An English journal, The Annual Register, which chronicled events around the world, reported ‘a very odd affair’ at the Convent of the Capuchins in Ascoli Piceno in Italy. After the monks chastised their cook ‘a little too severely’, he took revenge by mixing opium into the sauce for their supper and, when they were fast asleep, shaved off their beards. ‘The poor monks are confined to their convent,’ the journal stated, ‘until their beards have acquired a decent size to render it practicable for them to appear in public.’
The Capuchins are a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church. The Franciscans were founded in 1209 by St. Francis of Assisi. In 1525, during a reformation aimed at restoring the original spirit of St. Francis, the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin was established by Matteo da Bascio. The Capuchins followed strict rules of poverty and simplicity, striving to live according to St. Francis’s original values. They were forbidden from touching money and relied entirely on begging to meet their needs. Initially, Church authorities attempted to suppress the order, forcing Matteo and his companions into hiding. The Camaldolese monks offered them refuge, and the Capuchins adopted the distinctive cloak and hood worn by the Camaldolese monks, along with the practice of growing beards. They took their name from this hood, known as a cappuccio.
Interestingly, the name of the foamy drink we know as ‘cappuccino’ is derived from the Capuchin friars. Their robes are brown with a distinctive pointed hood, and the colour of the coffee mixed with milk was said to resemble that of these robes. Likewise, the capuchin monkey is also named for the Capuchin friars because the specific fur pattern reminded people of the distinctive hooded robes worn by the friars. Capuchin monkeys have a dark brown or black body with a lighter, often white or cream-coloured face and head resembling the hooded robes of the friars.
Today there are more than 10,000 Capuchins in 100 countries around the world. The Convent of the Capuchin Friars in Ascoli Piceno still exists. For the past 250 years, none of the friars – so far as we know – has fallen foul of a vengeful cook.
