Cats in the Middle Ages

CATS IN THE MIDDLE AGES

 Generally, cats had a miserable existence. They were vermin, infested with fleas, and only permitted to live because they were useful around the kitchen and stables. Cats were often adopted by lonely old widows. Unfortunately, they became known as 'familiars', and both cat and the old witch were burnt together.

Apart from being kept for their fur and meat, cats had other industrial uses. Wool, for example, was a big industry. It was exported and stored in Cloth Halls in Ypres until the annual fair. 

Mice couldn't believe their luck – they dived in, ate it, and bred. So cats were introduced, lived in it, and they bred too! The cloth/wool was saved, but now cats became the problem. 

 

Control was easy – the cats were simply thrown off the St Martin's church on 'Cats' Wednesday', in the second week of Lent. The last time it happened was in 1817, and the very last cat survived the experience!

History would have been very different but for cats.

The Black Death was caused by rats from the Middle East. They multiplied in the close-packed towns and spread their fleas and germs. Cats suddenly began to multiply too – very suspicious. Their connection with witches suggested that the Devil was spreading the plague through his creatures. Hundreds of thousand were killed, leaving the rats to do their thing.

  

One third of the human population died as a result of superstition. This created a labour shortage, so workers demanded more wages. they were quickly crushed in the Peasant's revolt in 1381.

This rings a bell......