JOHN DOYLE looks at the history of the playing card

 

Playing cards are items we usually take for granted but they have a long and somewhat mysterious history. In China, where paper was invented, Princess Tongchang was playing ‘leaf game’ with paper cards as early as the ninth century though many believe this was more like a form of dominoes.

Cards arrived in Europe almost five hundred years later, some saying they reached Spain first, others claiming that they arrived in Italy before Spain as a result of that country’s trade with the Mamluks of Egypt.

These packs of cards may have had four suits but they were not the suits we know today. In Germany for example, they had suits of Hearts, Leaves, Bells and Acorns whilst the Swiss played with Shields, Roses, Bells and Acorns.

The Spanish had Coins, Cups, Swords and Clubs and these were also used in the Mediterranean areas of Italy but the inhabitants of ‘Adriatic’ Italy used packs with Coins, Cups, Swords and Batons.

At first, the number of cards in a pack varies according to the game being played. To play ‘Jass’, popular in Switzerland, a pack of 36 cards was required and German ‘Skat’ players used a pack with 4 fewer cards. In France though, the dealer on a game of ‘Tarot’ had to cope with 78 large cards.
Until 1745, the people depicted on the picture cards were drawn full length , head to toe with some including items such as weapons and horses.

The earliest European cards were made and illustrated by hand and, as such, were a luxury that only the aristocracy could afford. After wood block printing was introduced, packs became cheaper and available to everyone. However, with so many different games and easy access to playing cards, gambling became more popular.

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own