Editing Gin (section)

===17th century===
The physician [[Franciscus Sylvius]] has been falsely credited with the invention of gin in the mid-17th century,<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.tasteoftx.com/spirits/gin.html|title=Gin|access-date=5 April 2009|publisher=tasteoftx.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416234849/http://www.tasteoftx.com/spirits/gin.html|archive-date=16 April 2009}}</ref> as the existence of jenever is confirmed in [[Philip Massinger]]'s play ''[[The Duke of Milan]]'' (1623), when Sylvius would have been about nine years old. Also, the Dutch States' ordinance on brandy already levied
taxes on distilled anise, gin or fennel water sold as alcoholic drinks, in 1606, eight years before Sylvius was born.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Van Schoonenberghe |first1=Eric |title=Genever (Gin): a spirit drink full of history, science and technology |journal=Sartoniana |date=1999 |volume=12 |page=94 |url=https://libstore.ugent.be/fulltxt/RUG01/000/170/842/BIB-G-024341-12_2010_0001_AC.pdf |access-date=19 March 2025}}</ref> It is further claimed that English soldiers who provided support in [[Antwerp]] against the Spanish in 1585, during the [[Eighty Years' War]], were already drinking jenever for its calming effects before battle, from which the term ''[[Dutch courage]]'' is believed to have originated.<ref>{{citation |title=Genever: 500 Years of History in a Bottle |last=Van Acker – Beittel |first=Veronique |isbn=978-0-615-79585-0 |publisher=Flemish Lion|date=June 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.bluecoatgin.com/history_orgins.html |title=Origins of Gin |access-date=5 April 2009 |publisher=Bluecoat American Dry Gin |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213205501/http://bluecoatgin.com/history_orgins.html |archive-date=13 February 2009 }}</ref>

By the mid-17th century, numerous small Dutch and Flemish distillers had popularized the re-distillation of [[malt]]ed [[barley]] spirit or malt wine with juniper, also [[anise]], [[caraway]], [[coriander]], etc.,<ref>{{cite book |first=R.&nbsp;J. |last=Forbes |title=A Short History of the Art of Distillation from the Beginnings up to the Death of Cellier Blumenthal |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |year=1997 }}</ref> which were sold in [[Pharmacy|pharmacies]] and used to treat such medical problems as [[kidney]] ailments, [[lumbago]], [[stomach]] ailments, [[gallstone]]s, and [[gout]]. Gin emerged in England in varying forms by the early 17th century, and at the time of the [[Stuart Restoration]], enjoyed a brief resurgence. Gin became vastly more popular as an alternative to brandy, when [[William III of England|William III]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary II]] became co-sovereigns of England, Scotland and Ireland after leading the [[Glorious Revolution]].<ref name="nb">{{cite book|last=Brownlee|first=Nick|title=This is alcohol|publisher=Sanctuary Publishing|year=2002|pages=84–93|chapter=3&nbsp;– History |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lFMAAAAACAAJ |isbn=978-1-86074-422-8}}</ref> Particularly in crude, inferior forms, it was more likely to be flavoured with [[turpentine]].<ref name="Gin definition">{{cite web|url=http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=246150|title=Gin (definition)|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> Historian [[Angela McShane]] has described it as a "Protestant drink" as its rise was brought about by a Protestant king, fuelling his armies fighting the Catholic Irish and French.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bragg |first1=Melvyn |last2=Tillotson |first2=Simon.|title=In Our Time : the companion.|date=2018|publisher=Simon & Schuster Ltd|isbn=978-1-4711-7449-0|location=[Place of publication not identified]|pages=16|oclc=1019622766}}</ref>