The Atlantic calls this “The 15th-Century Equivalent of Your Cat Walking on Your Keyboard,” and it first made me laugh, then gave me an odd sense of comfort. How nice to know that through 700 years of lightning fast changes in human history, one thing has remained constant: cats still walk across our work.
The image shows
…inky pawprints, gracing a page of the 13th volume of “Lettere e commissioni di Levante,” which collated copies of letters and instructions that the Dubrovnik/Ragusan government sent to its merchants and envoys throughout southeastern Europe (Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia etc.), according to [medievalist Emir O.] Filipovic — sort of a 15th-century Federal Register. The particular document that the cat got its paws on dates to March 11th, 1445.
I like to think the scribe was amused. The bureaucracy, probably not so much.
Then again, nobody ordered a rewrite, so perhaps the higher-ups weren’t as stuffy as they usually are today.
(Click the image to felinize.)
Cats. Ruling the world since 1145…
Wiki: Wild cats naturally preyed upon the rats and other vermin that ate from the royal granaries. They earned their place in towns and cities by killing mice, venomous snakes, and other pests.They were worshiped by the Egyptians and given jewelry in hieroglyphics.
Thus we can say they were gods once upon a time
And they have NEVER forgotten this.
LOL