Why people threw cats from the belfry in the Middle Ages

Comments

• dujiannantori Posts: 486 Inactive

  May 2015

  It is a wired festival... the last one was taken place yesterday. I would dress like a cat at halloween though, like a cat woman :) .

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• april Moderator Posts: 11,206 mod

  May 2015

  Yes, it happened yesterday and it's weird, @dujiannantori .
  Fortunately, they only throw toys now and not living cats.

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• april Moderator Posts: 11,206 mod

  May 2015

  @Xanthippe, maybe we could read the French text about this event tomorrow?

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• mheredge Posts: 44,388 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  I'm not sure if I like the idea even of toy cats being maltreated @april. But cats do get punished for the evil image they seem to have picked up.

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• Bubbly Posts: 29,890 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  They can better help the real ones instead of wasting time and money on this parade.

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• april Moderator Posts: 11,206 mod

  May 2015

  I don't like the idea either.
  This is the first time I heard about it, actually.
  I don't understand that GAIA organisation doesn't comment anything about it.

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• mheredge Posts: 44,388 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  I would worry children might not distinguish between toy and real cats.

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• chyijung Posts: 2,229 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  " What was the reason for abusing cats in numerous folk festivals? A plausible reason is that there simply were too many cats. The animals were so numerous that they were a pest. "
  
  Pity cat

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• april Moderator Posts: 11,206 mod

  May 2015

  Yes, @chyijung, at that time it could be the only solution for this problem.
  I think it's okay to mention this tradition as a legacy, but the idea that they now make it as a joyful happening is not really appropriate.
  

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• chyijung Posts: 2,229 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  @april I think it is not a big deal since they use toy cats and everyone enjoys the parade. But as people have concern about that, I think they can improve it a little bit, A cat parade without throwing cats or cats with parachute or supercats with cloaks.

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• dujiannantori Posts: 486 Inactive

  May 2015

  re you serious? @april you want them to throw real cat? you re wireder!! :D

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• april Moderator Posts: 11,206 mod

  May 2015

  dujiannantori said:

  re you serious? @april you want them to throw real cat? you re wireder!!

  ?????, @dujiannantori ?
  Where do you read it?

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• Frank Moderator Posts: 6,634 mod

  May 2015 edited May 2015

  This reminds me of a weird experience I had during a vacation in Croatia. I was walking with my wife along a covered shopping promenade, when suddenly I saw a couple with a leached German Shepard dog. The dog was being attacked by a street cat and the man was trying to kick it away from his dog. I felt pity for both the cat and the dog with his owners and I wanted to offer a helping hand. The first thing that came into my mind was, that you could easily grab a cat by its scruff like a mother cat does with her kittens. This way I could separate the cat from the leached dog. At least that’s what I thought. This all happened in seconds. Reflexively I gapped the cat by its scruff and lifted it up, away from the dog.
  
  Whether my theory about how a mother cat picks up her kittens is true or not, you should never do that with an adult cat full of adrenaline. The cat managed to turn around and bit my hand. In a split second I threw the cat away from me. It landed at the front of a nearby souvenir shop, where chessboards and statuettes were exposed outside. When I play bowling I never get any strikes, but this time I succeeded to hit everything that was exposed. Everything fell down; I don’t think I broke something, but nevertheless I had to deal with the shop owner that paced outside angrily. Confused about what just happened, I pretended not to understand anything he was shouting at me in Croatian language. The owners of the dog however reacted very thankfully. After we’d gone I tried to disinfect my wounded hand with sea water, but that didn’t turn out to be a sufficient remedy. After a while my hand got swollen enormously. This made us decide to go to a hospital after all to get a bandage and a tetanus injection.
  
  The doctor in the hospital even considered the possibility that the cat were infected with rabies, for it wasn’t normal behaviour for a cat to attack a dog. He advised my wife to take an eye on me the next days and to call immediately if I would be behaving strange. This didn’t turn out to be the case, but my wife still wonders when will be the time I’ll behave normally.

  Post edited by Frank on May 2015

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• april Moderator Posts: 11,206 mod

  May 2015

  So, normally you were abnormal and after the bite you're abnormally normal, @Frank ?
  
  

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• chyijung Posts: 2,229 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  Poor Frank, did the shop owner ask you for compensation?

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• mheredge Posts: 44,388 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  Cat bites are notorious @Frank. My cat once bit me on a finger and next day I had to go to the hospital as my hand had swollen up like a balloon. They pumped me full of penicillin, despite the fact that I normally avoid penicillin, arguing that it was the best to take regardless of any adverse side effects it might have.
  
  Do you often foam at the mouth Frank?

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• Frank Moderator Posts: 6,634 mod

  May 2015

  I only foam around my mouth when I'm shaving @mheredge

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• Frank Moderator Posts: 6,634 mod

  May 2015

  I guess it's something like that indeed @april

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• Frank Moderator Posts: 6,634 mod

  May 2015

  Maybe he did @chyijung, but although I speak some Croatian language, I wasn't quite concentrating on what he was shouting. However I don't think anything was broken, but he had to rearrange a lot of piles that had fallen down.

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• Bubbly Posts: 29,890 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015 edited May 2015

  @Frank so conclusion of the above story is that you are seeking help to get normal.

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• Frank Moderator Posts: 6,634 mod

  May 2015

  Is it normal to diagnose yourself @bubbli? (Sorry I know it's not the question game).

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• Bubbly Posts: 29,890 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  @Frank It's still normal if you don't diagnose yourself too much.

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• Frank Moderator Posts: 6,634 mod

  May 2015

  Okay, thanks! That's a relieve @bubbli!

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• Bubbly Posts: 29,890 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  @Frank ignorance is a bliss.

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• Frank Moderator Posts: 6,634 mod

  May 2015 edited May 2015

  @bubbli That's true:
  
  

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• Bubbly Posts: 29,890 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  @Frank perfect and imperfect are relative terms.

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• april Moderator Posts: 11,206 mod

  May 2015

  I do not consider myself as cat's best friend, but they always come to me.
  Once a strange cat gave birth to some kittens in my wardrobe.

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• mheredge Posts: 44,388 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  You should consider yourself very honoured @april. She must have trusted you to anbuse your hospitality in such a way!

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• Teach Your Teacher HomePosts: 10,464 mod

  May 2015 edited May 2015

  Watch out April, she was trying to turn you into a cat lady.
  
  Thank you for the giggles @Frank.
  

  Lynne Hand - Learn English Network

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• mheredge Posts: 44,388 ✭✭✭✭

  May 2015

  Hehe @ Lynne. You always see straight through me!

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