July 29, 2023
Imagine it's 1605 and you're a free man in the Ottoman Empire who just got off work. Where do you go to spend your evening? Believe it or not, this question was top of mind for the rulers of the Ottoman Empire at the time. From their position at the head of society, they barely had any idea how the common man spent his time when away from his job. This is why the Ottoman rulers at the time sent spies to barber shops, restaurants, and, most importantly, coffee houses. While the origin of coffee itself is somewhat mysterious, it likely started being cultivated around the 1300s, and the first coffee house was opened in Constantinople in 1555.
Now imagine you're the spy assigned to scope out the coffee house. Maybe you make conversation with the staff or other lonely patrons. Maybe you participate in one of the table games taking place around you. Eventually you muster up the courage to sit in one of the circles of men seated on the beautiful rugs on the floor. You start to listen, but have to hold in a gasp. You can hardly believe what you're hearing. One man, obviously the leader of the group, is speaking about the sultan. However, this isn't the usual praise you hear in the halls of the palace. Rather, he speaks about the sultan's mistress! You even hear him call the sultan a rude name: “eşek”. Blasphemous! Indignant, you rush out of the coffee house, leaving your cup full. The other men in the circle give you a curious look as you exit.
Was there something in the coffee?[1] Had the man speaking ill of the Sultan gone mad? These questions might seem silly to the modern observer, but they would have been reasonable for the elites of the Ottoman Empire at the time. Surprisingly, coffee houses were one of the first establishments that fostered the free exchange of news and ideas across class lines. Over a cup of coffee, educated men would read the news to the illiterate and discuss politics. At the time, this was radical, even seditious. The coffee house created a so-called “fourth place” beyond work, the home, and the mosque where Ottoman men could spend their time. This enlightened many, but left others appalled, including Sultan Murad IV, who banned coffee houses in 1633.
As you might imagine, Murad IV wasn't able to put the genie back in the bottle, but others tried. As Europe emerged from the Dark Ages, coffee houses started to appear in cities, much to the dismay of monarchs. In 1672 Charles II of England expressed his distaste with the coffee house patrons in London. In a fiery proclamation he wrote, “men have assumed to themselves a liberty, not only in Coffee-houses, but in other Places and Meetings, both public and private, to censure and defame the proceedings of State by speaking evil of things they understand not.” Obviously the ruling elite of the 17th century were quite shocked when there became a place where commoners could speak freely about societal issues. Fear of subversion and revolution caused Charles II to ban coffee houses in 1675, but this lasted only 11 days.
Coffee houses finally made their way to North America in the late 18th century, just as the continent was in its most revolutionary mood. One of the most impactful was the Tontine Coffee House in New York City [2]. Surprisingly, the patrons of the coffee house weren't plotting against a monarch, but instead laying the groundwork for the now-ubiquitous stock market paradigm that dominates the financial world. At the Tontine Coffee House citizens from various classes and occupations would trade company shares, an innovative concept at the time. Previously, trading shares in companies was limited in scope and only accessible to merchants and businessmen. After hours, traders would stay at the coffee house and enjoy the banquets and balls frequently held there. Eventually the Tontine Coffee House gained so much popularity that the traders had to move to a new space that soon became the New York Stock Exchange-now the largest financial exchange in the world.
Maybe all these occurrences are just coincidence. Maybe there really isn't anything special about coffee houses, but I like to look at it a little more romantically. From their inception, those in power did all they could to keep people from gathering in coffee houses. But ultimately, their hollow arguments fell on deaf ears. The coffee house patrons weren't engaging in brawls like those in the pubs and bars. They weren't emerging from the coffee house with swords, ready to slay their rulers on sight. Their subversion was more subtle. They were simply speaking with one another: sharing news, playing games, and gossiping. We take these activities for granted today, but in the past they were uncommon. Coffee houses showed average citizens how one could better understand the world and contribute to it intellectually. Novel insights could come from the person sitting right next to them. Coffee houses represented a microcosm of enlightenment divorced from the traditional institutions of the time. They were a way to extend one's perspective beyond the one prescribed by monarchs or religious leaders. With all this said, I ask you to consider-what is your coffee house?