Revered and Reviled

by L A Vocelle

  THE PLAGUE

  Living conditions in the Middle Ages were by no means sanitary. Houses made from waddle and daub accommodated 90 percent of the population, who were primarily living in the countryside working on feudal estates. These thatched roofed shacks shared by both animals and people attracted all sorts of vermin, especially rats. Researchers today believe that an average of 9.6 rats infested each house (Zahler, 2009). In addition, people rarely washed themselves or their clothes because they could not afford to heat water. Prior to the Black Death, the population had been severely weakened by the great famine of 1314-1317, which had killed more than 10 percent of the inhabitants of Europe. So dire were the living conditions during the famine that the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel was based upon the fact that many families left their children in the forest to die because they could not afford to feed them (Bishop, 2001). So when the Black Death† appeared in 1347, weakened with malnutrition, living in an unsanitary environment and also burdened with the Hundred Years War that had begun in 1337, the population easily succumbed. In addition, to the lack of sanitation, there were few hospitals†† available for the victims (figure 5.4). Perhaps most ironically a lack of cats, due to their vicious killings for being associated with the devil, caused the black rat population to explode. With their numbers unchecked, rats invaded cities spreading the deadly disease through the fleas they carried. Even after a third of Europe’s population had been decimated between the years 1347-1352, scientists of the day remained ignorant of the plague’s cause; consequently, the importance of the cat remained unknown.

  CATS IN ARCHITECTURE

  Throughout the Middle Ages, primarily because of the cat’s vermin-killing skills, it continued to be regarded with some semblance of importance in art related to the church. In the Spanish cathedral of Tarragona built in 1154 there is a sculpture on a column that looks like a burial of a cat or the carrying of a cat to be executed. The cat lies on a litter which is supported by rats and mice carrying banners. The executioner, a rat, is holding an ax in anticipation of performing his duty. However, in the next scene the cat jumps up and catches a rat while all the rest run for cover in a chaotic bid for survival. Obviously, the rat did not manage to execute the wily cat. This scene cannot help but revive memories of the ancient Egyptian ostraca representations of cat and rat dramas discussed in Chapter Two.

  Figure 5.4. A Plague Victim at Home, Ketham Woodcut from The Book of Venice, 1493-94

  In addition to the Benedictine Abbey at Reading founded by Henry I and Tarragon Cathedral, which were built in the 12th century, various other churches built from the 13th through 16th centuries contain evidence of the cat in either their architecture or in their interior decorations. In the nave of The Cathedral at Rouen, later made famous for having been painted by Monet, a hungry cat chases a mouse around a column. In the onetime Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, cats surround St. Benedict (Van Vechten, 1921), while a stately and rather fearsome cat sits in the capital of the church of St. Pelagius in Denkendorf, Germany. Moreover, at Exeter Cathedral in a door located in the north transept wall, an apparent cat hole allowed the official rat catcher to come and go as it pleased. The Exeter cat, which controlled the mouse population at the Cathedral, had a penny a week salary to supplement its diet. In the obituaries documented at the Cathedral from 1305-1467 there is even mention of a custoribus et cato or a cat custodian (Reeves, 1998).

  Misericords† on many churches’ wooden seats often include cats. For example, at St. Botolph’s in Lincolnshire, England, two 14th century jesters hold two cats tightly while biting their tails. At the Wells Cathedral, Somerset, three separate 14th century misericords depict a puppy biting a cat, a cat playing the violin††, and a cat attacking a rat, while a witch and cat decorate another in the Great Malvern Priory, Worcestershire.

  CATS DEPICTED IN PSALTERS, BESTIARIES AND OTHER BOOKS

  Psalters and bestiaries, second in popularity only to the Bible, as well as books of hours and even books of poetry, were widely read by the nobility and those well-to-do enough to purchase them. They contained many illustrations of cats, some with double meanings. In one illustration in The Psalter of Louis Le Hutin (1314), a grotesque with a lion's hindquarters brandishes a huge sword in order to stab a large cat (figure 5.5). Swords often symbolize penises and their sheaths vaginas. Cats of course have always been equated with women from the earliest times, beginning with the cat goddess Bast, hence the sexual overtones of this illustration.

  In contrast, The Luttrell Psalter (1320-1340) contains marvelous depictions of every day medieval life in addition to its psalms and calendar. On one page a striped grey cat with exceedingly long whiskers holds a mouse between his front paws (figure 5.6).

  In Queen Mary’s Psalter (1553) a wildcat is jumping at a dragon, and in another illustration a cat is beating a tabor (figure 5.7). There is also an illustration of “… the fall of men, in which there is a modification of the idea which gained wide currency during the Middle Ages that it was the serpent woman Lilith who had tempted Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. In this picture, while the beautiful grace and ample hair of Lilith are shown, instead of the usual female breast she has the body of a cat” (Conway, 1879, 2003 Vol. 2, p. 301).

  Figure 5.5. Detail of Swordsman with a Cat, Psalter of Louis Xl Hutin and his first wife Tournai, 1315, Archives de l'Eveche, no number, Folio 114

  Figure 5.6. Cat and Mouse, Luttrell Psalter, 1330, British Library, London

  Figure 5.7. Donkey and Cat, Queen Mary's Psalter, British Library, London

  While psalters contained psalms, bestiaries were illuminated manuscripts that used animals and mythical beasts to teach theological principles and moral lessons. In one of the earliest bestiaries from England, The Workshop Bestiary (1185), three very colorful cats sit side by side; the one in front holds a very large mouse or rat, while the fourth cat slinks towards another smaller mouse. The Bodley Bestiary (1225-50) contains a vivid illustration of three cats highlighted by a deep blue background pierced by yellow stars and crescent moons. One cat is trying to catch a bird in a cage suspended over another sleeping cat, while a third cat stands prominently in the foreground clutching a large black rat (figure 5.8). Bestiaries were popular all through Europe, and perhaps one of the most illustrious of the Bestiaries, The Aberdeen Bestiary found in Westminster Palace Library in 1542, contains several images of cats. At the beginning of the book, there is an illustration of Adam naming the animals. The order of the animals in the illustration is symbolic. Wild animals, classified as uncontrollable by man, are the great cats and deer; on the other hand, animals considered beasts of burden are the horse and ox, while goats and sheep are simply food. A hare accompanies two cats in the left hand bottom corner margin and are classified simply, as “beasts”. Another illustration (figure 5.9) shows three cats sitting together with this accompanying text, most probably borrowed and reworded from Isidore of Seville†, “Of the cat….The cat is called musio, mouse-catcher, because it is the enemy of mice. It is commonly called catus, cat, from captura, the act of catching. Others say it gets the name from capto, because it catches mice with its sharp eyes. For it has such piercing sight that it overcomes the dark of night with the gleam of light from its eyes. As a result, the Greek word catus means sharp, or cunning” (Arnott, 1995).

  Figure 5.8. Bodley Bestiary, 1225-50, Bodleian Library, MS764, Folio51r, England

  The books of hours were another source of devotional literature, which included the psalms, a calendar of the church feasts as well as other religious writings. In the 14th century these reached their height of popularity becoming even more common than psalters. Usually written in Latin, cats and mice, amongst a myriad of other subjects and themes, elaborately decorated their pages. In an English Book of Hours dating from 1320-1330, a cat stands at the top of a tower, while two rats try to climb up its sides. In another drawing in the same book a cat plays a rebec†. In the German Maastricht Book of Hours dating from around 14
00 a cat is pictured in a snail shell. The Book of Hours of Charlotte of Savoy, queen consort of Louis XI 1420-1425, contains many illustrations of cats. A dog chases a cat in the margin on one page, on another, a white cat holds a grey mouse, while yet another cat is cleaning itself with a strikingly red tongue (figure 5.10).

  In the Book of Hours of Rome, a cat plays a bagpipe (figure 5.11). In another from Rouen, France, (1470) a jester rides a bridled cat. In the De Costa Book of Hours (1515), a cat sits as a member of the family in the midst of a peaceful home where a fire roars and a table is laden with food. In a Book of Hours (1531) from Belgium we see a cat set back in the center of the illustration underneath a light streaming from a dove positioned directly above it. The dove, a symbol of peace and love, shines its light down upon the potentially evil cat. The idea of above and below, heaven and earth, pervades the picture, while the angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary are highlighted in the foreground. In a French book of hours from the 15th century, two pages have depictions of a cat in the company of a monkey. On the first, a monkey holds a cat on its lap while feeding it milk through a horn. On the second, a monkey churns butter, while a cat drinks milk from a bowl. According to a fable, the Sun and Moon took turns creating all life. The Sun created the Lion, and the Moon created the cat. When the Moon created the Monkey, all the stars laughed at such a strange animal. The insulted Moon thus cast a spell to cause eternal hatred between the monkey and the cat and the cat and mouse (Van Vechten, 1921). Even so, here the monkey appears benevolent as it nurtures the cat.

  Figure 5.9. Three Cats Gambol and Hunt, Aberdeen Bestiary, Folio 23v, Aberdeen University Library

  Figure 5.10. A Cat Licks Itself, Hours of Charlotte of Savoy , Paris, 1420-1425, MSM.1004, Folio 172r, J.P. Morgan Library, New York

  Figure 5.11. Cat Playing a Bagpipe, Book of Hours for use of Rome (Hours of the Virgin Office of the Dead) Paris, 1460, MSM. 0282, Folio 133v., J.P. Morgan Library, New York

  Other miscellaneous religious books such as the Moralia in Job written in the latter half of the 12th century also include portrayals of the cat. In an initial letter of the manuscript a spotted cat claws a mouse and holds one in its mouth, while a dog bites the cat’s back. In a theological miscellany by William Peraldus there are contributions from our infamous cat hater Alain de Lille†, who probably didn’t know that cats would decorate its pages. In the middle of one of the pages a striped cat sits and looks at a mouse in front of it. On the next line down a larger mouse, perhaps a rat, sits underneath the cat. A page from The Pontifical of Guillaume Durand, created before 1390, shows a rather pleased rat with a bird perching on its paw sitting astride a leashed cat (figure 5.12).

  In the bottom margin of a page in the MitochondrialMissale Romanum (1420-1499) a cat follows a large mouse. In another text of a prayer book, a brown monkey wearing a red hat holds a white cat in the left margin of a richly illuminated page. And finally, in the Breviary of Eleanor of Portugal (1500), a cat sits atop a tree looking down at a man praying.

  In addition to religious works, many other books of the Middle Ages in both Europe and Asia include illustrations of cats. In a medieval medicine and herb book dating to 1195 a cat crouches in a small square inserted between the lines of a page. In the Persian book, The Benefits of Animals (1297-1298), a female cat carries one live kitten toward three dead kittens lying in front of her, while a woman holds out her hands sympathetically (figure 5.13). And in a leaf from an Arabic book dating to 1350 a cat and dog fight. In the Tacninum Sanitatas (1370-1400), a medieval medical book based on an earlier Arab text dating to the 11th century, a cat sits contentedly guarding a cheese shop from rats.

  Even in one French poetry book written in 1350 entitled Les Voeux de Paon a large fanciful flower peacefully separates a cat and a dog on one page; whereas, on another, a woman threateningly chases a cat with a spindle. In this same book a cat is also pictured listening intently to a jester playing a rebec. In a later medical book from Italy dating to around 1440, a cat and mouse appear at the bottom of the page. All over the world during this time the cat was a subject of interest and had already cleverly managed to insinuate itself into domestic life. The cat’s prominent presence in these illustrations as a dog hating, rat catching predator proved that it served the interests of its keepers.

  Figure 5.12. Rat Riding a Cat, Before 1390, MS 0143, Folio 076v, Pontifical of Guillaume Durand, La bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris

  Figure 5.13. Female Cat Carries One Kitten to Three Dead Ones, The Benefits of Animals, Persian 1297-1298, MSM 500, Folio 49v, J.P. Morgan Library, New York

  THE CAT IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE AND POETRY

  By the 12th century the cat had transitioned from solely a model for illustrations to a full blown character in medieval literature. The cat’s first starring role was as Tibert in the story Reynard the Fox. Written by Pierre de St. Cloud in 1175, it is an allegory of the struggle amongst peasants, aristocracy and clergy. Reynard is a treacherous villain who in one scene tricks Tibert the cat into going into a priest’s barn where Reynard promises there will be plenty of mice on which he can feast. However, Reynard knows full well that there will be a trap set since he had entered the barn the night before and had killed a hen. Poor unsuspecting Tibert enters the barn only to be caught in a trap and then beaten so badly that he loses an eye. In some medieval depictions of this scene Tibert escapes and wreaks revenge upon the priest who owns the barn by attempting to castrate him (figure 5.14).

  Figure 5.14. Cat Castrates Priest, Reynard the Fox, Wilhelm Von Kaulbauch, 1846

  The story of Reynard the Fox became so famous that Geoffrey Chaucer borrowed parts of it and used them in his Canterbury Tales. Later even Shakespeare would borrow the name Tybalt (for the King of Cats), for a character in Romeo and Juliet. Although Chaucer only briefly mentions the cat in The Summoner’s Tale when a friar removes a cat from a bench on which he wants to sit, there are other references to the cat in both The Manciple’s Tale and The Wife of Bath’s Prologue. In The Manciple’s Tale, Chaucer writes,

  Lat take a cat, and fostre hym wel with milk

  And tender flesh, and make his couche of silk,

  And lat hym seen a mous go by the wal,

  Anon he weyveth milk and flesh, and al,

  And every deyntee that is in that hous,

  Swich appétit he hath to ete a mous (Pollard, 1894, pp. 325-326).

  In The Wife of Bath’s Prologue cats are mentioned again.

  Thou seydest this, that I was lyk a cat;

  For whoso wolde senge a catte’s skyn,

  Thanne wolde the cat wel dwellen in his in;

  And if the catte’s skyn be slyk and gay,

  She wol not dwelle in house half a day;

  But forth she wole, er any day be dawed,

  To shewe hir skyn, and go on a caterwawed (Pollard, 1894, p. 15).

  The act of singeing a cat’s fur or cutting its tail off represented doing almost the same thing to a wife in order to keep her at home and under control. Chaucer highlighted the belief of the time that it was woman’s nature to stray just like the cat. Earlier in 1320, a Franciscan friar by the name of Nicholas Bozon stated that, “a cat must stay home by shortening her tail, cutting her ears and singeing her fur, women can be kept at home by shortening their dresses, disarranging their headdresses and staining their clothes” (Rogers, 2006, p. 35). In addition, women were often forced to put their hair up into a bun and have it scorched, and likewise cats had their fur burned (Karras, 2005, p. 90). Another gruesome way to keep a cat home was to cut its ears off. Thank goodness women didn’t have to endure this cruelty! “Those which will keepe their cattes within doors, and from hunting Birds abroad, must cut off their eares, for they cannot endure to have drops of raine distil into them, and therefore keep themselves in harbor….They cannot abide the savour of ointments, but fall madde thereby; they are sometimes infected with the falling evill, but are cured with Gobium” (Ashton, 1890, p. 156).

  Cutting the ears off a
cat was also a punishment for unwanted behavior. The story of Duncan, a Scottish cat who had a taste for cheese and had his ears cut off after being caught stealing the precious commodity, is ultimately a sad one. His owner found him lying almost dead after having been hanged for the theft. Bereft with grief, he took poor little Duncan in his arms and said,

  Did I not tell you little Duncan,

  You had needs of being wary;

  When you went where the cheeses were,

  The gallows would teach you how to dance.

  Evil is it, earless cat,

  They have killed, because of cheese;

  Your neck has paid for that refreshment,

  At this time, after your death.

  After some time the cat began to come to life again, and his loving owner went on to say,

  A hundred welcomes wait you, cat,

  Since in my lap you’ve chanced to be;

  And, though I do not much liberty allow,

  Many have you greatly loved.