10. Weird Discrimination and Weird Prohibitions
Numerous weird discriminations and prohibitions were imposed upon the Cagots. In addition to having to alert non-Cagots to their presence by shaking rattles, Cagots were required to wear a goose’s foot conspicuously pinned to their clothes. They were not allowed to touch bridge parapets, and were prohibited from sharing food or bathwater, or from walking barefoot around non-Cagots. It is unclear why the Cagots faced such discrimination and mistreatment. While there is never a justification for discrimination, there is often an explanation for how it came about. Usually, a group in a position of power defines others as inferior based on differences in race, culture, or religion.
Historians have not uncovered any differences in race, culture, or religion, between the Cagots and their neighbors. The Cagots were Christian, and shared the same ethnic and cultural background as those discriminating against them. Indeed, none outside the Pyrenees region had anything against them, and a 1514 Papal Bull – which was ignored – even denounced anti-Cagot discrimination, and declared them to be Christians no different from other Christians.