In medieval Europe, cats were considered “bad” animals.
They were called messengers of hell, they were feared and hated. Wild, tormenting tailed, amaze and terrify. Cat lovers reading this article, you will be shocked.
In the XV century, Edward, Duke of York, said that if an animal and possessed by the devil, it is a cat. In medieval Europe, the cat, especially black, personified evil, witchcraft, vanity, and even female sexuality. To get rid of evil, you need to burn or cut into pieces. That is what the superstitious crowd and did to cats.
In the Belgian town of Ypres, the townspeople threw cats high in the bell tower down to the cobblestones, and then set fire to them. This holiday, Kattenstoet (“Festival of cats”), is still held every year on 2 may. Fortunately, the last two hundred years, no-kill, limited stuffed.
So amused not only the students, but also the city dignitaries throughout Europe, especially in France. Moreover, the Sun King Louis XIV once a year threw a cat in a celebratory bonfire. It was a popular entertainment, in anticipation of which the crowd were rubbing their hands with glee.
Depending on the region, the cats were hung in cages over a fire or impaling on a pole and then burned. In some cities, tailed coated with flammable liquid, set on fire and driven on the streets. Leftover embers and charred pieces went home as lucky charms.
Other entertainment, “knocking the cat out of the barrel,” was popular in medieval Denmark. The spring festival of the carnival we had to scare and chase away the symbol of winter – a black cat. The animal ran into the hollow trunk of a tree, which is pounded with sticks, driving the frightened tailed out. If the cat was out quickly enough, he used to beat with sticks on the back.
Also, the cats were ingredients in magical recipes and folk medicine. In Brittany, in Northern France, it was believed that you can become invisible, if you eat the cat’s brain.
Sadism on animals was widespread for many centuries. Why cats suffered particularly badly? According to historians, torture tailed purring was considered as a means of protection from witchcraft. People believed that the offending animals, they harm the dark forces.
