Cats and other animals in sermons
Cats and other animals in preaching texts
Bernardino Busti, Rosarium Sermonum (Strasbourg, 1496), Sermon 16, 313.
Aliquam creaturam posse realiter transmutari in aliam speciem, puta in gattas, vel huiusmodi hoc enim est haereticum … apparente vero potuit fieri virtute daemonum.
Translation: A certain creature could really metamorhose into other species, like in cats, and in every way this is heretic … it is just the virtue of demons than can make it [the metamorhosis] seem real.
Context: Busti speaks of those witches who believe to be capable of turning into cats, following an old and long-lasting popular belief. The cat is the symbol of the devil.
Bernardino of Siena, Ciclo Senese 1425, ed. C. Cannarozzi, (Florence: 1958), sermon 38, 169 - 70.
El dimonio fa parere a quella mala femmina che ella diventi gatta e vada stregonando, ma ella si sta nel letto suo. Illusioni del dimonio per ingannare altrui!
Translation: The devil makes it seem to the evil woman that she metamorphoses into a cat and that she goes around bewitching, but in reality she remains in her bed. These are the devil’s illusions to deceive people!
Context: Busti speaks of those witches who believe to be capable of turning into cats, following an old and long-lasting popular belief. The cat is the symbol of the devil.
Contributor: Fabrizio Conti
