4 ms·

Interesting that the story of cats being persecuted in the middle ages is false. This article doesn't try to trace the origin of the story. This one : https://t

by ajb 3y ago

Interesting that the story of cats being persecuted in the middle ages is false. This article doesn't try to trace the origin of the story. This one : https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/11/05/were-cats-really-killed-en-masse-during-the-middle-ages/ https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2019/11/05/were-cats-reall... Traces it to a book by Donald Engels, but that was only written in 2001 and I've definitely heard the story before that. I think I recall it being in 'Catwatching' by Desmond Morris which was published in 93 (but it may have been some other book from that time period). I doubt if Morris originated the story either, as he's a naturalist, not a historian. So I wonder where it came from.

zolbrek 3y ago
I believe I have Catwatching somewhere. If I manage to dig it up I'll report back in.
ForHackernews 3y ago
Is it fake? I guess this was the early modern era, not middle ages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Cat_Massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Cat_Massacre
- rsynnott 3y ago
  See the concerns at the bottom of Methodology; I think all you can _really_ read into this is that the idea was in the aether by 1984. (Even _if_ the event described happened, it was clearly exceptional, and _even with that in mind_ doesn't support the idea that people in The Olden Days (TM) were afraid of cats; the printer is _keeping_ cats).
rsynnott 3y ago
In Blackadder 1 (early 80s) it's already a part of pop culture enough to be referenced. I think it's pretty old, I suspect 19th century (which is where a lot of modern pop culture ideas about the 'dark ages' solidified).
- ajb 3y ago
  Aha, I have found it in "The Golden Bough", which takes it back to 1890. It doesn't contain all elements of the story though - it doesn't have a priest calling for cats to be exterminated. Rather, it suggests that patterns of behavior similar to druid sacrifices persisted under christianity, and were there re-interpreted as driving out witches in cat form.

by ajb 3y ago

zolbrek 3y ago

I believe I have Catwatching somewhere. If I manage to dig it up I'll report back in.

ForHackernews 3y ago

Is it fake? I guess this was the early modern era, not middle ages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Cat_Massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Cat_Massacre

rsynnott 3y ago
See the concerns at the bottom of Methodology; I think all you can _really_ read into this is that the idea was in the aether by 1984. (Even _if_ the event described happened, it was clearly exceptional, and _even with that in mind_ doesn't support the idea that people in The Olden Days (TM) were afraid of cats; the printer is _keeping_ cats).

rsynnott 3y ago

In Blackadder 1 (early 80s) it's already a part of pop culture enough to be referenced. I think it's pretty old, I suspect 19th century (which is where a lot of modern pop culture ideas about the 'dark ages' solidified).

ajb 3y ago
Aha, I have found it in "The Golden Bough", which takes it back to 1890. It doesn't contain all elements of the story though - it doesn't have a priest calling for cats to be exterminated. Rather, it suggests that patterns of behavior similar to druid sacrifices persisted under christianity, and were there re-interpreted as driving out witches in cat form.