Cats in Europe

The history of cats in Europe started quite well. Fighters mice, cats, and in ancient times and the early Middle Ages enjoyed universal love.

The Romans valued the cats for their independence .  The cat was a companion and an indispensable attribute of the goddess of liberty Libertas .  Also Romans considered good genius cat family comfort, her spirit caused at weddings and funerals, she sacrificed Bride .  At the same time in Rome, as in Greece remained expensive cat toys, they gave Heterosexual and depicted on trinkets .  However, more practical Romans quickly realized what benefit cats can bring to agriculture .  The Roman authorities were to educate the public, recommending the use of cats, instead of the technically outdated manual ferrets .  Since 350, the Roman governor ordered Paladiy use cats to protect mice from vineyards and fields of artichokes .  However, as early as the VI century cat spread throughout the Roman Empire, and later, together with the forces of the invaders penetrated in Northern Europe .  Just how much prized cats in Europe say many facts .  Like the Egyptians, the ancient Germans cat endowed with magical powers and make it an attribute of gods .  On a cart drawn by two cats went goddess of love and beauty, Freya and white cats are believed to possess special magical gift .

Although the penalty for killing a cat were not as stringent as those in Egypt, cruelty to small predators can result in a tidy sum. Killed the cat hung by the tail, and the killer had so sleep cat wheat, that it was covered with grains. Wheat was the owner of an animal killed as compensation for the damage caused. Newborn kitten cost a penny - almost like a lamb, but for an adult cat would have to pay four times more expensive. Cats were still relatively rare, in fact originated in warmer climates, and had not yet become accustomed to the harsh European winters. The spread of cats in Europe helped Pope Gregory I. According to legend, he was a great lover of cats, constantly carried with him in the sleeve of his cassock and allowed kitty cats live in monasteries. With cats monks settled throughout Europe.

In 936, Prince von Sudvales issued the first law on the protection of cats, which contains the requirements and the physical appearance of cats: a first-class pussy had to have a "clear eyes, excellent ears, perfect teeth, sharp claws like a knife and straight tail" .  However, the highest protection of the cats did not help: they are going gets tough .  Destruction of cats has become for the Christian church one of the manifestations of the struggle with paganism .  It turns out that cats are mentioned in the Bible only once (yto was quite surprising, because the Jews hated cats and forbade the children to touch them) .  But Bible scholars began to consider cats devilish creatures .  Medieval fanatics have declared that to carry out their black deeds witches turn into cats, and now no one could be sure that he lives at home fighter innocent mice, but not terrible evil witch in the guise of an animal .  Cats remembered everything - the old connections with paganism and nocturnal, and blatant sexuality - and in all found new evidence of diabolical origin .  Unhappy animals have become as victims of the Inquisition as a witch .

Like the witches, cats had been tortured in the dungeons, but when voiceless creatures are not recognized insidious witch with a clear conscience burned them at the stake. Evidence of these massacres on the once revered cats still keep the language: the German word "kettser" (heretics) comes from "Katze" (cats). "Breath cat that passes through her skin - a plague - says the medieval sermon - and if it is drinking water, and a tear fall from her eyes, the source is poisoned: everyone who gets drunk from it will inevitably die." Another quote: "The witches often turned into black cats, under cover of darkness to create the dark matter and to meet with the demon." Pope Innocent VIII unfortunate animals characterized as follows: "The pagan beasts who are in league with the devil."

People like trying to outdo themselves with cruelty, experiencing untold torture innocent animals before you try them on each other. In the Netherlands, it has been installed a special "cat's environment", a day of mass destruction cats. Cats threw a church bell, burned at the stake, flogged to death and drowned in boiling water. Cats kill themselves witches to cook from them the magical drug: liver dried cat helped, in their opinion, the stones in the bladder, and a mixture of cat blood and barley flour - from pruritus. The animals were bricked into walls to scare away demons, and long-suffering feline tails buried under the threshold to disease and ailments walked home side.

Hatred of cats began to subside only with the fall of the influence of the Inquisition. Age of Enlightenment in nothing put speculation about the properties of the demonic cat, romanticism poeticized its independence and freedom. In the XVII century Italian merchants brought to Europe the first Angora cats and exquisite creation quickly become favorites at the French court. In the nineteenth century in Europe, and there are other exotic European breeds: Abyssinian and Siamese cats. Wealthy fans and lovers of cats imported plants from home cat, feline build entire towns to help their pets get used to the harsh European climate. Gradually, the cat returned home and the Europeans regained their love.

There were in history and curiosities. Parisian fans were going to have fun at one of the corners of Montmartre, cafe "Black Cat". Pretty frolic until late the next morning, as expected, they toiled headache Headache And the word "cat" has become a symbol of Parisian night life. When the fashion for such spree adopted in Berlin, the old German name of the cat, "boat" has acquired a new shade of meaning, becoming synonymous with the word "hangover."

Cats in Russia

In Russia, the cat did not survive these ups and downs, but invariably enjoyed the love and peasants and townspeople. It is believed that the first cat in Eastern Europe brought the merchants even in V-VIII centuries, while in Russia the cat did not appear before the XII-XIII century and has long been a rarity. But in the fourteenth century, cats have spread everywhere and deserve universal love. For the murder of the little predator were supposed to pay a fine. Church of Law "Justice of the Metropolitan," which operated in Russia in the XIV century, pointed out that for the kidnapping cats were supposed to pay 3 hryvnia, whereas for a stallion. For the dog, too, is 3 hryvnia. There it is said: "And who is going to kill the dog, whether the cat - blame the hryvnia, and instead give the dog a dog and a cat instead of a cat."

Cats were in folklore - from childhood we have heard stories about Kota Kota Kotofeicha and Baiyun, in the tale of the hero Will Volovich meets Kotischem- enormous eyes staring, which threatens to eat it, and the famous Pushkin scholar cat - just one of the incarnations of Kota Baiyun who sits on the pole affecting tale, beats all the people and unleashes a dream indistinguishable from smerti.Koshki were popular in Russia in all sectors of the population. Farmers liked them for their work, for merchants cat was symbol of patriarchy and prosperity, and the nobles mouse dopekat no less than anyone else. In the eighteenth century the Winter Palace contained three hundred cats "for the transfer of mice." Cats are common in modern museums. Even pesticides and mousetraps are not able to cope better with mice small tailed predators.

Superstitions

Nocturnal cat's incredible ability to appear and disappear without a trace, stepping silently soft paws, huge eyes and independent for a long time in humans caused surprise and fear. Folk superstition ascribes the cat's ability to communicate with the spirit world, where it draws its otherworldly abilities and knowledge. There is hardly even an animal that would become a source of hatred and love, and which has given rise to so many superstitions in all corners of the world.

The Slavs have a considerable number of proverbs and take associated with cats: tricolor cat, according to Slavic peasants, to bring happiness to the house where he lives; seven-color cat is even more true key to prosperity, but a black cat - a sure sign of the coming disaster. On sneeze cats need to tell her: "Be healthy!" - Will not hurt your teeth. He washed the cat "names" guests, and if she pulls foot to the center - a stranger comes. Cat and able to predict the weather, for example, she hides the nose to frost. In general, it should be noted that the Slavic and Old Russian domestic signs were very tolerant of cats, our ancestors tried to find in small predators demonic features and watched the mysterious behavior of small animals and tried to find him in touch with his life. Only once a year, the cat becomes dangerous - 2 August, at Elijah's Day. On this day in cat hides evil.

The Chinese believed in the ability of the cat sowing evil spirits. They also have another belief associated with cats: the newly sown field it is necessary to get around with a cat in her arms, and then dip it into the water. Then sprout crops, and the harvest will be good.

Many people consider that the new home should be the first to let a cat - then you will always be there to promote the well-being and love. In Thailand, as there is an another superstition: that the marriage was a happy and fruitful, on their wedding night in the bedroom trigger cat and kotische should be large, mothers and whiskered.

For centuries it was believed that black cats are endowed with special magical powers. But many people see black cats heralds good luck. In England, these cats sailors took with them to the ship to return from a voyage alive and unharmed. In America, black cat portends good luck, too. The Americans believe that if a black cat shelter vagrant, he is sure to bring you happiness.

They worshiped and hated .  The ancient demons and deities, they are now well settled down in your apartment and make your life interesting and unpredictable, fast and forget about his divine origin and long tragic history .  I have no doubt that a thousand times you are doomed to monitor the movements of your pet in the apartment, wondering: why do you need it? You threatened to excommunicate the damn thing from the house, counting the damage from the tattered curtains, broken dishes and spoiled furniture .  You have to get out of a day to get rid of the heaps of fallen hair in the corners .  Your apartment purged all the winds of the world, because your pussy loves to breathe the fresh air and hates closed doors .  You do not get enough sleep, because cats peak of activity occurs at four o'clock in the morning .  Pussy passionately interested in the contents of the cabinet (for two minutes before the arrival of the guests reveals that she made a rookery on your favorite output board), boxes (immediately lying down in any open, and shake it out no not possible) and risers (at the risk of falling into such subsoil sewer, where it is necessary to extract using the Rescue) .  It gnaws all plastic bags, tasting the contents of edible and inedible scatters around .  She jumps on the window, and at any moment can make to the fourteenth floor long jump without a parachute .  She knows how to climb on all the cabinets in the house, and when it gets down there, it turns out that it was very dusty .  It is absolutely intolerable, voracious, wild creature, which can not be either domestication or education .  But you will never, for the world will not get rid of it .

Because the cat is a mystery. It is what you can not and will never be able to understand. Her love for you - not the slave response to a tip, and the free feeling of being independent. And there may say, her love for you means that you bestowed favor ancient goddess of joy, health and beauty.

Daria Nedelina

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