medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
And how did St. Drogo become patron saint of coffeehouses? (I kid you
not! It is on the web in a list of patron saints.)
Tom Izbicki
Thomas Izbicki
Collection Development Coordinator
Eisenhower Library
Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, MD 21218
(410)516-7173
fax (410)516-8399
>>> [log in to unmask] 5/12/2004 5:45:18 PM >>>
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
culture
Werner and Christopher are probably aware of their humorous
anachronism, and this is a medieval _religion_ list, but surely coffee
counts as a religious drink.
The history of coffee is a bitterly disputed area, but there seems to
be no way any of the three could have had coffee. The first written
record is from the tenth century, but it only reached Europe in the
sixteenth century (Venice and France both lay claim to the first
European coffee house). There are complaints in the sixteenth and
seventeenth century of churchmen condemning the drink (people needed
their fix, even on Sunday mornings). Supposedly in 1592 Clement VIII
(almost medieval) was encouraged to ban the black drink of Satan, but
after tasting it, refused and said something about Christianizing the
drink (it was of course a popular Islamic drink).
I was wondering if anyone knew offhand of evidence that Christian
Europe was aware of coffee before the sixteenth century (through
Christian-Muslim contact in Spain or through travels to N. Africa or
the Middle East).
Thanks,
Jonathan
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