The cat genocide

PC: Wikimedia Commons

Wild cats first self domesticated in east and Egypt about 10000 years back according to DNA evidence. Egyptians believed that cats are magical creatures that brings good luck to their households and they honored these pets by dressing them in jewels and mummifying once dead. Cats were considered as the embodiment of the spirit of the goddess Bastet and in the battle of Pelusium in 525BC Persians used images of cats in their shields so that egyptians would be reluctant to attack. This strategy worked marking the end of the first major battle between the Achaemenid empire and Egypt. It is said that cats were brought to Europe by Romans and up to this date we all adore these purring fur balls. But there was a time in history that cats were considered as incarnations of Satan and exterminated.

PC: Wikimedia Commons

Pope Gregory IX, Pope from 1227-1241 was born Ugolino Di Conti changed his name into Gregory when he became the Pope at the age of 80. He started Papal inquisition which is a statement of laws that reissued many catholic laws in that era. That laws demanded justice for anyone who spoke against pope or the church. This papal bull declared cats, especially black cats as instruments of Satan and the "cat genocide" of the medieval Europe occurred as a result. There is a popular belief that the spread of the "Black Death" in Europe was due to the decrease in the cat population. There was a significant increase in the rodent population during this era and disease carrying rodents were free to roam the streets of Europe. There are several theories supporting and against the cat- plague connection and some people even say Pope did not order to kill cats. But all we know is a cat genocide actually took place in the medieval Europe because they believed cats are associated with evil spirits. Whether they are evil or not, in the modern era we live in, everybody loves cats. I mean who can kill these warm fluffy feline friends of ours?