Michael Quinion explains the origin and senses of the phrase here -
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-tob1.htm

"To boot usually means “in addition, besides, moreover”, as here in Falk, by Joseph Conrad: “At all events he was a Scandinavian of some sort, and a bloated monopolist to boot”."

He derives it from Old English, "bot", which means "advantage, remedy". Presumably the extended sense of "in addition to" (as well, besides) comes from there.

Thanks for theses explanations.
i didn't know about this expression...

Different writing forms of a Saints name: "Rochus"

Latin: Rochus ... similar to Ta-rochus - used by North Italian poet "before 1499"
Italian: Rocco ... similar to Ta-rocco - used in Italy in the later time for the game Tarot
French: Roch ... similar to Ta-roch - used in Ferrara in June 1505

Saint Roch or Rocco (Arabic: روكز‎; German and Latin: Rochus; Catalan: Roc; Italian: Rocco; French: Roch; Maltese: Rokku; Spanish and Portuguese: Roque; Slovak: Roch or Rochus ; Slovene and Croatian: Rok; Dalmatian: Roko; Hungarian: Rókus; Greek: Ρόκκος); lived c.1348 - 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c.1295 – 16 August 1327[2]), also known as Rock or Rocco in English, and having the dedication St Rollox in Glasgow, was a Christian saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August; he is specially invoked against the plague.

English Wikipedia

********************************
... ... in this context:

St. Rochus once at tarotforum.net had been discussed as a prototype of the Tarot de Marseille Fool

Huck wrote:Different writing forms of a Saints name: "Rochus"

Latin: Rochus ... similar to Ta-rochus - used by North Italian poet "before 1499"
Italian: Rocco ... similar to Ta-rocco - used in Italy in the later time for the game Tarot
French: Roch ... similar to Ta-roch - used in Ferrara in June 1505

Saint Roch or Rocco (Arabic: روكز‎; German and Latin: Rochus; Catalan: Roc; Italian: Rocco; French: Roch; Maltese: Rokku; Spanish and Portuguese: Roque; Slovak: Roch or Rochus ; Slovene and Croatian: Rok; Dalmatian: Roko; Hungarian: Rókus; Greek: Ρόκκος); lived c.1348 - 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c.1295 – 16 August 1327[2]), also known as Rock or Rocco in English, and having the dedication St Rollox in Glasgow, was a Christian saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August; he is specially invoked against the plague.

English Wikipedia

********************************
... ... in this context:

St. Rochus once at tarotforum.net had been discussed as a prototype of the Tarot de Marseille Fool

Quit goofing around Huck. You know how gullible people are.

The Order of Triumphs
In ancient tarot cards and in XVIth century documents


http://www.letarot.it/page.aspx?id=221&lng=ENG

Ok. Maybe we need an specific thread about it

BOUGEAREL Alain wrote: The Order of Triumphs
In ancient tarot cards and in XVIth century documents


http://www.letarot.it/page.aspx?id=221&lng=ENG

See also :

The Mystical Staircase
The mystical journey toward Knowledge


http://www.letarot.it/The-Mystical--Sta ... 0_eng.aspx


The Prince

http://www.letarot.it/The-Prince_pag_pg107_eng.aspx

Ross wrote:Quit goofing around Huck. You know how gullible people are.

No, it's serious ...

Latin: Rochus ... similar to Ta-rochus - used by North Italian poet "before 1499"
Italian: Rocco ... similar to Ta-rocco - used in Italy in the later time for the game Tarot
French: Roch ... similar to Ta-roch - used in Ferrara in June 1505

The line in red seems to say, that Ta-roch might be a French form, but was used in Italy at the court of the Este in Ferrara ... in other words, by Alfonso d'Este, who had in this time a strong interest in a political alliance with France. This is a general suspicion, at least for me.

I've difficulties to understand the text of the poem of Bassano Mantovano, but it seems, that the described scene takes place in Vercelli and at the river Sesia. That's in the critical time in Savoy, and Savoy is on the way to France, and it fits with the condition, that Bassano had as a theme "episodes de l'histoire de Savoie".

Savoy had been ally to France in the Italian adventure of French king Charles VIII (1494-95). Savoy had a female ruler, Blanche of Montferrat, between 1490-1496. This was a daughter of Elisabetta Sforza, who had been daughter of Francesco Sforza and died young in the time of Galeazzo Maria (the son of Blanche - the heir of Savoy - was born 1489 and died 1496 with 7 years). The following male ruler (an uncle of her son) survived only one year. The next, son of the uncle, was 16 and lived 7 years after his coronation (husband of Margareta of Austria). His half-brother followed him in 1504 (18 years old) and more or less became later a puppet of France.
The dominant figure of Savoyan descent became Louise of Savoy, mother of Francois I, the French king .. with a lot of influence.

There were negotiations about a peace treaty at Vercelli in September 1495.
http://www.third-millennium-library.com ... TE/24.html
Indeed it seems, that Blanche of Montferrat had been a major factor in the treaty, opposed by Trivulzio and the duke of Orleans. The French king even found some time for two female lovers.

Bassano's episode might play well precisely at this time, in which Vercelli has an important role in history.

**************

St. Roch is also of interest, as it seems, that in the critical time his popularity in Italy got new impulses. This are the two important St. Roch churches in Italy:

The Church of Saint Roch (Italian: Chiesa di San Rocco) is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Roch in Venice, northern Italy. It was built between 1489 and 1508 by Bartolomeo Bon the Younger, but was substantially altered in 1725. ... The church is one of the Plague-churches built in Venice.

St. Roch, whose relics rest in the church after their transfer from Voghera (trad. Montpellier) in, was declared a patron saint of the city in 1576. Every year, on his feast day (16 August), the Doge made a pilgrimage to the church.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Rocco,_Venice

San Rocco is a church at 1 Largo San Rocco, Rome, dedicated to Saint Roch. It is next to the Mausoleum of Augustus. ...
Founded in 1499 by Pope Alexander VI as the chapel of an adjacent hospital.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Rocco,_Rome

Politically it was so, that during the period 1467-77 (that's the reign of Charles the Bold of Burgundy) Italy seems to have been more generally influenced by Burgundy than by France (with the exceptions of Florence and Milan). Burgundy arranged a lot of Italian alliances and hired military or attempted to hire military. It was occasionally believed, that Charles would attack Milan to enlarge his territory. As history knows it, Charles didn't attack Milan finally, but the city Neuss without success and later Switzerland, and he found his end in January 1477at a cold battlefield. The secret winner was Louis XI of France. In the aftermath of this development a lot of Italian states arranged a turn towards France.
Ercole d'Este sent his ambassador to France in 1478. A great French-Italian marriage was arranged with a Mantovan princess and Gilbert de Bourbon Monpensier in 1481.

With the bride a plague picture (the holy Sebastian by Mantegna) arrived in the church of her wedding.



Well ... and St. Roch (another - French - fighter against the plague) came back:

In Brescia a life of St. Roch was printed and published in 1478 ... soon there were other editions, even Germany. In 1485 holy bones of St. Roch were send from Montpellier to Venice, in 1489 the church building for them was started. The church in Rome followed later ... this all makes St. Roch contemporary to the first known appearance of "tarochus".

Montpellier had an early Spanish university, especially famous for studies of medicine. It had also a large Jewish community ... Jews were often physicians. Just in 1349 (that's the time of the great plague) Montpellier was sold by the king of Mallorca to the French crown.

St. Rochus, a victim of the plague (which he - a wonder - survived) as a Saint of Montpellier has internal logic (medicine, physicians, great political change during a plague year).

Montpellier became "big in business" in 1432, when Jacques de Coeur took his position here. In very short time Jacques de Coeur became unbelievable rich by trade with the Levante, a success, which finally caused his similar rapid fall in 1451. In 1481, when Louis XI gained control of Provence and Marseille (with the better harbor), the importance of Montpellier (the harbor couldn't be used by larger ships, and the ships became larger in this time) declined.

Well, the usual image of St. Roch isn't very near to the Marseille Tarot.



According Wikipedia there is (few) evidence, that the St. Rocco cult had been 1391 in Volghera (30 km Southwest of Pavia, Lombardy) ... and that Roch died in Volghera and not in Montpellier (but he was born there according this version). And - according this version - Venice got the bones from Voghera, not from Montpellier.

http://www.sanroccodimontpellier.it/ita ... _intro.pdf

Volghera is relatively near to Piacenza, and the story of Roch has it generally, that it was in Piacenza, that Roch suffered by the plague.

San Rocco al Porto
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Rocco_al_Porto
Name of a small location very near to Piacenza.
With church "La chiesa parrocchiale di San Rocco a San Rocco al Porto"

The commune seems to exist of a younger date (1798). In the legend of St. Rochus he was caught by the plague in Piacenza ... and survived it with the help of a dog in a forest. It seems, that this church was build at a place, which was taken as the secret location, where St. Rochus survived.

Generally the city of Piacenza was attacked and taken by Sforza in service of the Ambrosian republic around 16th of November 1447. The city suffered incredibly for a 40-days-sack and surviving inhabitants were sold to slavery. It's said, that Sforza lost control about the plundering soldatesca during the operation. Also it's said, that Piacenza never regained its earlier importance ... and this was still a theme about 50 years later (I note this, cause it might have some logic, that Piacenza became part of the Rochus legend after 1447).

Generally one has to observe, that Montpellier - Genova - Voghera - Piacenza - Venice is simply a common trading way.
Montpellier - Genova ... just connected by trade with ship (both cities cooperated)
Genova - Voghera with not avoidable mountains ... and then downhill to the Po, in
Piacenza ... at the Po with the ship
... downwards the Po and then to the left: Venice

Well, not only a trading way, but possibly also the logical way to Holy Jerusalem, as for instance "The majority of the crusading army that set out from Venice in October 1202 originated from areas within France. It included men from Blois, Champagne, Amiens, Saint-Pol, the Ile-de-France and Burgundy." They came till Constantinople, and this in a remarkable manner, which wasn't forgotten, especially not in Constantinople. In this case nearly nobody of the crusaders ever reached the holy country.

Well, it doesn't matter, what it was, the interest in St. Roch seems to have made a jump in 1478, when the work about St. Roch was printed and largely distributed (during a plague from 1477-79). A new "secret weapon" against the plague, with some secret side paths to the actual political situation.

**************



Well, that's not St. Roch, but a woodcut of 1496, although there's a year number of 1484 on it (which is said to belong to the astronomical constellation). The possible artist is Duerer. It doesn't show the bubonic plague, but a new sickness later called Syphilis. Syphilis is said to have been new in 1494 and it spread in a rapid manner by the French soldiers in Naples.

1495

... a scene in Vercelli, in which the word "Tarochus" is used (at least this date is plausible for )
... rather frustrated French soldiers in Vercelli, which look like a St. Roch or like they've gotten the plague
... some more popularity for a a French St. Roch in Italy
... this all after a battle at the Taro river

Huck

I don't know about this hypothesis of St Roch...
I had noted many years ago some iconographical similarity with Le Mat in the Tarot de Marseille.

However what I find of interest regarding the word TAROT is the relation with the river TARO : Lothar seems to believe that perhaps Tarot comes from the river Taro where the French combine things of all colors.

Could you give more details about this?

I do not think it is absurd ...on the contrary...

mmfilesi wrote:

Ok. Maybe we need an specific thread about it

I think you're right ...