The Appropriation of Tobacco by Europeans

colony,฀Fray฀Bartolomé฀de฀Las฀Casas,฀wrote฀a฀description฀of฀the฀properties฀of฀the฀tobacco฀ plant฀ [7] .฀ Although฀ the฀ Amerindians฀ presented฀ the฀ Spaniards฀ with฀ tobacco฀ leaves฀ as฀ a฀ gesture฀of฀friendship฀and฀devotion,฀the฀plant฀lost฀all฀its฀ceremonial฀religious฀signiicance฀ over฀the฀ensuing฀centuries฀in฀the฀hands฀of฀the฀Spaniards฀and฀other฀Europeans,฀and฀tobacco฀ became฀a฀luxury฀commodity฀that฀was฀exploited฀solely฀for฀commercial฀purposes. After฀his฀return฀from฀sea฀voyages,฀Spaniard฀Rodrigo฀de฀Jerez฀–฀credited฀with฀being฀the฀ irst฀European฀tobacco฀smoker฀–฀used฀to฀walk฀the฀streets฀of฀his฀home฀port฀of฀Ayamonte,฀ with฀smoke฀billowing฀from฀his฀mouth฀and฀nose.฀Believing฀he฀was฀consorting฀with฀the฀ Devil,฀the฀local฀clergy฀handed฀Rodrigo฀over฀to฀the฀Inquisition,฀and฀he฀was฀imprisoned฀for฀ 10฀years฀This฀was฀in฀stark฀contrast฀to฀the฀extremely฀liberal฀attitude฀of฀the฀Spanish฀colonial฀ rulers฀outside฀Spain฀as฀far฀as฀tobacco฀smoking฀was฀concerned.฀After฀his฀second฀voyage฀to฀ the฀New฀World,฀Columbus฀brought฀a฀number฀of฀tobacco฀plants฀back฀to฀Spain฀where฀they฀ were฀ used฀ initially฀ as฀ ornamental฀ plants฀ in฀ the฀ gardens฀ of฀ the฀ aristocracy.฀ Jean฀ Nicot฀ 1530–1600,฀French฀ambassador฀to฀the฀Portuguese฀court,฀conducted฀a฀number฀of฀“experi- ments”฀which฀identiied฀the฀healing฀effects฀of฀tobacco.฀In฀1559,฀on฀the฀strength฀of฀this฀ conviction,฀he฀sent฀some฀plants฀to฀Paris฀for฀Catherine฀de฀Medici฀who฀had฀them฀processed฀ as฀snuff฀powder,฀and฀successfully฀administered฀them฀to฀her฀son,฀Charles฀IX,฀as฀a฀remedy฀ for฀his฀headaches฀ [8] .฀The฀Spaniard฀Nicolas฀Monardes,฀a฀physician฀at฀the฀University฀of฀ Seville,฀wrote฀a฀treatise฀in฀1571฀on฀the฀medicinal฀use฀of฀tobacco,฀and฀his฀compendium฀was฀ very฀rapidly฀translated฀into฀other฀languages฀ [9] .฀By฀1590,฀the฀plant฀was฀already฀known฀as฀ Nicotiana,฀and฀since฀1828฀Nicot฀has฀given฀his฀name฀to฀the฀principal฀alkaloid,฀nicotine. Tobacco฀arrived฀at฀the฀English฀court฀of฀Queen฀Elizabeth฀I฀in฀1573,฀and฀by฀1614฀there฀were฀ already฀more฀than฀7,000฀tobacco฀retail฀outlets฀in฀London฀ [10] .฀Beneiting฀from฀the฀extensive฀ trading฀relationships฀with฀the฀Spaniards฀and฀the฀Portuguese,฀the฀tobacco฀plant฀was฀carried฀to฀ the฀Philippines,฀to฀the฀Southeast฀and฀East฀Asia,฀as฀well฀as฀to฀Africa฀and,฀by฀the฀beginning฀of฀ the฀seventeenth฀century,฀even฀further฀aield฀to฀Japan,฀Korea฀and฀China,฀from฀where฀it฀also฀ entered฀Tibet,฀Mongolia,฀and฀Siberia฀ [11] .฀Tobacco฀became฀an฀immensely฀valuable฀com- mercial฀commodity,฀comparable฀with฀cocaine฀and฀other฀illegal฀drugs฀at฀the฀present฀time.

1.4 Worldwide Spread of Tobacco

In฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀eighteenth฀century,฀tobacco฀was฀found฀in฀all฀corners฀of฀the฀world.฀ This฀spread฀of฀tobacco,฀and฀its฀use฀as฀a฀luxury฀commodity฀also฀led฀to฀the฀secularisation฀of฀ society฀ [12] .฀The฀use฀of฀tobacco฀was฀prohibited฀in฀numerous฀countries฀Turkey,฀Russia,฀ Vatican฀City,฀and฀Germany.฀In฀contrast,฀the฀English฀King฀James฀I฀became฀an฀ardent฀cham- pion฀of฀the฀tobacco฀trade฀because฀it฀brought฀him฀considerable฀inancial฀revenue฀through฀ import฀duties.฀Nevertheless,฀in฀1603,฀King฀James฀I฀published฀his฀treatise฀“A฀counterblaste฀ to฀tobacco”฀in฀which฀he฀argued฀against฀the฀cultivation฀of฀tobacco฀ [13] .฀The฀Spanish฀monop- oly฀on฀tobacco฀was฀broken฀when฀the฀English฀obtained฀tobacco฀seeds฀from฀Virginia,฀and฀ James฀I฀placed฀a฀ban฀on฀imports฀from฀Spain฀to฀encourage฀his฀country’s฀own฀production.฀ After฀1630฀the฀prohibition฀policy฀for฀tobacco฀products฀became฀a฀taxation฀policy฀ [14] ,฀one฀ of฀the฀irst฀attempts฀at฀indirect฀prohibition. Smoking฀clubs฀became฀increasingly฀commonplace.฀Henry฀Bunbury’s฀etching฀A฀Smoking฀ Club฀Fig.฀ 1.2 ฀depicts฀four฀gentlemen฀of฀differing฀build฀enjoying฀the฀ritual฀pleasures฀of฀the฀ pipe.฀They฀adopted฀an฀almost฀statuesque฀pose,฀and฀their฀exaggerated฀look฀of฀rapture฀had฀ something฀ridiculous฀about฀it.฀Frowned฀upon฀for฀a฀long฀period,฀the฀activity฀of฀smoking฀was฀ condemned,฀ and฀ was฀ restricted฀ to฀ the฀ lower฀ social฀ strata฀ soldiers,฀ becoming฀ socially฀ acceptable฀only฀toward฀the฀end฀of฀the฀eighteenth฀century.฀Normally,฀smoking฀was฀permitted฀ only฀ in฀ speciically฀ designated฀ rooms;฀ the฀ ban฀ on฀ smoking฀ in฀ public฀ persisted฀ in฀ many฀ places฀until฀the฀nineteenth฀century. In฀addition฀to฀tobacco฀smoking,฀the฀practice฀of฀snuff฀taking฀witnessed฀by฀the฀Spaniards฀ during฀ their฀ seafaring฀ voyages฀ of฀ discovery฀ was฀ also฀ taken฀ from฀ the฀ Amerindians.฀ In฀France,฀snufing฀was฀widespread฀before฀the฀French฀Revolution,฀with฀some฀90฀of฀tobacco฀ being฀consumed฀in฀this฀way.฀The฀tabatière฀or฀snuffbox฀was฀the฀status฀symbol฀of฀the฀aristoc- racy.฀As฀a฀result,฀olfactory฀disturbances฀or฀total฀loss฀of฀the฀sense฀of฀smell฀were฀widespread฀ in฀the฀eighteenth฀century,฀particularly฀in฀France.฀By฀contrast,฀the฀chewing฀of฀fermented฀ tobacco฀leaves฀was฀less฀common,฀even฀though฀it฀was฀claimed฀to฀alleviate฀the฀pangs฀of฀hun- ger.฀ In฀ Europe,฀ the฀ custom฀ of฀ tobacco฀ chewing฀ survived฀ longest฀ among฀ seafarers฀ and฀ Fig. 1.2 ฀฀฀A฀Smoking฀Club.฀Etching฀from฀an฀original฀by฀Bunbury฀Esq.฀1750–1811,฀in฀S.W.฀Fores฀ No.฀3,฀Piccadilly,฀where฀all฀of฀Mr.฀Bunbury฀฀Rowlandsons’฀works฀are฀stored฀ [15]