THE UNKNOWN: Meowing Nuns

Summary

So Supernatural – THE UNKNOWN: Meowing Nuns

Podcast: So Supernatural

Hosts: Yvette Gentile & Racha Pecorero

Release Date: May 1, 2026

An Audiochuck Original Produced by Crime House

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Episode Overview

In this episode, hosts Yvette Gentile and Racha Pecorero explore the bizarre case of the "Meowing Nuns," a reported episode of mass hysteria in a French convent during the Middle Ages. The sisters recount the scant historical records, various possible explanations—ranging from demonic possession to psychological distress—and related cases of strange behavior among religious communities, all while weaving in contemporary scientific insights, true crime commentary, and their signature witty rapport.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Setting: Medieval France and Convent Life

[05:20–07:19] Key Segment

• The episode begins with context about medieval convents—isolated, austere environments, often marked by emotional and physical hardship for their residents.
• The story centers on an unnamed nun, "Charlotte," who becomes the first to exhibit strange behavior.
• Nuns in this era were expected to renounce pleasure, endure arduous chores, and remain isolated from the community, which often led to loneliness and mental strain.

Quote:
"As a General rule. Catholic nuns in the Middle Ages aren't supposed to be happy. They're meant to dedicate themselves to serving God and Jesus and reject all of life's pleasures." —Yvette Gentile [05:51]

2. The Meowing Epidemic

[07:19–12:43] Key Segment

• It starts with Charlotte uncontrollably meowing; her meowing is involuntary and inexplicable.
• One by one, other nuns begin to meow as well, eventually the entire convent (possibly up to 60 women) meow together in perfect sync, sometimes for hours at a time, then stopping and restarting simultaneously.
• Their collective meowing alarms the nearby village, echoing through the streets and stirring suspicion.

Quote:
"Then it happens a third time. And a fourth time and a fifth time. It goes on and on and on for hours. She sits there and makes cat noises unless able to produce any other sound." —Racha Pecorero [09:09]

[11:54] Racha on the scale:
"So you can only imagine how much harder it would BE to coordinate 60 women of all ages, backgrounds, and ability levels to meow together in complete synchronicity. And yet, for hours, they meow and even purr at the exact same time."

3. Medieval Interpretations & Cat Superstitions

[12:43–14:54] Key Segment

• Medieval Europeans are highly suspicious of cats, associating them—and by extension those who imitate or befriend them—with witchcraft and demonic influence.
• The village believes the nuns' behavior must be the work of the devil.

Quote:
"There's a reason why we associate cats with especially black ones with witchcraft, and it's because in the Middle Ages, many people started believing in familiars... The majority of the time, they resembled a cat." —Yvette Gentile [13:18]

4. Similar Historical Cases

[17:04–25:49] Key Segment

• The hosts relate several other cases where nuns group-exhibited strange symptoms—barking like dogs, collapsing, levitating, and seizures—often diagnosed as demonic possession.
• Loudun possessions (1632–1637) are highlighted as a well-documented case involving disturbing behavior, exorcisms, and executions.

Quote:
"Some of them collapsed and twitched around like they were having seizures. Others started predicting the future... And get this, some of the nuns began uncontrollably barking like dogs." —Racha Pecorero [17:38]

• The events often ended tragically when church officials responded with exorcisms or punishment.

5. The Sudden Resolution

[27:15–28:45] Key Segment

• Local villagers, unsettled by the nuns’ antics, call church officials and even the police.
• An assembled force of officers threatens to “fight” and “physically beat” the nuns unless they stop. Instantly, the meowing ceases and never returns.

Quote:
"The head police officer shouts that he and his men are prepared to to fight the nuns and even physically beat them unless they quiet down. And just like that, the meowing stops." —Yvette Gentile [27:56]

• The hosts note this response is atypical for alleged possessions, where violence traditionally makes symptoms worse, not better.

6. Scientific Theories and Modern Takes

[30:49–37:45] Key Segment

• In the 18th century, a physician, Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmerman, suggests the episode stemmed from psychological distress, not possession.
• Zimmerman’s theory, while marred by sexist notions (that women are inherently weaker, which hosts debunk), proposes extreme isolation triggered mass hysteria.
• The concept of Mass Psychogenic Illness (MPI): a phenomenon where psychological stress manifests as physical or behavioral symptoms across groups—particularly those isolated or under intense stress. This is examined as a plausible cause.

Quote:
"An MPI is a contagious mental health condition. They happen when a group of people are dealing with the same stressful situation and are all feeling socially isolated." —Yvette Gentile [37:45]

• Contemporary researchers note MPI can't be "scared away" and usually resolves with psychological support, not punishment or violence.

7. Alternative Theories

[44:27–45:57] Key Segment

• Possibilities include:
  • The nuns were faking the epidemic as a prank or protest.
  • They sought attention for previously unaddressed problems (e.g., abuse within the convent).
  • Or, perhaps, the whole story is mere legend or urban myth.

Quote:
"Others say this whole story never even happened at all, and it's just an urban legend." —Racha Pecorero [45:13]

8. Takeaways and Lasting Impact

[45:34–45:57] Key Segment

• The hosts reflect on how unsolved mysteries like the meowing nuns serve as reminders that history often leaves lingering questions rather than tidy answers.
• Ultimately, it's the solidarity and shared humanity of the nuns that echo through time, regardless of the story's literal truth.

Quote:
"What did survive wasn't the reason why they were meowing. But these women stuck together in the face of confusion. They were in unison, voices rising. As strange as it was, this was their shared experience. And even if they weren't understood, they were definitely heard." —Racha Pecorero [45:57]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On convent austerity:
  "They're meant to dedicate themselves to serving God and Jesus and reject all of life's pleasures." —Yvette Gentile [05:51]

• On mass hysteria:
  "For hours, they meow and even purr at the exact same time." —Racha Pecorero [11:54]

• On medieval cat superstitions:
  "If someone wanted to become a witch, they'd have to sell their soul to the devil... these spirits, called familiars, could take the form of an ordinary animal... But the majority of the time, they resembled a cat." —Yvette Gentile [13:18]

• On alternate theories (legend):
  "Others say this whole story never even happened at all, and it's just an urban legend." —Racha Pecorero [45:13]

• On unity and legacy:
  "What did survive wasn't the reason why they were meowing. But these women stuck together in the face of confusion... As strange as it was, this was their shared experience. And even if they weren't understood, they were definitely heard." —Racha Pecorero [45:57]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Topic / Event | |-------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 05:20–07:19 | Medieval convent life and isolation | | 07:19–12:43 | The beginning and escalation of the meowing epidemic | | 12:43–14:54 | Cat superstitions and villagers’ reaction | | 17:04–25:49 | Related historical cases (Cambrai, Horn, Loudun) | | 27:15–28:45 | The police intervention and abrupt end of the meowing | | 30:49–37:45 | 18th–19th century theories; mass psychogenic illness (MPI) explained | | 44:27–45:57 | Alternative theories: fakery, protest, legend | | 45:57 | Hosts’ reflections on the nuns' unity and the episode's deeper meaning |

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Summary & Reflections

• The episode artfully blends history, science, folklore, and psychological analysis to examine possibly the strangest communal outbreak in medieval convent history.
• While some explanations (possession, MPI, rebellion, or simple legend) are more plausible than others, the episode’s lasting message is one of empathy, understanding the impacts of isolation, and the enduring mystery of human behavior.
• The case remains unsolved, but the meowing nuns remind us of the power of community—even in the strangest of circumstances.

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Connect with So Supernatural:
Instagram: @sosupernaturalpod
Website: sosupernaturalpodcast.com

Join Yvette and Racha every Friday for more stories from the borderlands of true crime and the supernatural.

Transcript

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[Racha Pecorero]

I love getting a little me time after a long morning of recording, running errands, doing chores around the house, or even some socializing with family and friends, nothing feels better than curling up on the couch and binging. My favorite comfort TV shows like the Kardashians, RuPaul's Drag Race, reruns of the Big Bang Theory, of course, and literally anything on the Food Network. Don't get me wrong. I love the people in my inner circle, and I treasure all of the time we spend together. But sometimes I. This social butterfly, just needs to be alone to recharge my batteries. With that being said, there is a point where the isolation gets to be too much. When the loneliness starts to creep in, that's when I know it's time to get dressed, do my makeup, and get out of the damn house and off of the couch.

[Yvette Gentile]

I could not agree with you more, but too much alone time can really mess with a person's head. I mean, people actually need friends and family and meaningful social connections. Because if you feel cut off from everyone else, it can actually have a physical effect on your body, triggering feelings of anxiety, problems with sleep, even heart disease. But some say that solitude can open the door for something even darker, that evil spirits or demons can take advantage of a person who's vulnerable and lonely, maybe even possess them. Which apparently happened to a group of nuns living in a French convent back in the medieval era. After they sequestered themselves away and they dedicated their lives to prayer and hard labor, they all felt an overwhelming and unexpected urge take hold of their bodies. Get this. They couldn't stop meowing.

[Racha Pecorero]

I'm sorry. Did you just say meowing?

[Yvette Gentile]

Yes, Rasha, I said meowing. Everyone was convinced the nuns must have fallen victim to something demonic, something sinister. Maybe even Satan himself. I'm Yvette Gentile.

[Racha Pecorero]

And I'm her sister, Racha Pecorero. Welcome back to so Supernatural. Sam.

[Yvette Gentile]

Today we're talking about something that happened a long time ago, and it's not very well documented. The available information is just, let's say, pretty sparse. I mean, to the point that no one's even sure when or where this took place. Although we do know it happens in a convent in France during the Medieval era or the Middle Ages. And those terms both refer to a period that began with the fall of rome in the 5th century and ended with the Renaissance that began in Italy in the 1300s. And our story begins with a nun, one whose identity isn't known. So just for simplicity, we'll be calling her Charlotte. And even though we don't know much about Charlotte's life, we can safely make one assumption. She's not happy. Because as a General rule. Catholic nuns in the Middle Ages aren't supposed to be happy. They're meant to dedicate themselves to serving God and Jesus and reject all of life's pleasures. They take a vow of chastity and poverty. So even if they receive donations from the community, they can't keep it or buy nice things. And they can't even date or fall in love or, you know, most importantly, have sex. I mean, only godly Christian love to others is allowed. Plus, all day, every day, they have to do difficult chores. And this includes sewing and mending, visiting and caring for sick and dying people and charity for the poor. Not to mention prayer. A lot of prayer. And yes, these are all good causes, but that is a lot of emotional labor, and that kind of stuff can basically wear you down for sure.

[Racha Pecorero]

And to make matters worse, Charlotte's convent is particularly isolated. Again, we don't know exactly where in France it is, but records suggest it's far off the beaten path. There's a small village outside of the facility, but the nuns don't really socialize with the locals or form relationships with the people in town, because, again, they're not supposed to focus on worldly things. They're meant to spend all of their time and energy just thinking about God. So on top of all of this challenging work, Charlotte is, well, lonely. Sure, she probably gets to know the other nuns in the convent, but it's hard to say if she gets along with them or if she is able to form deep, lifelong bonds. Needless to say, this takes a toll on her mentally. It's hard for her to focus on the Lord's goodness or to feel thankful for the few things she does have. Then one day, all of that negativity and frustration comes bubbling up to the surface. Charlotte's at the convent with the others, silently meditating and thinking about God. The room is probably quiet. And that's when this sudden impulse comes over Charlotte. She feels like she has to shout or even scream. She's not sure what she wants to say, but she has to let it out. She literally cannot stop herself, almost like some other being has taken control of her body. So she opens her mouth to let her frustrations out. But instead of yelling or screaming, she meows like a cat. All of the other nuns turn to give her a weird look, like, what the heck was that? But Charlotte is just as surprised by the noise as everyone else is. And when she tries to explain herself, words don't come out of her mouth. Instead, she meows again. Then it happens a third time. And a fourth time and a fifth time. It goes on and on and on for hours. She sits there and makes cat noises unless able to produce any other sound. The other nuns think, of course, this is super weird and concerning. They don't know what's wrong with Charlotte, but they realize they have to do something. So a couple of sisters step aside from the rest of the group to discuss what's going on. But when one of them opens her mouth to share her thoughts, a giant meow comes out of her mouth, just like Charlotte.

[Yvette Gentile]

And you gotta think it's completely involuntary. She's not at all trying to mock Charlotte or anything like that. It's like she does not have full control of her body. And the really weird thing is, every time this nun makes some meowing sound, Charlotte does too, at the exact same time. And each time she pauses to catch her breath, Charlotte is also silent. They're perfectly in sync with one another. It's like they rehearsed it. Except, of course, Charlotte and the other nun couldn't have planned something like this without the rest of the convent knowing it.

[Racha Pecorero]

But if you can believe it, it gets even stranger, because a short while later, a third nun joins the Maoing. Then a fourth one does. Soon it spreads throughout the entire order. Our sources don't say exactly how long this takes, but we know sooner or later, every woman in the convent joins the cat choir. And sources know it was an unusually large convent for the Middle Ages.

[Yvette Gentile]

And at that time, these facilities typically had only a dozen residents. But the big ones have five times that much. So we can assume there are as many as, I don't know, 60 women all meowing together in unison. It makes me think of a flash mob right when people are singing and dancing at the same time. So to see this happen is a bit bizarre.

[Racha Pecorero]

Totally bizarre. And if you've ever been a part of a flash mob or a dance team or a show choir, you know how hard it is to get a few dozen people to move or sing together. Even trained and dedicated performers need a lot of practice to get it just right. So you can only imagine how much harder it would BE to coordinate 60 women of all ages, backgrounds, and ability levels to meow together in complete synchronicity. And yet, for hours, they meow and even purr at the exact same time. Then at a certain point, they'll stop. Then they just start back up again at precisely the same second.

[Yvette Gentile]

Plus, they're super loud. If dozens of women are all meowing together, the noise is going to carry Right, Right. So all through the village, the meowing echoes up and and down the streets. It's so noisy, the locals can't help but notice it, which alarms them for a few reasons. Aside from the fact that the synchronized meowing is okay, let's just say super weird. It also makes people very nervous, and mainly because the negative associations that they have with cats. There's a reason why we associate cats with especially black ones with witchcraft, and it's because in the Middle Ages, many people started believing in familiars. The idea was that if someone wanted to become a witch, they'd have to sell their soul to the devil and agree to serve him. In exchange, Satan would give them certain gifts, including magical powers and evil spirits who'd helped the witch to do wicked deeds. These spirits, called familiars, could take the form of an ordinary animal. That way, if someone saw a witch talking to their familiar, they wouldn't immediately realize they were witnessing dark magic. They might just assume she was just an ordinary woman talking to her pet. Familiars could look like. Basically they could look like mice, insects, dogs. But the majority of the time, they resembled a cat. And for this reason, medieval people tend to be very suspicious of anyone who seems a little too attached to their feline friends. Give your fur baby an extra treat or come across as overly affectionate, and your friends and neighbors would likely accuse you of dabbling in the occult. I gotta say, people know that I am a witch cuz I am talking to my dog Peanut all the time. Same must have been a witch back in the day.

[Racha Pecorero]

I think we definitely both have familiars in our lives now. To be clear, nobody actually thinks these particular nuns are witches, but there are a lot of superstitions around cats and anything associated with them. So when the nuns start making cat noises, pretty much everyone assumes only one thing could be behind all of this. It has to be the devil himself.

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This podcast is sponsored by talkspace. November is Men's Health Awareness Month, so talkspace wants guys to know that being prepared for life's biggest challenges and opportunities means prioritizing mental health too. Talkspace can help you go beyond fine tuned workouts, supplements and productivity hacks. Talkspace can help you fine tune your inner life so you can succeed in being the best version of yourself in any situation. And with Talkspace, you can get therapy from anywhere and on your time. You can even text your therapist between sessions. And if you're depressed, stressed, struggling with a relationship, or just need a little extra one on one support, Talkspace is here for you. Plus, Talkspace takes most insurance and most insured members have a $0 copay. Men's Health Awareness Month is the perfect time to reach out to TalkSpace. Now get $80 off your first month with promo code space80 when you go to talkspace.com match with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com and save $80 with code [e-mail] that's talkspace.com, promo code space80.

[Yvette Gentile]

During the middle Ages, a nun in a French convent who were calling Charlotte began meowing uncontrollably. Eventually, her condition spread to the other sisters until everyone was meowing in perfect unison. It was so strange, the locals assumed the nuns were possessed by the devil himself. After all, this wouldn't be the first time Satan and his demons apparently attacked sequestered nuns. Stories like this were actually pretty common in the Middle Ages.

[Racha Pecorero]

Take this one from a convent in Cambrai, France. It's in the northern part of the country, about 60 miles from the border of Belgium. Records say one day in 1491, some or all of the nuns in Cambrai began acting strangely. Some of them collapsed and twitched around like they were having seizures. Others started predicting the future, which is a big deal because fortune telling is strictly forbidden in the Catholic Church. And get this, some of the nuns began uncontrollably barking like dogs. Unfortunately, the records don't say what ultimately happened to the nuns at Cambrai or how they resolved this particular possession, but it does sound undeniably familiar. Yes.

[Yvette Gentile]

I mean, it sounds so familiar. It reminds me of the episode that we did on the Salem witch trials when the girls were all having the same type of symptoms, you know, and that when I think about that episode, they were eating something called ergot, which was in the wheat. So it makes you wonder if these nuns were eating something similar.

[Racha Pecorero]

Right?

[Yvette Gentile]

The story is just so bizarre, like we don't know actually what's happening. Well, here's another mysterious account from the middle ages. In 1550, once again, it took place in a Convent. And this was somewhere in the county of Horn, which sits right on the border of modern day Belgium and the Netherlands. In this story, the events began when the nuns started finding odd white balls, almost like little insect eggs or seeds, and they were scattered throughout their sleeping chambers. But nobody knew where they had come from or what they were. And then one day, a short while later, a sister found a sick old woman limping into the church. The woman asked for help to get closer to the fire so she could warm up. But when the nun got up to help her, the old woman just vanished right in front of her eyes. When the nun told the others what had happened, they all slowly admitted, one by one, they'd all seen the same old woman walk into the convent and then disappear. And this happened multiple times. From there, the activity escalated, and late at night, residents would wake up from a deep sleep to the feeling of something touching and even tickling their feet. Before they could react or process what was even going on, those invisible hands yanked them out of their beds and dragged them across the room. Or they'd actually levitate upward. Once the nun found herself five or six feet up in the air, the levitation would abruptly stop, and she'd come crashing down to the ground. Other women felt something biting or scratching them as they went about their day. But when they looked around, nobody was nearby. They'd end up with bruises and scabs and scratches. Then eventually, the nuns lost control of their bodies altogether. And according to reports, the women would run out of the convent, climb the nearest tree, and then crouch in the branches. Although they weren't meowing or purring, everyone thought they were behaving exactly like, well, cats. And church officials investigated the strange behavior and realized a woman from the town had put a black cat in the convent. The authorities claimed this was proof that the woman, along with seven other people in town, were practicing witchcraft. So they arrested her and tortured her to make her confess until she died. But the possession didn't end there. The nuns continued to suffer from attacks, levitate, and climb trees like cats for three more years. It's unclear how the nuns eventually broke free of this evil or even supernatural force. Rasha, this reminds me so much of the possession cases that we've covered. Take, for instance, the Gary, Indiana, Demon House, Clarita Villanueva. I mean, she even had burn marks and scratches, you know, on her body from the possession.

[Racha Pecorero]

Yeah, I vividly remember those cases, and it does sound eerily similar. Well, the next story we want to tell you is actually very well documented. It's known as the Loudun possessions. They began in 1632 in Loudun, France, over 300 miles southwest of Cambrai. Sixteen nuns called it home, and they spent their days caring for the poor and doing charity work. But that all changed in the fall of that year, when several of the residents began having intense nightmares. These weren't just ordinary bad dreams. Each morning, the nuns would compare notes on what they had dreamt the night before, and they realized they were all having the exact same same dream in which the spirit of the same departed priest spoke to all of them. He said he was in some kind of trouble and needed help, but none of the nuns knew how to assist him. A few days after the dreams began, some of the nuns started hearing voices. Others reported that some unseen entity had shoved, hit, or even scratch them, and they had bruises and injuries to prove. It reminds me a lot of Clarita Villanueva, for sure.

[Yvette Gentile]

Very much so.

[Racha Pecorero]

Things came to a head, though, when a few women began acting very strangely, as in cursing, flashing strangers, contorting and wiggling around, which are all classic signs of demonic possession. So the next move was for church officials to send exorcists to help the women. But no matter how many rituals they performed or how hard they worked to cast out the dark spirits, the attacks continued. These exorcisms did accomplish one thing, though. During the rituals, the priests asked the nuns if someone specific had sent the demons to torture them. And each nun gave the same answer. A priest named Urbain Grandier was practicing black magic, and he was responsible for the possessions. Now, Urbain wasn't formally affiliated with the convent. Only women were allowed to live and work there. But he was the priest at a Catholic church in Loudun, and the local nuns did know him. So on the strength of these accusations, Urbain was tortured and then burned at the stake. But again, that wasn't the end. Even after Urbain's death, the nuns continued having troubling dreams, seeing strange visions, and collapsing in seizure like fits. The church ended up sending more exorcists to battle the evil spirits. And three long years passed as the problem persisted. Finally, in 1637, the officials performed an exorcism that seemed to work. The strange symptoms stopped. The nuns declared they were finally at peace, and life in the convent went back to normal at long last.

[Yvette Gentile]

Okay, well, that's the very brief version of the story, but there were more wild twists and turns out that Ashley actually covered in her episode on the topic, and we're going to link it in the show notes so you can go back and listen to that episode. The point is, throughout the Middle Ages, it wasn't unheard of for nuns to have these strange, seemingly paranormal outbursts and experiences. They suffered inexplicable illnesses and apparently survived supernatural attacks. In fact, it happened so often that once every 10 or 20 years, news would break out about Satan attacking yet another holy order. Which may not be surprising, given that many Christians believe vulnerable people, especially lonely people, could be more defenseless to possession.

[Racha Pecorero]

Well, at the time of the meowing epidemic, the people of the French village have heard enough stories to think the devil must be behind this apparent possession, too. But they also agree on something else. If Satan is behind the meowing, these simple villagers are not equipped to take him on by themselves. Instead, they apparently notify the higher ups in the Catholic Church.

[Yvette Gentile]

Now, sources are unclear on how quickly religious authorities respond, but we know the villagers are anxious to resolve the situation, because while they wait for officials to send an exorcist, they also ask the police if they can help. The officers agree to take on the challenge, but they want to make sure that they're as prepared as possible to face off against the devil. So they recruit as many men as they can to help them out, even calling for volunteers from the surrounding countryside. Eventually, they build an army, and all of their troops march right to the gates of the convent, where they still hear the meowing echoing through the hillsides. The head police officer shouts that he and his men are prepared to to fight the nuns and even physically beat them unless they quiet down. And just like that, the meowing stops. All of the nuns regain control of their bodies. They're able to talk using their own voices. And after that day, none of them feel a compulsion to make cat noises ever again. It's almost like the police literally scared the hell out of the nuns and just sent Satan running.

[Racha Pecorero]

Which, as we know, is not typically how possessions work. In fact, threats and physical violence have been known to make possession cases even worse. History is full of instances where exorcists try to weaken demonstration by starving the possessed person, tying them up, or even physically abusing them, which almost never goes well. For example, in 2005, a priest in Romania believed a local nun was possessed because she said the devil was speaking to her. Mental health experts said she needed professional treatment. But the priest ignored them. Instead, he tied her up and withheld food and water while he performed a lengthy multi day exorcism. Except he never managed to cast out the demon. Instead, the nun became severely dehydrated and suffocated on the gag he'd left in her mouth. The most tragic part of this story is is that it's not an isolated incident. There are many reports of people dying during exorcisms, often vulnerable people like those with mental health conditions or even children. Which is why a lot of people today, including current religious leaders, say exorcisms should be handled with the utmost of care. Often they should be treated as a last resort, something priests shouldn't attempt until therapy, medical treatment, and every other possible solution has failed. And many leaders say these exorcisms don't have to be violent at all. Exorcists should be able to cast out dark spirits simply by praying, praising God, and blessing the affected person.

[Yvette Gentile]

And yet this story seems unique. All it takes to stop this supposedly demonic activity is a threat from local law enforcement. I mean, the whole thing is so confusing that it actually takes centuries for anyone to make sense of what happened. But in the 1700s and 1800s, researchers start looking back back into the Meowy Nun case, and based on their findings, they conclude that the solution might lie not in demonology, but in psychology. After all,

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[Racha Pecorero]

During the Middle Ages. A group of nuns living in a French convent found themselves meowing uncontrollably and in perfect synchronicity. They didn't stop until a group of soldiers gathered and threatened to beat them up. No one was able to make sense of it until the 1780s. By that point, at least 300 years had gone by. That's when a researcher named Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmerman began studying the psychological impacts of extreme isolation. So he gathered a bunch of historical accounts about strange things that happened to people when they were cut off from society. And he found references to the meowing nuns. These weren't first hand accounts from the people that actually were involved with the case, but allegedly somewhere along the way, someone heard about what happened and wrote the story down, which was short and lacking in detail. As of today, the source of this account has been lost to time. Still, Johan found the case unforgettable. And when he wrote a book on the negative effects of loneliness, he talked about the meowing incident in it. Except Johan doesn't think the nuns were possessed. Instead, he claims they were meowing uncontrollably due to the extreme stress of isolation, which made them behave erratically.

[Yvette Gentile]

Now we have to acknowledge that although he's a doctor, Johan's conclusions may not be the most reliable. When he writes about loneliness, he also makes some very sexist comments about how women are supposedly mentally weaker than men. And we all know that is not true. And he says this is what he says. Women are more susceptible to stress More likely to develop mental health conditions, and worse at managing their feelings. Which, for the record, isn't true. Like I just said. In fact, in 2021, a journal called European Psychiatry published a Spanish team's review of several clinical studies. And they all said the exact opposite, that women tend to be better at processing their emotions and feelings in a healthy way. So Johan's theory is wrong. And it's still unclear what made the nuns meow together or why they even stopped.

[Racha Pecorero]

But another researcher brings attention to the mystery about 50 years later, in the year 1844. That's when a translator named Benjamin Guy Babington collects old stories about pandemics, then publishes them in English. His book covers various disease outbreaks throughout the Middle Ages, and one of the incidents he covers is the meowing epidemic. The problem is that Benjamin doesn't offer any theories about what could have caused the meowing epidemic, just that had happened. Which means Johan's assumption that the nuns were all stressed and experiencing some sort of psychological reaction is still the only scientific theory on record. And while I agree Johannes theory has its problems, there could be a grain, maybe a tiny little grain of truth in it. Many psychologists today think think anxiety was a major factor in the meowing nun incident. Specifically, that the nuns could have been suffering from a condition called a mass psychogenic illness, otherwise known as an mpi.

[Yvette Gentile]

In simple terms, an MPI is a contagious mental health condition. They happen when a group of people are dealing with the same stressful situation and are all feeling socially isolated. And it's typically sparked by one individual who is under so much pressure, they develop physical symptoms, things like seizures, uncontrollable twitching, or falling into strange trances. First one person falls sick, and then maybe their close friends or loved ones may also be experiencing the same sick symptoms, exactly like what you expect if they were exposed to a contagious physical illness. Only MPIs aren't spread by viruses or bacteria. They're spread through empathy. When you're already anxious and you see someone you love get seriously ill, it can add to your stress. You start feeling what they're feeling, right? Which in turn makes you more susceptible to developing the same symptoms yourself. And these conditions only infect people who are under the same kinds of tensions, meaning you could bring in someone from outside the community, and they'd typically be completely unaffected. And when it comes to the meowing nuns, the theory goes that all of the women in the convent were strained and unhappy. The conditions, as we know, in medieval convents were not great. But it's also worth noting that many women who became nuns, they didn't choose that life. A lot of times, a young woman's parents would actually force her to join a convention, because there are many reasons, but one could be they couldn't financially support her, or they didn't think she was capable, you know, to find a good man or have a good marriage or she wasn't obedient enough. So just imagine you're a young woman with your whole life ahead of you, and then your parents tell you that you'll never date, you'll never get married, you won't make good money or follow any of your dreams. Instead, you have to dedicate your life to God, even though you may not even be religious at all. Then you're sent far away from your friends and everyone you know. You have to live in a remote village, and you're not allowed to make friends with anyone outside the convent. You're not allowed to make your own money. And you have to do. I mean, you have to do hard labor every day, and there's no reason to expect that that will ever change. And, of course, you are going to crack under the pressure, which may be exactly what happened to charlotte.

[Racha Pecorero]

As we heard, MPIs have seemingly happened in convents before, and they've been mistaken for possessions. But take this story from normandy, france. It is a more notable example of how stress and trauma could cause something like this. Between the years of 1642 and 1647, the nuns there reported a lot of strange incidents that may sound all too familiar. By now, they were under a lot of stress. They couldn't sleep at night. And then one day, a bunch of them walked out of the church together after a worship service, and without warning, the entire group collapsed and began having seizures. Initially, people probably thought they were dealing with some kind of physical illness, maybe even a demonic possession of some kind. But when officials talked to those nuns, they learned something even more disturbing. Several priests who worked at the convent had been sexually harassing the women there. They'd forced them to perform chores while the priest was naked, and one priest even impregnated a sister. Another priest had even told the nuns they couldn't step foot in the church or worship unless they took all of their clothes off. According to the nuns, this inappropriate behavior had led to them compromising their own morals. They believed this, in turn, allowed dark spirits to attack the convent. Now evil demons were trying to seduce them every night and making them sick every day. On the strength of this testimony, some of the priests and A nun were charged with witchcraft. They were convicted, and one of the priests was even burned at the stake. The nun was imprisoned in an underground dungeon and given bread and water every other day until she died. Then the rest of the nuns were assigned to other convents so they could get a fresh start. By 1647, the problem had apparently gone away. No one was having seizures anymore. Nobody was tossing and turning at night, dealing with feelings of anxiety. Their symptoms were gone, but it had nothing to do with the supernatural. Instead, it had everything to do with the stress and trauma these nuns were experiencing at the convent, at the hands of the priests.

[Yvette Gentile]

Now, removing them from the situation did help the symptoms for these nuns. But Most doctors agree MPIs are very difficult to treat. In fact, there's no known cure. And often after an outbreak, the patients will feel better after getting therapy. But there's no guarantee it will work, and it doesn't work quickly. Today, it helps for patients to feel psychologically safe and supported, and then they can begin learning how to manage their stress in a helpful way, and usually with a mental health professional. On the other hand, researchers have found that if you make a person with an MPI feel more anxious and uncomfortable, their symptoms don't go away. You can't scare the person into getting better.

[Racha Pecorero]

Which is why some people think the meowing nuns couldn't have been suffering from an mpi. Instead, other theories have been proposed over the years. One theory says the nuns could have been faking the meowing epidemic, especially if they were unhappy with their lives in the convent or just bored of their day to day routine. They might have begun meowing as a prank or even just to amuse themselves. Or they may have been trying to indirectly bring attention to a problem they couldn't solve on their own, like the nuns in Normandy who were sexually harassed and assaulted. Another theory says that the nuns might have felt powerless and wanted to rebel against authority. So they all started meowing together and pretended the sound was involuntary so they wouldn't get in any trouble. Then they stopped misbehaving once they faced actual serious consequences. Others say this whole story never even happened at all, and it's just an urban legend.

[Yvette Gentile]

Ultimately, we may never know the truth about the meowing nuns, which also means we can't concretely say what caused the phenomena. But the past doesn't always leave us with, as we know, tidy answers. Sometimes it just leaves us with echoes of lingering questions.

[Racha Pecorero]

But maybe that's the point. What did survive wasn't the reason why they were meowing. But these women stuck together in the face of confusion. They were in unison, voices rising. As strange as it was, this was their shared experience. And even if they weren't understood, they were definitely heard. And they did leave a lasting impression on history.

[Yvette Gentile]

This is so supernatural. An Audio Chuck original produced by Crime House. You can connect with us on Instagram @sosupernaturalpod and visit our website at sosupernaturalpodcast.com join Rash and me next Friday for an all new episode. I think Chuck would approve.

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[Racha Pecorero]

In the world of true crime, the real story isn't always in the headlines. It's in the evidence. I'm Brandi Churchwell, host of thirteenth Year Podcast, and I'm here to take you

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past the news cycle and straight into the courtroom.

[Racha Pecorero]

Every week, I'll break down the investigation, the prosecution, the defense, and everything that unfolds beyond the jury box. We'll examine every testimony, every exhibit, and every hidden motive. Listen to 13th Juror wherever you get your podcasts.