Who Was Pope Gregory IX?
Pope Gregory IX was born circa 1170 as Ugolino (Ugo) di Conti di Segni in Anagni, southwest of Rome in the Papal States. He has been remembered in history as the medieval pope that declared war on cats. He ordered a mass extermination of felines to keep the devil at bay. It's thanks to Pope Gregory IX that people still believe that black cats are unlucky.
Ugo's family, the Conti (counts) di Segni provided nine cardinals and four popes for the Catholic church. Their three popes, including Gregory, were in office between 1187 and 1261 and their descendant Michelangelo was Pope Innocent XIII for three years from 1721.
Ugo studied theology at the University of Paris and possibly at the University of Bologna. In 1198 his relation Pope Innocent III appointed him a Cardinal-Deacon at the Church of Sant'Eustachio. He rose through the ranks of the Catholic church and on 19th March 1227 Ugo was made Pope; he chose the papal name Gregory because he formally took on the role of pope at the Monastery of St. Gregory ad Septum Solia.
Pope Gregory IX: A Dynamic Medieval Pope
Less moderate than his predecessor Pope Honorius III, one of his first actions was to excommunicate his one-time advocate and now enemy, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250). Frederick responded by leading a crusade into the Holy Land so Pope Gregory raised an army to attack the emperor's Kingdom of Sicily. Their discord continued and in 1239 Pope Gregory IX excommunicated Frederick for a second time.
Pope Gregory IX sanctioned his own crusades, broadened the powers of the Episcopal Inquisition that dealt with heretics and he established the Papal Inquisitions.
In 1234 he promulgated the Decretals; some of the canon law in the Decretals survived into the 20th century. Sadly, one of the laws ensured that Jews were placed under perpetual servitude to Christians and in a state of humiliation until Judgement Day.
Arguably, Pope Gregory's most intriguing papal bull was issued in 1233 and it related to cats. The bull had far-reaching consequences.
Cats Exterminated In Europe
Pope Gregory IX was influenced by one of his leading papal inquisitors Conrad of Marburg. He came to believe that felines were incarnations of the devil, that they bore his spirit and that far from being furry friends they were duplicitous.
Conrad presented the pope with confessions from tortured recipients of the inquisitions that featured cats, including statues of felines that sprang to life with a malevolent purpose.
Suitably horrified by the perceived threat, the pope ordered that all cats should be exterminated without delay, and across Europe his instructions were carried out. The cat population was decimated because the people feared not only the devil but the possibility of incurring God's wrath by disobeying the pope.
It is from this that the superstition about black cats being unlucky evolved.
The Black Death and Witch Hunters
An unforeseen result of the cat population decimation was that plague-carrying rats scampered around Europe without the danger of a cat ending their travels. The resulting onslaught of bubonic plague, popularly named the Black Death killed millions of people.
As the number of cats remained low the human population looked suspiciously at their associates, friends and neighbours, particularly the women, and they declared them to be as wicked as cats when misfortune struck.
A new form of employment was created as people proclaimed themselves witchfinders and became acclaimed as witch hunters. The expectation of witches having cats as their familiars or even taking the form of a cat took hold in the 14th century and humans and felines met with death.
It's believed that a cat (perhaps several) was burned in a basket during the coronation of Elizabeth I of England on 15th January 1559; this was done to release any lingering demons so that Elizabeth could enjoy a happy reign.
Our perception of cats has moderated considerably since then; today's cat lovers would shudder at the idea that this historical event might be repeated. Yet we still ask ourselves if a black cat is unlucky and the images of witches with cats are synonymous with Halloween. Not all of the medieval myths have been vanquished.
Sources
- When Pope Gregory IX Declared a War on Cats - HistoryColored
- Gregory IX, Pope | Encyclopedia.com
- Pope Gregory IX - Crusades, Death And Black Cats
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