Revered and Reviled

by L A Vocelle

  The poet and writer Lady Murasaki Shikibu in The Tale of Genji (11th century) also noted cats’ behavior at court. “The most unsociable cat, when it finds itself wrapped up in someone’s coat and put to sleep upon his bed—stroked, fed, and tended with every imaginable care—soon ceases to stand upon its dignity” (Rogers, 2006, p. 24).

  Unfortunately, not all of Japanese society shared this good will towards cats. Superstitious Japanese believed the cat’s tail to be the source of its magic, so it became a custom to cut it off. Thus, by doing so, the cat was unable to become a demon. One folktale describes the demise of a whole city owing to a cat’s tail. The cat’s tail catches on fire, and the cat runs through the town setting it all ablaze ultimately destroying the city. As a result, the Emperor decrees that all cats must have their tails cut off. Today the most popular cat in Japan is the bobtail.

  A Bakeneko, or spirit cat, by its very nature eventually became a cat with a forked tail called a Nekomata (figure 4.17). The transformation of the Bakeneko to a Nekomata was sometimes dependent upon the cat’s age or its weight. Spiritual strength increased with age and weight, and so a cat could speak at 10 years old and, some years later, could even transform itself into a human being.

  Killing a cat was not advisable, as a curse would doom the killer and his family to continuous haunting for seven generations. The Ainu, who primarily inhabit the northern island of Hokkaido, believe that if a person kills a cat, the spirit of the cat will take revenge by enchanting his murderer and causing him to die. The only way to prevent this is if the cat killer eats a part of the same cat. If this is not done, the spirit of the cat possesses him, and causes him to act like a cat as he gradually dies. However, the cat's killer, while he is still able, can cure himself by killing another cat and eating part of it. Otherwise, he finally dies a painful death while meowing like a cat. The name of this affliction in the Ainu language is meko pagoat or “cat punishment” (Refsing, 2002, p. 36). In contrast, in other Ainu villages, killing a cat causes a deadly disease (Etter, 1949, 2004, p.138).

  Figure 4.17. Nekomata, Toriyama Sekien, 1712-88

  The Japanese, not unlike the Chinese and Indians, believed in vampire cats, and plenty of stories and myths are deeply rooted in the culture. One such story is The Vampire Cat of Nabéshima. One day while Prince Hizen and his favorite concubine, O’Toyo, were walking through the palace gardens, an enormous black cat followed them. The day passed, and O’Toyo retired early only to be awoken at midnight by the same black cat sitting right next to her on her bed. She screamed and the cat attacked, biting her neck so fiercely and sucking her blood so greedily that she quickly died. The cat dug a grave and buried her and assumed her form with a plan to enchant the Prince. As time passed, the Prince grew weaker and paler. No medicine could cure him. Even though servants guarded his door at night, they suddenly fell asleep at ten o’clock. This was the time when the demon cat in O’Toyo’s body would come and suck the prince’s blood (figure 4.18). His odd sickness was soon suspected as witchcraft, and a young dedicated soldier, Ito Soda, offered to try and save the Prince by remaining awake all night. By deeply cutting his leg, Ito managed to stay awake all night and confronted the demon. The demon was no longer able to suck the Prince’s blood, and as time passed the Prince started to get better. Ito unsuccessfully tried to kill the cat, as it escaped by running across the roofs to the mountains afar. There the healthy Prince was able to hunt it down and eventually kill it, but only after it had terrorized many villages (Mitford, 1871/2010).

  Figure 4.18. Vampire Cat Attacking O-Toin, Prince of Hizen, Algernon Bertram Freeman, Mitford Tales of Old Japan, 1871

  In contrast, another Japanese story relates the love of a family for its deceased cat. In The Faithful Cat, a family in Osaka celebrates the 100th anniversary of the death of their ancestor’s cat. The family reminisced that the cherished cat would follow the great grandfather’s daughter around everywhere so that the great grandfather feared that the cat had fallen in love with her and wanted to cast a spell on her. Fearing the worst, he threatened to kill the cat, but the cat hearing the plan that night, whispered in his ear that he was in fact protecting his daughter from a large rat that lived in the granary. The cat instructed the great grandfather to go the next day and find another cat well known for its excellent hunting abilities and bring him back to the house. The great grandfather did as he was asked and brought the cat back. The two cats then went together into the granary to fight the rat. Even though the two cats managed to trap the ferocious rat so that the man could cut its throat, the two cats were so severely injured that they would not heal and eventually died. Thus, because of the bravery and devotion of their cat, the family devotedly celebrated its birthday each year (Mitford, 1871, 2010).

  In addition, another positive legend is of the Maneki-neko based on a story of a temple cat that beckoned to a Samurai to move away from a tree right before it was struck by lightning, thus saving the Samurai’s life. Today’s Hello Kitty is loosely based upon this legend.

  All in all throughout the Dark Ages, the cat served as both pariah and inspiration. Christians who had demonized the cat would ironically glorify it by adding its images to their holiest books, psalters, and bestiaries. While the cat would be associated with magic and vampires in the Talmud, in Islam it was highly respected and protected by the Hadith. As the cat spread east to China and Japan, stories and myths grew up around it that magnified the cat’s imagined magical powers. Deeply rooted beliefs, based on the ancient goddess Bast’s powers, mingled with fear and loathing, brought about the beginning of the cat’s long period of persecution.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THE MIDDLE AGES

  The Middle Ages were plagued by continued social and religious strife. Commencing in 1096, the world would suffer through nine crusades finally ending in 1272. Muslims, Jews and non-believers alike would be the victims of the wrath of the Christian church in its goal to secure its pervasive control over all. “The powerful Christian authority structures of Medieval Europe were only interested in one kind of relationship with other forms of religion: the total destruction of these religions and the Christianization of all peoples; by force if necessary” (Waddell, 2003 p. 63). No matter what the segment of society, non-Christians were persecuted and burned especially in Italy and France for refusing to take the sacrament. During this time the church controlled both civil and criminal courts, book production and education (Bishop, 2001). Amidst this power struggle, the curse of the Black Death would kill millions of people between the years 1347 and 1352, while the unrelenting church would proclaim any divergence from the main Catholic faith as heretical. Accusations of witchcraft would slowly rise, and these years would see the steady demise of the cat culminating in its increased vilification as the familiar of witches and its embodiment of the devil.

  However, in the early Middle Ages the cat was not treated as harshly as it would later be, as the benefits of keeping this helpful unassuming creature were still widely appreciated. Henry I of England (1068-1135) referred to as ‘Beauclerc,’ was not unlike Hywel Dda in that he instituted laws that protected the cat. Realizing its importance in protecting grain stores, he declared that anyone caught killing a cat would be subject to a fine of 60 bushels of corn (Choron, Choron, & Moore, 2007). Not just fond of writing laws, Henry I founded a Benedictine Abbey at Reading as a testament to his faith. Beak-head ornaments of cats’ heads decorate the abbey (figure 5.1).

  Figure 5.1. Cat Beak-head Ornament, Reading Abby, 1121

  THE USE OF CAT FUR

  Unfortunately for the cat and other small animals, during the Middle Ages it was not uncommon for those from the lower social strata to use cat, rabbit, and even badger furs as trim and linings for blankets, gloves and mittens. Some even wore complete cat coats made of up to 24 skins (Newman, 2001, p. 126; Simpson, 1903). Furthermore, in 1127, shortly after Henry I’s death, the Canons of Archbishop Corbeuil mention that nuns were forbidden to wear any fur more expensive than a ca
t’s (Clutton-Brock, 1994). According to Sumptuary Laws only royalty could wear ermine, whereas the under-classes could only wear fox, cat or rabbit (Sider, 2005).

  Bartholomew Anglicus, not to be confused with Bartholomew de Glanville, was a member of the order of St. Francis and is famous for writing a popular encyclopedia of science in 1240, De proprietatibus rerum. Making sure to include a reference to the use of cats’ fur, he has described the cat as “…a beast of uncertain hair and color. For some cat is white, some red, and some black, some calico and speckled in the feet and in the ears…And hath a great mouth and saw teeth and sharp and long tongue and pliant, thin, and subtle. And lappet therewith when he drinketh…And he is full lecherous in youth, swift, pliant and merry, and leapeth and rusheth on everything that is before him and is led by a straw, and playeth therewith; and is a right heavy beast in age and full sleepy, and lieth slyly in wait for mice and is aware where they be more by smell than by sight, and hunteth and rusheth on them in privy places. And when he taketh a mouse, he playeth therewith, and eateth him after the play. In time of love is hard fighting for wives and one scratcheth and rendeth the other grieviously with biting and with claws. And he maketh a ruthful noise and ghastful, when one proffereth to fight with one another, and unneth is hurt when he is thrown from a high place. And when he hath a fair skin, he is as it were proud thereof, and goeth fast about. And when his skin is burnt, then he bideth at home. And is oft for his fair skin taken of the skinner, and slain and flayed” (Harteley, 1979, p. 124).

  The most famous hunting book of the Middle Ages, Livre de la Chasse, written by Gaston Phoebus, the Comte de Foix, between 1387-89, includes many brightly detailed drawings of hunting scenes and serves as proof that wildcats were hunted for their . Edward the second Duke of York, who added descriptions of the pictures when he translated it into English between 1403 and 1413, wrote, “Of common wild cats I need not speak much, for every hunter in England knoweth them, and their falseness and malice are well known. But one thing I dare well say that if any beast hath the devil’s spirit in him, without doubt it is the cat, both the wild and the tame” (Baillie-Grohman & Baillie-Grohman, 1909, p. 71).

  THE CAT’S SIGNIFICANCE IN RELIGIOUS SECTS

  Many different Christian sects began to flourish during this time. One of the first was the Waldenses, founded in 1170 by Peter Waldo. The Waldenses believed that the individual could communicate directly with God. This of course threatened the church, as the pope and the rest of the church hierarchy would no longer be able to sustain power, nor collect fees for indulgences that absolved sinners of their earthly misdeeds. Hence, the church promptly excommunicated Waldo and declared the Waldenses heretical (Bishop, 2001). To further malign the sect, William of Paris accused the Waldenses of worshipping the Devil in the form of a black cat, an accusation that would later be used against the Cathars and even the Knights Templar. As devil worshippers the church easily condemned the sect for witchcraft and thus heresy (figure 5.2). The church accused the Cathars of refusing the sacraments of the Church. “Pope Gregory IV said that they carried the sacrament of Christ’s body in their mouths to their homes where they spit it out into their toilets” (Von Nettesheim, 1913 p. 116). In roughly the same year, 1182, that St. Francis was born, Alain de Lille (1128-1202) a French theologian, proclaimed that the Cathars name meant ‘cat’ and was derived from the Latin, cattus when in actuality the name came from the Greek Katharoi, meaning pious ones (Turner, Bateson, & Bateson, 2000). Sealing the Cathars’ fate, the medieval writer Walter Map described a ceremony where they worshipped a cat. “About the first watch of the night, when gates, doors, and windows have been closed, the groups sit waiting in silence in their respective synagogues†, and a black cat of marvelous size climbs down a rope which hangs in their midst (figure 5.3). On seeing it, they put out the lights. They do not sing hymns or repeat them distinctly, but hum through clenched teeth and pantingly feel their way toward the place where they saw their lord. When they have found him they kiss him, each the more humbly as he is the more inflamed with frenzy—same the feet, more under the tail, most the private parts” (Russell, 1984 p. 130). The church linked heresy with witchcraft and deemed the Cathars’ heretical behavior so dangerous that Pope Innocent II launched the Albigensian Crusade against them in Southern France. The crusade and the inquisition which followed completely wiped out the Cathars in the 13th century. The Church also tried to eradicate other major sects such as the Manichaens, Lollards and Templars in the same way by declaring their adherents heretics while also accusing them of worshipping the Devil in the form of a black cat. St. Augustine would even go so far as to accuse the Manichaens of eating their own babies in The Nature of Good (Russell, 1984 p. 124).

  One of the five accusations against the Templars was that they worshipped a black cat, which appeared during their ceremonies (Lea, 2005). Consequently, St. Dominic and the Dominicans would declare the black cat the embodiment of Satan, and they would be at the forefront of the Inquisition. From now on the church would use any association with cats as a tool to discredit those who threatened the power and control of the papacy by labeling them witches and/or heretics.

  Figure 5.2. Waldensians as Witches in Le Championdes Dames Martin Le France, 1451

  Figure 5.3. The Devil Appears to St. Dominico of Calerueja, Folio 313, Le Miroir Historical, 1400-1410, National Library of the Netherlands

  THE CAT AND THE VOX IN RAMA

  Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241) was the first to appoint inquisitors to seek out and prosecute heretics. Previously, bishops had been appointed this duty, but because they did not bring cases unless someone complained the church viewed them as ineffectual. The inquisitors were mostly Dominican and Franciscan friars vested with the power to charge anyone and anything with heresy and/or witchcraft as they saw fit (Kieckhefer, 2000). Due to the claims made by the inquisitor Conrad of Marburg that satanic sects existed in Mainz, Pope Gregory IX on June 13th, 1233, issued a papal bull, Vox in Rama, wherein the church proclaimed the cat a vessel of the devil. The bull states in reference to the sect, “The following rites of this pestilence are carried out: When any novice is to be received among them and enters the sect of the damned for the first time, the shape of a certain frog [or toad] appears to him. Some kiss this creature on the hind quarters and some on the mouth, they receive the tongue and saliva of the beast inside their mouths. Sometimes it appears unduly large, and sometimes equivalent to a goose or a duck, and sometimes it even assumes the size of an oven. At length, when the novice has come forward, [he] is met by a man of wondrous pallor, who has black eyes and is so emaciated [and] thin that since his flesh has been wasted, seems to have remaining only skin drawn over [his] bone. The novice kisses him and feels cold, [like] ice, and after the kiss the memory of the [C]atholic faith totally disappears from his heart. Afterwards, they sit down to a meal and when they have arisen from it, the certain statue, which is usual in a sect of this kind, a black cat descends backwards, with its tail erect. First the novice, next the master, then each one of the order who are worthy and perfect, kiss the cat on its buttocks. Then each [returns] to his place and, speaking certain responses, they incline their heads toward the cat. ‘Forgive us!’ says the master, and the one next to him repeats this, a third responding [says], ‘We know, master!’ A fourth says: ‘And we must obey.’ When this has been done, they [put] out the candles, and turn to the practice of the most disgusting lechery. [They] make no distinction between strangers and family. Moreover, if by chance those of the male [sex] exceed the number of women, surrendering to their passions, [...] men engage with depravity with men. Women change their natural function making this itself worthy of blame among themselves. [When] these most abnormal sins have been completed, and the candles have been lit again and each has resumed his [place], from a dark corner of the assembly a certain man come[s], from the loins upward, shining like the sun. His lower part is shaggy like a cat” (Rodenberg, 1883, pp. 423-425, 537).

  Heretics were to bec
ome known as ketzer from the German name for cat, katze. The heretic, like the cat, defied Christian beliefs and appropriated souls (Williams, 1967). Jews often depicted with the heretical symbol of the cat in the Bible Moralisée, were considered heretics as well. In one illustration there are two clerics devoted to the church. One reads a book and the other prays, while two bearded men who are obviously Jews shun the church. One of whom holds out a money bag to a seated idol in a temple, while the other kneels holding a striped cat that looks away from him. The cat’s tail is up and the man seems to be kissing him underneath it. Another illumination shows a cat sitting on a table of gold coins, a symbol of idol worship, the gold coins a symbol of money lending (Lipton, 1999).

  THE 13TH CENTURY

  The 13th century did not begin well for the cat. Henry III (1207-1272), unlike Henry I, detested cats and would faint at the mere sight of one (Karras, 2005). Even so, records indicate that Henry’s sister purchased a cat upon arriving at Oldham and another when she moved to Dover in 1265; however, the purpose is unclear. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) wrote Of God and His Creatures in 1264 and in a section entitled, That the Souls of Dumb Animals are not Immortal he posited that animals do not have a consciousness or a soul and are unable to reason or understand. Instead, they live by their basic natural instincts (Engels, 2001). According to this treatise, the brutal handling and killing of animals was condoned, and the soulless cat’s basic instinct was judged evil.

  Although condemned by the church, cats continued to be prized as excellent household companions because of their mousing abilities. Ancrene Riwle, most probably a Dominican friar, wrote in the years 1225-40 in The Rule of Anchoresses that “You shall not possess any beast, my dear sisters, except only a cat” (Morton, 1853, p. 228). However, true to this dualistic idea of the cat as good and evil in the Middle Ages, Riwle also wrote of the cat as the devil intent upon sexual seduction. “Has the cat of hell ever clutched at her, caught with his claws her heart head? Yes, truly; and drew out afterwards her whole body, with hooks of crooked and keen temptations; made her to lose both God and Men, with open shame and sin” (Morton, 1853, p. 66).