Romeo and Juliet

Why is Tybalt called prince of cats?

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I suppose he has "cat like" qualirties in battle and such. The following should help in the history of it,

Tybalt shares the same name as the character Tibert/Tybalt the "Prince of Cats" in Reynard the Fox, a point of mockery in the play. Mercutio repeatedly calls Tybalt "King of Cats" (perhaps referring not only to Reynard but to the Italian word cazzo "penis"[1]). Luigi da Porto adapted the story as Giulietta e Romeo and included it in his Historia novellamente ritrovata di due Nobili Amanti published in 1530.

Source(s)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tybalt