Coffeehouses

Cafés are deeply cherished in today's society. Meeting a friend for coffee or tea at a little store with some cute plants just to chat? 10/10 hangout. They are everywhere, too! The first statistic that pops up in Google says there's around 145,600 cafés in America. We all really like the sweet treat that goes with coffee, too, so that helps. These coffee shops are known as a place to talk and meet. And lookie there, they are a part of history that you partake in however often you go to a café. The history of coffeehouses is a long one, and one steeped in republicanism and newspapers.

Coffeehouses are of Islamic origin, the first one popping up in 15th century Yemen. Coffee was created there and consuming said coffee was part of a Sufi tradition, it was used as a way to stay awake during late night devotions. The idea spread and these little areas to get coffee became known as "qahveh khaneh" meaning coffeehouse in Persian. These coffeehouses became known as centers of conversation, music, games, and news exchange. They were incredibly popular, so much so that the Ottoman Empire actually tried to suppress them multiple times. Ironically, being known as threatening to the Empire made them all the more popular. The suppression failed and coffee started to travel through trade.

Coffee reached Europe in the early 17th century through Mediterranean routes (honestly those poor medieval scribes would have loved coffee while they wrote from sunup to sundown). It very quickly became popular. The first coffeehouse was founded in Oxford, in 1650, by a Jewish immigrant named Jacob. It is somewhat ironic that the Jewish community had been exiled from England for the past 360-something years and as soon as they are welcomed back their coffeehouses become that new It thing. These coffeehouses opened so rapidly that by the late 1800s there were over 300 coffeehouses in London alone. The first coffeehouses created a fashionable culture for men to engage in debates on various topics.

These coffeehouses became known as "penny universities" because it cost a penny for a cup of coffee and to join the debates in these houses. Since admission was so cheap, the floor was opened to a wide variety of men to join. Anyone could debate with a merchant, a scholar, a scientist, or a politician. An area being open to so many social classes was quite radical, but these coffeehouses became known as the birthplace of public debate and journalism. 'Runners' would run between coffeehouses and update the customers of topics being talked about in other houses and bring updates on new hot topics making the scene. This led to a surge of republicanism, which worried Charles II (of England and Scotland)*, who attempted to ban these coffeehouses. He failed. Just like the Ottoman Empire did. Hm, I see a trend.

These coffeehouses, like I just mentioned before, led to the rise of journalism. In these coffeehouses, pamphlets and newspapers were commonly handed out as communal reading. The Tatler, started in 1709, and The Spectator, in 1711, were very popular newspapers that started in coffeehouses. The London Gazette, too. These coffeehouses also become little gossip huts. Letters and political scandals were announced and read publicly, which led to a lot of commentary, I'm sure. As literacy expanded, these coffeehouses became informal reading rooms for people who couldn't afford to buy books.

These coffeehouses still influence Britain today. Jonathan's Coffee House, which opened in 1680, was the original site of the London Stock Exchage that is still around today. These coffeehouses were central to the Enlightenment culture taking over Europe. As tea rooms and private clubs became more popular in the late 18th century, coffeehouses lost some influence. But the modern cafe, the newspaper, and even public opinion can all be traced back to these coffeehouses.

This is long enough; but my next post is on the Enlightenment, which goes hand in hand with this public spreading of opinions and debate.

Grinding the beans and packing the grounds and sending them by boat to a new land. The scent of the roast in the pot as it drips. The speaking man and the yelling man and the listening man and the sweating runner. They all sit in the parlor. The coffee drips and drips and drips and drips. The cups are handed out. The speaking man sips and the yelling man sips and the listening man sips and the runner does not sip. Ideas are shouted and opinions are defended and voices are heard. A new way, a new method, a new tradition. Coffeehouses.

Because I think he's cool. Charles II was actually known as the ''Merry Monarch" because he really just had a good time. His father was executed when he was a kid, so he left England for a while then ruled until he lost a battle to Cromwell, then he spent some time in exile, but with the restoration of the English throne (Cromwell died) in 1660 people brought Charles II back because he was such a chill guy. He got his cousin, Louis XIV (casually calls up the Sun King), to help in an Anglo-Dutch war (1670) in exchange for making England Catholic again. He introduced a bill for religious freedom, but he failed when the English parliament struck down the motion. So, the Parliament no longer liked Charles and were going to kill him and his Catholic bro, James, and when Charles found out he dissolved the Parliament and ruled alone until he died in 1685. He was known to have a very morally loose court and had at least 12 illegitimate children. But he was mostly well liked! *to return

How the Jewish community of Oxford brought coffee to England - Museum of Oxford