Coffee reached Constantinople in the 1550s and was promptly banned by Sultan Selim II. It was banned again in 1580 by the usurper Murad III and again in the 1630s by Murad IV. This implies that the bans failed each time, but why were these rulers so keen to stamp out this drink? Mainly because coffee houses were places of gossip and therefore potential sedition. Murad III was paranoid that the fact that he had killed his whole family to claim the throne might have been a topic of conversation in coffee houses. I dare say he was right and the subject did sometimes crop up. In 1673 King Charles
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