What Does Ice Cream Have to Do with
Witchcraft?
IN AZKABAN, FLOREAN
FORTESCUE HELPS Harry by telling him about witch burnings, and in
Phoenix he complains loudly that the
Ministry of Magic has made a deal with criminals. Why does this
ice-cream shop owner know so much about witchcraft law?
The answer lies in his family name. The
Fortescues are well known in English history. The career of one
member of the family, Sir John Fortescue (c. 1531-1607), ranged
from tutoring Princess Elizabeth (the future Elizabeth I) to
serving as her Chancellor of the Exchequer when she was Queen. In
between, it was his job to enforce the tough witchcraft laws that
Elizabeth’s Parliament passed in 1563. He led the first important
trials under those laws, apparently with the same severe attitude
Florean Fortescue expresses. In one trial, a woman was executed on
charges that included receiving instructions from a talking cat.
Other members of the Fortescue family include one
of the most influential legal minds in British history, and a
saint.
Some people say Elizabeth I’s laws against witches
were harsh to prove that she was not one herself. Her mother,
Anne Boleyn, had been executed on
witchcraft charges by order of Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII. Sir
John Fortescue was also a close relative of Anne Boleyn.
So what about the name “Florean”? That may be an
inside joke. You’ll recall that Harry gets to know Florean
Fortescue when he spends a lot of time writing his essays at the
ice-cream shop. That should bring to mind J. K. Rowling, well known
for having planned and written so much of Harry’s story in a café.
As she has said, “My ideal writing space is a large café with a
small corner table near a window overlooking an interesting street
(for gazing out of in search of inspiration). It would serve very
strong coffee . . .” Since 1720, writers who feel the same way,
including Lord Byron, Goethe, Charles Dickens, and Marcel Proust
have worked at the tables of a particular coffee shop, making it
the most famous in Europe. For inspiration they’ve looked out on
Venice’s adored St. Mark’s Square. And their very strong coffee has
come in cups decorated with the shop’s name: Caffè Florian.