Random Facts About The Vatican Started A Tobacco Factory (13 items)

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  (#8) Snuff Fans Said The Practice Made Them More Pious

  The Catholic Church debated the use of snuff. While some said it was dirty and corrupted mass, others made the opposite argument. Joseph of Cupertino, who later became a saint, was a fan of tobacco use. He claimed it made him more devout, as tobacco helped him stay up late at night praying. He also asserted tobacco helped him fast. 

  Many priests, popes, and saints snuffed tobacco. One snuff user even wrote in a 16th-century instruction manual for confessors about snuffing being a fine practice used to assist with fasting. The writer declared, “Tobacco taken through the nose does not break the fast, even though a portion of it should descend to the stomach.”
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  (#9) Snuff Became Popular For Medicinal Use

  Snuffing and smoking became popular in 16th-century Europe for different reasons. Originally, many used snuff for medicinal purposes. The Queen of France, Catherine de Medici, started the trend when a scholar named Jean Nicot showed her how to grind a powder from tobacco leaves and inhale it. Catherine claimed snuffing helped with her migraines.

  The French court loved the "preventative" medicine, and it quickly spread across Europe. Tobacco also turned Nicot into a celebrity, and the public named the tobacco plant "Nicotina" in his honor. This was later shorted to "nicotine," which became the name for the active ingredient in the plant.
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  (#6) People Loved Snuff So Much They Stopped Going To Church

  Despite their best efforts, the Catholic Church couldn't stop people from using snuff. The ban on snuffing in church also led to an unintended consequence: people missed parts of mass to snuff outside of church.

  In 1725, Pope Benedict XIII revoked the punishment for using tobacco in St. Peter's. While he still didn't want priests using tobacco at the altar, he allowed churchgoers to snuff again. The pope's change of heart was practical: he saw parishioners leaving church to snuff. Rather than deal with the decline in attendance, the pope said people could bring their snuff boxes back into church.
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  (#1) When A Priest Vomited During Mass Because Of Snuff, The Church Stepped In

  In the 16th century, the practice of using snuff in church quickly moved from the New World, where tobacco was native, to the Old World - and the Catholic Church wasn't happy about it at all. In Naples, a priest reportedly inhaled a pinch of snuff just after taking communion, and the result was horrific. The priest began sneezing so hard he vomited the sacramental wafer directly onto the altar. 

  The scandalized Church decided the practice had to stop. Not only did snuffing during mass cause a disruption, it also dirtied the altar and hands of priests distributing communion. So, in 1642, the pope stepped in to ban snuff completely.
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  (#13) Snuff May Have Saved Lives By Blocking Out Bad Airs

  According to early modern doctors, bad air, also known as miasmas, caused an array of diseases. This poisonous air could cause all sorts of illnesses, including malaria, named for the Italian words for "bad" and "air." As tobacco became popular, many turned to snuff as a way to destroy miasmas. Snuff users believed masking the smell of sewage and decay with powdered tobacco could prevent illness. 

  In addition to snuff, people relied on perfume, powdered wigs, and incense to block bad air. Of course, snuff was in a slightly different category since it contained carcinogens. And when the germ theory of disease replaced the miasma theory in the late 19th century, it didn't stop tobacco products' popularity.
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  (#2) Catholic Missionaries In The New World Thought The Devil Sent Tobacco

  Tobacco was a crop native to the New World, like tomatoes and corn. The first Europeans to see the tobacco plant crossed the Atlantic with Christopher Columbus, where they witnessed natives smoking or snuffing the leaves.

  To the Caribbean people, the tobacco smoke held a connection to the spirit world. This spiritual connection was a problem for the Catholic missionaries, who planned to convert everyone they met. The missionaries even wondered if the Devil sent tobacco to the New World to make it harder to convert people.

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