This is an interesting tidbit I found during my travels around the world wide web.
This piece of information has been sourced from http://www.transparent.com/italian/un-cappuccino-per-favore/
‘Un cappuccino per favore’ is probably one of the most common phrases learnt by tourists visiting Italy, yet as with many things Italian a cappuccino isn’t always what you think it is. To the tourist a cappuccino is nothing more than a fancy cup of coffee with foam on top, but how many realize that a cappuccino is also a monk!
In the early 1500’s the Franciscan monk Matteo di Bassi of Urbino formed the austere order of cupuchin monks, so named because of the pyramidal hood which they wore as part of their habit. The word cappuccio means hood in Italian, and when we add the diminutive ending ‘-ino’ it becomes cappuccino, or ‘little hood’, hence the name of this order of monks who are still extant today: ‘I cappuccini’.
So what’s that got to do with a fancy cup of coffee I hear you ask. Well it’s difficult to give a definitive answer as myths and legends abound, but the most likely reason that the name of a monk’s hood was given to cappuccino coffee is, rather boringly, due to it’s color, which is similar to the milky brown color of the habit worn by the cappuccini monks. A more romantic legend however, has it that the invention of cappuccino coffee was due to Marco d’Aviano, a wandering preacher for the cappuccino order. In 1683 D’Aviano was sent to Vienna by the Pope to unite Christians in the face of the huge invading Ottoman army. D’Aviano is credited with rallying the disparate groups of Catholics and Protestants on the eve of the Battle of Vienna, an act which was crucial to halting the advance of Turkish soldiers into Europe. According to the legend the fleeing Turks left behind them sacks of coffee which the Viennese diluted with cream and honey as they found it too strong for their taste. The resulting milky brown beverage, being similar in color to the cappuccini’s robes was duly named cappuccino in honor of Marco D’Aviano’s order.
mokablogger
