Pope Gregory IX Declared War on Cats
During the 13th Century, a man named Pope Gregory IX was the head of the Catholic Church. He declared that cats carried the spirit of Satan, and were not to be trusted. After he said this, there was a mass killing of cats from 1233 to 1234. Once the cat population went down, this meant that there were more mice left alive. With them were fleas containing the Plague.
This huge uptick in Plague cases was “proof” to Gregory that his theory was true. Clearly, the Devil was angry about killing his cats, and sent the Plague as punishment. Even long after this event was over, people still associate cats with bad luck. That’s where we get the superstition about black cats today.
