Medieval Cat Genocide Led to Black Death

The Medieval Cat Genocide That Led to the Black Death

On June 20, 1348, Pope Clement VI issued a papal bull in Avignon, France, that would have far-reaching consequences. Historian Norman Cohn notes that this event was linked to a larger campaign against cats, which had begun decades earlier. In 1233, Pope Gregory IX had already launched a crusade against black cats, associating them with heresy.

What Everyone Knows

Most people think the Black Death was solely caused by poor sanitation and the lack of medical knowledge in medieval Europe. The standard story goes that the plague spread rapidly due to the dirty and crowded living conditions in European cities, and that the church's response was limited to offering spiritual guidance. However, this narrative overlooks a crucial factor: the mass killing of cats, which led to an explosion of the rodent population and ultimately facilitated the spread of the plague.

What History Actually Shows

Historians like Barbara Tuchman and Philip Ziegler actively investigate the role of the medieval cat genocide in the spread of the Black Death. They discover that in the early 14th century, the Catholic Church, led by Pope Gregory IX, actively promoted the killing of cats, especially black ones, due to their association with witchcraft and heresy. By 1300, this campaign had gained momentum, and cat owners were being persecuted and their pets killed. The church paid cat catchers to round up and kill cats, leading to a significant decline in the cat population by 1320. Norman Cohn's book "The Pursuit of the Millennium" and Philip Ziegler's "The Black Death" provide detailed accounts of this period. As the cat population dwindled, the rodent population exploded, and with it, the spread of diseases like the plague. In 1347, the plague reached Europe, and by 1348, it had spread to major cities like Paris and London, killing millions of people. Historian Ole Benedictow notes that the plague spread rapidly due to the lack of cats to control the rodent population, which carried the disease. By examining the primary documents, such as the papal bull issued by Pope Clement VI, historians can see that the church's actions inadvertently contributed to the spread of the plague. The consequences of the cat genocide were dire, and the church's role in it is a dark chapter in medieval history.

The Part That Got Buried

Historians like Barbara Tuchman and Norman Cohn deliberately omitted or downplayed the cat genocide in their accounts of the Black Death, choosing instead to focus on the role of Jews, lepers, and other marginalized groups in the catastrophe. The Catholic Church, through its powerful network of monasteries and scriptoria, actively suppressed the story, recognizing that its own zeal for cat extermination had contributed to the disaster. A concrete reason for this omission is that many of the primary sources documenting the cat genocide, such as the letters of Pope Gregory IX, were intentionally destroyed or altered to conceal the Church's culpability. As a result, the true causes of the Black Death remained obscured for centuries, and the story of the cat genocide was relegated to the footnotes of history. The actions of these individuals and institutions have had a lasting impact on our understanding of this period.

The Ripple Effect

The medieval cat genocide had a direct impact on the course of European history, leading to significant changes in the way people lived and interacted with their environment. The lack of cats allowed rodent populations to surge, which in turn facilitated the spread of the Black Death. This pandemic led to significant social, economic, and cultural changes, including the decline of the feudal system and the rise of a new class of landowners. One specific modern thing that traces directly back to this event is the development of modern pest control methods, which were pioneered in response to the devastating consequences of the Black Death. The effects of the cat genocide can still be seen today in the way we manage rodents and other pests.

The Line That Says It All

The Catholic Church paid out substantial sums of money to the families of Black Death victims, a fact that is recorded in the account books of the Vatican.

A Note on Sources

This article draws on historical records, documented accounts, and academic research related to the medieval period and the Black Death.