"Fiends of Hell": how Pope Gregory IX unleashed a war with cats

Why did they dislike cats in medieval Europe and what does the pope have to do with it?

In different eras and in different countries, the attitude towards cats was different. Everyone knows that the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt were very fond of cats. Also, the cat was considered a sacred animal among the Vikings, since the Scandinavians believed that it was associated with the goddess of love and fertility Freya. In The Younger Edda, a collection of ancient Scandinavian poems, Freya traveled by Sturluson S. Vision of Gulvi. 24. Younger Edda. L. 1970 on a team drawn by two cats.

And she rides on two cats harnessed to a chariot. She is the most supportive of human pleas, and by her name, noble wives are called mistresses. She is very fond of love songs. And it is good to call on her help in love.

Snorri Sturluson "The Younger Edda"

Freya Seeking Her Husband, painting by Niels Blommer, 1852

But in medieval Europe, cats, especially black ones, were considered companions of witches. These views became especially relevant in connection with the struggle of the Catholic Church against the remnants of paganism, including the Scandinavian cults that still existed in Europe.

In particular, this struggle fell on the shoulders of church courts - the forerunners of the Inquisition. Their appearance, as well as harsh punishments for religious crimes (up to and including burning) go deep into history. This was due not only to the desire to deal with the echoes of paganism, but also to the crisis of the church caused by the emergence of numerous heresies - alternative religious teachings. Cathars, Waldensians, Albigensians openly opposed the popes and considered the Catholic Church sinful and unnecessary.

In this situation, already by the XII century, the opinion that black cats are associated with Satan and demons was strengthened.

Perhaps the negative attitude towards cats was associated with the misogyny of the Catholic Church. According to church hierarchs, women were responsible for original sin. They were correlated by Fosier R. People of the Middle Ages. M. 2010 with calculating and fickle cats, while men - with loyal dogs.

This era of great superstition culminated in the 12th – 13th centuries. The heretics became accomplices of the devil, and they were accused of all mortal sins. Confessions from people detained "for witchcraft" were beaten out by torture.

In particular, at that time the Bishop Konrad of Hildesheim allegedly revealed a satanic cult associated with a black cat. He claimed that his members worship the devil at night and arrange orgies, and also contact the other world with the help of a reviving statue of a cat, kissing it on the tail. These testimonies, of course, were obtained using torture and intimidation.

Pope Gregory IX reacted to Konrad's signal. In 1234 (at the same time the papal inquisition was created), he signed the bull Vox in Rama - "Voice in Rama". The name refers to the biblical city of Rama from the stories about the destruction of the Book of Isaiah. 10:29 Jerusalem and Rachel's mourning.

Bulla sanctioned the Crusade against the freedom-loving inhabitants of Stedingen (a region in the north-east of modern Germany), who allegedly indulged in the Luciferian heresy, who had forgotten and despised the Catholic faith. The Pope urged to resolutely fight Satanism and help the church in every possible way in this matter.

Some historians consider the bull to be the first official document of the Catholic Church in which black cats are mentioned in connection with witch and demonic rituals.

How the inquisition and witch hunters exterminated cats

Gradually, hatred of cats spread throughout Central and Western Europe, and the papacy continued to look for witches and their companions. So, Innocent VIII, who took the papal throne two and a half centuries after Gregory, wrote that the cat is the devil's favorite animal and an idol for all witches. In the treatise on demonology Malleus Malificarum - the infamous Hammer of the Witches, first published in 1487 - cats are called vessels for unclean spirits that tempt people.

The cat and the broom were considered the main attributes of sorcerers and witches. The most ardent hunters for "evil spirits" considered their presence in the house a sufficient reason to accuse the owner or mistress of witchcraft.

Cats were burned together with such owners - and often in the same bag.

However, animals were killed not only together with the sorcerers' owners, but also just like that. The great extermination of cats, as the historian Robert Darnton called it, lasted from the 13th to the 17th century. Animals were destroyed in various cruel ways, for example, they were scalded with boiling water or thrown from the bell towers. Later it even became part of some folk festivals.

Thus, the Cat Festival (Kattenstoet), which is held annually in the Belgian Ypres, is associated with a similar "tradition". Today, of course, no one kills or tortures animals at the festival: teddy cats are thrown from the bell tower, and the people standing below are trying to catch them.

Cats in the Middle Ages: an echo of the destruction of cats - Kattenstoet

In the 16th century in France, cats were regularly burned just for the amusement of the crowd. Ashes left after burning, people took away Frazer J. G. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. Dover Publications. 1922 home, believing that he brings good luck. This practice was discontinued only in 1765.

These phenomena spread especially rapidly in cities. In rural areas, where cats saved crops from rodents, the animals were not touched. Also, the mass destruction of cats did not follow in those countries where there was no widespread witch hunt, for example in England. But this does not negate the fact that animals were exterminated in France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Belgium, Holland.

Evidence of irrational cat hatred can be traced back to the 19th century. For example, the last case of throwing cats from the bell tower in Ypres dates back to 1817.

It is known I. Zimin. The adult world of imperial residences. Second quarter of the 19th - early 20th century M. 2011, that the last Russian emperor Nicholas II was fond of shooting stray cats and dogs. However, in general, in Russia and in Russia, cats have always been treated well. Many folk signs are associated with these animals: the cat washes - the guests are "washed"; the cat curls up in a ball - to the frost. Also, according to tradition, she was the first to be launched into the house during housewarming.

The Orthodox Church did not demonize these animals either. So, unlike dogs, cats were allowed to enter the temple. And in the Life of Nikandr of Pskov, dated from the late 16th - early 17th centuries, there is an episode when the Monk Nikandr asks to bring him a cat shortly before his death:

The monk said to him: "Joseph, child, I have no cat, but obey me for my sake, find me a cat." Joseph said: "But where can I find this creature pleasing to you?" He said to Joseph: "There is a deacon of the Savior in Zamlyi."

What did it lead to

It is not known for certain how many cats were destroyed in the Middle Ages and how many of them were black. Nevertheless, some researchers believe that the scale of this extermination was very large, and the consequences were catastrophic. In particular, the massacre of cats is cited as one of the causes of European plague epidemics, which swept across the region several times until the 17th century. So, in 1346, a terrible epidemic began, nicknamed the black death. The plague raged until 1351 and carried off The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology. Cambridge University Press. 1998 lives from 15 to 35 million people - more than 30% of the population of Europe.

In unsanitary conditions, cats destroyed the rodents that spread the infection. Black rats brought to Europe and fleas that lived on them were especially dangerous.

However, there is no direct evidence that the killing of cats contributed greatly to the spread of the disease. For example, it can be carried not only by fleas, mainly living on the body of animals, but also by human lice. Moreover, as computer simulations show, transmission of infection through parasites from person to person is more likely than from rats to people. In addition, plague is also transmitted by airborne droplets.

In any case, the cruelty with which cats were treated in the Middle Ages is completely unacceptable. Fortunately, in our time, bullying of animals occurs much less often and is strongly condemned in every possible way. And many of us cannot imagine our life without cats at all.