3 ms·

Sadly this is often the way with studying the medieval period, when records were sparse, and most people couldn't write. My guess is they didn't explicitly stat

Sadly this is often the way with studying the medieval period, when records were sparse, and most people couldn't write. My guess is they didn't explicitly state it because as a magazine for medievalists their readership is going to implicitly understand that written accounts can't be taken as the opinion of everyone. Having said that, it appears cats weren't universally hated, a quick Google reveals this blog post[1] about cats and their relationship with scribes. It seems that there was a similar feel to many modern cat owners, the well known affection for an animal that will not be told what to do.

dalke 11y ago
"it appears cats weren't universally hated, a quick Google reveals" Or you could copy&paste from the linked-to article: > Not all medieval Europeans hated cats. There are many accounts of cats being kept as pets, including by nuns.
- baldfat 11y ago
  As a former falculty memeber and Theological Seminary student. Academia has a serious issue with quality scholarship. Most people focus on one thing and make bold unsupported grabs. My cool little twist on everyone else (I was into Historical Theology which is the most geeky of Theological disciplines) I liked to show the art of whatever period I was talking about. It would debunk 50% of the crappy research all the time, and this time it didn't fail. Warning slide show for ads but it is a slide show of cats in the Middle Ages. http://www.medievalists.net/2015/08/08/cat-pics-from-the-middle-ages/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/08/08/cat-pics-from-the-mid... Cats as pets, guardians against mice, etc. This myth started about cats because people thought Middle Age people were stupid and that they got the wrong idea about cats and that killed them because then the plague came. If the stupid people just had cats no plague.
  - kingmanaz 11y ago
    >This myth started about cats because people thought Middle Age people were stupid and that they got the wrong idea about cats and that killed them because then the plague came. If the stupid people just had cats no plague. Monty Python took this mindset to comedic extreme with the "bring out your dead" scene in "Quest for the Holy Grail"; the medieval peasants are literally depicted as belly-crawling through the muddy streets. It's when speaking with average progressives about the past that this skit truly comes into its own, though; the average "modern" really has internalized such defamation about the past. One can see the comedy in their historical exaggerations even if they cannot.
    - earleybird 11y ago
      Apropos to the subject; in the background of that very scene is an old woman flogging a cat against a wall[1]. The depth of thought and detail that the Monty Python lads show in their historical understanding is quite impressive. [1] https://youtu.be/grbSQ6O6kbs?t=52 https://youtu.be/grbSQ6O6kbs?t=52 EDIT: add url

dalke 11y ago

"it appears cats weren't universally hated, a quick Google reveals" Or you could copy&paste from the linked-to article: > Not all medieval Europeans hated cats. There are many accounts of cats being kept as pets, including by nuns.

baldfat 11y ago
As a former falculty memeber and Theological Seminary student. Academia has a serious issue with quality scholarship. Most people focus on one thing and make bold unsupported grabs. My cool little twist on everyone else (I was into Historical Theology which is the most geeky of Theological disciplines) I liked to show the art of whatever period I was talking about. It would debunk 50% of the crappy research all the time, and this time it didn't fail. Warning slide show for ads but it is a slide show of cats in the Middle Ages. http://www.medievalists.net/2015/08/08/cat-pics-from-the-middle-ages/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/08/08/cat-pics-from-the-mid... Cats as pets, guardians against mice, etc. This myth started about cats because people thought Middle Age people were stupid and that they got the wrong idea about cats and that killed them because then the plague came. If the stupid people just had cats no plague.
- kingmanaz 11y ago
  >This myth started about cats because people thought Middle Age people were stupid and that they got the wrong idea about cats and that killed them because then the plague came. If the stupid people just had cats no plague. Monty Python took this mindset to comedic extreme with the "bring out your dead" scene in "Quest for the Holy Grail"; the medieval peasants are literally depicted as belly-crawling through the muddy streets. It's when speaking with average progressives about the past that this skit truly comes into its own, though; the average "modern" really has internalized such defamation about the past. One can see the comedy in their historical exaggerations even if they cannot.
  - earleybird 11y ago
    Apropos to the subject; in the background of that very scene is an old woman flogging a cat against a wall[1]. The depth of thought and detail that the Monty Python lads show in their historical understanding is quite impressive. [1] https://youtu.be/grbSQ6O6kbs?t=52 https://youtu.be/grbSQ6O6kbs?t=52 EDIT: add url