0:05 this is a cat and this is a catastrophe
0:08 now I know cats could be very polarizing
0:10 animals some people think they're an
0:13 adorably hilarious loaf of love some
0:15 people think they're little monsters
0:17 that only have love for themselves
0:19 wherever you tend to fall on the cat
0:21 Spectrum I think we can all agree that this
0:22 this
0:25 is just not right this is a medieval cat
0:27 and I know what you're thinking probably
0:31 one of two things number one they must
0:34 have never seen a real cat before number
0:37 two is that my great aunt Susan and
0:38 although I can't guarantee that this
0:40 isn't your great aunt traveled back in
0:43 time and trapped in a feline flesh
0:46 prison I can say that cats existed in
0:48 medieval times and I'm almost certain
0:51 these artists had seen them before so
0:54 why would they make them look so bizarre
0:56 let's just go back some thousands of
0:58 years shall we house cats that we know
1:00 and love today aren't really all that
1:03 different from their wild cat ancestors
1:05 this is in stark contrast to dogs that
1:08 were bred to be much more dependent on
1:10 humans for sustenance shelter and
1:13 companionship where cats controlling us
1:15 all along to make sure we didn't change
1:18 them too much during the domestication process
1:19 process
1:22 or were they already perfect the way
1:25 they were either way their independent
1:27 flippant nature may have just set them
1:29 up to be the more controversial pet from
1:31 the start
1:33 the things that distinguish house cats
1:35 from their ancestors are mostly physical
1:37 they developed a wider array of hair
1:39 colors and patterns and became a bit
1:42 smaller behaviorally they were bred to
1:44 be slightly more tolerant of humans and
1:47 other animals as their Wildcat ancestors
1:49 were solitary animals and wouldn't have
1:52 cared much for either and naturally cats
1:54 pretty much decided to domesticate
1:57 themselves once we began farming and
1:59 storing our own crops thousands of years
2:02 ago rodents started showing up as well
2:04 and the cats came right along with them
2:07 and so began a beautiful symbiotic
2:09 relationship that would endure for
2:12 centuries thereafter cats loved the
2:14 abundance of rodents that congregated
2:17 around humans and we loved the free Pest
2:20 Control it was a win-win cats were
2:21 practically worshiped by ancient
2:24 Egyptians who saw them as symbols of
2:27 divinity protection and strength
2:29 along the way they also became
2:31 associated with fertility and femininity
2:34 many ancient Egyptian goddesses that
2:37 shared these same admired qualities were
2:39 given feline features such as the
2:42 goddess bestet a feline-headed woman who
2:45 was nurturing yet ferocious the penalty
2:47 for killing a cat even by accident was
2:50 very severe even death
2:52 fast forward the Roman Empire took over
2:54 and adopted these Egyptian feline
2:56 goddesses and even merged them with
2:59 their own the cat being its most
3:01 prominent symbol
3:03 in northern Europe they worshiped Freya
3:05 the fertility goddess who was also
3:07 associated with cats Christians were
3:10 persecuted in the Roman Empire until the
3:12 reign of Roman emperor Constantine he
3:14 became a Christian himself and made it
3:17 the official religion of the Empire it
3:19 was difficult to get those in Europe to
3:21 stop worshiping their traditional gods
3:24 and convert to Christianity even after
3:26 the fall of the Roman Empire the
3:28 Catholic Church did this with great
3:30 success throughout Europe by linking
3:31 traditional religions and their
3:34 goddesses to Witchcraft deceit Satan
3:38 sinful and sexual behavior the strong
3:40 Association that was made between demons
3:42 and these goddesses eventually meant
3:45 their cherished symbol the cat was
3:47 dragged right along with them for
3:50 example The Pest Control cats provided
3:53 to humans that was once so valued was
3:55 now compared to the devil catching Souls
3:58 William caxton wrote The Devil playeth
4:01 offed with the sonar like as the cat
4:03 doth with the mouse
4:05 I'm sorry that was terrible
4:07 indeed during Medieval Times cats were
4:10 associated with vanity Witchcraft and
4:12 the devil and so people thought that in
4:14 order to get rid of all of these things
4:16 they would just get rid of cats
4:20 in 1484 Pope Innocent VII stated quote
4:22 the cat was the devil's favorite animal
4:25 and Idol of all witches in France people
4:27 would gather together for entertainment
4:30 to hoist cats up in the air in Nets in
4:32 barrels and then lower them into a bonfire
4:34 bonfire
4:37 cats are also soaked in resin set on
4:39 fire and then chased through the streets
4:42 in the 17th century during Lent and ipra
4:44 Belgium cats were thrown from a high
4:47 tower to their death apra decided to
4:49 revive the event in the 1930s but this
4:51 time to make amends now the event
4:54 features giant cat floats and performers
4:57 and guests dress up as cats and in
4:59 medieval costumes they still throw the
5:01 cats from the tower but now they just
5:04 use stuffed animals this connection
5:06 between cats and Satan became even
5:09 stronger in 14th century Europe when the
5:11 Bubonic plague killed approximately 25
5:15 million people many blamed cats saying
5:17 somehow they were the cause of all of
5:20 their problems ironically the killing of
5:22 cats that took place during this time
5:24 likely led to an increase in the rodent
5:26 population which could have exacerbated
5:29 the problem so it seems like the
5:31 anthropomorphizing or humanization of
5:34 cats in ancient Egypt carried all the
5:36 way in into medieval times but instead
5:38 of the traits being favorable they were
5:42 demonic but why couldn't cats just be
5:47 cats cute fluffy not creepy yeah it's
5:49 because by and large people in medieval
5:52 times believed that animals were made by
5:55 God to serve and be ruled by humans
5:58 and anyone who has a cat knows that this
6:00 approach would not fly with them since
6:03 they serve absolutely no one animals
6:05 were also thought of in terms of moral
6:07 signals from God and representations of
6:10 biblical teachings there was even a sort
6:12 of medieval animal encyclopedia to put
6:14 each animal into its own role in
6:16 creation and spoke of the spiritual
6:19 lessons each animal could teach us this
6:22 was no joke animals were even taken to
6:24 court and put on trial for their
6:25 misdeeds where they were subject to
6:28 Capital Punishment and jail time the
6:31 most recurring culprit were pigs some of
6:32 the swine were brought to trial and
6:35 executed for serious offenses such as
6:37 murder others were punished for more
6:39 minor offenses like this one time in
6:42 1394 when a pig was hanged for quote
6:44 having sacrilegiously eaten a
6:47 consecrated wafer rats frequently
6:49 received strongly worded letters asking
6:51 them to leave a house where they were
6:54 unwanted but it wasn't just real animals
6:57 there were also imaginary animals that
6:59 had symbolic meaning like unicorns they
7:01 thought represented Christ but there
7:03 were some animals that didn't represent
7:05 Christian teachings and were just for
7:07 fun like the bonican that defended
7:09 Itself by spraying fiery poo at its
7:12 pursuers it was said that the Poo could
7:19 the Hunter's face is almost paralyzed
7:22 from the strong odor the cat that most
7:24 of us know and loved today only started
7:26 to claw back its reputation during the
7:28 Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci was a
7:31 lover of all things nature but he had a
7:34 particular fondness for horses and cats
7:36 during this time he made many sketches
7:39 of cats ones that actually looked like
7:41 real kitties he even made one of baby
7:45 Jesus holding a cat what it would take
7:47 another Century or so for mostly
7:50 everyone else to agreed cats weren't
7:52 just fluffy little devil shelters
7:55 so now Cass can finally enjoy the life
7:57 that they deserve after the roller
8:00 coaster we've put them through a warm
8:03 house a clean place to poo an endless
8:04 supply of food and water and Furniture
8:07 to scratch what more can a floofball ask
8:10 for people were so crazy back then right
8:13 it's not like cats can control our minds
8:13 or anything [Music]
8:17 [Music]
8:19 thank you so much for watching I'll see
8:20 you in the next one [Music]
8:23 [Music] [Applause]
8:25 [Applause] [Music]
8:27 [Music] [Applause]
8:36 foreign [Applause]
8:36 [Applause] [Music]
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