Religious beliefs prevailed in the Middle Ages, and of course, so did wine. The custom of clinking glasses can probably be traced back to an era when dark magic, witchcraft and evil forces were rampant, when people were full of fear. In order to drive away demons, people clink glasses, because they make the same sound as church bells. Similar stories originated from earlier pagan cultures. In order to scare away ghosts, Germanic tribes would clink glasses at the dinner table.
Tip: At that time, wooden cups and pottery cups were widely used, but neither of them tinkled like church bells. Therefore, this statement remains to be verified.
Avoid poisoning
During the Middle Ages, poisoning wine prevailed among European aristocrats, who would use their best acting skills to get rid of suspicion after poisoning. In order not to let this move succeed, people will collide with each other's glasses in advance when drinking at parties, so that the wine in their glasses will spill into each other's glasses to prove that the wine is not poisoned. The custom of toasting comes from this.
Little secret: Further research shows that these "poisoning stories" are just rumors. Dumas once wrote a fictional novel in the19th century. In novels, enemies often poison each other, but that's just a fictional story. Medieval people are not necessarily as bad as we think! They may be much better than we thought.
bread
In Europe, the word "toast" is used for toasting or toasting. The original meaning of this word is "bread", which originally originated in16th century. The earliest record of this word appeared in Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor. In the play, Falstaff said, "Bring me a quart of wine and put a piece of bread in it." In those days, it was common to add old bread to a pot of wine. Not only that, there are jam and spices in the bread, which tastes delicious in your mouth. It's incredible.
Over time, the ceremony turned into a celebration. People who are toasted often receive a piece of bread soaked in wine at last, so the word "toast" has gradually developed a new meaning from its original meaning of "bread" to refer to toasting and toasting.
In the 17 and 18 centuries, the custom of toasting became very popular, and Toastmasters appeared. The purpose of toasting is to ensure that everyone at the party can get a proper toast and prevent people from drinking too much.
Later, there were various ways of toasting, such as using women's shoes as cups to drink, and some even dropped blood into wine to drink together. Excessive toasting, games and drinking have triggered a series of anti-toasting campaigns. Many people often get drunk and make some reckless behaviors, which makes it necessary to ban toasts in many places.
Although this statement has not been proved by 100% to be the exact origin of cheers, no one has successfully refuted this theory. So this is probably the closest statement to the truth!