred for non-sporting reasons since at least 1800, so their use changed from a sporting breed to a companion breed. To reduce their size, some Bulldogs were crossed with terriers, ratter dogs from the 'slums' of England. By 1850, the Toy Bulldog had become common in England and appeared in conformation shows when they began around 1860. These dogs weighed around 16–25 pounds (7.3–11.3 kg), although classes were also available at dog shows for those who weighed under 12 pounds (5.4 kg).