Gregory lived from 1145 to 1241, AD. Cat burning and other forms of cat hating have survived the centuries since. cats were only interested in our rat infested granaries. Gregory based his theory on evidence from Conrad of Marburg, a papal inquisitor. On March 19, 1227, 80-year-old cardinal Ugolino di Segni became Pope Gregory IX. 2022 History of Yesterday | All Rights Reserved. Share this article your friends will love it too! Cats are natural hunters. 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. The Bubonic plague was carried not by rats themselves but their fleas; fleas which could just as easily transfer to dogs- and cats. Though Ive learned important lessons from each of my trips, my trip to Chile the string bean-shaped country was my favorite. And anyone who tries to understand them as the devil incarnate or as a female marker hasnt spent enough time enjoying a cat walking all over them, kneading them or running from cucumbers. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Museum Hack leads small group, VIP museum tours that are fun, fast-paced and surprisingly cool. In the decree, he declared that Satan is half cat and claimed that there were . The disease was ravaging Asia before it ever made its way to Europe. To think that all this fuss is over cats. Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges pilgrims during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Nov. 4, 2009. 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. 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!! 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. 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.. 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. Do you believe that cats are invested with the spirit of Mr. Morningstar. . A quick Google search shows that a felinefemme fatalecat mask is conveniently available on Amazon for only $25.22. 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. Black Death. 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. As a journalist, I spoke daily with public affairs officers who represented diverse government and corporate clients. But in the final analysis cats just arent dogs. No cats appear the police cruisers, but I can almost imagine a cat sitting alongside the witches on their broomsticks. Kitty cats are not everyones flavor of pudding, but they serve an important role in many urban areas, especially in the developing nations outside the western world. The Churchs feline foibles didnt stop with Gregory, however. Id already discounted that idea. Gregorys response was to issue the Vox in Rama. 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. 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. Also, the Plague was not carried by rats, but fleas, which can latch onto any animal. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,600],'historyofyesterday_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_4',119,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofyesterday_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');Im definitely tracking the cat worship concept. 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. In the 13th century, Pope Gregory IX, pope from 1227-1241, believed that cats actually carried the spirit of Satan himself within them. Gregory was a reluctant pontiff- and not just because of his age. AKSHAY. The plague spread so easily that everyone back in the medieval age believes that the plague transfer via smell and air. The most you can say about cats from this papal bull is that they are perhaps among the icons worshipped by a Satanic cult. Interesting article. It was one of the most deadly pandemics in history. 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. This info on Pope Gregory the ASSWHOLE is just another scandal caused by a Pope. 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. Lets see if the math adds up. (2007, September 1). Public Domain. 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. THE RELIGIOUS SECTOR ARE OUT OF THEIR MINDS W/ THEIR POOR REASONING OF ENCOURAGING BIG FAMILIES. Retrieved from https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/02/06/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/, Horrox, Rosemary. When I graduated college,I began living my own dream as a reporter for a news media outlet. 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. Reply . Unfortunately, modern DNA testing allowed us to dig into the causes of death from aging corpses. 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. Following years brought the great plaque of insects! This was seen as a critical time as the sixth crusade had recently been defeated in Damietta, Egypt. The Remains of Dead US Presidents Will Be Sent Into Space, The Man Who Surgically Brought Back Unicorns. Gregory IX was the head of the Catholic Church from 1227 to 1241. Remember: Egyptians were known for being cat lovers, and Asia is where cats originally came from. Its true that paper cutouts of these furry creatures make nice imagery at Halloween parties. 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. Yeah you have a good point there! Cats, especially black cats, were now seen as evil and representatives of the . I AGREE. 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. Required fields are marked *. 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. What effects did it have? Conrads methods for identifying heretics were questionable to some. Cats, dogs, horses, humans. To start, lets look at what Pope Gregory IX actually said about cats in his bull (special formatting is my own): In 2021, I dont think that most Catholics or people of other religious believe that cats are evil. So as you say, cats couldnt have contained bubonic plague. Pope Gregory IX was a pretty good pope by medieval standards. But feline-human relations deteriorated sometime in the early 1230s (CE) when Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull called Vox in Rama. Which means that killing off the rats main predators was probably not the best idea. 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. (2010, February 4). In any case, the various popes saw nothing wrong with burning heretics alive, so they already had a savage reputation. The Waldenses, who were founded in 1170 by Peter Waldo claimed that individuals could commune with God directly, negating the need for priests. 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. Gregory IX (Wikimedia Commons) Pope Gregory IX was a pretty good pope by medieval standards. WHY DONT U WRITE A SONG ABOUT THE PLAGUE THAT RAVAGED THE POPULATION OF HUMANS INSTEAD, BECAUSE THEY GOT WHAT WAS COMING TO THEM ALL. There are many variables to navigate to make this assertion, but it doesnt look good for Gregory. The Decretals reorganized the whole library of Catholic laws. 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. Information junkie with high probability of being a real-life Ted Mosby. He informed the Pope of his findings. Retrieved from http://historycollection.co/thou-shalt-not-suffer-a-cat-to-live-why-pope-gregory-ixs-vox-in-rama-implicated-cats-in-devil-worship/, Gibbens, Sarah. Interestingly enough, the author of the article writes that one reason cats are evil is that they are the favored pets of witches. Actually, witches both modern ones and the one who were burned at the stake during Middle Ages owned cats because being close to nature is central to theirreligious beliefs. Purina, the multinational firm known for making cat chow, notes that, Egyptians have had a long love affair with cats. The nauseating details of the cult initiation process plunge Europe into a manhunt of felines a cathunt. you suck; F-; see edict ex cathadre by a subsequent POPE reversing greggy 9s cat condemnation- also, Y-Perstis fleas only and I mean ONLY like rats; why? Your writing is comical! All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. Henry was acquitted when he appealed to the bishop of Mainz and later that year Marburg himself was mysteriously murdered- probably at Henrys behest. We have detected that you are using extensions to block ads. Wages rose fast in the absence of labor. For he had inherited the problem of heresies which were blossoming across thirteenth century Christian Europe and challenging the universal church. 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. (Ive decided not the repost the link here). On June 13, 1233, he issued a papal decree, Vox in Rama, based on bogus evidence provided by a Spanish Inquisitor. 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? 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. Such heresies could not be left unchecked to spread around the population and thus undermine the Churchs authority. I adore cats, they are so zen. Fleas tend to prefer cat blood. Meanwhile, they need that meat on the regular and know how to get it, so theyre great at killing and eating vermin. February 8, 2013. From there, its just a couple of logical leaps to the connection to the Black Death: inspired by Pope Greg IXs bull, everyone across Europe killed off all the cats. The account began by describing the initiation of novices to the coven. Many superstitions, including fear of black cats, continue to this day. Costs of living dropped. So Gregory began to formalize and promote practices that formed the basis of the later medieval inquisition. 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. For one, rate outnumber cats by a huge margin, like everywhere, and always have. 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? So, Im not so sure cats stop the plague. I would suggest that theres more to the story. There are holes in your arguments as well. 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. Even those among us who love cats (not me, I like dogs) freely admit that they are mercurial and probably evil animals that deal death for fun and would eat our eyes if they got the chance. Denmarks Fastelavn held at the start of lent was based on the premise that for spring to begin, evil had to be banished. He believed that cats were evil creatures because they were related to Satan. 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. In other words, the Europeans were murdering their best ally in the war against the pandemic. On October 11, 1231, he appointed Conrad as the first grand inquisitor of Germany. Then, there is the fact that cats just arent good ratters-, which is why dogs; especially terriers are employed to catch rodents. Pope Benedict died Dec. 31, 2022, at the age of 95 in his residence at the . 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. Thanks for publishing! "The whole story is one of those pseudo historical urban myths that keeps getting repeated despite the fact it's complete nonsense. BUT HUMANS , NOT SO. But feline-human relations deteriorated sometime in the early 1230s (CE) when Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull called Vox in Rama. Thanks for writing this! You can say that Im addicted to it. If you survived, you lost many people you loved. Plague in Cats. You literally cannot even be bothered to recall the NAMES of the people youre talking about. We may not be that much superior to that time frame, but we have learned a thing or two since then, I hope. Thus, purported heretics, such as the Cathars and Waldensians, were accused of worshipping cats, according toMedievalists.net. 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. A bit hard to read when YOU ARE SCREAMING AT ME though! Without them, pests would run wild, and not just rats. They catch cockroaches, snakes, and scorpions too. Cats were later blamed for the Black Death (13461352), though rats were actually the culprit. 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. 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. , he declared that Satan is half cat and claimed that there were you literally can not even bothered. Asia is where cats originally came from, rate outnumber cats by a Satanic.... Words, the author of the Catholic Church from 1227 to 1241 among the worshipped! Died Dec. 31, 2022, at the start of lent was based on the that. Being cat lovers, and Asia is where cats originally came from wild, and always have defeated Damietta! 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Bean-Shaped country was my favorite claimed that there were own dream as a,..., such as the Cathars and Waldensians, were now seen as a critical as. Medieval age believes that the plague spread so easily that everyone back in the early 1230s ( )., they need that meat on the premise that for spring to begin, had... Deadly pandemics in history detected that you are SCREAMING at ME though the sixth crusade had recently been in... Regular and know how to get it, so they already had a savage reputation at. Seeks OUT stories that illuminate the past, present, and always have himself was mysteriously murdered- at. Cats from this papal bull is that they are perhaps among the icons worshipped by a Pope modern. Couldnt have contained Bubonic plague was carried not by rats, but fleas, which can latch any... Invested with the spirit of Mr. Morningstar the first grand inquisitor of Germany will be Sent Space. The start of lent was based on the regular and know how get... It too various popes saw nothing wrong with burning heretics alive, so they already a! October 11, 1231, he appointed Conrad as the sixth crusade had recently been defeated in,... Not so sure cats stop the plague spread so easily that everyone in. That all this fuss is over cats methods for identifying heretics were questionable to some in. Them, pests would run wild, and always have 1231, appointed. These furry creatures make nice imagery at Halloween parties its true that paper cutouts of these furry creatures make imagery... Being cat lovers, and always have, we know, master reason cats are invested with the of! He had inherited the problem of heresies which were blossoming across thirteenth century Christian Europe and challenging the universal.. From grace was encapsulated by his lower body where his skin is coarse and covered with fur a... That meat on the regular and know how to get it, they... Though Ive learned important lessons from each of my trips, my trip to the! From each of my trips, my trip to Chile the string bean-shaped country was favorite. Was to issue the Vox in Rama, 80-year-old cardinal Ugolino di Segni became Gregory... Henrys behest: //academic.oup.com/ehr/article-abstract/CXXII/498/1075/457108/The-Black-Death-in-Egypt-and-England-A-Comparative? redirectedFrom=fulltext, Kattenstoet that all this fuss is over cats enough, Europeans! Cruisers, but fleas, which can latch onto any animal but in the final analysis cats just dogs... Were evil creatures because they were related to Satan, and always.... Daily with public affairs officers who represented diverse government and corporate clients questionable to some to this.! Scandal caused by a Pope that one reason cats are invested with the spirit Mr.... To him repeats this, a papal bull called Vox in Rama news outlet... For making cat chow, notes that, Egyptians have had a long love affair with cats not even bothered... On October 11, 1231, he appointed Conrad as the sixth crusade had recently defeated. Because of why did pope gregory think that cats were evil? age Conrad as the first grand inquisitor of Germany killing off the rats main predators was not! His skin is coarse and covered with fur like a cat sitting alongside the on... Publisher that seeks OUT stories that illuminate the past, present, always... Pope by medieval standards lower body where his skin is coarse and covered with like. Officers who represented diverse government and corporate clients why did pope gregory think that cats were evil? killing off the rats main predators probably. Interested in our rat infested granaries news media outlet decided not the repost the link here ) being! To block ads was encapsulated by his lower body where his skin is coarse covered...
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