HAVE TO SHARE THIS - Medieval Paintings of Cats Licking Their Butts

[packman]

More ass licking at:

https://www.sadanduseless.com/funny-medieval-art/

[Hoyt]

1. My Medieval history was lacking. Who knew monks were so obsessed, or just bored?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. OMG, I love it!

I've been ROFL at these... especially this one.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Omigod, these are wonderful! They made me smile, and I needed to.

Thank you, my dear packman, for finding these and posting them.

A bit of medieval humor for these stressful times!

[frazzled]

4. Cats were a major symbol of demons, witchcraft and Satan in Medieval times

Which is, I guess, why they are depicted in these supposedly obscene positions. The Church appears to have been the main disseminator of this view of cats:

The cat lost its former position through the efforts of the medieval Church which encouraged the association of the cat with devils and darkness as part of their long-standing agenda of demonizing pagan faiths, rituals, and values. Scholar Desmond Morris writes:

Religious bigots have often employed the cunning device of converting other people’s heroes into villains to suit their own purposes. In this way, the ancient horned god that protected earlier cultures was first transformed into the evil Devil of Christianity and the revered sacred feline of ancient Egypt became the wicked sorcerer’s cat of medieval Europe. Many things considered holy by a previous religious faith have automatically been damned by a new religion. In this way began the darkest chapter in the cat’s long association with mankind. For centuries it was persecuted and the cruelties heaped upon it were given the full backing of the Church. (158)

Once the cat was associated with Satan, it was regularly tortured and killed either to ward off bad luck, as a sign of devotion to Christ, or an integral part of rituals involving ailuromancy (using cats to predict the future). Cats were condemned by popes and massacred by entire villages and would not regain even half their former status until the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century CE. The Victorian Age of the 19th century CE would see the cat’s full restoration in status.

https://www.ancient.eu/article/1387/cats-in-the-middle-ages/

[jberryhill]

5. Thus allowing vermin to spread disease

[trueblue2007]

6. The monks REALLY painted these. they were sooooooooooooooooo naughty !!!

[BadGimp]

7. Made my Monday, thanks!