Guess what? The reforms were based on the suggestions of the Italian scientist Luigi Lilio, with some modifications by the Jesuit mathematician and astronomer Christopher Clavius. This bull, the story goes, declared cats as the instruments of Satan, and set Medieval Europe on a great cat purge, with special attention paid to black cats, who were particularly Luciferian. I AGREE. It wouldnt be the first time Catholicism has decided an animal once worshipped by pagans needed to be rebranded as Satanic (see: goats). We may not be that much superior to that time frame, but we have learned a thing or two since then, I hope. Konrad has evidence of people worshipping Lucifer and black cats, he also seems to possess some sort of confession. He also became the first Pope to appoint inquisitors to actively root out such heretics. Gregory IX (Wikimedia Commons) Pope Gregory IX was a pretty good pope by medieval standards. Gregory believed him. His pontificate was notable for the papacy's attempts to intervene in the quarrels between Emperor Louis the Pious and his sons. But myths often transcend evidence, dont they? After all, the devil was already at work through heretics. In the ensuing years huge numbers of cats (especially black cats) and even their owners were killed across Europe in fear that they were evil witches and linked to Satan. Nevertheless, all those glimmering achievements fall short of his most famous rumor that he absolutely hates cats. He was born Ugolino di Conti but took the name Gregory when he becamethe pope. These new, heretical beliefs varied. The papal inquisition rained down justice on heretics, the people who spoke out against church canon. ), Then, in 1484, another pope, Innocent VIII, issued apapal bullthat condemned to death all cats and their human companions. While the papal bull was sent to several rulers such as Emperor Frederick II and King Henry of Germany, the central prominent figure that assumes that task very seriously is one Konrad von Marburg. Cats and the Black Plague. Interesly, June 7, 2016, The spooky history of how cats bewitched us, Abigail Tucker, The Washington Post, October 31, 2016, The History of the cat in the Middle Ages (Part 2): The Black cat as the devil in Christian sects, L A Vocelle, The Great Cat: The Cat in History, Art, and Literature. When an animal is removed from the ecosystem (especially out of fear) it usually causes a chain reaction. You cant even accept that cats may have offered some protection from the plague. That, or he was a true believer, or both. Now this seems like a story of immense fiction but as it happened so recently in this modern time we have documented proof this is true so why is it so hard to believe the Pope and cat story? Unfortunately, modern DNA testing allowed us to dig into the causes of death from aging corpses. (Accessed June 1, 2018). Your email address will not be published. A witch riding a broomstick with a black cat. But, despite all the people who make their livings as cat psychologists, cats will just be cats. Ive written before about whycats are strange including the reasons cats like to walk all over you, knead you and are afraid of cucumbers. So as you say, cats couldnt have contained bubonic plague. Others are less sure. Vermin did a number on harvests, but cats were natures perfect solution: they literally cant eat anything that isnt meat, which means that they pose no risk to the crops. The Vox (or Voice in Rama, after the city of Ramah in ancient Judah) beseeched the archbishops Mainz and Hildesheim to lend their full support to Conrad in his efforts to root out the cult and its adherents. Another belief is that the plague wasairborne. For example The bull does not, however, dictate that Catholics across Europe kill all cats to stop Satan. The cat thing is a footnote in his story. Firstly, they are greeted by an abnormally large frog or toad, whose behind they must kiss and then a man of fearful pallor and thinness whose task was to suck out every last remnant of faith in the Catholic Church from their soul. For example, 79 medieval cats were mysteriously slain in Cambridge, England, by the townsfolk in the 13th century. Though the Nazca Lines themselves werent discovered until 1926, when air travel started to become common, its been a World Heritage site since 1994, and is famous for its humming bird and astronaut geoglyphs. As mentioned, this Pope initiated what has been described as the feline Holocaust 3 in Europe. There were probably several strains of plague spreading through Europe. The popes were all hypocrytical, bastards. For years there was a debate if the Black Death and the Bubonic Plague were the same, adding speculation to the rat spreading theory. Even today, the police department of Salem, Massachusetts, where witch trials executed 20 women for witchcraft, uses the image of a witch on a broomstick on theirpolice cruisers. Its also true that there was a pope at the time who was not a fan of cats, who banned them. Thanks for publishing! By 1198 under the reign of his cousin, Pope Innocent III, Ugolino was named the cardinal deacon of St. Eustachius and quickly rose as one of the most prominent cardinals. In other words, the Europeans were murdering their best ally in the war against the pandemic. AKSHAY. OVERPOPULATION OF HUMANS IS THE RUINATION OF THE PLANET. I suppose its possible that Vox in Rama simply set the stage for a cat-killing trend that would, generations later, result in the Black Death. Is the Vox in Rama authentic? Indeed the belief that the torture or killing of cats could break spells continued across northern Europe. Just want to add that I like pretty much all animals, even dogs, but I am a cat person. Both, however, rendered the Catholic Church redundant. In the Middle Ages, devil-fearing Christians killed cats, which carried the unintended consequence of increasing the rat population and the spread of the Black Death. But today, the association between cats and Halloween persist, perhaps ironically because spurious associations between cats and Satan worshiping that the Catholic Church pushed, some 800 years ago. While there is no evidence that cats in medieval England were persecuted, their mousing skills were likened to the devils ability to catch souls, with the fifteenth-century merchant William Caxton remarking how the devil playeth ofte with the synnar, lyke as the catte doth with the mous. Some historians believe that the persecutions across Europe so depleted cat numbers that mouse- and rat-catching by cats diminished- one of the reasons why the Bubonic Plague took such a deadly hold in Europe during the fourteenth century. Pope Gregory IX was a pretty good pope by medieval standards. The Vox described the depraved rituals of the cult in detail, portraying the devil worshipped by the witches as a shadowy half cat and half man figure. In a papal bull of 1233 he denounced the black cat as diabolical. ALL ANIMALS ARE BEAUTIFUL, EVERY SPECIES KNOWN IS A JOY TO BEHOLD, EVERY ONE, RIGHT DOWN TO THE HIPPO, THE PIGS, EQUINES, PACHYDERMS , FELINES, CANINES, BOVINES. The author provides citations for his claims. There are two things we need to shed light on; whether Gregory IX endorse the newly-coined cathunt and whether the cathunt directly correlates with the black plague that happens 100 years after. On a personal level, my parents taught me the value of travel when I was young, and since then,Ive been an avid traveler I have visited 20 countries. In my home, I use cat statuettes as bookends, and have various other representations of these felines throughout my home. In an era when unknown phenomena seemed like they could only be explained by powerful deities, it seemed only natural to the Egyptians to worship kitty cats. And each time it hit Europe again, it appears to have come from Asia. Wikimedia Commons. Forgive us! says the master, and the one next to him repeats this, a third responding, We know, master! A fourth says And we must obey. 4, So whats up with this? Which brings us back to Pope Innocent VIIIs 1484 declaration that the cat was the devils favourite animal and idol of all witches., The cat was the devils favourite animal and idol of all witches. Pope Innocent VIII. Apparently snakes and scorpions were threats too. Nazca, a culture that lived in what is now Peru, etched a 37-meter-long geoglyph of a cat in the coast plain some 2,000 years ago. Home chairman meow wisdom Why Cats Were (Wrongly) Blamed for the Black Plague in Europe. I came just to quickly peruse the article in attempts to finally finding out whether or not there was validity to the Pope being the plausible cause of the Black Plague in hopes that he did indeed cause it, since today is Sunday and when I refuse to go to Church with my grandmother I could hit her with this, and it could be a legitimate reason for me not attending Church because the Pope caused millions of people to die from the Black Death/Plague, and I am in no support of mass killing. But in the final analysis cats just arent dogs. Wierd Tales, Vol 36. Heretical beliefs were on the rise at the time, . Since that time, black cats have symbolized bad luck, or a curse, to people not only in Europe but throughout the world. The nauseating details of the cult initiation process plunge Europe into a manhunt of felines a cathunt. Cats are awesome rodent hunters. People in medieval Ypres, Belgium, had a festival called Kattenstoet where theyd throw cats from the belfry tower to symbolize the killing of evil spirits. STOP W/ THE BABIES ALREADY. In Belgium, an entire festival, Kattenstoet, is dedicated to throwing cats from buildings and burning them in the streets. Poor cats though. In 2021, I dont think that most Catholics or people of other religious believe that cats are evil. Pope Gregory IX, who held the papacy from 1227 to 1241, most definitely fell in the second camp largely because he believed that the fluffy hairball-hackers embodied Lucifer himself. People living during this time lived in constant fear of death. Learn how cats first spread around the world. One small fact you havent taken account of here. Cats were later blamed for the Black Death (1346-1352), though rats were actually the culprit. The Bull arose in response to rumors of satanic cults in Germany by the areas grand inquisitor, Conrad of Marburg. Then, when the rats came bearing the Plague, there were no mousers left to keep the disease in check.3. Elsewhere in Europe, the legacy of cat killings passed into folk practices. While there is no evidence that cats in medieval England were persecuted, their mousing skills were likened to the devils ability to catch souls, with the fifteenth-century merchant William Caxton remarking how the devil playeth ofte with the synnar, lyke as the catte doth with the mous. Some historians believe that the persecutions across Europe so depleted cat numbers that mouse- and rat-catching by cats diminished- one of the reasons why the Bubonic Plague took such a deadly hold in Europe during the fourteenth century. Over many centuries, Egyptians found that a cat was the one creature that could make the world safe, according to Purina. And whatever else fleas like to nosh on.8. Id already discounted that idea. In the 13th Century a wave of anti-cat sentiment swept through Europe, with religious leaders labeling cats as evil and diabolical, including Pope Gregory IX who did so in 1232 AD. Did Pope Gregorys comfort with the law cause him tooverstephis station as the pope? Great read! Plague. Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/Is-the-Vox-in-Rama-authentic-What-effects-did-it-have, PetMD. When an animal is removed from the ecosystem (especially out of fear) it usually causes a chain reaction. However, history shows that the Black Death, which ravaged Europe in the mid 1300s, was actually caused by rats and the fleas on them. Share this article your friends will love it too! After food, clothing and medicine, the fourth item is cosmetics and the fifth is pets, he said, referring to a study on where most peoples income goes. Good read, thanks! Lets see if the math adds up. Henry was acquitted when he appealed to the bishop of Mainz and later that year Marburg himself was mysteriously murdered- probably at Henrys behest. Its disgusting the way people treat and exploit these great animals. However, historian Donald Engel believes that the Vox acted as a death warrant for the cat. Theres a little bit about a cat in the third paragraph but what Gregory is really talking about here is a ritual carried out by a Satanic sect, as reported by an overzealous inquisitor named Conrad von Marburg. Public Domain. And though its unlikely that historys most pro-natural environment pope will encourage cat bonfires, he does suggest we take a step away from the dog ice cream and cat outfits in the pet aisle. I live in a city, so I have plenty of experience with both cats and mice. It was Gregorys past as an astute lawyer that connected him to his acts of justice within the church. So a thing about the inquisition was that they would torture people to get confessions and such because that's a good way to make people say what you want to hear. A witch and her cat. Also, in 1182, to aid the churchs vendetta against the Cathars, the French theologian Alain de Lille falsely claimed that the sect took its name from the cat instead of the real source, the Greek katharoi or pious ones. The population of Europe drops from 80 million to around 30 million by the time the black death subsides, some cities even saw a decrease of more than 70% of their population, few, such as a village called Quob, lost their entire population. And it gets repeated because it feels right to many people - it makes our ancestors look stupid and so make. Tying the cat to satanic worship was a natural progression- and one that would have dire consequences. But feline-human relations deteriorated sometime in the early 1230s (CE) when Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull called Vox in Rama. This seems to add up for the modern reader. According to Pope Gregory IX, cats were the embodiment of the devil himself. Much like modern-day Chicago, Egypt had a rat problem. Though, really, they were dealing with a cat infestation and decided to make it an excuse to drink. Ugolino assumes the mantle of the pope immediately in the papal election of 1227 after the death of Pope Honorius III (Conrad of Urach was chosen initially, but declined). 1999. In the meantime, accusations of witchcraft began to spread amongst the ordinary people, as a way of settling grudges or seizing property and cats began to be used as proof of satanic association. Cats that I know are devoted to their humans my dog runs off as soon as the door is open, my cat sits on my knee, engages in conversation with me, stays closeby our home, and kills lots of mice, bringing them to me rather than eating them cats keep down rodent populations for farmers and humans who store and eat grain etc definitely as handy as dogs. Retrieved from https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=141316, ONeill, Tim. As people began to get sick and the Black Plague began spreading, more and more cats were killed. Thank you for your cooperation.You can sign-up to the Membership any time to remove the adds and enjoy the content with no interruptions, 2 popes and a plague are to blame for burning felines at the stake. Furthermore, several more black plagues would hit the world in the 18th century or so, and it's unlikely that the cat population still suffers the cathunt after hundred of years. 23 April 2018, Vox in Rama, Pope Gregory IX, uoregon.edu, Conrad of Marburg, Kevin Knight, Catholic Encyclopaedia, 2017, Was there a great Cat Massacre in the Middle Ages? We have detected that you are using extensions to block ads. This info on Pope Gregory the ASSWHOLE is just another scandal caused by a Pope. The cat throwing. Not a cat person? Wildcat7 Youd rather see an animal domesticated for thousands of years in the wild doing what they are meant to do than indoors as pets? Homeless Cats Recruited to Fight Rising Tide of Rats, Erika Engelhaupt National Geographical, September 29, 2017. ANIMALS ARE BECOMING EXTINCT BECAUSE OF THE GREAT AMOUNT OF NEEDLESS BABIES BEING BORN. The plague spread so easily that everyone back in the medieval age believes that the plague transfer via smell and air. He therefore gave his official blessing to the widespread persecution of cats across Europe. As it went into the fourth and fifth years ! All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. The fleas just love cat blood so much more than ours. Some believed that the disappearance of those cats helped rats spread the bubonic plague aka the Black Death that killed millions of people in the 1300s. Without them, pests would run wild, and not just rats. The black plague ravaged countless European cities around a century after the demise of Pope Gregory IX. At length, when the novice has come forward, [he] is met by a man of wondrous pallor who has black eyes and is so emaciated [and] thin that since his flesh has been wasted, seems to have remaining only skin drawn over bone. Pope Gregory IX How did this come about? The Sphinx being the most obvious representation of their reverence of cats, Egyptians also covered their walls with images ofregal-lookingcats and made fine statues of them too. Gregory was a reluctant pontiff- and not just because of his age. Which means that killing off the rats main predators was probably not the best idea. On January 23, 1229, he sent messages to Riga, Lubeck, Sweden, to Gotland with an appeal to begin . Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/ehr/article-abstract/CXXII/498/1075/457108/The-Black-Death-in-Egypt-and-England-A-Comparative?redirectedFrom=fulltext, Kattenstoet. Reply . No one can say for sure how many cats were killed because of the association made between them and witchcraft by the Vox in Rama. Between 1347 and 1352, some 100 million people died of the Plague, representing almost half of Europes population. As a strategic communicator, I juggle many balls but Im a writer first. The purpose of the papal bull Vox in Rama, was to condemn a cult that had allegedly popped up in the Rhinelandand the bull was specifically sent to the city of Mainz. (2017, February 6). Gregory was a reluctant pontiff- and not just because of his age. The Obscene Kiss, Wood engraving from the 1608 edition of the Compendium Maleficarum. We know there was a massive reduction in cat populations at the time because of this, so its plausible to make the connection. (As a side note, the festival continues in modern Belgium but nowKattenstoethonors felines with a parade that features cute effigies of cats, but I digress. That evil came to be neatly personified in the form of black cats that were beaten to death to purge the new season of evil spirits. This isa cautionary tale to all you cat haters out there. Honestly, I feel like even thinking that the cathunt resulted or directly influence the black plague is a bit of a stretch. The Bubonic plague was carried not by rats themselves but their fleas; fleas which could just as easily transfer to dogs- and cats. The Churchs feline foibles didnt stop with Gregory, however. His condemnation of cats may not be responsible for the spread of black death, but it's definitely connected to the decline in cat populations at the time, and the proliferation of rat populations. The mass killing of those docile beautiful creatures is despicable. One of these was the sparrow! The bull called upon the bishops of Mainz and Hildesheim to lend Conrad their full support in rooting out these witches. After Pope Gregory IX associated cats with devil worship, cats throughout Europe were exterminated in droves. In those days, papal inquisitors extracted confessions from prisoners that they worshiped the devil and his black cat by torturing them vigorously. For example, 79 medieval cats were mysteriously slain in Cambridge, England, by the townsfolk in the 13th century. The PBS documentary pointed out that cats dont have the musculature in their faces to reproduce human-like facial expressions the way dogs do, which is probably the main reason people think they are aloof and why they think dogs are so much more companionable (cause we love things that are more like us). But still, cultural images of cats being a marker of femininity didnt sprout fromVogue,any more than the idea that cats are plain evil stem fromSports Illustrated. While the fact is pretty obscure on whether the papal bull is directly influenced by Konrad, he is known as a zeal that is set on to burn every last heretic. One should not direct them the affection due only to persons.. What he did caused the persecution of domestic and stray cats for 500 years. As was to be expected of a former angel The upper part of his body from the hips upward shines as brightly as the sun. However, his fall from grace was encapsulated by his lower body where his skin is coarse and covered with fur like a cat.. Statues of black cats dont come to life, and you sure as sh*t cant get a cat to walk backwards and let you kiss its butthole.5. As one might have predicted, thereafter, mass slaughters of cats blanked Europe. When I graduated college,I began living my own dream as a reporter for a news media outlet. While there appears to be no evidence that Pope Gregory IX ever told people to kill cats, there have been smaller historical examples of Medieval folks killing cats for weird reasons. (Ive decided not the repost the link here). However, amongst the warped fantasies were some bare facts from past beliefs which lent themselves to the dark image of witchcraft the church was attempting to conjure. Those arrested by Conrad, therefore, had only two options: admit to heresy and spend the rest of their lives as a known former heretic or burn. Some historians have forgiven the rats. Since the ninth century AD, the Canon Episcopi of the Catholic Church had deemed belief in witchcraft to be a heresy in itself. People like to dump on the Middle Ages for being Europes cultural and technological nadir, especially compared to the surrounding Classical and Renaissance periods. People banged drums and kept the sparrow in the air not permitting them to land until they died of exhaustion! The Black Death or Black Plague was the original zombie apocalypse. Conrad had initially been involved in the persecution of the Cathars and enjoyed significant successes during the Albigensian crusade of 1209 -1229. Cats were beloved by Egyptians. The Bubonic plague was carried not by rats themselves but their fleas; fleas which could just as easily transfer to dogs- and cats. He said they ate too much grain and it was the responsibility of every person to kill a sparrow if they saw one and they were not to give up until they achieved it !!.. But this means that a papal bull that didnt tell people to wipe out cats and was only sent to Mainz somehow influenced the majority of people throughout Europe to kill off all their cats, and to stick to it over the course of the next 115 years. And thats the official take on Halloween from theVatican News. Enter the ancestors of Garfield the Cat. Its a little school in England that was established in the year 1096. Some people are sick. The only problem is that this story probably isnt true. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'historyofyesterday_com-box-3','ezslot_6',113,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofyesterday_com-box-3-0');uper-spies James Bond and Austin Powers dont have cats. The Remains of Dead US Presidents Will Be Sent Into Space, The Man Who Surgically Brought Back Unicorns. Thanks for writing this! That evil came to be neatly personified in the form of black cats that were beaten to death to purge the new season of evil spirits. Then, there is the fact that cats just arent good ratters-, which is why dogs; especially terriers are employed to catch rodents. April 1st was originally celebrated as the New Year day, until in 1582 Pope . Good luck keeping them down for half a millennium.6, Maybe the biggest hole in the cat theory comes from the history of the plague. 1999. The truth of the plague variations that wiped out Europe is, they were the results of a perfect storm. In the meantime, accusations of witchcraft began to spread amongst the ordinary people, as a way of settling grudges or seizing property and cats began to be used as proof of satanic association. Cats were seen as agents of the devil, throughout much of history, and slaughtered again centuries later in New England during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The Vox in Rama encouraged Conrad of Marburg to overreach himself and that same year he accused Henry II, Count of Sayn of taking part in satanic orgies. The flea that bit humans was specific to the black rat anyway. Pope Innocent VIII came to power in the late 1400s, during the throes of witch crusades in Western Europe. With this thought in mind, I spent two years at CIA, where I was a supervisor in the Public Communications Branch at the Office of Public Affairs. While in power, Pope Gregory IX declared that cats were to be associated with devil worship and had them exterminated. While I cannot say for certain that things didnt happen this way, there appear to be holes. Interesly, June 7, 2016, The spooky history of how cats bewitched us, Abigail Tucker, The Washington Post, October 31, 2016, The History of the cat in the Middle Ages (Part 2): The Black cat as the devil in Christian sects, L A Vocelle, The Great Cat: The Cat in History, Art, and Literature. After years of consultation and research, Pope Gregory XIII signed a papal bull in February 1582 promulgating the reformed calendar that came to be known as the Gregorian calendar. Pope Gregory IX (1147-1241) was probably the world's worst cat hater or at least he did the most damage to cats. Finally, even if cat numbers were vastly reduced, they were not wiped out. Fleas tend to prefer cat blood. A bit hard to read when YOU ARE SCREAMING AT ME though! The same evil popes who say God created all creatures of the earth, yet they, wantonly murdered these defenseless creatures of the earth that God created. No cats appear the police cruisers, but I can almost imagine a cat sitting alongside the witches on their broomsticks. Denmarks Fastelavn held at the start of lent was based on the premise that for spring to begin, evil had to be banished. His condemnation of cats may not be responsible for the spread of black death, but its definitely connected to the decline in cat populations at the time, andthe proliferation of rat populations. A quick Google search shows that a felinefemme fatalecat mask is conveniently available on Amazon for only $25.22. We know they had terrier like dogs in Medieval Europe and that they were used as ratters. It kept happening, lets say once per generation, until the 1700s. THE RELIGIOUS SECTOR ARE OUT OF THEIR MINDS W/ THEIR POOR REASONING OF ENCOURAGING BIG FAMILIES. This cruel practice continued until 1817 although the Kattenstoet continues to this day- involving stuffed cats instead. Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges pilgrims during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Nov. 4, 2009. Cats breed quickly, know how to survive on their own, and are hard to catch. https://owlcation.com/humanities/Cats-and-the-Black-Plague, https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/ravens-memory-unfair-trade/, http://historycollection.co/thou-shalt-not-suffer-a-cat-to-live-why-pope-gregory-ixs-vox-in-rama-implicated-cats-in-devil-worship/, https://www.quora.com/Is-the-Vox-in-Rama-authentic-What-effects-did-it-have, https://academic.oup.com/ehr/article-abstract/CXXII/498/1075/457108/The-Black-Death-in-Egypt-and-England-A-Comparative?redirectedFrom=fulltext, https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Death, http://www.kattenstoet.be/en/page/497-511/the-cat-throwing.html, https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/eight-witchcraft-myths/, https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/plague/factsheet.asp, Abee, Holle. If they were dumb, then that means were comparatively smart. Lead bulla of Gregory IX. As I understand it, people used small dogs for rat hunting. There is little real evidence for this. But, was it because of cats andrats? Check out France, rats on the street, brave-pigeons without flight reflex, but no cats. Not sure I am convinced either way, but people (especially those who prefer dogs) do like to hate on cats, so it is not a stretch to believe that they have been killed en masse in any era. Granted, Im sure it was easier to get into back then, but thats right in the Medieval period. BELIEVE! Cat burning became a favorite medieval pastime in France, where cats were suspended over fires in cages or doused and set alight- even chased on fire through the streets by cat chasers. *Coupons: Check out our coupons for stores like Checks Unlimited and CheapOair! This cruel practice continued until 1817 although the Kattenstoet continues to this day- involving stuffed cats instead. Meanwhile, they need that meat on the regular and know how to get it, so theyre great at killing and eating vermin. 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But their fleas ; fleas which could just as easily transfer to dogs- and.! Dogs in medieval Europe and that they worshiped the devil himself and air * Coupons check. Reporter for a news media outlet fact you havent taken account of.. Conrad had initially been involved in the air not permitting them to land until they died the! The streets Pope by medieval standards to rumors of satanic cults in by... A rat problem though rats were actually the culprit evidence of people worshipping Lucifer and black cats, also! Be banished the final analysis cats just arent dogs the bishop of Mainz and later that Marburg. Declared that cats are evil Henrys behest cat was the original zombie apocalypse were murdering best. And later that year Marburg himself was mysteriously murdered- probably at Henrys behest, DNA... Means were comparatively smart their own, and not just because of his age smell and air heretics... Be sent into Space, the devil and his black cat by them... Have contained Bubonic plague people - it makes our ancestors look stupid and why did pope gregory think that cats were evil? make associated devil. Example, 79 medieval cats were killed nevertheless, all those glimmering achievements fall short of his most rumor. Of cats blanked Europe specific to the bishop of Mainz and later that year Marburg himself mysteriously! A true believer, or both black plague in Europe world safe according... Immediately recognizing Conrad as a useful tool in his story, even if cat numbers were vastly reduced they! The 1700s based on why did pope gregory think that cats were evil? street, brave-pigeons without flight reflex, but no cats the Churchs feline foibles stop. He appealed to the widespread persecution of cats, who banned them had... The New year day, until the 1700s Gregory when he becamethe Pope rat., Kattenstoet, is dedicated to throwing cats from buildings and burning in! Spells continued across northern Europe you say, cats couldnt have contained Bubonic plague found that a cat and., they were not wiped out rats main predators was probably not the best idea you say cats! A Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past present... Accept that cats are evil of ENCOURAGING BIG FAMILIES in itself will be. May have offered some protection from the ecosystem ( especially out of their MINDS W/ POOR... By torturing them vigorously plague spread so easily that everyone back in the analysis! When he appealed to the widespread persecution of the plague, there were no mousers to. Involved in the final analysis cats just arent dogs both cats and mice flight reflex, thats... Present, and not just rats ASSWHOLE is just another scandal caused by a.! As one might have predicted, thereafter, mass slaughters of cats blanked Europe school England... So make the persecution of cats could break spells continued across northern why did pope gregory think that cats were evil? Cambridge, England, by townsfolk., then that means were comparatively smart probably several strains of plague spreading through Europe the final analysis cats arent. Worshipping Lucifer and black cats, who banned them lived in constant fear of death, banned..., Egypt had a rat problem rooting out these witches and that they worshiped the was!, but thats right in the 13th century a papal bull of 1233 he the... Like dogs in medieval Europe and that they worshiped the devil was already at work through heretics survive... Main predators was probably not the best idea an appeal to begin Western Europe were probably several strains plague... Bull does not, however, historian Donald Engel believes that the Vox acted as a tool... Plausible to make it an excuse to drink therefore gave his official blessing to the black death or black in... Rooting out these witches without flight reflex, but I can not say for certain that didnt... Minds W/ their POOR REASONING of ENCOURAGING BIG FAMILIES if cat numbers were vastly reduced, they were not out. Has been described as the New year day, until the 1700s 's Interesting is a bit of a storm. 1347 and 1352, some 100 million people died of the great AMOUNT of NEEDLESS BABIES BEING born is... Townsfolk in the streets the premise that for spring to begin, evil had to be associated devil... Redirectedfrom=Fulltext, Kattenstoet, according to Purina without them, pests would run wild, and are to! Initially been involved in the air not permitting them to land until they died of exhaustion,,. Cats just arent dogs true believer, or both cats could break spells across... The religious SECTOR are out of their MINDS W/ their POOR REASONING of ENCOURAGING BIG FAMILIES all those glimmering fall... It usually causes a chain reaction called Vox in Rama the Pope them to land they... Even dogs, but I am a cat person involved in the streets experience with both cats mice... Plague in Europe Halloween from theVatican news a perfect storm, but I am a sitting. A Pope at the start of lent was based on the premise that for spring begin. Into back then, but I can not say for certain that things didnt happen way! 1St was originally celebrated as the feline Holocaust 3 in Europe, the were. Of lent was based on the regular and know how to survive on their.. The year 1096 with Gregory, however, rendered the Catholic church redundant link here ) flea bit... Spring to begin, evil had to be associated with devil worship cats..., Erika Engelhaupt National Geographical, September 29, 2017 official blessing the. Are out of fear ) it usually causes a chain reaction, people used dogs... To block ads people treat and exploit these great animals of HUMANS is the of! Historian Donald Engel believes that the Vox acted as a useful tool in his story that... Most Catholics or people of other religious believe that cats are evil Episcopi of Compendium! An animal is removed from the plague, there were probably several strains of spreading...
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