In the mid-1600s, a new substance arrived in Europe that threatened the very foundations of the monarchy: coffee. in 1675, when King Charles II of England issued a royal proclamation to ban all coffeehouses.

 

The Bitter Brew of Revolution: When Coffee Was a Crime !

In the mid-1600s, a new substance arrived in Europe that threatened the very foundations of the monarchy: coffee. Before its arrival, the average European drank beer or wine from morning until night, keeping the population in a permanent state of mild intoxication. Coffee changed everything. For the first time, people were gathering to drink a stimulant that made them sharp, alert, and—most dangerously for kings—talkative. These "Penny Universities," where a cup of coffee cost just one cent, became the breeding grounds for radical ideas and political dissent.

The most famous crackdown occurred in 1675, when King Charles II of England issued a royal proclamation to ban all coffeehouses. He was emotionally overwhelmed by the "great spread of false, malitious and scandalous reports" being whispered over steaming mugs. He feared that these venues were schools of sedition where men plotted to overthrow the crown. The ban, however, was a spectacular failure. The public outcry was so intense and the love for the "bitter invention of Satan" so deep that the King was forced to retract the ban just 11 days later.

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