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| · | Meow |
| 0:05 | · | Meow. |
| 0:08 | · | Cats aren't exactly known to follow the law, BUT, back in the land of Medieval Wales, |
| 0:12 | · | there existed a set of laws known as 'Cyfraith Cath' -- the law of the cats [18], and across |
| 0:16 | · | three different legal codes we are shown a fascinating picture of just how |
| 0:20 | · | valuable this beast was in medieval society. There are laws about what they should look like, |
| 0:25 | · | what their jobs are, and how much they're worth. And most importantly, |
| 0:28 | · | if you wanted to become a medieval cat salesman, this video will teach you exactly how to do it. |
| 0:34 | · | These are the medieval cat laws, laws for your medieval cat. |
| · | Assigning Monetary Value to Your Cat's Appearance |
| 0:47 | · | Chapter 1: Assigning monetary value to your cat's appearance. |
| 0:52 | · | What? You can't put a price on that face! Well, in medieval Wales you absolutely could [5][13][18]. |
| 1:00 | · | I should clarify, |
| 1:01 | · | Wales at this time was made up of several kingdoms, and while the surviving legal texts |
| 1:05 | · | are basically the same, there are several key differences, which either reflect local changes, |
| 1:10 | · | or just the passage of time [1], and the legal value of a cat is a perfect example of this. |
| 1:17 | · | The law in north Wales, 'Dull Gwynedd', is the simplest. To have value, a cat must be able to: |
| 1:22 | · | see and hear, it must have its claws, kill mice, and not only be able to have kittens, but also |
| 1:27 | · | not eat them [5], a quality that I think more people should seek in their potential partners. |
| 1:32 | · | The laws of cats in southwest Wales, 'Dull Dyfed', are a little more particular: |
| 1:36 | · | not only do they have to have all the qualities listed above, but a cat must also have good teeth, |
| 1:41 | · | and mustn't wail at the moon [13]. Finally in South Wales, 'Dull Gwent', |
| 1:45 | · | we come to the most specific. Not only must they have all the qualities listed in North Wales, |
| 1:50 | · | not only must they have the additions listed in Southwest Wales, but they must also have |
| 1:53 | · | a good tail, and not have any burn marks [18]. |
| 1:58 | · | So as we can see, the general value of a cat here |
| 2:00 | · | was to kill mice, and this was mostly reflected in the qualities they were required to possess |
| 2:04 | · | in order to hold any legal value. Plus the occasional addition of not |
| 2:08 | · | wailing at the moon, and not… being burnt. |
| 2:14 | · | So… if your critter has all of these talents, how much could you get for it? |
| 2:21 | · | Every legal code here agrees on one specific thing, one fundamental concept: One adult cat is worth four ceiniog [5][13][18]. |
| 2:29 | · | Now, we could sit here for 10 years discussing how exactly to translate a unit of currency from |
| 2:34 | · | over 1,000 years ago, but luckily the laws make it a bit easier for us, because while |
| 2:38 | · | I can't easily tell you what four ceiniog would be worth today, I can tell you what it would've |
| 2:43 | · | been equivalent to back then… in animals. So one adult cat, chiefly used to protect |
| 2:49 | · | your barn from mice, had the same value in north Wales as one adult goat [4], or |
| 2:54 | · | four geese [6], or four chickens [6]. In southwest Wales, a cat was worth two geese |
| 3:00 | · | [13], one and a half goats [12], a lamb (in August) [11], or a baby horse from the time |
| 3:05 | · | of its birth until August [10]… very specific. Finally in south Wales, these beasts were worth |
| 3:11 | · | the equivalent of a post-August lamb [15], four newborn piglets [16], or four ducks [17]. |
| 3:16 | · | So while trying to adopt a cat from your local shelter in exchange for four geese might not |
| 3:20 | · | work today, back then this would've been a perfectly reasonable, legally valid trade. |
| 3:31 | · | Interestingly, while all the laws specify an adult, |
| 3:33 | · | mouse-catching cat is worth four ceiniog, only Gwynedd assigns a value to its previous form. |
| 3:39 | · | So if you wanted to sell a kitten, their laws have you covered. |
| 3:43 | · | Once a cat is born, and until it opens its eyes, it is worth one ceiniog [5], one quarter the value |
| 3:48 | · | of an adult cat. After that, it's worth two ceiniog [5], until it starts catching mice, |
| 3:52 | · | where it reaches its final value of four [5]. And I think these qualifications are a little |
| 3:57 | · | difficult to… prove. Sure, you'll be able to see if a cat has opened their eyes, |
| 4:01 | · | but you basically just have to take the owner's word that it can catch mice, |
| 4:05 | · | unless you feel like hanging out with it in a barn until you've seen the proof yourself. |
| 4:09 | · | However, for all you hopeful medieval cat-scammers out there, |
| 4:12 | · | these laws have one more trick up their sleeve. If a cat is deficient in any of these qualities, |
| 4:17 | · | from mouse catching to having claws to wailing at the moon, one third of its |
| 4:22 | · | value must be returned [5][13][18]. So while that means the buyer has a |
| 4:25 | · | bit of protection if their cat turns out to be generally terrible, that also means the seller |
| 4:29 | · | would be obligated to refund some money if the cat they sold suddenly started wailing at the moon. |
| 4:34 | · | Also, why did they make it so you had to return one third of something worth four? I don't know, |
| 4:40 | · | but looking at this drawing of the codification of the Welsh laws, do you think anyone here pondered |
| 4:44 | · | on the return policy of cats? |
| · | Cat Products |
| 4:50 | · | Chapter 2: Cat products. |
| 4:55 | · | You may have noticed something… unusual. Gwynedd and Gwent just say "oh, if the cat is deficient |
| 5:01 | · | in any qualities you'll have to return some value", but uh, Dyfed is a little weird. |
| 5:07 | · | They specify that you can be refunded one third of the cat's worth… because we don't |
| 5:12 | · | feed on its milk [13]. And well yes that is true, but its quite an odd difference, |
| 5:18 | · | and its unique in this part of Wales. In fact, its so unique, the laws of Dyfed bring up |
| 5:23 | · | this qualification twice, in what I believe is one of the greatest legal passages in all of history. |
| 5:30 | · | According to these laws, cats produce a product known as Worthless Milk [8][20]. They claim |
| 5:37 | · | that alongside the milk of a female dog, and a female horse, all three of these |
| 5:41 | · | products will receive no compensation [8][20]. |
| 5:46 | · | Moving on, we don't have any more cat products, |
| 5:49 | · | but we have laws about the ownership of cats, and they're a bit unexpected too. |
| 5:53 | · | The laws of Gwynedd and Dyfed specify how a married couple is to divide ownership of |
| 5:57 | · | household furniture… which includes cats [3]. According to these law makers, the |
| 6:02 | · | husband would own just one of the house's cats, every other one would belong to the wife [3]. |
| 6:07 | · | Plus, if someone was to die and leave no heir, their estate would pass to the king, |
| 6:11 | · | and the official in charge of sorting all of that out, known as a rhingyll, would get to |
| 6:15 | · | keep a few things from the property [2][7][14]. The laws from Gwynedd specify that they would get |
| 6:19 | · | the meat, the butter, the flax, the corn, the hens, the fuel axe… and the cats [2]. |
| 6:25 | · | These laws have some interesting differences across Wales too, in Dyfed they let the official |
| 6:29 | · | keep all of the axes [7], and in Gwent they throw in any Geese, plus any reaping-hooks [14]. |
| 6:35 | · | So this establishes two things: firstly, if you wanted to take up a career as a rhingyll, Gwent |
| 6:40 | · | seems to have given you the most free stuff [14]. Secondly, we've seen that all cats except for one |
| 6:45 | · | were the legal property of the wife in medieval Wales [3], and if someone was to die without |
| 6:49 | · | an heir, they would pass to the king's rhingyll [2][7][14]. I imagine then during times of war or |
| 6:55 | · | plague, that the court officials would suddenly be inundated with dozens and dozens of cats. |
| · | Cat Crime |
| 7:06 | · | Finally, chapter 3: cat crime. |
| 7:17 | · | There are two crimes outlined in the laws |
| 7:18 | · | of Wales that are specifically to do with cats. The first is their fault: if a cat caused damage |
| 7:24 | · | to someone's flax garden while attempting to catch a mouse, their owner would |
| 7:29 | · | rightfully have to pay for the damages [9][19]. The second is what happens when a cat is stolen, |
| 7:35 | · | injured, or unfortunately worse. The penalty for this is only mentioned |
| 7:39 | · | in two of the legal texts, and is as follows. The cat is to be held with its head to the ground, |
| 7:45 | · | and its tail lifted up. Wheat is then poured around it until the tail is completely covered, |
| 7:52 | · | and that is the fine paid to the owner [13][18]. Now, the Gwent laws specify that this is only the |
| 7:58 | · | case if it happens to the king's cat [18], however the laws from |
| 8:01 | · | Dyfed mention that the fine towards the that cat can either be paid in wheat, |
| 8:05 | · | or with an adult sheep and her lambs [13]. Also, the cat is fairly likely to be alive |
| 8:12 | · | in this situation, for this fine of wheat to be measured, which means in medieval Wales it |
| 8:19 | · | was someone's job to hold down a live cat on the floor so that it can be covered in grain. Which |
| 8:26 | · | could arguably be one of the most difficult jobs a Welsh court official would ever have to face. |
| 8:35 | · | We have now covered the three highly important sectors of medieval Welsh cat law, cyfraith |
| 8:39 | · | cath. Which means that we can finally come to the most important question I have ever had to answer, |
| 8:44 | · | one that we've all been wondering since birth, whether you've known it or not. |
| 8:49 | · | Mr Chronicles, if I were to time travel back to medieval Wales and finally take |
| 8:54 | · | up my life-long dream of becoming a cat salesman, how would I do this? |
| · | How to be a Cat Salesman |
| 9:09 | · | Step one to any business: acquire product. Luckily for you, in exchange for protein |
| 9:15 | · | and nutrients, two cats can magically produce several more, smaller ones: product secured. |
| 9:22 | · | Alternatively, become a rhingyll during a time of disease or war. Lots of empty, uninherited houses |
| 9:28 | · | means lots of cats moving into your possession. |
| 9:33 | · | Step two: maximise value. |
| 9:37 | · | As the laws in Gwynedd showed, an adult cat is worth far more than a kitten, but the various law codes |
| 9:41 | · | in Wales have different restrictions on what makes a fully valuable cat. |
| 9:46 | · | The laws from Gwynedd have the least requirements, while the ones from Gwent have the most. So once |
| 9:51 | · | you've acquired your cats, wait until they start to catch mice, and make sure you move to Gwynedd, |
| 9:56 | · | where you can sell your tailless, toothless, inbred cats in peace. |
| 10:01 | · | Step three: reinvest your money. What use is it if its just sitting around? |
| 10:06 | · | If you sell enough cats you might be able to afford a medieval mansion, |
| 10:09 | · | but alternatively you could just double it. First, make sure you're still in Gwynedd. Cool, |
| 10:16 | · | then find some geese. The law codes from North Wales value a goose at one ceiniog, so in exchange |
| 10:22 | · | for one cat, you could get four geese. Next, travel down to Dyfed. The laws here |
| 10:27 | · | specify a goose is worth two ceiniog. You have now discovered the ultimate loophole, |
| 10:34 | · | as long as you're willing to travel for days and days on end through remote, treacherous |
| 10:38 | · | countryside, risking violence, and disease, all while carrying several cats and geese. |
| 10:43 | · | Not to mention this all depends on their being a need for both cats and geese to |
| 10:47 | · | be bought and sold, and also for these laws to represent regional differences, because |
| 10:51 | · | if you remember some of these surviving texts might just show how the law evolved over time… |
| 10:55 | · | But you can figure all of that out then, I'm sure it'll go just fine. |
| 11:01 | · | Finally, don't forget the two most important steps: |
| 11:05 | · | Step four: do NOT sell cat milk. If you recall, cat milk is legally worthless, don't even try it. |
| 11:14 | · | Step five: for morale, always try to remember the most famous cat of all: |
| 11:20 | · | Garfield. Specifically, that the Welsh laws of the cats were actually mentioned in an |
| 11:27 | · | episode of The Garfield Show [21]. Here he sees the king of Wales |
| 11:31 | · | personally proclaim that cats are to be protected, because they are "cute, clever, |
| 11:36 | · | and… excellent at catching mice" [21]. Exactly what we just covered, except that they don't |
| 11:42 | · | mention them being clever, sorry Garfield. So now you can sell your cats in the wilds |
| 11:48 | · | of Wales, knowing that following this simple five step plan will bring you great riches, |
| 11:54 | · | and with your newfound wealth, you will be forever remembered throughout history |
| 11:58 | · | as the richest cat salesman Wales has ever seen. |
| 12:10 | · | As thanks to me for creating this foolproof plan, |
| 12:12 | · | you will fund a statue, with a plaque, simply saying "thanks, Cambrian Chronicles", |
| 12:17 | · | and it will puzzle historians for years to come, until ultimately falling into obscurity, |
| 12:22 | · | with none of it surviving apart from vague notes and mentions from centuries ago. |
| 12:29 | · | Until, one day, in an old forgotten journal, I come across a mention of an odd ancient |
| 12:36 | · | statue in Wales. "Huh, Cambrian Chronicles, that sounds like the perfect name for that |
| 12:43 | · | YouTube channel I've been wanting to make". And then, again, this video is made, and then, |
| 12:50 | · | again, the future you is inspired to once more go back in time and become a cat salesperson, |
| 12:56 | · | starting the cycle again, and again, and again, and again. |
| 13:02 | · | We will be like two washing machines placed opposite one another, |
| 13:06 | · | forever cycling, forever linked. And after all that, you might be thinking, |
| 13:13 | · | what is the takeaway from all of this? How am I meant to feel after this |
| 13:17 | · | fundamentally ego-altering information? Well, I said it at the very start: |
| 13:29 | · | Meow. |
Chapters:
