Cat-burning was a form of zoosadistic entertainment in Western and Central Europe during the Middle Ages prior to the 1800s. In this form of entertainment, people would gather dozens of cats in a net and hoist them high into the air from a special bundle onto a bonfire causing death through the effects of combustion, or effects of exposure to extreme heat. In the medieval and early modern periods, cats, which were associated with vanity and witchcraft, were sometimes burned as symbols of the devil. Along with this, other forms of torture and killing of animals were used.  Descriptions According to Norman Davies, the assembled people "shrieked with laughter as the animals, howling with pain, were singed, roasted, and finally carbonized". In the Middle Ages in Western Europe, cats were considered companions of sorcerers and witches , which may have contributed to the animals being tortured and mass-burned.  France and Spain distinguished themselves. In his book "Ivan the Terrible: The Bloody Poet", in response to accusations of Western European authors and ideologists against Russia of savagery and barbarism, the famous historian Alexander Bushkov writes:
Cat-burning was a form of zoosadistic entertainment in Western and Central EuropeIn Christian countries that did not fall under the rule of the Catholic Church (Byzantium before 1453 and Russia), such an attitude towards animals was unthinkable and was considered satanic rituals. On the contrary, the cat in Orthodox Christianity is the only animal that is allowed to enter the temples; the cat is also an integral attribute of Orthodox monasteries. during the Middle Ages prior to the 1800s. In this form of entertainment, people would gather dozens of cats in a net and hoist them high into the air from a special bundle onto a bonfire causing death through the effects of combustion, or effects of exposure to extreme heat. In the medieval and early modern periods, cats, which were associated with vanity and witchcraft, were sometimes burned as symbols of the devil. Along with this, other forms of torture and killing of animals were used. Such actions were directly sanctioned by the Catholic Church and personally by the popes. In the 1230s, Pope Gregory IX announced that there was a rise in devil worshipping and that cats were often part of satanic rituals. The superstition that cats were linked to Satan would stick around in the Catholic Church for centuries. More than 200 years later, Pope Innocent VIII wrote that "the cat was the devil's favorite animal and idol of all witches”. So, in the infamous Catholic treatise on demonology Malleus Malificarum (1487), it is explicitly stated that cats are images of unclean spirits in which they appear to people to tempt them: The devils make use of any such illusory apparition as in the example we have quoted, when they used the phantasm of a cat, an animal which is, in the Scriptures, an appropriate symbol of the perfidious, just as a dog is the symbol of preachers; for cats are always setting snares for each other. Descriptions According to Norman Davies, the assembled people "shrieked with laughter as the animals, howling with pain, were singed, roasted, and finally carbonized". In the Middle Ages in Western Europe, cats were considered companions of sorcerers and witches . The Catholic Church took up these superstitions and supported them in every possible way. For this reason, the animals were tortured and mass-burned. Especially in this, France and Spain distinguished themselves. In his book "Ivan the Terrible: The Bloody Poet", in response to accusations of Western European authors and ideologists against Russia of savagery and barbarism, the famous historian Alexander Bushkov writes:
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Europe
EuropeIn Christian countries that did not fall under the rule of the Catholic Church (Byzantium before 1453 and Russia), such an attitude towards animals was unthinkable and was considered satanic rituals. On the contrary, the cat in Orthodox Christianity is the only animal that is allowed to enter the temples; the cat is also an integral attribute of Orthodox monasteries.
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Such actions were directly sanctioned by the Catholic Church and personally by the popes. In the 1230s, Pope Gregory IX announced that there was a rise in devil worshipping and that cats were often part of satanic rituals. The superstition that cats were linked to Satan would stick around in the Catholic Church for centuries. More than 200 years later, Pope Innocent VIII wrote that "the cat was the devil's favorite animal and idol of all witches”. So, in the infamous Catholic treatise on demonology Malleus Malificarum (1487), it is explicitly stated that cats are images of unclean spirits in which they appear to people to tempt them: The devils make use of any such illusory apparition as in the example we have quoted, when they used the phantasm of a cat, an animal which is, in the Scriptures, an appropriate symbol of the perfidious, just as a dog is the symbol of preachers; for cats are always setting snares for each other.
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, which may have contributed to the animals being
. The Catholic Church took up these superstitions and supported them in every possible way. For this reason, the animals were
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Especially in this,