That Time Pope Gregory IV Waged War on Cats

Yes, you read that right. Welcome back to That Time...! It's been a minute and I missed writing these.

Above: "Pope Gregory IX approving the Decretals" painted by Rafaello Sanzio (1510-11)

Pope Gregory IX became pope March 19, 1227. One of his first acts as pope was to give Konrad von Marburg, a German nobleman and priest, more inquisition power. As part of expanding his inquisition power, Konrad was permitted to go against standard procedure to investigate heresy. Now, if you're like me and aren't super familiar with that lingo, it means that Konrad was able to do whatever he wanted to investigate people who went against the church. Konrad was known for being unreasonable and unjust.

In June 1233, Pope Gregory IX sent out the Vox in Rama, condemning the hersy of and authorizing a crusade against Luciferanism, more commonly known as Satanism. This was in response to Konrad's numerous allegations and often coerced admissions of heresy. One such admission, claimed that during a Satanic initiation, they would kiss the butt of a cat.

Then came the insane persecution of cats. Between the Vox in Rama and Konrad's allegations, people made a sport of torturing and even burning cats. In Denmark, people beat cats to death to "banish evil" from the creatures. This was done for lent. In Ypres, Belgium the Kattenstoet festival began where cats were thrown from church bell towers and then burned. This festival still goes on today, though stuffed cats are now used.

Bishops in German kingdoms called heretics "ketzer" which comes from "katzke which means cats. Another name they used was "katzenkussers" which means cat kissers. Konrad's allegations truly caused a lot of chaos for cats.

Despite the Black Plague not happening for another century, some scholars believe this culling of cats could have had to do with the Black Plague sweeping Europe. However, there is no evidence to support that.

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