his mistress. The representations of the kings, the hairy one excepted,
are identical with those we have of Charles VII. himself, or the nobles
of his suite. Their costume was a velvet hat surmounted by the crown
ornamented with fleurs-de-lis; a robe open in front and lined with
ermine or _menu vair_, a tight doublet, and close stockings. The
“knaves” are copied from the pages and sergeants-at-arms of the period;
one wears the plumed flat cap and long cloak; another, on the contrary,
is clad in a short dress, and stands erect in his close-fitting doublet
and tightly drawn breeches. The latter displays, written on a streamer
which he is unrolling, the name of the card-maker, “F. Clerc.” These are
certainly cards of French invention, or, at any rate, of French
manufacture; but what explanation are we to give of the presence of the
savage “king” and “queen,” and the “hairy knave,” among the kings,
queens, and knaves all dressed according to the fashion of the time of
Charles VII.? We may, perhaps, find a satisfactory reply by referring to
the chronicles of the preceding reign.
On the 29th of January, 1392, there was a grand _fête_ at the mansion of
Queen Blanche in honour of the marriage of a Chevalier de Vermandois
with one of the queen’s ladies. The king, Charles VI., had only just
recovered from his mental malady. One of his favourites, Hugonin de
Janzay, projected an entertainment in which the king and five lords were
to take a part. “It was,” says Juvénal des Ursins, “a masquerade of wild
men chained together, and all shaggy; their dress was made to fit close
to their body, and was rendered rough by flax and tow fastened on by
resinous pitch, greased so as to shine the better.” Froissart, who was
an eye-witness of this _fête_, says that the six actors in the _ballet_
entered the hall yelling and shaking their chains. As it was not known
who these maskers were, the Duke of Orleans, brother of the king,
wishing to find out, took a lighted torch from the hands of his servant,
and held it so close to one of these strange personages that “the heat
of the fire caught the flax.” The king was fortunately separated from
his companions, who were all burned, with the exception of one only, who
threw himself into a tub full of water. Although Charles VI. escaped
from this peril, he was deeply affected by the thought of the danger to
which he had been exposed, and the result was a relapse into his former
insanity.
This fearful _ballet des ardents_ left such an impression on the minds
of people generally, that seventy years afterwards a German engraver
made it the subject of a print. Should we, then, be venturing on an
inadmissible hypothesis if we attribute to a cardmaker of this epoch the
idea of introducing the same subject in a pack of cards? which, as is
abundantly proved, was modified according to the whim of the artist. In
order to justify the costume of a female savage and the torch, which
are given to the “queen of hearts,” we must not forget that Isabel of
Bavaria, consort of Charles VI., is accused of having assisted in
devising this fatal masquerade, which was intended to get rid of the
king; and of having taken as her accomplice the Duke of Orleans, her
brother-in-law, who is said to have purposely set fire to the clothing
of these pretended wild men, among whom was the king.
The second pack, or fragment of a pack, which is dated back to this
epoch, presents a similarity to our present cards of a yet more striking
nature, at least in the characters and costumes of the figures; although
the names and devices of the personages still are suggestive of their
Saracenic origin. We must remark, under this head, that for several
centuries the names coupled with the different personages were
incessantly varying. In this pack we find “kings,” “queens,” and
“knaves” of clubs, hearts, spades, and diamonds; the Saracenic crescent
has disappeared. The “kings” are all holding sceptres, and the “queens”
carry flowers. Everything in the representations is not only in harmony
with the fashions of the period, but in addition to this, there are no
violations either of the laws of heraldry or of the usages of chivalry.
According to tradition, this pack, the true piquet-pack, which
superseded the Italian _tarots_ and the cards of Charles VI., and soon
became generally used in France, was the invention of Etienne Vignoles,
called La Hire, one of the bravest and most active soldiers of that
period. The tradition has a right to our respect, for the mere
examination of this piquet-pack proves that it must have been the work
of some accomplished _chevalier_, or at least of a mind profoundly
imbued with the manners and customs of chivalry. But, without any wish
to exclude La Hire, who, as the historians say, “always had his helmet
on his head and his lance in his hand, ready to attack the English, and
never rested until he died of his wounds,” we are led rather to ascribe
the honour of this ingenious invention to one of his contemporaries,
Etienne Chevalier, secretary and treasurer to the king, who was
distinguished by his skill in designing. Jacques Cœur, whose commercial
relations with the East brought upon him the accusation of having “sent
arms to the Saracens,” might well have become the importer of Asiatic
cards into France, and Chevalier might then have amused himself by
applying devices to them or, as was then said, by _moralising_ or
symbolising them. In India it had been the game of the vizier and of
war; the royal treasurer turned it into a pack having reference to the
knight and chivalry. In the first place he placed on it his own armorial
bearings, the unicorn, which figures in several ancient packs of cards.
He did not forget the allusive arms of Jacques Cœur, and substituted
“hearts” for the _coupes_. He made the “clubs” imitate the heraldic
flower of Agnes Sorel; and also changed the _deniers_ into diamonds, or
arrow-heads (Fig. 210), and the _épées_ into spades, to do honour to the
two brothers Jean and Gaspard Bureau, grand-masters of artillery in
France.
[Illustration: Fig. 210.--Ancient French Card of the Fifteenth Century.
(Bibl. Imp., Paris.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 211.--Specimen of a Pack of Cards of the Sixteenth
Century. (Bibl. Imp., Paris.)]
Etienne Chevalier, as the most skilful designer of emblems of the
period, was eminently capable of substituting, in playing-cards, ladies
or queens for the Oriental “viziers” or Italian “knights” which, on the
_tarots_, figured alone among the “kings” and “knaves.” We must,
however, repeat that we have no intention of depriving La Hire of the
honour of the invention, and only hazard a supposition in addition to
the opinion generally received.
These cards, which bear all the characteristics of the reign of Charles
VII., must be looked upon as the first attempts at wood-engraving, and
at printing by means of engraved blocks. They were probably executed
between 1420 and 1440, that is to say, prior to most of the known
xylographic productions. Playing-cards, therefore, served as a kind of
introduction or prelude to printing from engraved blocks, an invention
which considerably preceded the printing from movable characters.
When, however, we observe that so early as the middle of the fifteenth
century playing-cards were spread all over Europe, it is but natural to
imagine that some economical plan of manufacture had been discovered and
employed. Thus, as we have already mentioned, Jacquemin Gringonneur, in
1392, was paid fifty-six sols of Paris, that is about £7 1_s._ 8_d._ of
our present money, for three packs of _tarots_, painted for the King of
France. One single pack of _tarots_, admirably painted, about the year
1415, by Marziano, secretary to the Duke of Milan, cost one thousand
five hundred golden crowns (about £625); but in 1454, a pack of cards
intended for the Dauphin of France cost no more than five _sous of
Tours_ (about eleven or twelve shillings). In the interval between 1392
and 1454 means had been discovered of making playing-cards at a cheap
rate, and of converting them into an object of trade; mercers were
accustomed to sell them together with the “pins,” which then took the
place of copper and silver counters; hence the French proverb, “Tirer
son épingle du jeu” (to get out of a scrape).
Although the use of playing-cards continued to extend more and more, we
must not imagine that they had ceased to be the subject of prohibitory
and condemnatory ordinances on the part of the civil and ecclesiastical
authorities. On the contrary, a long list might be made of the decrees
launched against cards themselves and those that used them. Princes and
lords, as a matter of right, felt themselves above these prohibitions;
the lower orders and the dissolute did not fail to infringe them. It was
nevertheless the case, that in the face of these constantly-renewed
prohibitions, the manufacture of playing-cards could only be developed,
or rather perhaps be carried on, in some indirect mode. Thus, we find
the business at first was concealed, as it were, under that of a
stationer or illuminator. Not until December, 1581--that is, in the
reign of Henry III.--do we find the first regulation fixing the
statutes of the “master-cardmakers.” These statutes, confirmed by
letters patent in 1584 and 1613, remained in force down to the (French)
Revolution. In the confirmation of corporate privileges granted at the
latter date, it is laid down as a rule that henceforth master-cardmakers
should be bound to place their names, surnames, signs, and devices on
the “knave of clubs” (Figs. 212, 213) of every pack of cards. This
prescription appears to have done nothing more than legalise an old
custom--a fact which may be proved by an examination of the curious
collection of ancient cards in the Print-Room of the Bibliothèque
Impériale. We have already stated that for a period of many years the
names given to the various personages in the pack varied constantly,
according to the fancy of the cardmaker; a mere glance at the collection
just mentioned will confirm this assertion.
[Illustration: Figs. 212 and 213.--The “Knave of Clubs” in the Packs of
Cards of R. Passerel and R. Le Cornu. (Sixteenth Century. Bibl. Imp.,
Paris.)]
The cards that might be styled those of Charles VII., which appear to us
to convey some reminiscence of the _ballet des ardents_, have no
inscription but the name of the cardmaker. But in the other pack of the
same date the “knave of clubs” bears as a legend the word _Rolan_; the
“king of clubs,” _Sans Souci_; the “queen of clubs,” _Tromperie_; the
“king of diamonds,” _Corsube_; the “queen of diamonds,” _En toi te fie_;
the “king of spades,” _Apollin_, &c. This collection of names reveals to
us the threefold influence of the Saracenic origin of playing-cards, the
ideas conveyed at that period to the mind by the reading of the old
romances of chivalry, and the effect of contemporary events. In fact, in
the ancient epics, _Apollin_ (or Apollo) is a deity by whom the Saracens
were accustomed to swear; _Corsube_ is a knight of Cordova (_Corsuba_).
_Sans Souci_ is evidently one of those _sobriquets_ which squires
acquired the habit of adopting at the time they were proving themselves
worthy of the title of knight. Roland, the mighty Paladin who died at
Roncevaux fighting against the Saracens, seems to have been placed upon
the cards in order to oppose the memory of his glory to that of the
infidel kings. The queen “_En toi te fie_” might well allude to Joan of
Arc. The queen “_Tromperie_” recalls to mind Isabel of Bavaria, who was
an unfaithful wife and a cruel mother; and, moreover, had betrayed
France to England. All these ideas are doubtless mere suppositions, but
such as a critical examination of a more minute and extended character
would perhaps succeed in changing into unquestionable certainties.
Next after the cards of the time of Charles VII. follow, as the most
ancient in point of date, two packs which certainly belong to the reign
of Louis XII. One of these packs does not bear any kind of legend; in
the other the “king of hearts” is called _Charles_; the “king of
diamonds,” _Cæsar_; the “king of clubs,” _Arthur_; the “king of spades,”
_David_; the “queen of hearts,” _Héleine_; the “queen of diamonds,”
_Judith_; the “queen of clubs,” _Rachel_; the “queen of spades,”
_Persabée_ (doubtless for Bathsheba).
In a pack of cards belonging to the reign of Francis I., the “king of
clubs” becomes _Alexander_, and the name of _Judith_ is transferred to
the “queen of hearts;” and for the first time (at least in the specimens
which have been preserved) some of the “knaves” bear special names--the
“knave of hearts” is _La Hire_, and the “knave of diamonds” _Hector of
Trois_ (_sic_).
A few years later, about the time of the battle of Pavia and of the
king’s captivity, the influence of Spanish and Italian fashions begins
to affect the legends on packs of cards. It is remarked that the “knave
of spades,” which presents nothing in the way of a legend but the name
of the cardmaker, is made to resemble Charles-Quint (Fig. 211). The
three other knaves bear the singular denominations of _Prien Roman_,
_Capita Fili_, and _Capitane Vallant_. The kings are: “hearts,” _Julius
Cæsar_; “diamonds,” _Charles_; “clubs,” _Hector_; “spades,” _David_. The
queens are: “hearts,” _Héleine_; “diamonds,” _Lucresse_; “clubs,”
_Pentaxlée_ (Penthesilea); “spades,” _Beciabée_ (Bathsheba).
In the reign of Henry II., the names given to the personages come much
nearer to the arrangement observed in our present cards. _Cæsar_ is the
“king of diamonds;” _David_, the “king of spades;” _Alexander_, the
“king of clubs.” _Rachel_ is the “queen of diamonds;” _Argine_, of
“clubs;” _Pallas_, of “spades.” _Hogier_, _Hector of Troy_, and _La
Hire_, are the “knaves” of “spades,” “diamonds,” and “hearts,”
respectively.
At the time of Henry III., who devoted himself much more to regulating
the fashions than to governing his kingdom, and was the first to grant
statutes to the association of cardmakers, the pack of cards became the
mirror of the extravagant fashions of this effeminate reign. The “kings”
have the pointed beard, the starched collar, the plumed hat, the
breeches puffing out round the loins, the slashed doublet, and the
tight-fitting hose. The “queens” have their hair drawn back and crisped,
the dress close round the body, and made _à vertugarde_ (in the form of
a hoop-petticoat). We see a _Dido_, an _Elizabeth_, and a _Clotilde_,
make their appearance in the respective characters of “queens” of
“diamonds,” “hearts,” and “spades.” Among the kings figure
_Constantine_, _Clovis_, _Augustus_, and _Solomon_.
The valiant Béarnais[26] mounts the throne, and the cards still reflect
the aspect of his court. But soon _Astrea_ and a whole _cortége_ of
tender and gallant heroes begin to assume an influence over refined
minds, and we then find _Cyrus_ and _Semiramis_ as “king and queen” of
diamonds; _Roxana_ is the “queen of hearts” (Fig. 214), _Ninus_ the
“king of spades,” &c.
In the regency of Marie de Medicis, in the reign of Louis XIII., or
rather of Richelieu, in the time of Anne of Austria and Louis XIV.,
playing-cards continued to assume the character of the period, following
the whim of the court, or the fancy of the cardmaker. At a certain time
they began to take an Italian character. The “king of diamonds” was
called _Carel_; his queen, _Lucresi_; the “queen of spades,” _Barbera_;
the “queen of clubs,” _Penthamée_; the “knave of diamonds,” _capit.
Melu_.
A vast field of investigation would lie before us if, in tracing out the
detailed history of these numerous variations, we were to endeavour to
distinguish and settle the different causes which gave rise to them. One
fact must certainly strike any one devoting himself to such inquiry; he
would see that, in contradistinction to the changes which have affected
the personages on the cards and their names, a continuous state of
stability has been the characteristic of the four suits in the French
cards or the piquet-pack, which were adopted from the very commencement,
and that no attempt has ever been made against their arrangement and
nature. _Cœur_ (hearts), _carreau_ (diamonds), _trèfle_ (clubs), and
_pique_ (spades)--these were the divisions established by La Hire or
Chevalier, and they are still faithfully maintained in the present day,
although at various times endeavours have been made to define their
symbolical signification.
For a long time the opinion of Father Menestrier was the prevalent one;
that “hearts” were an emblem of the clergy or the choir (_chœur_);
“diamonds,” of the citizens, who had their rooms paved with square
tiles; “clubs,” of labourers; and “spades,” of military men. But
Menestrier was in egregious error. A much clearer view of the matter was
taken by Father Daniel, who, like all sensible interpreters, recognising
in cards a game of an essentially military character, asserted that
“hearts” denoted the courage of the commanders and soldiers; “clubs”
(_trèfle_--“trefoil”) the stores of forage; “spades” and “diamonds,” the
magazines of arms. This was a view which, as we think, comes much closer
to the real interpretation of the suits; and Bullet was still nearer the
mark when he recognised _offensive_ arms in “clubs” and “spades,” and
_defensive_ arms in “hearts” and “diamonds.” The first were the sword
and the lance; the second, the target and the shield.
But in order to do full honour to French cards, we must not exclude from
our attention the _tarots_, which preceded our game of piquet, and
continued to be simultaneously used even in France.
The Spanish and Italian cardmakers, who had been nearly always
established in France, made a large quantity of _tarots_ (Fig. 215); but
they made a certain concession to French politeness by substituting
“queens” for the “cavaliers” of their national game. We must remark
here, that even at the epoch of the conquests of Charles VIII. and Louis
XII., French cards with the four “queens” replacing the “cavaliers”
never succeeded in nationalising themselves in Italy, and still less in
Spain; on the contrary, the fact was that as regards this point of
fashion, the vanquished people obtained the advantage over their
conquerors, and the _tarots_ came into full favour among the victorious
soldiery.
[Illustration: Fig. 214.--Roxana, Queen of Hearts. (Specimen of the
Cards of the time of Henry IV.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 215.--Card of Italian _Tarots_, from the Pack of the
_minchiate_. (Collection of Playing-Cards, Bibl. Imp., Paris.)]
The Spaniards must certainly have received the Oriental _naïb_ from the
Moors and Saracens a long time prior to the introduction of this game
into Europe at Viterbo; but we have no written proofs which certify to
the existence of cards among the Saracens of Spain. The first document
in which they are mentioned is the edict of John I., of the date of
1387, to which reference has been made. Certain _savants_ have
endeavoured to ascertain the signification of the four suits of the
Spanish _naypes_, and have fancied that they could distinguish in them a
special symbolism. In their view, the _dineros_, _copas_, _bastos_, and
_spadas_, denoted the four estates which composed the population: the
merchants, who have the money; the priests, who hold the chalice or cup;
the peasantry, who handle the staff; and the nobles, who wear the
sword. This explanation, although ingenious, does not appear to us to be
based on any very solid foundation. The signs or suits of the numeral
cards were fixed upon in the East, and Spain as well as Italy merely
adopted them without taking much trouble to penetrate into their
allegorical meaning. The Spaniards became so addicted to this game that
they soon preferred it to any other recreation; and we know that when
the companions of Christopher Columbus, who had just discovered America,
formed their first settlement at St. Domingo, they almost instantly set
to work to make playing-cards out of the leaves of trees.
[Illustration: Figs. 216 and 217.--The “Three” and “Eight” of “Bells.”
German Cards of the Sixteenth Century. (Bibl. Imp. of Paris.
Print-Room.)]
There can be no doubt that playing-cards very soon made their way from
Italy into Germany; but as they advanced towards the North they almost
immediately lost their Oriental characteristics and Saracenic name.
There is, in fact, no longer any etymological trace to be found in the
old German language of the words _naïb_, _naïbi_, or _naypes_. Cards
were called
[Illustration: Figs. 218 and 219.--The “Two of Bells” and the “King of
Acorns,” taken from a Pack of Cards of the Sixteenth Century, designed
and engraved by a German Master. (Bibl. Imp. of Paris. Print-Room.)]
_Briefe_, that is, letters; the game itself _Spielbriefe_, game of
letters; the earliest cardmakers were _Briefmaler_, painters of letters.
The four suits of the _Briefe_ were neither Italian nor French in
character; they bore the name of _Schellen_, “bells” (Figs. 216, 217,
218), or _roth_ (red), _grün_ (green), and _Eicheln_ (acorns) (Fig.
219). The Germans, in their love of symbolism, had comprehended the real
original signification of the game of cards, and although they
introduced many marked changes, they made it their study, at least in
principle, to preserve its military characteristics. Their suits
depicted, it is said, the triumphs or the honours of war--the crowns of
oak-leaves or ivy, the bells were the bright insignia of the German
nobility, and the purple was the recompense of their valiant warriors.
The Germans were careful not to admit ladies into the thoroughly warlike
company of kings, captains (_ober_), and officers (_unter_). The ace was
always the flag, the warlike emblem _par excellence_; in addition to
this, the oldest game was the _Landsknecht_, or lansquenet (Fig. 220),
the distinctive term of the soldier.
We are speaking here only of the earliest German cards, for, after a
certain date, the essential form and emblematical rules of the pack
depended on nothing but the fancy and whim of the maker or the engraver.
The figures were but seldom designated by a proper name, but often bore
devices in German or Latin. Among the collections of ancient cards we
find one pack half German and half French, with the names of the Pagan
gods. There are also several sets of cards with five suits (of fourteen
cards each), among others those of “roses” and “pomegranates.”
[Illustration: Fig. 220.--The “Two” of a Pack of German Lansquenet
Cards. (Bibl. Imp. of Paris.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 221.--Card from a Game of “Logic,” invented by Th.
Murner, and copied from his “Chartiludium Logices.” (Cracow, 1507.)]
The Germans were the first who entertained the idea of applying cards to
the instruction of youth; and, as it were, of moralising a game of
chance by making it express all the categories of scholastic science.
Thomas Murner, a Franciscan monk, and professor of philosophy, made in
1507 an attempt of this kind (Fig. 221.) He designed a pack of
fifty-two cards, divided into sixteen suits, corresponding to the same
number of scholastic treatises; each card is covered with so many
symbols that a description would resemble the setting forth of some
obscure riddle (_ténébreux logogriphe_). The German universities, which
were far from being dismayed at a little mysticism, were only the more
eager to study the arcana of grammar and logic while playing at cards.
Imitations of Murner’s cards were multiplied _ad infinitum_.