When it comes to coffee, you can't skip Italy: why is "the devil's drink" blessed by the pope?

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When it comes to coffee, you can't skip Italy. The connection between coffee and Italy seems to have long been imprinted in our minds with the familiar term "Italian coffee". Goat Coffee specially constructs a series of articles on the history of Italian coffee, giving you a glimpse of the century-old splendor of Italian coffee.

The first coffee shop in Europe

When and how was coffee introduced into Europe? There is a saying that through war.

The 16th century was the strongest period of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, when the Ottoman Empire continued to expand into Europe and, starting in 1529, besieged Vienna, the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, but was repelled many times. In a failed offensive in 1570, Ottoman troops retreated and left a bag of coffee beans that were picked up by the armies of the Holy Roman Empire, which officially introduced coffee into Europe. Of course, this story is likely to be apocryphal, because it was not recorded in the literature at that time, and it did not appear until after the 20th century.

The forces of the Holy Roman Empire.

It is more plausible that coffee was introduced to Europe in the early 16th century through the merchants of Venice, Italy, in a deal with the Arabs in Cairo, Egypt. This batch of coffee beans are sold to Venice tycoons at high prices because of their oriental fantasy colors and legendary magical effects.

Soon, because of the charming flavor and refreshing effect of coffee, it became popular in the upper-class society of Venice, and the rich rushed to buy it, thinking that this magical, high-priced luxury goods could better highlight their status. A Dutch Venice businessman, who saw this business opportunity, and because he had lived in Turkey and was familiar with coffee production, opened the first coffee shop in Venice in 1629.

Since then, coffee has spread northward from Venice, Italy, and coffee shops have been common in major Italian cities in the mid-17th century. Then the first coffee shop in England opened in London in 1650, followed by the first coffee shop in France, which opened in Paris in 1672. At this point, the tide of coffee has swept across Europe, swept the Christian world, the charm of coffee, no one can resist.

Blessed drink

Another famous event related to Italy in the early history of coffee in Europe was the coffee blessing event.

Since coffee beans were introduced from the Arab world, they were initially called "The Wine of Islam", which made conservative Catholics feel very uneasy, and because the Islamic world banned the drinking of wine that represents the blood of Jesus, several cardinals thought that the Islamic world should return the favor. They jointly asked the then Roman Pope Pope Clement VIII VIII to ban coffee as a drink and called it "devil's drink", the drink of the devil.

The modern Vatican

Pope Clemon VIII of Rome thought that he should not jump to conclusions. Despite the opposition of several bishops, he decided to try coffee as a "devil's drink" himself. Unexpectedly, as soon as he drank it, Clemon VIII was shocked and thought the coffee was very delicious. He said, "Hic diabolus est delectamentum potum." Et ne diabolus seducat baptizavit eum. "this devil's drink is quite delicious. If it is really the devil's drink, we should baptize it and bless it in order to deceive the devil." And bless the coffee in public.

Pope Clemon VIII of Rome

Because of the difference of Clementine VIII, coffee was not banned by the church, but blessed by the pope as a "blessed drink", which had a far-reaching impact on the popularity of coffee in Europe. Just imagine, if coffee had been banned by the church at that time, it would probably not have been popular in the Christian world in Europe, let alone spread around the world in the coming era of great navigation. You and I may not be able to drink the charming drink of coffee.