Why are black cats related to bad luck?

You wanna know why black cats are related to bad luck? When and where did this superstition begin that over the years led to the extinction of black cats?

Black cats in antiquity

To learn this story, we must go back a few centuries to the age of ancient Egypt. Considered to be large animals, there were also great demands because of the solution to the plague of mice that occupied the cities. There was so much admiration in these lands for these black cats that there was a deity named Baste, who was shaped like the cat's family. If someone was caught killing a cat, he was sentenced to death.

Pharaohs were often buried with their cats. These even played an important role in royal ceremonies, as happened in the Valley of Kings in Luxor. Of course, certain hieroglyphics will not have been able to avoid warning of the presence of these animals near kings.

The Greeks tried to repeat many of the customs of the ancient Egyptians. And that's why they brought a lot of cats to their country. So this animal arrived in Europe, then expanding across the continent. But from that point on, this animal's story began to change.

Why are black cats considered “equal to bad luck”?

Continued travel over time brings us to the Middle Ages. An era in which the Catholic Church was an extremely powerful institution capable of making decisions on society as a whole. At the end of the 12th century, a process known as “Inquisition” began in France, in which various courts were tasked with identifying witches and heretics. Many single, mysterious women were persecuted and considered witches. Their sad fate was the ball. Black cats also began to be pursued because they were thought to have been used by women to perform bad magic.

In fact, what happened was that cats were very reserved and shameful animals and preferred to hide from people, unlike dogs seeking human food and association. So it was decided that cats were camouflaged magicians who took the form of an animal. Thus they were free to hide, especially at night, and to be able to cast their magic without problems.

Black cats and wound

The first document on black cats, witches and heresy was written in the 13th century. In this document, Pope Gregory IX related how these animals associated with the devil. That is why society began to intimidate them and, as a result, try to exterminate them as it did witches - through torture.

As the cat population began to decline, the spread of rats began to grow, bringing sickness and death. The black wound actually killed more than 25 million people in Europe within three years.

Back then, it was not known that the cause of the transmission of the disease was a parasite present in rats. While hunters were born of rodents, they quickly associated with the epidemic. So the slaughter of these animals continued until almost disappeared about the year 1400. What people didn't know was that as a result of the decline in the numbers of cats and rats, the plague increased.

Black Cat Superstition

One of the most popular legends about bad luck associated with black cats was born in Lincolnshire English County. The year was 1500, when a man and his son, walking down the street at night, met a black cat.

When the animal ran to hide in a corner, he started throwing stones at her in an attempt to kill her. Injured and vulnerable, the cat began running toward the home of a woman who lived alone and was suspected of being a witch. The next day they found the old lady killed and then came to the conclusion that she was actually a cat.