The young Portuguese Princess Catherine (1638-1705), young and beautiful, dignified and generous, slender and light, was full of traditional Western feminine beauty.
As a European Catherine, her living habits are a little different, she does not like coffee and other drinks, preferring Chinese black tea exported to Portugal. Because Catherine, who later became the Queen of England, liked to drink tea, she was known as the first "tea queen" in British history.
In 1662, the beautiful Princess Catherine married King Charles II of England and became Empress of the British Empire.
Charles II and Catherine (like)
At the grand wedding of Catherine and Charles II, the princes and nobles were all fascinated by the queen's heavenly beauty and charm, and they held up a variety of fine wines to express sincere congratulations to Catherine. However, the honorable queen always smiled and refused, just lifting her own goblet filled with red juice and touching the cup with the people to express her gratitude.
What kind of precious drink is the red juice in this goblet? Catherine's actions aroused great curiosity among the French queens attending the wedding. So she approached Catherine with a twist, wanting to taste the precious drink in Catherine's goblet.
Queen of France (like)
The clever Catherine saw the mind of the French Queen, and before she could ask for anything, Catherine naturally and quickly raised her glass and drank it all.
The French queen, who failed to achieve her goal, was first disappointed, and then a strong jealousy. After returning to her lodgings, the French Queen immediately ordered her guards to find out how to infiltrate the British Palace and find out what the "red juice" Catherine drank was a "precious drink".
British Palace (picture)
So, the ordered French guards quietly entered the British Palace, and after careful searching, found the "red juice" that Catherine drank. When the French guards wanted to steal some of the tea juice and offer it to the French queen, they were discovered by the English court guards and arrested. Later, the French guards were executed. This is the sensational British "black tea case".
A little "tea juice" can actually lead to murder, is it so valuable?
Early Chinese tea was mainly exported to countries such as the Netherlands and Portugal. Therefore, people in britain, France and other countries have a far lower understanding of tea and drinking than people in Portugal, the Netherlands and other countries.
At that time, most of the tea exported to Europe was planted and produced in Xiamen, Fujian Province, so the pronunciation of the word "tea" in English was pronounced according to the dialect of Xiamen, and tea was called "Tea".
When the Portuguese princess who liked to drink Chinese black tea married into Britain, she also brought Chinese black tea to Britain as a high-end and expensive drink.
Black tea in a tea bowl (picture)
This is undoubtedly a scarce "treasure" for people in Britain, France and other countries at that time, who knew little about tea. In addition, "stealing" is an illegal act, so there is a "black tea case" that is unbelievable to today's people.
Stimulated by the "black tea case" and under the influence of Catherine, the British tea drinking fashion slowly spread to the British royal family. In order to satisfy the queen's hobbies, the British royal family arranged and laid out a grand and luxurious "tea room" in the palace, which made the tea drinking fashion more admirable. Therefore, people at the time revered Catherine as the "Queen of Tea Drinking".
Catherine drinking tea in the tea room (picture)
In 1663, on Catherine's 25th birthday, also on her wedding anniversary, the English poet Edmund Walter presented her with a hymn, "The Song of the Tea Queen", to congratulate her:
The flower god loves autumn colors, and Chang'e looks at the laurel. Laurel and autumn colors, beauty is difficult to compare with tea.
One is the post-Chinese and English, and the other is the most popular in the group. Wufu is called Dongtu, bringing with it a sense of warriors.
Help me to think clearly, and I am tired. Happy to meet the feast, I wish Shousuke this.
This beautiful "Song of the Tea Drinking Queen" is not only a congratulation to Catherine's birthday, but also a tribute to Chinese black tea.
When the empress arrived, Catherine invited some noble ladies to the palace to drink tea, making tea drinking a social item of the upper class.
Due to the empress's admiration, aristocratic women also rose to drink tea. Subsequently, some housewives of wealthy families also followed suit, building elegant, spacious and luxurious tea rooms in their homes to show their taste of life.
Lady drinking tea in the tea room (picture)
After the eighteenth century, due to the large increase in the number of imports, the price of tea became increasingly low, so the trend of tea drinking gradually spread from the upper class to the people, replacing coffee, cocoa, etc., and became the public drink in Britain.
Reference: Shen Lixin, "A Brief Discussion on the Spread of Chinese Tea Culture in Europe"