Retrieved from https://owlcation.com/humanities/Cats-and-the-Black-Plague, Encyclopaedia Britannica. 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. We may still see the effects of the mass cat slaughter today: Its been suggested that the small black cat population in Europe today is a direct result of that breed being deemed particularly devil-like. 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. 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. 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. What he did caused the persecution of domestic and stray cats for 500 years. The people of the time may have felt that this was the end of days, but the wake of the plague was nothing but an opportunity for survivors. 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. 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 bull does not, however, dictate that Catholics across Europe kill all cats to stop Satan. Gregory IX was the head of the Catholic Church from 1227 to 1241. (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. A witch and her cat. And each time it hit Europe again, it appears to have come from Asia. 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.. This timeline stretched from 1346 to 1353, a little more than a century after Gregory. The account began by describing the initiation of novices to the coven. Gregorys response was to issue the Vox in Rama. The flea that bit humans was specific to the black rat anyway. Pope Benedict died Dec. 31, 2022, at the age of 95 in his residence at the . 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. There were probably several strains of plague spreading through Europe. Hera are six really weird pets that you could actually own. As mentioned, this Pope initiated what has been described as the feline Holocaust 3 in Europe. Cats are natural hunters. cats were only interested in our rat infested granaries. But feline-human relations deteriorated sometime in the early 1230s (CE) when Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull called Vox in Rama. 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. 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 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. Indeed the belief that the torture or killing of cats could break spells continued across northern Europe. Im on the fence about getting an electronic cat that responds to touch (i.e., purring, meowing and flicking its robotic tail) but I can see why Egyptians of antiquity fell in love with cats. One assault (I despise catholic church so much-am true protestant) by a pope- I do not bother with their names- was due to cat allegedly not suiting him mentioned in their bible; one pope reversed these edicts-seeing half of europe dead- and anyone abusing a cat was severely punisheds), I love catholic people, but HATE the evil infiltration that came early, making a mockery of Jesus real story, one mother superior teaching mary got impregnated by another man when engaged to Joseph; also, during world war II; we fought germany japan and ITALY; so his holie ness: (misspelled to mean he is full of holes) sat in basement- the asshole that had power to divide spain and portugal surely could have rallied his cult to fight nazis and japanese fanatics; Luther returned us, PRAISE JESUS to the real truth of Jesus, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, this jackass is an I read one briticanna entry, now I know it all- when he knows zero; he paints pope as trusting one bad apple in this eradication of the limiting factor on rats- either a sharpshooter (as healthcare provider, like my clients who read one footnote in a pharmacology book I am not immediately aware of, suddenly, they should have DVM and PHD and DO (believe it or not, I do)-. Indeed, there is evidence of animals dying from the Plague. Not only that he founded the papal inquisition to prosecute heresy, but he also issues a papal bull a legal decree issued by a pope, designated as Vox in Rama that calls for crusades condemning the spread of heretics that follows Luciferianism in Mainz, Germany. By Gregorys decree, there was a target on the head of every black cat. As one might have predicted, thereafter, mass slaughters of cats blanked Europe. 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. So, rather than being a document banning cats from Europe, it was a letter sent to a city warning them about a cult. 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? Its disgusting the way people treat and exploit these great animals. Thou Shalt not suffer a Cat to Live: Why Pope Gregory IXs Vox in Rama Implicated Cats in Devil Worship. They spread via trade boats. (Accessed June 1, 2018). Others are less sure. ABORTION SHOULD BE THE ANSWER IN ALL COUNTRIES, ALONG SIDE LAWS THAT WOULD PREVENT THE POPULATION GROWTH FROM EXPANDING . A witch and her cat. Elsewhere in Europe, the legacy of cat killings passed into folk practices. Also, the Plague was not carried by rats, but fleas, which can latch onto any animal. He believed that cats were evil creatures because they were related to Satan. 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. Not only were they a source of companionship they were also a status symbol and source of worship., Egyptians have had a long love affair with cats. Then, there is the fact that cats just arent good ratters-, which is why dogs; especially terriers are employed to catch rodents. 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 Nazcacat geoglyphwas only discovered last October. First, consider the dates: Pope Gregory IXs papal bull was issued between 1232 and 1234. Gregory was a reluctant pontiff- and not just because of his age. Gregory was a reluctant pontiff- and not just because of his age. Either way, his account cant be true. It's like visiting the museum with a close friend who just happens to know all the best stories, secrets and gossip. In the 13th century, an inquisitor described, in a report to the pope, a Satanic cult in Germany that used cats as part of a ritual, and the pope's response quoted some of his information (which has been described as medieval propaganda by some). Exterminating cats during the black plague epidemic in the 14th century: Cat owners were often accused of witchcraft, and often murdered along with their pets. 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, Decretales Gregorii IX, https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/plague/factsheet.asp. 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. no- blood dives; you are 100% wrong, irrational clearly an agnostic who mocks then defends his false god, the pope- also, review another diatribe from papal high tower urging cats killed-clearly minions of satan, word cat not in catholic bible problem is, what did david kill as shepherd attacking his sheep? While I cannot say for certain that things didnt happen this way, there appear to be holes. ps. 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. 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. With Halloween is around the corner, Chairman Meow is reminded of a time hundreds of years ago when similar institutional dogma helped fuel the outbreak of The Black Plague across Europe, leading to the (ignorant) mass killing of cats in the 14th century. (2017, February 6). In 2021, I dont think that most Catholics or people of other religious believe that cats are evil. Is the Vox in Rama authentic? It mentioned Pope Gregorys hate on for cats. 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. 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