Page "Pope Gregory IX" Paragraph 19

It is claimed in popular books and websites that Gregory's condemnation of heretics worshipping Satan in the form of a black cat in his bull Vox in Rama led to a massacre of cats across Europe.

It is also claimed that this supposed " cat massacre " worsened the Black Death a century after Gregory's time, because the plague was spread by rats who were unchecked in Europe due to the decline of cat numbers.

The Black Death began in central Asia and spread west, devastating large swathes of central Asia, Asia Minor and the Middle East before hitting Europe.

However, there is no credible evidence that such a edict was ever issued by Gregory IX.