Gregory IX. Encyclopedia of World Biography, Encyclopedia.com. Indeed the belief that the torture or killing of cats could break spells continued across northern Europe. His pontificate was notable for the papacy's attempts to intervene in the quarrels between Emperor Louis the Pious and his sons. Zealousness is a common occurrence in medieval times, the same thing goes for Gregory IX. Even for modern times, that is not a young age to take on the papal role. And in the 13th Century, people in medieval Ypres, Belgium, had a festival calledKattenstoet, where theyd throw cats from the belfry tower to symbolize the killing evil spirts. Cats were beloved by Egyptians. In 2021, I dont think that most Catholics or people of other religious believe that cats are evil. (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. But cats? 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. While in power, Pope Gregory IX declared that cats were to be associated with devil worship and had them exterminated. 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. ), Then, in 1484, another pope, Innocent VIII, issued apapal bullthat condemned to death all cats and their human companions. 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. Pope Gregory IX How did this come about? (2017, June 6). Like, if I were to think of evil depictions on display in a museum, this would be one of them. 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. Afterwards, they sit down to a meal and when they have arisen from it, the certain statue, which is usual in a set of this kind, a black cat descends backwards, with its tail erect. https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/plague/factsheet.asp. When an animal is removed from the ecosystem (especially out of fear) it usually causes a chain reaction. Its believed by some that the plague spread, at least in part,via rats. The Waldenses, who were founded in 1170 by Peter Waldo claimed that individuals could commune with God directly, negating the need for priests. 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. 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 was seen as a critical time as the sixth crusade had recently been defeated in Damietta, Egypt. On March 19, 1227, 80-year-old cardinal Ugolino di Segni became Pope Gregory IX. (Accessed May 31, 2018). 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. Thats serious.. These were, however, local affairs and dont serve as proof of the kind of massive cat recall modern folks have inferred from Pope Gregory IXs bull. The reforms were based on the suggestions of the Italian scientist Luigi Lilio, with some modifications by the Jesuit mathematician and astronomer Christopher Clavius. The truth is that cats could not have prevented the black death. Though, really, they were dealing with a cat infestation and decided to make it an excuse to drink. (Ive decided not the repost the link here). 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. We know there was a massive reduction in cat populations at the time because of this, so its plausible to make the connection. The Nazcacat geoglyphwas only discovered last October. 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. 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. Then, there is the fact that cats just arent good ratters-, which is why dogs; especially terriers are employed to catch rodents. 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. 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. Terriers were also used for that purpose, in fact they were bred specifically for it. The fleas will jump on to the cat and then you can dose the cat to kill them. 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. 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. First the novice, then the master, then each one of the order who are worthy and perfect, kiss the cat on its buttocks. In those days, papal inquisitors extracted confessions from prisoners that they worshiped the devil and his black cat by torturing them vigorously. Others are less sure. 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. CATS ARE BETTER THAN PEOPLE & ALWAYS WILL BE BETTER THAN HUMANS. 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. HUMAN OVER-POPULATION ISNT PRETTY, IT IS THE CAUSE BEHIND CHRONIC WARS. In fact, most people who believe the Europeans wiped out cats which caused the Black Death bull crap, is that cats werent the only animals used for catching rats. 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. For example, 79 medieval cats were mysteriously slain in Cambridge, England, by the townsfolk in the 13th century. 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. 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. What effects did it have? 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. Often fueled by a fear, individuals are often capable of doing illogical or terrible things as groups when given permission by authority figures. Thanks, Pope Benedict died Dec. 31, 2022, at the age of 95 in his residence at the . Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Death, Georgievska, Marija. 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. I like cats, but I dont wear leopard skin or go around posting pictures of cats everywhere. A witch and her cat. These new, heretical beliefs varied. Does the dwindling population of cats indirectly cause the infamous Black Death? Keep in mind that Chairman Meow iz not targeting religion, ceiling cat forbid ,but shedding light on human nature to digest and follow institutional dogma. You know, small-town sh*t.9. BUT HUMANS , NOT SO. It was Gregorys past as an astute lawyer that connected him to his acts of justice within the church. STOP W/ THE BABIES ALREADY. Finally, even if cat numbers were vastly reduced, they were not wiped out. Great read! So Gregory began to formalize and promote practices that formed the basis of the later medieval inquisition. Anyone with a thing against cats may get some satisfaction from a weird history "fact" circulating on the internet. For a lot of folks, everything you need to know about the Middle Ages you can find in Braveheart or Monty Pythonit was a simple, stupid period when superstition ruled the land, heads rolled daily, and people were covered in sh*t all the time. According to Pope Gregory IX, cats were the embodiment of the devil himself. That, or he was a true believer, or both. Cats and the Black Plague. They fly in the face of the Christian idea of God putting the natural world and its creatures here for humanitys benefit. Where do we get our stuff? Why did Pope Gregory IX issue Vox in Rama in the first place? OVERPOPULATION OF HUMANS IS THE RUINATION OF THE PLANET. Sometimes it appears unduly large, and sometimes equivalent to a goose or a duck, and sometimes it even assumes the size of an oven. Some people are sick. A bit hard to read when YOU ARE SCREAMING AT ME though! Im coming out pretty strong against this cat-plague connection, but the truth is I cant say for sure. On June 13, 1233, Pope Gregory IX instigated the first bull of his papacy: the Vox in Rama. Not a cat person? For example Id rather see them in the wild doing what cats are meant to do than as someones indoor pet. The cats play into the picture as they would have normally been instrumental in cutting down the rat populations. But feline-human relations deteriorated sometime in the early 1230s (CE) when Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull called Vox in Rama. Others posit that the smaller geoglyphs were used as location markers for travelers. 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. some particularly superstitious believers seized on the idea that the black cats were servants of 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. Elsewhere in Europe, the legacy of cat killings passed into folk practices. Elsewhere in Europe, the legacy of cat killings passed into folk practices. Its disgusting the way people treat and exploit these great animals. For the worship of the cat had its basis in the pagan past. 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. I do support single mothers though, especially those willing to give me 2 for 1 lapdance specials, but I digress. ANIMALS ARE BECOMING EXTINCT BECAUSE OF THE GREAT AMOUNT OF NEEDLESS BABIES BEING BORN. For some reason, we find the idea that our ancestors were dumb rather appealing. Just want to add that I like pretty much all animals, even dogs, but I am a cat person. 1999. 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. Some people even went as far as blaming. For years there was a debate if the Black Death and the Bubonic Plague were the same, adding speculation to the rat spreading theory. Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/Is-the-Vox-in-Rama-authentic-What-effects-did-it-have, Sheldon, Natasha. Then, there is the fact that cats just arent good ratters-, which is why dogs; especially terriers are employed to catch rodents. A LION; I will wager $500 we can debate this and I will win with 100 literate judges NOT taught as toddlers the pope or priest can send them TO HELL. 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. Indeed the belief that the torture or killing of cats could break spells continued across northern Europe. Retrieved from http://www.kattenstoet.be/en/page/497-511/the-cat-throwing.html, MedicineNet.com. Retrieved from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/ravens-memory-unfair-trade/. Pope Gregory IX (Source: les.tresors.de.lys.free.fr) 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. Costs of living dropped. 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. The Bubonic plague was carried not by rats themselves but their fleas; fleas which could just as easily transfer to dogs- and cats. 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? 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? For one, rate outnumber cats by a huge margin, like everywhere, and always have. But in the final analysis cats just arent dogs. 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. Its funny thinking about cats as the symbol of evil. One small fact you havent taken account of here. 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? 1999. The proverbial compendium of collective human knowledge at that point was certainly shorter and harder to access than it is now, but people back then still used their brains. Pope Innocent VIII came to power in the late 1400s, during the throes of witch crusades in Western Europe. For he had inherited the problem of heresies which were blossoming across thirteenth century Christian Europe and challenging the 'universal' church. Actually, the murder of cats in Europe continued for hundreds of years, and another Plague swept through Europe again in the 17th Century. ps. 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. This demonization led to the widespread, violent persecution of black cats in particular. Learn how cats first spread around the world. 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. 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. Summary. Missionary Activity under Pope Gregory the Great. And thats because its body is invested with the spirit of the Morning Star himself. Answer: This looks like a job for History for Atheists! We have detected that you are using extensions to block ads. After Pope Gregory IX associated cats with devil worship, cats throughout Europe were exterminated in droves. Cats are awesome rodent hunters. Since that time, black cats have symbolized bad luck, or a curse, to people not only in Europe but throughout the world. The novice kisses him and feels cold, [like] ice, and after the kiss the memory of the [C]atholic faith totally disappears from his heart. 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. Ive written before about whycats are strange including the reasons cats like to walk all over you, knead you and are afraid of cucumbers. Public Domain. Cats, dogs, horses, humans. Thus, whether the population of cats went down or not, the plague would still exist. Omniverous diet, free bleeders- cats and other mammals? In other words, the Europeans were murdering their best ally in the war against the pandemic. What he did caused the persecution of domestic and stray cats for 500 years. Black Death. Poor cats though. Many of these rodents had fleas that carried diseases including the Black Plague. Pope Gregory IX did not say cats are evil, and did not order people to kill cats. As hysteria increased, the rat population boomed and the Black Plague began to spread out of control. 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. Used as widespread clickbait, a frequently repeated story claims that in the 13th century Pope Gregory IX, who led the Catholic Church from 1227 to 1241 and has been remembered for initiating the Papal Inquisition against heretics, suffered from a serious case of cat contempt. 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. Gregory believed him. Public Domain. Cats are not assholes, as this writer and many dog lovers like to repeat endlessly (and its SO tiresome to listen). And whatever else fleas like to nosh on.8. Before you accuse me of clickbait, hear me out. 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. 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. Here are our sources? 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