Cards, known as Saracen cards, were introduced to Europe in the second half of the 14th century. The people in more rural areas, having survived the “Black Death” were moving to the cities. Here they began a class of merchants and artisans who became middle class urbanities. Coming out of the dark ages with its superstition, ignorance and poverty, guilds and universities made a reappearance, scientific experimentation was once again allowed and thrived, and the populace now had time for leisure and play.
In the early days of the Renaissance, books, cards and prints were created by hand. Card games were spread across Italy by a society of art appreciators formed at this time. At the end of the–th century many key cities in Europe including Viterbo near Rome, Paris and Barcelona, were able to obtain illuminated manuscripts of card manuals. Traveling artists and scholars spread these manuscripts across the continent and their popularity flourished. Early in the 15th century, a lone artisan was enough to satisfy the demand of a city. By mid-century, however, there became a need for several shops devoted to their creation.
Card manuscripts were not loved by everyone. Indeed many were threatened by this foreign entertainment and saw it as a force to promote gambling and as an immoral and counter cultural product of the devil. At the time of the protestant Reformation, the cards were referred to as “Devil Pictures.”
No matter or because of this devilish image, card playing stood its ground. The English queen, Mary, Queen of Scots not only bet big, but bet on Sunday! The Compleat Gamester was published in London in the late 17th century, with descriptions of over a dozen types of card games and the winning strategies involved in their play. In Venice, specific types of facilities called casini allowed admittance of aristocrats and courtesans to indulge in games of cards. It was here that a game called primero was invented and spread throughout the continent to later morph into poker.
In fact, soon not only the male court enjoyed cards, but also women, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants gained access to the game and found their realities symbolically reflected there. A popular Swedish deck had these suits in order of significance: sun, king, queen, knight, dame, valet, and maid. Florentine cards depicted nude dames and dancers (the latter being lowest).
The design and number of cards in a deck was not uniform at the time, varying from 36 to 40 or 52 cards. Popular suits were symbols of wealth, victuals, military security, and popular court sports: coins, cups, sabers, and clubs. Already in the 15ht century signs familiar to us were used in France: in red, Coeurs (hearts) symbolized the church, and carreaux (a rectangle floor tile) symbolized the merchant class; in black, piques (spear and arrow heads) standing for state authority, and trefles (trefoil clover leaf) symbolizing farmers. At some point, a daring artisan substituted the precedent vice-royals with queens.
Time passed and the deck of cards we recognize today was formed, whereby a deck of 52 cards with- various rankings compiled 4 different suits. The familiar Clubs, Spades, Diamonds and Hearts are the suits with Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks usually weighing in at a value of 10. The non-face cards, 2 through 10 are each counted at face value.
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