0:02 in the ancient world the cat was adored
0:03 by diverse cultures
0:07 such as the chinese egyptian or roman
0:09 however around the 13th century in
0:11 europe the animal began to lose its
0:12 former status
0:14 it was usually tolerated for being
0:16 useful in fighting mice
0:18 what was often not valued as a pet a
0:20 warning to those who like cats
0:22 the history of this animal in the middle
0:24 ages is horrific
0:26 medieval theories about cats claimed
0:28 that they were cruel creatures
0:31 allies of the devil and witches legends
0:33 and myths about cats claimed that
0:35 heretics worshiped the animal
0:37 and kissed them below the tail right in
0:38 the orifice
0:39 there were rumors that witches could
0:41 transform themselves into cats
0:44 to bite and scratch babies even the pope
0:46 answered questions like
0:49 are cats the devil and are cats demonic creatures
0:50 creatures
0:52 with a resounding yes triggering
0:55 centuries marked by the killing of cats
0:57 the fear of the black cat has become so
0:59 ingrained in the memory
1:00 that beliefs such as it being a source
1:04 of bad luck continued to persist today [Music]
1:08 [Music]
1:10 the ancient egyptians revered cats they
1:12 even believed they were gods
1:14 for penalties for injuring or killing a
1:16 cat were severe
1:18 in ancient egypt they loved these
1:19 animals so much
1:21 that they even mummified them the
1:23 ancient greek historian herodotus
1:24 reported that
1:26 when a cat died in egypt all the
1:28 inhabitants of a house
1:30 shaved their eyebrows in a sign of deep mourning
1:31 mourning
1:34 the cats that died were embalmed and
1:37 buried in sacred containers
1:39 the cat in ancient egypt was intricately
1:41 linked to the goddess bastet
1:44 the priestess of the hearth the home woman
1:44 woman
1:47 and their secrets bastet was one of the
1:49 most popular deities in egypt
1:50 because she promised peace and
1:54 prosperity to her devotees of both sexes
1:56 any man had a mother or a sister a wife
1:57 or a daughter
1:59 that they cared for and protected while
2:00 at the same time
2:03 wishing for a peaceful and prosperous home
2:04 home
2:06 that was what bast had guaranteed every year
2:07 year
2:09 thousands of egyptians traveled to the
2:10 holy city of bubastis
2:13 to participate in the goddesses festival
2:16 bastet and the cats were so valued that
2:19 in 525 bc the egyptian army surrendered
2:20 to the persians
2:22 who painted the image of bastet on their shields
2:23 shields
2:25 and herded cats and other animals in
2:27 front of the egyptians before the city walls
2:28 walls
2:30 the egyptians would rather surrender
2:32 than harm the cats
2:35 cats were also popular in ancient egypt
2:37 and rome although not with the same
2:39 status they had in ancient egypt
2:41 the greeks did not use cats as hunters instead
2:42 instead
2:44 they domesticated weasel to control
2:47 pests but pet cats were well treated
2:49 the romans considered the cat a symbol
2:50 of independence
2:52 but all that changed in medieval europe
2:56 when cats were associated with the devil [Music]
3:00 [Music]
3:01 while the ancient romans celebrated the
3:03 independence of cats
3:06 medieval europeans were worried about it
3:08 medieval christians believed that god
3:10 had given them dominion over the animals
3:11 of the earth
3:14 but cats refused to be domesticated the dog
3:14 dog
3:17 man's best friend was capable of
3:18 learning to be loyal
3:20 and obedient but a cat would not act the
3:21 same way
3:24 despite all the flattery thus the
3:26 independent character of cats
3:28 caused great anxiety in medieval europeans
3:29 europeans
3:32 in the early 15th century edward duke of york
3:32 york
3:35 harshly described cats their falseness
3:37 and malice are known
3:40 but i dare say this if any beast has the
3:42 spirit of the devil within it
3:45 it is undoubtedly the cat both wild
3:48 and domesticated although most of the
3:50 population of medieval europe was illiterate
3:50 illiterate
3:53 this was irrelevant since stories were
3:55 mostly transmitted orally
3:57 the story that associated the cats with
3:58 darkness witchcraft
4:00 and the underworld along with the
4:03 church's efforts to demonize the values
4:04 of earlier religions
4:06 ultimately condemned the cat to an
4:08 inferior existence
4:10 its association with the feminine side
4:11 inherited from egypt
4:14 further contributed to the demonization
4:15 of cats
4:16 considering that women in the early
4:18 medieval ages were not viewed
4:21 in the most positive way before the
4:23 popularization of the cult of the virgin
4:25 mary in the high middle ages
4:28 100-1300 a.d along with the french
4:30 romantic tradition of courtly love that
4:33 elevated the status of the female sex
4:35 women were closely associated with eve
4:38 and the fallen man in the garden of eden
4:40 they were considered sinful by nature lustful
4:41 lustful
4:43 and responsible for the first fall of
4:45 man as well as for all the struggles
4:48 that every man had to face after adam
4:50 the jews known as christ killers
4:52 throughout the middle ages in europe
4:55 were associated with cats jews were said
4:56 to worship the cat
4:58 being able to transform themselves into
5:00 this animal to sneak into christian homes
5:01 homes
5:03 and commit mischief or cast spells it
5:05 was also believed that jews crucified
5:08 cats as a way of mocking christ's death
5:09 on the cross
5:11 to the patriarchal culture of the middle
5:13 ages the cat was clearly the vilest
5:15 creature on earth
5:17 in the 12th century this association
5:18 with the devil became
5:21 even more visible around 1180 walter mapp
5:22 mapp
5:24 explained in one of his works that
5:26 during satanic rituals the devil appears
5:28 in the form of a black cat
5:31 before his devotees the worshippers turn
5:32 off the light
5:34 and approach the place where they saw
5:36 their master they search for him
5:38 and when they find him they kiss him
5:39 under his tail
5:41 this text credited in the minds of
5:44 medieval europeans a long association
5:46 between cats and evil
5:48 when the first major witch trials began
5:49 in the 15th century
5:52 cats were accused of helping witches
5:54 hunting cats were considered cruel animals
5:54 animals
5:57 that preyed on mice taking pleasure from
5:59 the rodent's pain
6:01 this reinforced the rumors that linked
6:02 cats to the devil
6:04 instead of lovable and helpful pets
6:06 medieval europeans
6:08 began to see cats as a symbol of pure evil
6:09 evil
6:11 several countries of association between
6:13 cats heretics and witches
6:17 affected european cats in 1232
6:20 pope gregory ix issued a people bull
6:21 entitled vox and rama
6:23 declaring that cats were allies of the
6:25 devil thus
6:27 europeans began to massacre these animals
6:28 animals
6:30 during the persecution of heretics and
6:32 witches millions of innocent cats may
6:34 have been killed
6:35 the methods of killing cats were
6:37 horrible in belgium
6:40 cats were thrown from bell towers in france
6:40 france
6:43 they were burned at the stake in denmark
6:45 cats were beaten to death
6:47 a german artillery master suggested
6:49 attaching rockets to cats for use in sieges
6:50 sieges
6:52 all these forms of torture against cats
6:54 were considered cruel entertainment
6:56 at the expense of the lies of millions
7:02 of cats
7:04 you guys have seen that woody woodpecker
7:07 episode entitled suffering cats right
7:09 well that's not a jet on the back of a
7:10 16th century cat
7:13 it's an unusual military technique
7:15 recommended by the master gunner franz
7:16 helm of cone
7:18 who wrote a treatise on siege warfare in
7:20 the mid-16th century
7:22 in one section of the documents helms
7:23 suggested new methods
7:26 for setting fire to an impenetrable
7:28 castle or city
7:29 helm recommended putting a lit bag of
7:32 gunpowder on a cat's back
7:34 tie the bag on the cat's back then light
7:36 it then let the cat go
7:37 so that it runs towards the nearest
7:39 castle or town
7:41 when the terrified cat hid in a barn the
7:44 rocket would set the structure on fire
7:46 sure the cat would die a horrible death
7:48 but helm didn't seem to mind that
7:50 the outbreak of the black death after
7:52 pope gregory the knight's bull has often
7:54 been attributed to a widespread massacre
7:55 of cats
7:58 however this theory is untenable as it
8:00 was just one outbreak among many
8:02 the plague was killing europeans long
8:04 before the papal bull
8:06 on the other hand the plague of the 14th
8:08 century was amplified by the high number
8:10 of parasite-carrying rodents that
8:12 thrived in the absence of a large cat population
8:13 population
8:15 the people of the middle ages did not
8:17 know that the plague was caused by the
8:19 bacterium yersinia pestis
8:21 present in fleas which in turn parasited
8:23 the rats
8:25 the general opinion was the same as that
8:26 spread by the church
8:28 the plague had been sent by god as a
8:30 punishment for sins
8:31 in this way cats continued to be
8:33 slaughtered and killed
8:35 as people continued to see them through
8:36 the church's perspective
8:40 as evil and worthless creatures cats
8:42 began to be rehabilitated after the
8:44 protestant reformation
8:47 1517-1648 when the church's control over
8:49 the people's lives diminished
8:51 there began to be greater freedom of
8:53 thought in the 18th century
8:54 the spirit of the enlightenment
8:56 encouraged people to keep cats as
8:58 pets simply because they were a cheerful companion
9:00 companion
9:01 this trend became more common in the
9:04 victorian era in the 19th century
9:06 when queen victoria returned the cat to
9:08 the status the animal had in ancient
9:10 egypt when the rosetta stone was
9:12 deciphered in 1822
9:14 egyptian culture was revealed to the
9:16 world prior to this
9:18 hieroglyphics were considered merely an ornament
9:19 ornament
9:20 but after they were understood as a
9:22 language egyptian civilization was clarified
9:23 clarified
9:26 and attracted worldwide attention
9:27 stories of amazing discoveries in
9:28 ancient tombs
9:30 made headlines in england and around the world
9:31 world
9:33 several mentioned bastet and the
9:35 egyptian love of cats
9:36 queen victoria's interest in egypt
9:39 caused her to adopt two blue persians
9:41 and the monarch acquired a reputation as
9:43 a breeder of show cats
9:45 since victoria was a popular queen the
9:47 press reported on her interests
9:49 and these hobbies began to be shared by
9:51 other people who wish to have their own cats
9:51 cats
9:53 little by little their image was rehabilitated
9:55 rehabilitated
9:57 by the end of the 19th century the
9:58 medieval concept of the cat
10:00 as an instrument of satan was replaced
10:02 by that of the feline friend
10:05 and cherished family member known to cat
10:06 lovers today
10:18 as well as those of the ancient world you
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