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In 17th- and 18th-century England, coffeehouses were where men read the newspapers, swapped news, made deals and argued about politics. They were nicknamed “penny universities”: a penny bought entry and a dish of coffee, and with it the papers and the talk.

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England's first coffeehouse is usually said to have opened in Oxford around 1650, at the Angel inn, run by a Jewish man named Jacob. London's first followed in 1652. Its owner, Pasqua Rosée, came from the Greek community of Ragusa, on today's Croatian coast, and had made coffee for an English merchant in Smyrna, today's İzmir. Coffeehouses multiplied, and some became institutions. Merchants and ship captains gathered at Edward Lloyd's, which grew into the insurance market Lloyd's of London, and stockbrokers traded at Jonathan's and Garraway's. Puritans liked coffeehouses because they served no alcohol, while royalists distrusted them as nests of political gossip. They were not open to everyone: women were generally not welcome as customers, and some houses later charged more than a penny to keep their clientele select.

Türkçe oku
17. ve 18. yüzyıl İngiltere'sinde kahvehaneler, erkeklerin gazete okuduğu, haber alıp verdiği, iş bağladığı ve siyaset tartıştığı yerlerdi. Onlara “peni üniversitesi” denirdi, çünkü bir peniye hem içeri girilir hem bir fincan kahve içilirdi; gazeteler ve sohbet de cabasıydı.

Genel kabule göre İngiltere'nin ilk kahvehanesini 1650 dolaylarında Jacob adında bir Yahudi, Oxford'daki Angel hanında açtı. Londra'nın ilk kahvehanesi 1652'de açıldı. Sahibi Pasqua Rosée, bugün Hırvatistan kıyısında kalan Ragusa'nın Rum topluluğundandı; daha önce Smyrna'da, yani bugünkü İzmir'de, bir İngiliz tüccarın kahvesini pişirmişti. Kahvehaneler hızla çoğaldı, bazıları birer kuruma dönüştü. Tüccarlar ve gemi kaptanları Edward Lloyd'un kahvehanesinde buluşurdu; burası zamanla sigorta piyasası Lloyd's of London'a dönüştü. Borsacılar da Jonathan's ve Garraway's adlı kahvehanelerde alım satım yapardı. Püritenler, içki satılmadığı için kahvehaneleri severdi; krallık yanlıları ise onları siyasi dedikodu yuvası sayardı. Kahvehaneler herkese açık da değildi: Kadınlar müşteri olarak pek hoş karşılanmazdı, bazı kahvehaneler de sonradan müdavimlerini seçkin tutmak için bir peniden fazlasını istemeye başladı.

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Background reading: English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries
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