Okla-homey
6/11/2006, 02:08 PM
Born in 1536 in Fano, Ippolito Aldobrandini hailed from a distinguished Florentine family. Elevated to the papacy in 1592, His Holiness Clement VIII made coffee legit in the western world.
Believing it was the drink of the devil, invented by Satan for the Muslim infidels as a substitute for the wine they were forbidden to drink, some priests attacked it and forbade its consumption. They reasoned that since wine in the Western Christian world was sanctified by Christ and used in Holy Communion, coffee must then be of the anti-Christ.
Pope Clement VIII settled the dispute. He asked that the brew be brought before him. Intrigued by its powerful aroma, he sipped the coffee and found it to be delicious. The Pope blessed it on the spot, saying, "Coffee is so delicious it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it." With the Pope's blessing, imports of coffee to Italy and the Western world came flooding in, paving the way for the first western coffee houses.
http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/9017/clem86dx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Clement VIII, he appreciated a good cup of Joe.
Believing it was the drink of the devil, invented by Satan for the Muslim infidels as a substitute for the wine they were forbidden to drink, some priests attacked it and forbade its consumption. They reasoned that since wine in the Western Christian world was sanctified by Christ and used in Holy Communion, coffee must then be of the anti-Christ.
Pope Clement VIII settled the dispute. He asked that the brew be brought before him. Intrigued by its powerful aroma, he sipped the coffee and found it to be delicious. The Pope blessed it on the spot, saying, "Coffee is so delicious it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it." With the Pope's blessing, imports of coffee to Italy and the Western world came flooding in, paving the way for the first western coffee houses.
http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/9017/clem86dx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Clement VIII, he appreciated a good cup of Joe.