The Long Noble History of the Coffeehouse

Although the coffeehouse has been in existence in the Middle East since the 15th century, it was not until 1645 that such establishments opened in Europe. The first one appeared in Venice on that date, and was intended to take advantage of the trade routes between the Middle East, Turkey and Europe. In England, the first coffeehouse was set up in Oxford 1650 by a man named Jacob. The first coffeehouse in London appeared in 1652. The proprietor was a man named Pasqua Rosee, who was also responsible for opening the first Paris coffeeshop in 1672. That establishment held a city-wide coffee monopoly until Francesca Procopio dei Coltelli opened the Cafe Le Procope in 1686. This coffeehouse still exists today and was by all accounts a major center for the Enlightenment; Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot went to the Procope often, and it is known as the birthplace of the world's first modern encyclopedia.

Charles II at one time tried to suppress the London coffeehouses as being "places where the disaffected met, and spread scandalous reports concerning the conduct of His Majesty and his Ministers." In spite of this, the public continued to flock to them. Coffeehouses such as these were great "social levellers," open to all men and allowing people of all social status to frequent them. Coffeehouses became places where business could be carried on, news exchanged and government announcements read. Lloyd's of London got its start as a coffeehouse run by Edward Lloyd, where ship underwriters met to conduct business.

By 1739, there were 551 coffeehouses in London. Each were attracting a particular clientele that were divided according to occupation or attitude. According to one French visitor, the Abbe Prevost, coffee houses were the "seats of English liberty," in which one had "the right to read all the papers for and against the government."

I will be examining coffeehouses in more detail in later blogs.