The Church had already accused the Waldenses of worshipping the devil in the form of a cat. Answer: This looks like a job for History for Atheists! Cats dont generally take on rats. But, was it because of cats andrats? Once the lights came back on, from a dark corner, the figure of a man emerges. This man was Lucifer, who the whole company firmly believed to have been wronged by God. Plague. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. So theres a lot of weak info out there about the backwards things that Medieval people were wont to do. The truth is a little messy. It was also a time when, people many believe, Pope Gregory IX hated on cats. 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. Although he did not approve the use of torture in the interrogation of suspects, Gregory did pass the law that sent unrepentant heretics to the fire and in some cases repentant heretics to prison for life. 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. We know they had terrier like dogs in Medieval Europe and that they were used as ratters. Cats are not assholes, as this writer and many dog lovers like to repeat endlessly (and its SO tiresome to listen). Further down the line, his influence grew larger and larger, and by 1217 he was named the papal legate and Honorius chief representative in Liguria and Tuscany. If the Black Death was airborne, then rats had nothing to do with it, exonerating Gregory. It is also doubtful that one papal bull sent to Mainz can influence the whole European stage. Such heresies could not be left unchecked to spread around the population and thus undermine the Churchs authority. People can make all manner of animals do what we likewe can teach oxen to plow, dogs to fetch game, elephants to paint, and ravens to hold grudges.2 But you cant make a cat do anything. The Popes were all lecherous greedy thieves seeking nothing but power for themselves & their families. Allegedly, people confess to Konrad that Luciferianism initiates goes through an initiation process that includes giant toad, pale man, and licking the bum of a backward walking-living statue of a black cat. 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. There are many variables to navigate to make this assertion, but it doesnt look good for Gregory. Classical Cats: The Rise and fall of the Sacred Cat, Donald W Engels, Psychology Press. 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. People living during this time lived in constant fear of death. While ancient Egyptians would have rathersurrenderto invading army than harm a hand on a cat, the belief by others that cats cannot be trained to be loyal and obedient like a dog, was a source ofanxietyover cats during medieval times. It came from was Asia, but it is still believed by many to have traveled on the backs of fleas living on rats. 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. Apparently snakes and scorpions were threats too. Gregory based his theory on evidence from Conrad of Marburg, a papal inquisitor. Home; About; Contacts; Location; FAQ On March 19, 1227, 80-year-old cardinal Ugolino di Segni became Pope Gregory IX. 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. 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. Then, there is the fact that cats just arent good ratters-, which is why dogs; especially terriers are employed to catch rodents. Missionary Activity under Pope Gregory the Great. However, it was also a piece of papal legislation that was notable in another way, for the Vox was the first papal bull to associate the cat with witchcraft. The theory that plague pandemics happen amidst a cat vacuum doesnt hold up: Europe didnt keep its cat population depleted for nearly 500 years. Not only did the Egyptians hold the cat sacred in the form of Bast, a warrior goddess associated with fertility and the moon, but so too did the Romans, for whom the cat was one of the symbols of the goddess of freedom, Liberta. Meanwhile, they need that meat on the regular and know how to get it, so theyre great at killing and eating vermin. 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. So Gregory began to formalize and promote practices that formed the basis of the later medieval inquisition. At first glance, these rites, with their orgies and obscenities seem to be deliberately far-fetched. Unfortunately, modern DNA testing allowed us to dig into the causes of death from aging corpses. One should not direct them the affection due only to persons.. A bit hard to read when YOU ARE SCREAMING AT ME though! It mentioned Pope Gregorys hate on for cats. The nauseating details of the cult initiation process plunge Europe into a manhunt of felines a cathunt. 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. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,600],'historyofyesterday_com-large-mobile-banner-2','ezslot_5',111,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofyesterday_com-large-mobile-banner-2-0');Ancient Peruvians may have been attracted to cats in a way similar to Egyptians. Did Pope Gregory's comfort with the law cause him to overstep his station as the pope? Since that time, black cats have symbolized bad luck, or a curse, to people not only in Europe but throughout the world. Locusts and every other kind because the sparrow not only ate grain but also insects the great 3 year famin followed and the official Chinese records showed 15 million people died of starvation but later studies done by experts from outside of China say the official numbers are fudged badly in an optimistic attempt to cover the true death toll of around 45 million plus some even say as high as 70 million!! This demonization led to the widespread, violent persecution of black cats in particular. Just want to add that I like pretty much all animals, even dogs, but I am a cat person. It was his distaste for cats that penned the Vox in Rama. In 1233, Pope Gregory IX's "Vox in Rama," a warning against the perils of witchcraft, accused its targets of canoodling with a black cat that was actually Lucifer in disguise. THE HUMAN OVER-POPULATION IS CAUSING ANIMAL SPECIES TO GO EXTINCT. As a journalist, I spoke daily with public affairs officers who represented diverse government and corporate clients. 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. To start, lets look at what Pope Gregory IX actually said about cats in his bull (special formatting is my own): As it went into the fourth and fifth years ! I AGREE. We accept this storythat we humans once crossed cats and it resulted in one in three of us dyingbecause it just feels rignt. (To be fair, the cat is only one of more than 300 figures the Nazca created almost half which have been discovered in the last five years). For example, ever heard of Oxford University? 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? Pope Gregory IX (1147-1241). Pope Gregory IX did issue a papal bull, . I SAY GOOD FOR ALL THOSE SENSELESS HUMANOIDS. (Accessed 2018, June 1). Pope Gregory IX was a pretty good pope by medieval standards. That is, pope condemning cats and declaring satanistique is enough for some people to start mass-killing cats, this assholes claims are 100% wrong; more than one pope ordered cats killed- why not, eventually excommunicaated? (2017, June 6). Before the 13th century, many societies, . Gregory IX approved the Northern Crusades of the Teutonic Order, the purpose of which was the baptism of the Baltic pagan peoples, and which led to the attempts of the Catholic colonialists to seize the lands of Pskov and Novgorod principalities. Yes I agree with you on this as we can never judge history in modern times That is the well-accepted history, but is it really true? I have no idea where you get the idea that cats place is in the wild. Finally, even if cat numbers were vastly reduced, they were not wiped out. Nevertheless, all those glimmering achievements fall short of his most famous rumor that he absolutely hates cats. 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. Remember: Egyptians were known for being cat lovers, and Asia is where cats originally came from. While in power, Pope Gregory IX declared that cats were to be associated with devil worship and had them exterminated. The Nazcacat geoglyphwas only discovered last October. 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. Since the ninth century AD, the Canon Episcopi of the Catholic Church had deemed belief in witchcraft to be a heresy in itself. 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. Was considering writing a song about the folly of feline flaying, now Im not so sure. Cats absolutely devastate wildlife when out in nature, killing millions of birds and having been responsible for extinction of species. 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. Guess what? Public Domain. Fewer cats, more rats, more fleas, and more plague. These inferences have led to a story that appears to lack evidence. While I cannot say for certain that things didnt happen this way, there appear to be holes. 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