Want more crazy cat facts? The most likely targets were often older cat-owning peasant women (The Crazy Cat Ladies of their time) who were labeled witches and often burned alive at the stake. Since the reign of Gregory, folks at the time had taken a disliking for cats, especially the black ones. Both believed that cats were satanic and Marburg came up with evidence as to why cats are satanic. HUMAN OVER-POPULATION ISNT PRETTY, IT IS THE CAUSE BEHIND CHRONIC WARS. (Ive decided not the repost the link here). Answer: This looks like a job for History for Atheists! I SAY GOOD FOR ALL THOSE SENSELESS HUMANOIDS. 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. Tying the cat to satanic worship was a natural progression- and one that would have dire consequences. It mentioned Pope Gregorys hate on for cats. I adore cats, they are so zen. Summary. Welcome to BELIEVE.art, home of Revolutionary Artist & Warrior-Poet, Chairman Meow. According to Pope Gregory IX, cats were the embodiment of the devil himself. Following years brought the great plaque of insects! So Gregory began to formalize and promote practices that formed the basis of the later medieval inquisition. Pope Gregory IV (Latin: Gregorius IV; died 25 January 844) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 827 to his death. Plague. So why not witches? 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. Conrad had initially been involved in the persecution of the Cathars and enjoyed significant successes during the Albigensian crusade of 1209 -1229. Gregory was a reluctant pontiff- and not just because of his age. The mass murder of cats was not the only cause of the Black Plague, but it removed a crucial natural predator of the flea-carrying rats that spread the disease. Thanks for publishing! Anyone with a thing against cats may get some satisfaction from a weird history "fact" circulating on the internet. Learn how cats first spread around the world. 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. Plague in Cats. There are many variables to navigate to make this assertion, but it doesnt look good for Gregory. For he had inherited the problem of heresies which were blossoming across thirteenth century Christian Europe and challenging the 'universal' church. The cat thing is a footnote in his story. His papacy started when hereticism run rampant in Europe, and yet, by the end of his term, he saw the completion of one of the most important canon law in the Catholic Church known as the Decretales Gregorii IX, excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and (allegedly) founded the earliest incarnation of the papal inquisition. ABORTION SHOULD BE THE ANSWER IN ALL COUNTRIES, ALONG SIDE LAWS THAT WOULD PREVENT THE POPULATION GROWTH FROM EXPANDING . Both rats and pigeons would make a great next plague material though, The bull does not, however, dictate that Catholics across Europe kill all cats to stop Satan Islam doesnt tell Muslims to kill pigs but they still chase and try to kill one by kicking and hitting if they see it on the street because they believe it is evil and forbidden. This isa cautionary tale to all you cat haters out there. As a noble hailing from the prestigious noble family of Conti di Segni, Ugolino is still related to other popes such as Innocent III, Alexander IV, and Innocent XIII. Then each [returns] to his place and, speaking certain responses, they incline their heads toward to cat. As a strategic communicator, I juggle many balls but Im a writer first. Cats, dogs, horses, humans. Before the prospect of burning at the stake for having contact with the purring pets, Catholics around the the continent began slaughtering any feline that entered their property. I thank you for your service to this great multiverse. Where once these creatures had been common household animals, they were now regarded as dangerous, unpredictable and demonic. Henry was acquitted when he appealed to the bishop of Mainz and later that year Marburg himself was mysteriously murdered- probably at Henrys behest. These new, heretical beliefs varied. 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. designs at:Threadless.com and Zazzle, Why Cats Were (Wrongly) Blamed for the Black Plague in Europe. It wasn't until Pope Gregory IX came to power in the 1200s that black cats became a symbol of bad luck. April 1st was originally celebrated as the New Year day, until in 1582 Pope . as a dvm (research quickly with phd, now DO, but still love animals) I agree about cat fanatics but this loser has all wrong about the need for cats to kill the Y Pestis flea vector rats; also, that species of flea does not infest on cats or dogs- their anticoagulant is perfect match for RATTUS NORweigica, and humans; not even mice suit them; his map of plague is laughingly inaccurate. On June 13, 1233, he issued a papal decree, Vox in Rama, based on bogus evidence provided by a Spanish Inquisitor. Classical Cats: The Rise and fall of the Sacred Cat, Donald W Engels, Psychology Press. The disease was ravaging Asia before it ever made its way to Europe. Just want to add that I like pretty much all animals, even dogs, but I am a cat person. Your writing is comical! 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. Cats are awesome rodent hunters. It was Gregorys past as an astute lawyer that connected him to his acts of justice within the church. In Ypres in Belgium, it was the custom to hurl cats from the belfry of local churches and then set them on fire during the festival of cats or Kattenstoet. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/eight-witchcraft-myths/. 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. Its long-term effect, however, was to reshape the view of the cat in European society in general, morphing it from a pagan sacred animal into an agent of hell. To start, lets look at what Pope Gregory IX actually said about cats in his bull (special formatting is my own): Writing is my first love. The Black Death or Black Plague was the original zombie apocalypse. What Im seeing here is a well-researched fact piece angering someone who kinda half-remembers something she thinks she read somewhere this one time. Pope Gregory IX How did this come about? (along with other predators including snakes, which had long since carried the label of being evil). Gregory's missionary zeal among the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons in England was the first step in a process that would culminate with Charlemagne's coronation in Rome on Christmas Day in AD 800.. At the same time Benedictine monks led by Augustine were sent to Kent to convert the pagan King Ethelbert and his people, other missionaries from . "The whole story is one of those pseudo historical urban myths that keeps getting repeated despite the fact it's complete nonsense. But feline-human relations deteriorated sometime in the early 1230s (CE) when Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull called Vox in Rama. While I dont have any cats my allergist says owning a cat for me is worse for my lungs than chain smoking Ive long revered cats. February 8, 2013. All this was about to change. To understand why suspicions of cats persist, you need to go back to the 13th Century, whenPope Gregory IXhad a definite opinion of cats and it wasnt a positive one. Sometimes it appears unduly large, and sometimes equivalent to a goose or a duck, and sometimes it even assumes the size of an oven. Eventually, the ItalianRenaissance would put this so far in the rearview, all we could think about wasfrilly collars. Cats just arent dogs, and I respect and love them specifically for that reason. Its funny thinking about cats as the symbol of evil. https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/plague/factsheet.asp. But the cars we have for pets are not naturally in the wild for thousands of years. 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. Dogs are sweet but they dont really have that self respect that cats do. By Gregorys decree, there was a target on the head of every black cat. I get why we have dogs. If these furry creatures association with fictitious international criminals isnt enough, cats also have been linked to witchcraft: In the Middle Ages, women who owned black cats came under suspicion as did the cats, who were assumed to bewitches in disguise and were burned at the stake. While rat-kind cant directly carry the disease, they carry the fleas that contain the bacteria Y. Pestis. In those days, papal inquisitors extracted confessions from prisoners that they worshiped the devil and his black cat by torturing them vigorously. For years there was a debate if the Black Death and the Bubonic Plague were the same, adding speculation to the rat spreading theory. Fleas tend to prefer cat blood. They not only killed rodents, hence less infected animals but they themselves are more likely to get bit for you, with their sweet tasting blood. 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. I like cats, but I dont wear leopard skin or go around posting pictures of cats everywhere. Such heresies could not be left unchecked to spread around the population and thus undermine the Churchs authority. You wouldnt hate that, would you? 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. I dont know what to make of the authors contention that we like to hate on the middle ages. Retrieved from http://www.kattenstoet.be/en/page/497-511/the-cat-throwing.html, MedicineNet.com. 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. The Bull arose in response to rumors of satanic cults in Germany by the areas grand inquisitor, Conrad of Marburg. But feline-human relations deteriorated sometime in the early 1230s (CE) when Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull called Vox in Rama. Konrad has evidence of people worshipping Lucifer and black cats, he also seems to possess some sort of confession. 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. The author provides citations for his claims. 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. Dog lovers, please get over it. You can say that Im addicted to it. One example is the idea that Catholic fear drove people, including Pope Gregory, to wipe out cats, which resulted in a population explosion among plague-infected rodents, thus leading to the Black Death. 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. Yes I agree with you on this as we can never judge history in modern times On January 23, 1229, he sent messages to Riga, Lubeck, Sweden, to Gotland with an appeal to begin . There is little real evidence for this. Though Ive learned important lessons from each of my trips, my trip to Chile the string bean-shaped country was my favorite. 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. Im coming out pretty strong against this cat-plague connection, but the truth is I cant say for sure. Although witch trials did occur on a local scale, they were mainly for the practice of pre-Christian beliefs and tried in secular rather than ecclesiastical courts. 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. I AGREE. The mass killing of those docile beautiful creatures is despicable. THE HUMAN OVER-POPULATION IS CAUSING ANIMAL SPECIES TO GO EXTINCT. Fewer cats, more rats, more fleas, and more plague. Apparently torture produced some pretty convincing confessions from people who worshipped the devil and his black cat. Once the initial hysteria died down, cats, like the would-be witches were left alone for a time, giving them time to repopulate- and remained prolific enough to continue to be culled. 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. In this case, with no cats around, disease-carrying rats multiplied like crazy, spreading the Plague. They came to us willingly because we offered so much prey and have been a benefit to mankind whether you like em or not. 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. Wierd Tales, Vol 36. The Bubonic plague was carried not by rats themselves but their fleas; fleas which could just as easily transfer to dogs- and cats. STOP W/ THE BABIES ALREADY. The following rites of this [sect] are carried out: When any novice is to be received among them and enters the sect of the damned for the first time, the shape of a certain frog [or toad] appears to him. Dear Sir, In 2019, Profs and Pints, an organization that was founded to democratize higher learning, hosted an event that was designed to demystify the magical, spiritual and even sexualdepictions of catsin media and society. That, or he was a true believer, or both. Between 1347 and 1352, some 100 million people died of the Plague, representing almost half of Europes population. I am in France since 3 years and I would see the amount of cats I saw here during that time, maybe in a day or two in Turkey. I dont really agree that cats offered no protection from the plague. 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. This timeline stretched from 1346 to 1353, a little more than a century after Gregory. The Bubonic plague was carried not by rats themselves but their fleas; fleas which could just as easily transfer to dogs- and cats. In fact, the picture of a white Persian cat in Bond villain Ernst Blofelds lap is an indelible cultural image, as is that of the hairless cat that Dr. ), Then, in 1484, another pope, Innocent VIII, issued apapal bullthat condemned to death all cats and their human companions. 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. Without them, pests would run wild, and not just rats. Cats came to be seen as a symbol of witchcraft, and even as the embodiment of Satan himself. The bull began by bewailing the various woes that afflicted the church- the most recent being the satanic cult identified by Conrad of Marburg as flourishing in Northern Germany. In the fourth century, a Christian monk named Evagrius Ponticus wrote down what's known as the "eight evil thoughts": gluttony, lust, avarice, anger, sloth, sadness . But how did cats become to be seen as evil? Its true that paper cutouts of these furry creatures make nice imagery at Halloween parties. After Pope Gregory IX associated cats with devil worship, cats throughout Europe were exterminated in droves. Henry was acquitted when he appealed to the bishop of Mainz and later that year Marburg himself was mysteriously murdered- probably at Henrys behest. This description created an image that was to be used for all future depictions of witches sabbats- and one that established the cat as a creature of the devil. The popes were all hypocrytical, bastards. Gregory IX was the head of the Catholic Church from 1227 to 1241. Both, however, rendered the Catholic Church redundant. (2007, September 1). Cats are natural hunters. At first glance, these rites, with their orgies and obscenities seem to be deliberately far-fetched. Pope Gregory IX (Source: les.tresors.de.lys.free.fr) The Black Death came in 1347. Consider a quote from Rastafari leader Haile Selassie; Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph. Iz just as true during Dark Ages as iz now. BELIEVE! In Ypres in Belgium, it was the custom to hurl cats from the belfry of local churches and then set them on fire during the festival of cats or Kattenstoet. When an animal is removed from the ecosystem (especially out of fear) it usually causes a chain reaction. While I cannot say for certain that things didnt happen this way, there appear to be holes. Theres one thing you havent considered. As one might have predicted, thereafter, mass slaughters of cats blanked Europe. In the decree, he declared that Satan is half cat and claimed that there were . Cats Blamed for Spreading the Plague During the Middle Ages, it wasn't uncommon for cats to be killed, given their association with evil, Compora says. Cats and the Black Plague. For example, 79 medieval cats were mysteriously slain in Cambridge, England, by the townsfolk in the 13th century. However, history shows that the Black Death, which ravaged Europe in the mid 1300s, was actually caused by rats and the fleas on them. Neither does rogue operative, Jason Bourne. THE HUMAN POPULATION NEEDS TO BE CUT BACK BECAUSE OF THEIR EVIL NATURE. This persecution was so savage that some scholars believe that by the 1300s, Europes cat numbers were sufficiently depleted to prevent them efficiently killing rats and mice- thus allowing the bubonic plague to spread. And whatever else fleas like to nosh on.8. According toSmithsonian Magazine, the Nazca geoglyphs may have been used for astrological, calendrical purposes as well as religious rituals to encourage rainfall and fertility. 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? The few versions of this story that bother to give anything like some substantiation claim that cats were declared servants of evil by Pope Gregory IX in 1232 or even that he declared that they should all be killed. A bit hard to read when YOU ARE SCREAMING AT ME though! A 'bulla' is the seal on the papal bull. 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. If anything, the cathunt is Konrads interpretation of the papal bull. Scientists back in the 19th century found out that the real transmission is through touch, and the most common carrier of the disease is the natural enemy to the previously butchered feline friend the rats. During this period, cat-burning was considered to bringgood luck. It was his distaste for cats that penned the Vox in Rama. Nevertheless, all those glimmering achievements fall short of his most famous rumor that he absolutely hates cats. Interestingly enough, Halloween originally a pagan celebration also has Catholic roots in the form of All Hallows Eve, that is the Vigil of All Saints Day, when Catholics remember those who have gone before them to enter their heavenly home. Gregory IX (Wikimedia Commons) Pope Gregory IX was a pretty good pope by medieval standards. 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. 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? Although the explicit heretic activities mentioned within the Vox in Rama do mention something about our feline friend, this doesn't mean that Gregory IX endorse cathunt. Because the powers that be dictated that the cat composed one of the main identifiers of a witch, the Church officially excommunicated the entire species. It was also a time when, people many believe, Pope Gregory IX hated on cats. Gregory believed him. (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. In Belgium, an entire festival, Kattenstoet, is dedicated to throwing cats from buildings and burning them in the streets. There is little real evidence for this. A quick Google search shows that a felinefemme fatalecat mask is conveniently available on Amazon for only $25.22. Ugolino di Conti was born around 11451170 in Anagni, Rome. The story youre most likely to find in popular history articles goes something like this: Cats were brought to Europe from Egypt by the Romans and enjoyed a decent reputation for a long timeprobably because they were such a boon to agricultural societies. 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? Yet, in 2014 Pope Francis sparked an uproar by telling a girl whos cat who had died that she would be reunited Gods creatures in Paradise except for cats, who end up in hell. The cats play into the picture as they would have normally been instrumental in cutting down the rat populations. 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. Classical Cats: The Rise and fall of the Sacred Cat, Donald W Engels, Psychology Press. Some historians have forgiven the rats. The reforms were based on the suggestions of the Italian scientist Luigi Lilio, with some modifications by the Jesuit mathematician and astronomer Christopher Clavius. 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. Retrieved from https://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/infectious-parasitic/c_ct_plague%20, Quora. Costs of living dropped. There are holes in your arguments as well. https://historycollection.co/thou-shalt-not-suffer-a-cat-to-live-why-pope-gregory-ixs-vox-in-rama-implicated-cats-in-devil-worship/3/, Of course, theres also the wee tiny fact that the paranoia about witchcraft didnt really start to get into full swing until the 16th and 17th century, and that included black cats. 1999. 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. As we are. That misguided stereotype is why witches are still depicted with black cats to this day. To learn more about me and my digital travels, visit myTwitterpage. BUT HUMANS , NOT SO. Indeed the belief that the torture or killing of cats could break spells continued across northern Europe. Elsewhere in Europe, the legacy of cat killings passed into folk practices. Like most diseases, were hard pressed to find thebad guy. So, rather than being a document banning cats from Europe, it was a letter sent to a city warning them about a cult. It kept happening, lets say once per generation, until the 1700s. For Conrad in his quest for heretics around Mainz and Hildesheim claimed to have uncovered a Luciferian cult. The fleas will jump on to the cat and then you can dose the cat to kill them. The truth is that cats could not have prevented the black death. 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. Like a lot of other myths about history from the Middle Ages, the idea that Europeans wiped out cats and then paid for it with the Black Death makes more sense the less you think about it. Conrads methods, however, yielded results and in 1231, the Archbishops of Trier and Mainz wrote to the Pope, full of praise for their heretic catcher. 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). 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