Marco Gobbi

The work is the result of a systematic reflection on some British traditions and symbols that have struck my attention. In particular, high consumption of tea, real national beverage and the English monarchy. As reported in the motto of the parliamentary monarchy of the United Kingdom: The British sovereign reigns but does not govern. It’s strange to think that toward the end of the English Civil War period from 1642 to 1660 made up the spread of tea in England. Tea was known by the Portuguese, who explored Japan in the sixteenth, and here was imported into Europe by the Dutch East India Company. In Europe was an immediate success: first became popular in France and the Netherlands and around 1660 then spread to Britain, entering established English tradition. After the English civil war and the restoration of the monarchy, Britain isn’t seeing more on their absolutist sovereign throne. The spread of tea in England coincides with an important historical moment, a radical change at the top of the social pyramid.