Cats In Medieval Paintings Looked Really Creepy
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- During medieval times, cats were associated with vanity, witchcraft and the devil and so people thought that in order to get rid of all of these evil things, they would just get rid of cats. They believed that animals were made by God to serve and be ruled by humans. And anyone who has a cat knows that they serve absolutely no one. This independent, flippant nature may have just set them up to be the more controversial pet from the start. People were so crazy back then, right? It’s not like cats can control minds or anything. Thanks for watching!
#cat #cats #medievalcats #medievalcatpaintings #arthistory #art #classicart #fineart
credits:
Shifty Thrifting commented and pointed out that one of the paintings in the video (the one in the thumbnail) is actually a painting she found in a thrift shop. So, while it is all over the internet as a medieval cat painting, it is, in fact, not a medieval cat painting. Although it wasn’t painted in the Middle Ages, that cat certainly has the spirit of a medieval cat!
Local Elevator by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommon...
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Arcadia Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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"Cat, Screaming, A.wav" by InspectorJ (www.jshaw.co.uk) of Freesound.org
Cloud special effect from Vecteezy
I’m sorry but the thought of sitting down next to a rat and writing it hate mail is cracking me up.
As it should.
I wonder now if any of the letters survived, at least partially, and where to find those to read and gather inspiration…
Now I just troll them via email
@@zippy-zappa-zeppo-zorba-etc ratio them
Ay caramba!
damn. the thought of people literally torturing, killing, taking them to court, and blaming cats for every single bad thing ever is horrifying. they’re literally furry babies, sure sometimes they’re assholes but that goes for EVERY species. honestly heartbreaking
Doing that doomed them to the black death, and I for one consider that karmic justice.
Just think of it this way: the cruelty people were expressing against cats (and poor unholy pigs!) would probably otherwise been directed at disabled and disfigured people, dwarves and Jews.
Cats are associated with femininity, so it makes sense that they were tortured and tried in European countries just like women were.
@@stillhere1425 There's no way to know for sure..
@@k.umquat8604 We do know for sure since that's happening and have happened in history.
People back then: Hanging a pig for eating a wafer suspiciously
Also people back then: Kindly writing letters to the rodents in their home asking them to leave
This is why we need education
Wait, did rodents had a different status from the other animals tho? Why do i have a feeling that the cat killers loved their rats? Oh also, hated womans since most Gods asociated with cats where womans. I see a connection here... Hmmm...
Don't forget that Christ sent Legion into the pigs.
The letter writing is a part of Witchcraft.
I think the wafer thing is b/c it's consecrated and piggy ain't supposed to eat that being unbaptized/sheltering the devil.
Well, it was S T R O N G LY W O R D E D
They may look “not right”, still way more right than the mind-melting cgi/live action hypermonstrosities in the film version of Cats.
Nyah! I just looked that up... I laughed very hard
I was thinking of that movie too XD
Omg it was so deppressingly bad
@@flameepidemic4839 It's beautiful isn't it?! It's not like they didn't put effort in it, but it *not* what I would have expected nyah.
that movie gave me nightmares when I was like 10.
You can't just say Freyja is associated with cats without mentioning that she rides a chariot pulled by cats! That's the best part! 😄😆
Holy smokes. How on earth did she convince them to do that? A metric ton of tuna?
@@ceinwenchandler4716 I mean Thor had a couple goats for his chariot that he just killed and resurrected every night.
I remember hearing about the time a pig was hanged in front of a crowd for supposedly murdering a child. They hanged a pig like it was a human for a human crime. Medieval times were BANANAS.
And in medieval times a dog was made saint
People were so damn stupid , they still are , but not at that level
@@yankoelgueta1116 I mean there's still many countries were gay people are sentenced to death for their sexuality so i'd say some countries are just as stupid now.
@@yankoelgueta1116 It's ironic, you've got a Fleur de Lis as profile pic, yet you seemingly don't know enough History, hmmm?
@@cerebrummaximus3762 being particularly associated with something, does not make it exclusively representative of that same thing.
people torturing innocent animals sounds a lot more like the devils work than a cat just existing
I studied medieval history at university and I didn't know about cats getting killed en mass back then. Thanks for the video, it was fun!
Decades ago I did a english report on that... Many people believe that the whole-sale killing of cats in the middle ages caused a rise in the rat population, which brought on the Black Plague, killing millions.
wow...you should ask for a refund...hehehe
If the medievals left cats alone the plagues would have been very different.
@@azureascendant994 agreed. I didn't know how that happened but stumbling into this video and reading through the comments made everything made sense. They killed cats, hated to bath and relieved themselves everywhere anywhere. They brought hell upon themselves.
@@MollyHJohns Lol... True.
I remember once reading something about Norse culture in the past, that went like this: newlywed couples were given kittens as presents, because that way Freya would protect their household from harm.
That's pretty cute
Whether it works or not...hey, free kitten!
Aww that's so sweet!
I think some places also considered a cat to be a protector of a home, by taking the bad luck that would have otherwise hit it's human family. Basically, if someone cursed a family/family member, their cat would take the blow instead. Your cat died? It took the last bad hit of bad luck for the family. You needed to treat your cat well, so it was willing to take those hits of bad luck for the sake of your family.
Your cat disappearing for good was usually a bad sign: Either you didn't treat it well enough, and it left. Or you got so much bad luck, your cat couldn't take it all, and part of the bad luck would hit you you now.
However, If you were sure you treated it well and it liked you, it could be that the cat left as a final sacrifice: The cat knew it couldn't take on all the bad luck from a curse, and went away, so that any leftover of the curse/bad luck would hopefully go with it and not hit the family.
I love this belief, because it encouraged you to get a cat, and treat it well. Even respect it as it got older, because it likely saved your family from few unlucky deaths by that point.
@@SienisotaThat’s so cool! 🤩🐱🐈⬛
It makes me so upset that there’s were whole events centered around torturing cats😭 I utterly adore cats!
Same
I am a self professed crazy cat lady and have 4.
I enjoyed this video thoroughly and was laughing out loud several times. Sad how they have been treated throughout history. But the Leonardo davinci sketches made me so happy. I learned a lot. Thanks for this video!
Pathetic, I have 7
@@barbara_burton amateur numbers, i have 10 (also we do have a big living space for them and they're mostly rescues so I don't seem like a cat hoarder)
@@YourFBIagentyarrr loser 🙄🙄! U call that cat lady? My mom has 70+ and got her name in the newspaper as "The Cat Lady" of our city.
I too am a cat lady, living with 9 cats and 1 mystery black cat that loves to play with our cats
omg i'm so glad you mentioned the theory that the church demonizing cats might have led to the bubonic plague! definitely one of my favorite historical theories!
This theory makes little sense considering the muslim world was struck as badly by the bubonic plague, while holding a completely different attitude towards cats.
Medieval people: cat BAD
Modern people: church BAD
@@remilenoir1271 That's because infected fleas were the main cause not just the rats.
@@KyrenaH Yes, and these fleas were hosted by cats and dogs as much as they were by rats, hence my skepticism towards the theory mentionned in the OP.
Lol monotheists can be so incredibly dense sometimes when it comes to religious “logic”.
Cats being associated with evil is a trope that’s played with and satirised in Mikhail Bulgakov’s 1930s novel The Master And Margarita, which features a mischievous, gun-toting, cigar smoking anthropomorphic cat named Behemoth who is one of Woland’s closest companions (Woland is basically Satan)
After Behemoth and the other demons are done causing chaos in Moscow, the entire populace becomes prejudiced towards black cats, even trying to arrest some, with the book pointing out how ridiculous that is
I always found it incredibly fascinating and amusing and couldn’t help but relate it to this video’s topic
i wonder if bulgakov knew about such treatment of cats in thew middle ages and it was a reference or he just wanted to add more absurd to this story, like ppl can get arrested, so cats can get in jail as well
@@sweetbunnybun probably both haha
In our religion cats are holy..🙁 why man....cats are not evil theyre adorable
@@yourregularwaterbottles7903 they’re so precious and I love them
He was my fave, him and the guy who had his apartment taken over
And this is why I am born at the right time in the right century.
Just hearing how people torture those poor cats for something that's not even its fault makes me mad.
whats ur opinion on turtle ducks?
@@zebrazebraz9114 there's turtle ducks??
What is it, like a duck with a shell or something?
@@caramel_frappe yea its an animal in avatar the last airbender series
@@zebrazebraz9114 turtle duck deserves the world and if it were real it will be my favorite animal.
but if you're asking me to answer in character
Those things were nothing more than eyesore,what it had going for it is that its cute and cuddly if i were to throw rocks at it it'll be dead.
0:21 WHY DOES THIS CAT HAVE A HUMAN NOSE I CANT-
FR NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT 💀💀
🪑🪑🪑🪑
Fun Fact:
It was actually human, turned into a cat using witch spells
Dog: “You love me, take care of me, give me food, a bed and play with me...you must be God”.
Cat: “You love me, take care of me, give me food, a bed and play with me...I must God”.
Honestly I am a crazy cat lady...but cats do kinda give that vibe. I love em tho!
cats suck
I mean we set ourselves up for that. Dogs we gave jobs, cats we gave nice dry indoor homes stocked with fresh food.
@@cupguin That’s because cats don’t work and dogs like to help out.
pets like cats & dogs actually see their main human providers as parental figures :’I
I don't know if anyone's told you this yet, but your comedic timing and editing is top notch! That little "pew!" lazer eyes part actually made me laugh out loud!
The editing gets me off guard; it's so random yet fitting
I think the Bubonic Plague wouldn't have been so spreadable if there was more cats around.
I agree
That's what she said.
Am I the only one who thinks it's nine kinds of messed up they they still throw cats from the tower, even stuffed ones? They're obviously stand-ins for real cats, and that's horrifying.
Exactly! Why would you want to celebrate the time you abused animals?
Well in many places in Europe for Carnival we make kids hang and burn an human sized doll who represents a living character (not a real person but still as if existed) weird I guess but that's it. Better a stuffed animal than a real one lol
It's just to keep the tradition but in a new context to keep people's understanding and connection to their history alive. That is more important than your feelings.
As a Belgian who's seen it up close... That's kinda what we all think. But that's also the point. It's referencing an awful tradition from the past, while also addressing that we have come a long way since then and have become better people. It's lent, so you should be reflecting on the choices you've made. And much like how we don't throw living animals off towers anymore, you too can move on from your mistakes.
Seems rather distasteful doesn’t it
If you want an animal you want to serve you get yourself a dog or a chicken or whatever. Nobody gets a cat for being served by it. Every cat owner knows, that it's something very special a cat can give you. You won't have an animal that will perform tricks, but you will have a companion that will always love you from its heart and even greats you coming back from work because it missed you. The owner of a cat is usually a not self centered person but he appreciates the great special friendship he's got with it
What a terrible day to have eyes and ears 😔 I had no idea cats were executed in such awful, barbaric ways.
What painting is that at 1:45 ? It’s so cute I wanna buy a print 🥺
Edit: found it online! Its Pierrot and the cat by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen! now just to figure out what the painting at 7:54 is called…
Edit again: it’s called Julie Manet with cat! I’m great at googling ayo
Future investigator here lmao
That first medieval cat looks like sir Ian Mckellan in 2019 cats
Ah, Sir Ian, a planetary treasure.
Actually, I read that the specific species of wild cats the domestic cat evolved from are in fact not solitary, but live in small family units, making them more social than other species of small wild cats from the start.
That'd make a lot of sense actually.
Seeing as there are lions who are pack felines, it makes sense
I guess cats are social animals after all, but more with humans. Just like some humans aren't social with other humans, but are with their pets especially cats.
Makes sense. I believe it because i have read that two female cats help out each other to nurse kittens in the wild or feral domestic cats do this. They're not completely solitary or we wouldn't be able to domesticate them well.
It's similar to how dogs are vilified in Islam. Historians believe it stems from how Zoroastrians(before Islam, Zoroastrianism was one of the more prominent religions in the Middle East) considered dogs as clean and holy, and highly regarded. Because of this, Islam decided to make them unclean, and would even beat a Zoroastrians' dog to manipulate the owner.
Dogs are not vilified in Islam. They are avoided due to the diseases they carry, but they must be treated kindly.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, told the story of a man who risked his life to climb down rocks to a stream repeatedly in order to soak up water in his clothes to give to a dangerous, thirsty dog.
People have to respect animals to follow the faith. As ever, there are people all over the world who claim religious motives for their own bad behaviours!
True that. Islam never vilified dogs. Do better research!
@@dshe8637 Hi ! i just wanted to say that we dont avoid them because they carry diseases, in islam we have to pray and before praying we need to clean ourselves with water. we cant let dogs lick us because if they do we have to clean ourselves again. after praying, we can touch them just fine ! and they can lick us too. we can also adopt them, and ofc animal abuse is haram (forbidden) in islam. I hope that clarifies things ! Its true that many muslims abuse dogs because "our religion said so" but its not true at all.
@@DepressedVetStudent The reason we can't pray with dog saliva on us is that it is dirty and carries diseases.
@@dshe8637 Exactly, but it doesent mean that we cant touch dogs or adopt them ! I hate how the media portrays islam 😑 and people dont do research either. Thank you for clarifying it to the person who made the comment.
YOUR PAINTING REVIEWS ARE SO ONPOINT AND SO INTELLIGENTLY, SENSITIVELY DONE EVEN WHEN THE PAINTING'S SUBJECT MATTER IS NOT. LOVE THIS SO MUCH!
Are you deaf?
Nice video! Are you a cat person? I am. My cat was a bit frightened by that first awful cat picture - as was I. It looked like another of those HORRIBLE restoration jobs done recently by amateurs. But we did enjoy your vid. Thanks for sharing it!
I really think that's what it was lmao :'D
I'm glad I subbed. This video was a treat for art and cat lovers.
Flouffy little devil-shelters? As a cat owner (and cat lover), I believe that is indeed an accurate observation.
Haha, yeah. I always joke about a particular cat of mine being the devil, lol. All the things you may have heard about tortoiseshell cats are true! But I wouldn't change her.
I love my cat but she speaks to me when I'm trying to fall asleep telling me how she's going to kill me and claw me to shreds. She so cute though the little devil. 😊
What is the painting shown at 7:56 called? It is adorable!
It is Julie Manet with cat by Auguste Renoir
If it turns out cats have been controlling our minds for centuries and have trained us to serve them, then I’m ok with that. Cats deserve everything.
Just awful how humans have roped innocent animals into our fucked up ways. I can’t believe anyone would have ever thought it sane to treat cats that way just horrific😢
So basically people are just stupid. This is why I love cats more then people.
same bro
Stupid AND dangerous. Especially when you get a mass of stupid ones to believe the same thing.
2:44 I was once told that the intention of Egyptian gods' art wasn't intended to communicate they have literal animal heads , but to depict the entity along with symbols of who they are or what they do, thus respecting them by representing the totality of who they are as much as possible. I can't find a definitive source to back this up, but it's a way more interesting interpretation than taking the deities' designs literally.
Really? You find it way more interesting to think of a god being _symbolically associated with_ cats than to think of a god with the _actual_ head of an _actual_ cat? I cannot begin to fathom such a preference.
@@omp199 I know right? That's much much more boring, why create gods that look like normal humans? be more creative
Quite commonplace in paganism. The greeks would have anthropomorphised concepts, but they also WERE the concept: e.g. Gaia, Uranus, Nyx, Tartarus, Chaos were actually Earth, Sky, Night, Hell, Vaccuum and the personification was partly just a way of representation
However, it seems to depend on the generation of Gods. These were primordial deities and the Olympians quite likely were actually just people on clouds that control the elements rather than being the elements. Titans being somewhere in between. After their war where olympians take over they sort of imprison the more primordial deities suggesting control over these 'elements'.
I never understood the hatred for cats except that maybe people just don't understand they aren't really domesticated. Interesting to see how much deeper that goes. I'm a crazy cat lady and a neopagan. My favorite goddess is Freya and I got a huge smile when you mentioned her! Cats are really wonderful; you just have to understand them from their POV.
I guess so many people dislike cats for being "assholes"... Because if you mistreat a cat it will avoid you, scratch or bite. Its not a stuffed animal that you can just cuddle and so many people dont understand this about animals. If you take good care of your cat it will like you. Of course some cats like to cuddle more than others, some are very shy but they wont be assholes unless one treats them like it... This also works for small dog breeds. Especially Chihuahuas. They arent treated as real living animals because they are treated like stuffed animals. People dont do training with them which leads to this stereotypical aggresive behavior.... Its honestly sad :(
I don't like people who strongly believe cats are evil and dogs are way better. Those kinds of people are most likely to be red flags. The argument I always hear from them to why dogs r better is because they're not assholes. They talk about how cats scratch stuff but it's not like dogs r any better. They rip up sofas, shoes and make a mess also. They also pee and poo on the floor but they always defend the dogs saying it's the owners fault which is true but when a cat does those things to them it's the cats fault. They can say all they like about cats destroying stuff but to me they're just trying to cover up the fact that they don't like cats because they want to be the one in control. They want an obedient animal that listens to them. That's more like a slave relationship in my eyes. Not a family relationship you have with your pets. They don't like cats because they don't obediently do things that they want them to do. I think it's a messed up mindset. Dogs r like how they r because they were used as tools to survive throughout history. Some people still use them as tools for their convenience.
Ok I LOVE THIS!! I have always wondered this. Can you clarify the reason for the bad portrayal of cats though? I followed you on the history but didn’t catch the conclusion. Was it that cats were killed in such high numbers that the artist couldn’t observe them properly? Or were they expressing their dislike of cats by portraying them badly? Please help, I have to know!
Or were they humanizing them to convey that they were the devil in disguise?
I agree the conclusion really wasn't clear, they just posed a question then went into history....
I guess the implication is that cats were humanized and also demonized, therefore they painted them with human faces to show that they thought cats were capable of being evil like a human and/or housing a demon
I’ve wondered if those human faces resembled someone famous of the era? Take an unpopular person, paint a cat with their face, indicating they were bad people.
I think the conclusion is that humans centuarys ago, used to personify animals. They associated cats with the devil and characterised them by their "purpose". This is why so many cats have apperances in those paintings that deflect from their original state(maybe trying to potray that they are different than what they initially appear to be) sort of resembling a devlish face and demanor, cats being accounted for being sly and evil like humans/withches by the christans, so they drew them like wonky fur balls cuz thats what they thought of em. Or idk-
@@alphagt62 dayumm thats a really fun conspiracy, that wouldve been the biggedt meme back then lol💀
3:45 yet, you can't write catholic without cat
Fun fact throughout the VAST MAJORITY of the history of the Catholic church to execute a "witch" would lead to excommunication (kicked out of the church and damned to hell) for unjust killing. Because besides for a small period of about 250 years, the church viewed witchcraft as make-believe and old superstitions.
The Church did not even believe in witchcraft in medieval times. Not until the mid- 15th century, (the very end of the high middle ages) with the publication of Malleus Maleficarum. Before that they just thought it was silly and ineffective. Though they did treated animals in court like people in medieval times.
That's horrible what they did to cats :'(
What We Do In The Shadows references a couple things mentioned in this video- the movie suggests human-faced cats in paintings had something to do with Vladislav being unable to change his humanoid face when transformed, while the TV show mentions Laszlo was a lawyer for pigs.
I mostly watch the show for the funny vampires, but I admit all the historical references make me laugh, too.
0:28 too much catnip
Lol
Poor kitty cats. People had serious issues to do those things to them. Thanks for the video.
Could even be a possibility that the abolishment of cats in medieval homes meant a better success for rats and mice and therefore the Black Pest.
this channel is the most interesting thing I've discovered on UA-cam. The humor and theme is right on point.
In Brehms Tierleben (one of the first biology encyclopedias) he wrote that 'in order to stop a fire consuming a house you ought to throw a Calico cat into the flames' since they are the ruler of flames or some stupid thing. Sad times for cats and really any animal to be alive...
ArtDeco…
Your reviews of art are masterpieces themselves!
You always include auxiliary information and description that serves to elucidate and reinforce!
Your sense of humour is also praiseworthy!
Kudos and gratitude as always!
Please keep up the great work!
0:35 neither of two option, I though someone other painted the cats face in a prank or jealousy since the face doesn't line up with the rest of the head
That cat in the thumbnail honestly has a great meme potential lol
In Denmark we still have the tradition (fastelavn), but in these days they use candy in the barrel instead of a cat and children dressed up in costumes will hit it with a bat (one at a time) until it breaks and candy comes out. We also call it "to hit the cat off the barrel" / at slå katten af tønden.
We have also kept another tradition, called Sankt Hans, where a doll of a witch is burned - bizarre traditions....
Your video series is awesome. You are so great at pointing out details in the paintings, surmising, and giving a ton of background and historical information. I enjoy the editing, the humor, the sound effects, and everything. Regarding this video, I used to go to this vet who used to have a sign in the main office that said, "Every cat owner knows that no one owns a cat."
This was lots of fun! I would love to see how the stigmata was represented in art. In some examples, it looks like the saint is flying a Jesus kite.
“Nurturing, yet ferocious” is my personal motto.
I like dogs and cats equally because even if they both control our minds, using chemicals nowaddays they are still both simply animals that love us. :)
Cats have always been looked at because of how they look into your eyes. They are captivating and people seem to think they can see our soul. I think they're poised and graceful.
Good video, 2 cats live in my house and let me wait on them.
the idea of taking animals to court is somehow funny to me
"Oinky McPigson, how do you plead?"
"Oink?"
"That's all I need to hear, prepare the fire pit!"
Hatred against cats still carries thru modern Western society tbh. Look at how people claims that they are devils who only worships themselves when the truth is cats are the most passionate lovable creatures when you treat them with respect. They are not bred to obsessively fawn over humans like dogs are so stop expecting them to be like one.
It always piss me off to see cute cat videos but when I scroll to the comment section it's always filled with people say hateful things to cats as "jokes". You're not funny Karen.
I love you for this. It’s so sad how people just hate cats for not being designed for complete and sole dependence on you. A pet shouldn’t have to be emotionally obsessed with you to be worthwhile
@@elihfisher1059Preach 👏
True
Based cat haters
Ever notice in Western movies, when a dog dies or gets hurt, it's sad. When a cat dies or gets hurt, it's no big deal, and/or funny.
01:11 my dog is a time traveller.... I would recognise that vacant expression anywhere.
0:04 Gus. Is the... cat. Atthetheaterdoor.
1:45 incorrect. the ancestors of house cats actually live in groups. this is why they were able to become pets in the first place. no matter what you do to a member a fully solitary species, it will never be fully tame.
Very entertaining and informative. Thank you.
6:47 Yo hold up... Did it work? 😂
Your thumbnail cat painting was taken from my blog and is from a junk shop in CT. Not medieval, lol.
Oh my goodness. Thanks for pointing that out! It’s all over the internet as a medieval cat. I will add this information to the description and credit you as the one who found this painting. It definitely has the spirit of a medieval cat!
I was looking for this - I was so sure it's not medieval, i spent 20 minutes looking for a source
i love your videos and i love that you dont wack out your voice to be silly or edgy to catch peoples attention or to compensate.
The whole black cat thing is why I have one - she’s a bit of a brat lol, but I love her. She’s spunky, and my other cat is super cuddly. They balance out
sonorasgirl…
In Celtic tradition, the black cat is good luck. Cat Sidhe.
Judging from the accurate outline, I would guess that this is likely due to a bad restoration rather than the failure of the original artist.
I usually don't like to comment on videos. It feels pointless most of the time but I really have some issues with this video and most videos on this topic in general. I may not be fully well versed in Medieval era of art let alone the significance of every animal/beast used in manuscripts, paintings , etc during the period but I have been actively researching this topic through investigating peer reviewed articles on the subject and reading books on the matter written by actual art historians. There is so much misinformation in this video, from the images used (not all are medieval especially the first one), the lack of a conclusion relating to your thesis, and the inherent misunderstanding behind the reasoning of why the art seems to lack realism. Of course it's simple entertainment but it's videos and articles like this chock full of misinfo that overwhelms most of the search results on these topics. Medieval artists did not always strive for realism, not because they didn't think it was achievable. Not to mention some of the pieces memed on are simply doodles for the personal amusement of the person making them ! If you look for it, you can find gorgeous pieces that are one to one representation of what they were aiming to depict. Of course even the more realistic pieces suffer from inaccurate perspective , but regardless, I'm just tired of these videos constantly rehashing more popular (and inaccurate) videos or listicles on the topic. :\
I have that problem with a couple of other videos on this chanel, but this one in particular is not the most well researched & very much spreading misinformation & particularly inaccurate descriptions of these "medieval" artworks.
Art history gf was getting triggered by this video, thank you for commenting this so she can breathe better
i think you may know if this exists: what was the name of the medieval encyclopedia of animals? i'm curious about this...but no references were mentioned so does it actually exist?
@@amariebeaubien it's the bestiary ! Also includes mythical creatures :)
@@amariebeaubien oh sorry i forgot to answer the last part of your question! Yes the bestiary does exist :) a book that had frequently been cited in the academic papers I had read was Bestiary by Richard Barber , altho i haven't been able to read it myself as I'm short of cash and libraries near me don't seem to host it ! There's definitely a few other books about the topic but I'm not always the best as keeping a comprehensive list of them. Hope this was at all helpful !
Paula Allmand here: New to your channel & I must say that I love you kiddo!!! Especially this particular episode. I have 2 cats but would love more. I also have a ghost kitty as well. She’s my poor kitty who had to be put to sleep. She decided she wanted to go home & I saw her spirit as it arrived. Since getting my newest kitty (5 yrs.later) she has become very active. I loved this explanation of why cats were so persecuted down through the ages.
Cats likely had to literally evolve to have those parasites just to get humans to stop hunting them, I bet. 😭😭
Yet strangely enough, a gamer and dog lover who didn't really like cats ended up liking cats too after merely playing a video game about a cat, all while completely not in physical contact with an actual cat. Which I found very intriguing. So the parasite thing might not be the case at all all the time. 🤔
fluffy little devil shelters is one of my favorite descriptions i've heard all week
The thought of just putting a cat in jail like it knows what it done wrong 😂 and writing to rats lol i know they didnt have modern knowledge but thats rediculous
The cat in the thumbnail is the embodiment of 'WHOA MAN. That catnip hit HARD.'
And suddenly the random 'beating a cat against the wall' jokes in The Holy Grail make a LOOOT more sense now.
You are an excellent story teller - a true gift! I just discovered your channel today and am binge watching!
It's like the weird old babies in paintings
I love the idea of a cat playing the bagpipes!!
Timestamps, please please??? Not seeing it!
I guess the ancient Egyptians were ahead of their time in far more ways than I could speculate
You. Are. Awesome! I freaking love this channel! Thank you for being so informative yet entertaining at the same time. I find I actually retain the info you're sharing better than I ever would in a traditional classroom setting. I am SO looking forward to more videos :D YOU ROCK!!!!!!
The general attitude towards cats varies wildly across cultures; though that was a really good, concise 'brief history' for European beliefs ... the bloody church! 🙄
It's even more distilled once you get into specific Lore regarding colours of cat ie Black Cats = bad luck, varies enormously across cultures.
Europe may (at one time) have had it in for all cats, as "demon shelters" (lmao) or witches familiars, but it took the Americans to really stick it to black cats! (Not exclusively American, but certainly culturally specifically.)
I've heard of the ban on adoptions during Halloween in America - because, apparently, people would adopt them PURELY to harm, or kill them; though the very idea STILL blows my mind.
It seems to have crept into a lot of 'popular culture' via American movies and TV, and shown up in places where the opposite belief has held true.
I'm in Australia, and there was never a standard belief either way, as a lot of early colonisation was from England, Ireland and Scotland, and black cat superstitions varied by region.
I'd say that there's probably been a slight swing to the American superstition over the last 20-30 years? And I blame that entirely on the flood and ubiquity, of American entertainment.
Here? I still think the majority of people would say their attitude was in line with personal experience?
'Though, one Halloween, a Mum from down the street brought her children Trick-or-Treating, the little girl was about 5. The Mum was impressed that the little one had come to the door, because she called my house 'the scary cat house!' I really had to think, but finally asked if it was because she'd seen 2 of my (3, indoor ONLY) cats sunbathing in the front windows - the 2 black cats? The Mum wasn't 100% percent sure, but guessed that was why, and also that she'd probably gotten the idea from TV, as it hadn't come from her.
Dangerously negative attitudes and beliefs certainly haven't gone away, and whether 'art' is the cause, or simply the messenger - it still plays a big part.
Can someone PLEASE give me the source for the adorable kitten painting at 0:58 ??
It's Karl Gussow - Old Man's Treasure ☺
No cat shall be harmed in Ulthar! Lovecraft was a huge cat lover. He has several letters devoted to them. Plus his beloved childhood cat who shall not be named.
Cats in 2019 Hollywood movies looked really creepy, too.
6:50 I heard of one case where a wooden statue that had fallen from a church roof and killed a woman was convicted of murder and hanged. When this didn't work the statue was thrown into a river. But as it was made of wood it did not sink. It was therefor decided the statue was a witch, and so it was burned at the steak. Apparently the statue was quite brave as it did not cry out once as it was consumed.
This actual historical event was referenced in Monty Python when a woman was accused of being a witch. Her weight was compared to a duck because if she weighed the same as a duck, it would mean she was made of wood and would thus be a witch. (Both a duck and wood float on the water)
He could turn into all sorts of animals. But now he never gets the faces right.
I was looking for a “What We Do in the Shadows” reference. Thank you for getting to it before I did! :D
Bravo young lady! Your excellent “art history” series is in my top ten.✌️
I remember when we visited our friends in Ypres as a kid I was so excited about the idea of a cat celebration until they told us about the throwing cat part and now I can’t look at the tower the same any time I visit😭
I have a bit of a theory about cat domestication.
Somewhere in North Africa, or Western Asia, as the sun rose above the plain, signally the end of the cat's "day" a cat, who had had an extremally good night joined his group of friends.
"Guys, I just had the most amazing night. You know those stupid looking animals that walk around on their hind legs and leave out all the mouse food?"
"Why would anyone want to feed mice?" one cat asked. This cat was always asking stupid questions no one could answer. Usually everyone just ignored him. But this morning, our hero had an answer.
"That's just the thing. I no longer thing the stupid looking ones are trying to feed the mice.
"Last night I was having trouble finding enough to eat, so I headed over to where the stupid looking ones are. They had so many mice, surely they wouldn't miss two or three.
"But their mice are so fat, and tasty, and easy to catch, before I knew it I was so stuffed I could hardly move.
"That's when one of the stupid looking animals found me. I thought I was screwed, but then I realized he wasn't angry, he was pleased!
"Guys, they aren't trying to feed mice, they are trying to feed us!"
The following night our hero and his friends headed to where the stupid looking ones lived and they feasted as never before. And this is how cats domesticated humans. But don't tell the humans this. They think it was the other way around.
I love how your humor is so subtle and almost unnoticeable, makes it even more funny when you realize...🤣8:04 good god, that's the original Cheshire cat face, innit?
How brutal of them.... throwing cat from the rooftop.... playing stupid things and throwing them into bonfire...like literally the time was ancient but they still had brain on them.....
It all just sucks
Poor cats, they are so lovely!
My favorite explanation of cat domestication was that people had two choices when it came to protecting their grain from rodents: cats and venomous snakes. They decided the cats were easier to cuddle.
This is what happens when you let the human instict to form raging vicious packs, fanatic religion, and a hatred of science and reason run rampant. Something that we should all look back on and learn, especially during these times.
@5:47 - Not just “people,” but *European* people in particular. I had previously noticed that the ugliness in those medieval depictions comes from the anthropomorphized face. Thanks for posting!
This is great. Thoroughly enjoyed this video. Loved the kicker at the end. 🙀
1:41 - says: "slightly more tolerant of humans."
Shows: the best possible painting to exemplify that 👌
That's it, i will make an entire folder with those amazing looking creatures. Also there was a game of solitaire that had medieval cats as the theme for the cards. I imadiately felt in love of those ridiculous creatures. The game is flick solitaire if you where interested. Is pretty good honestly, for a solitaire mobile game.
1:49 This cat's expression. Is purrfect. 😂
It looks kinda like the meme with the cat and the lady arguing.
That thumbnail picture looks like the cats movie with the CGI human faces.
"It's not that cats can control our mind, right?" Meanwhile my cat manipulating me to do what he wants 😭😭
Well it’s fine dogs bring you toys and use their cuteness to make you play with them
Fiery poo! Lol! Reminds me of that hilarious hippo poo flinging video that went viral a while back!! 😆
Tell me to draw a realism cat without pic reference and it wouldn't be much different
Cats are capable of being little monsters AND loaves of love. Often at the same time.