Tarot History Forum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_of_1315–1317

A cruel story ....

There were other problems in this century. Earthquakes, a big catastrophe with water, wars, the pope in Avignon and not in Italy. The pestilence. European demography. Pax Mongolica.

Earthquakes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category: ... arthquakes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1348_East ... earthquake ... 1348
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1349_Apennine_earthquakes ... 1349
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1356_Basel_earthquake ... 1356
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1382_Dove ... earthquake ... 1382

Water catastrophe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary_ ... %27s_flood ... 1342

Conflicts and Wars
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category: ... _conflicts ...1300 - 1400
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars:_1000–1499

Popes in Avignon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avignon_Papacy

BLack Death
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Dea ... population.

European demography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_demography

Pax Mongolica .... an important influence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Mongolica

Karl IV, emperor, grandson of Heinrich VII, also emperor, who had some relation to idea with the "9 Heroes", was in Lucca in the year 1369 and this was especially very good for Lucca. Lucca reached a form of independanc and this state endured till the day, when the not friendly Napoleon took Lucca.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Lucca

When Castruccio died [1328], the city fell into a period of anarchy which saw it subject at first to the dominion of a military company, which had Marco from the House of Visconti as its leader and hostage at the same time. Later the republic was repeatedly sold to different lords who were unable to exploit it due to the hostility of the Republic of Florence. Subsequently, it was acquired by the Republic of Pisa and administered by its Lord, Giovanni Dell'Agnello.

Having regained its freedom in 1370, Lucca returned to a republican government and with a shrewd foreign policy gained remarkable fame in Europe thanks to its bankers and the silk trade.

Actually it was around Easter 1369, when the case was decided by Karl IV and not 1370. The Regesten of Karl IV tell it .
https://www.regesta-imperii.de/regesten ... 8ae1#rinav
https://www.regesta-imperii.de/regesten ... 67a5#rinav

Karl IV knew playingcards long before 1370, if we believe the work of F.L. Hübsch ....
http://trionfi.com/0/p/95/
Hübsch was an expert about trade in Bohemia before 1400 and his text is from 1849. If you wan to know more about him ....
search.php?keywords=hübsch

In 1365 Karl IV traveled to Arles and was also in Bern in Switzerland. A few years later a cardplaying prohibition appeared in Bern. It seems, that Karl IV has distributed a few decks in Bern.
Karl IV travelled to Italy in 1368 ... Franco Pratesi has found playing card documents at 4 places in 'Italy in 1370.
Karl IV was in Lucca in the year 1369 and the people in Lucca were happy about his help.

Recently we realized, that 13+09 = 22 and that the year 1309 was the crowning year of King Heinrich VII, grandfather of Karl IV.
Now we have, that Karl IV, the grandson, was in Lucca in 1369 and that the Lucca Tarocchi of 1725 had 13 trumps and totally 69 cards.

We have the 5x14 theory, which means 5 suits and 14+14+14 +14+14 = 70 cards
In the Lucca Tarocchi wie have also 5 suits and 14+14+14+14+13 = 69 cards

In the text of John of Rheinfelden (around 1378) 6 different deck types appear and one of these is a deck with 5 suits 13+13+13+13+13 = 65 cards.
The development to make one suit of 5 a suit of trumps is not a complicated step. If Karl IV really knew playing cards, he likely knew trumping rules.

Playing cards developed in China and were likely transported by Mongols from the East to the West. Mongols arrived in East Germany and Poland in 1241 and attempted a war.
The Goldene Horde settled in the neighbourhood.

I stumbled about ...

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collectio ... 1600002001
Complete pictures at the link

Description: [shortened]
Tarot pack: complete pack of 62 playing-cards for Tarocchino, Hand-coloured woodcut
Backs printed with an armorial cartouche, Pepoli impaling Colonna, and "al Mondo"
Production date: 1725-1775 (circa)(circa)
Published in: Bologna (city)
Inscription content: The knaves of clubs and swords hold shields lettered "Bononia docet" and "Libertas". On the 10 of coins is "Carte fine al Mondo".

Curator's comments
The queens of coins and clubs bear the arms of Bentivoglio and Tibbia respectively.

Marco Cesare Benedetti (email July 2023): I find it extremely unlikely that Carte Fine Al Mondo was engraved by Antonio de Maria, whose other deck you date 1805-1814.
This Tarocchino can be clearly dated between 1725 (introduction of the 4 Moors) and 1775 (introduction of the 2-headed figures).
In my humble opinion the figures of the 4 Moors seem much more derived from the only existing Bolognese example of popes/emperors (Carte Fine Dalla Tore at BNF) than all known single-head Tarocchini, so I think it is the oldest known exemplar of Tarocchino with the 4 Moors, certainly datable closer to 1725 than 1775.

I find it interesting, that the 4 Moors are invented in 1725, a similar time I saw given for the Lucca Tarocchi.

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https://www.i-p-c-s.org/wp/unsolved-problems/
Unsolved Problems in Playing-Card Research. Submissions by Sir Michael Dummett, February 10th, 1999. Unsolved Problems concerning Tarot and Italian Cards

10. An extraordinary type of Tarot pack, using Minchiate designs for many but not all of the cards, with 56 suit cards, the Matto and only twelve trumps (missing all those below the IX, including of course the Bagatto) appears to have been peculiar to Lucca. For what game was this used?
[March 2012: An incomplete Orfeo pack in Mr. Stuart Kaplan’s collection, that was offered at auction in 2006 (auction catalogue, no. 128), yielded some of the missing trumps, namely: IIII-VI, VIII, XIII, XV, XXII, XXIIII-XXVIII, XXX, XXXIIII. Therefore, it is possible that all Orfeo packs were in fact regular Minchiate packs.]

Added 2025 by Huck: The chance, that one draws 9 accidental cards twice from 22 and gets in this 2 attempts the same 9 cards is roughly 1:29.000.
"13^9" makes more than 10.000.000.000 in relation to "1*2*3*4*5*6*7*8*9" (something above 360.000) leads to this value "roughly 1:29.000".

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I found an announcement of 8 Orfeo cards ...
https://www.instagram.com/dealer_antiqu ... mg_index=1

#amazing early 18th (1730) tarot card (Tuscany Lucca “minchiate” marked Orfeo), 33 card. Extremely rare and hard to find

Huck wrote: 24 Apr 2025, 08:47
I found an announcement of 8 Orfeo cards ...
https://www.instagram.com/dealer_antiqu ... mg_index=1

#amazing early 18th (1730) tarot card (Tuscany Lucca “minchiate” marked Orfeo), 33 card. Extremely rare and hard to find

There are 33, not 8

https://www.instagram.com/dealer_antiqu ... mg_index=8

Here is the back with Orpheo:

yes, rigth ... I didn't see, that there were some more to visit. But there is no trump beside the standard-13, as far we can see them.

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I found an Italian article about early playing cards in Lucca ...
https://www.luccamuseinazionali.it/site ... 0Lucca.pdf

automatic translation

Card games: minchiate and tarocchi in eighteenth-century Lucca

In an article published in the Bollettino Storico Lucchese in 1932, the author, F. Pellegrini, asked the following questions: “Were cards used in Lucca in the fourteenth century and, both in this century and in the following ones, were they manufactured in Lucca or did they come from outside?”. To date, these questions can be answered with the following data. The use of playing cards in Lucca is documented from 1419 (1): a fight is reported that occurred during a game of cards. Later, in the Raccolta dei Bandi Lucchesi by Bongi (1863) we find the date of a first decree on card games with the comment that “in Lucca the new game of naibi was tolerated much longer than in neighboring countries, as it was not prohibited before August 28, 1436” (2). As for their manufacture, however, the first date dates back to 1570 when a certain Lorenzo Zacchia asked for the grace of being able to live from his profession "which is to make cards" which for the city is a "new art" prohibiting the use of "foreign" ones. (3)
From the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th century in all the other ancient pre-unification Italian states the proceeds from the manufacture and sale of playing cards were contracted out to private individuals. In Lucca this system was adopted about a century later starting from January 1, 1700 in application of the decree of the Grand Council of the city of September 24, 1699 and remained, with successive three-year contracts, until the early nineteenth century. The arrival of the French and the Provisional Government of the new Democratic Republic of Lucca decreed its abolition with a law of November 13, 1801, making the manufacture of playing cards free for anyone.
From this date onwards until the transfer of the Duchy of Lucca to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1847) the laws on playing cards changed with every change of government. During the period of the Principality of Lucca and Piombino (1805-14) they returned to being a kind of exclusive right. Under the Duchy of Maria Luisa of Bourbon (1817-24) their production was again made free, but with the obligation that they had to be printed on sheets with a particular watermark of a size to be able to hold 24 cards per sheet and at a cost of ten cents each. Under Carlo Ludovico Borbone (1824-1847) the use of watermarked paper was abolished, replaced by a duty of 2 soldi for each deck, and a red stamp was established to be placed on the wrapper band and on the figure of the King of Hearts.

““Germini” and “Minchiate” are terms that refer to the same card game that originated in Tuscany, between the second half of the 15th century and the first half of the 16th century, and played with a particular deck of 97 cards, obtained by increasing the number of Triumphs from 21 to 40 in the standard Tarot deck to 78 cards. These new twenty Triumphs were inserted in a block under the 5 highest Triumphs, not numbered and called “ARIES”, and above the first 15. They represent respectively from no. XVI to no. XVIIII the three theological Virtues (HopeFaith-Charity) and the fourth cardinal Virtue missing in the Standard T. (Prudence), from no. XX to no. XXIII the 4 elements (Fire-Water-Earth-Air) and from no. XXIIII (Libra) to XXXV (Gemini) the 12 zodiac signs.
At the National Museum of Palazzo Mansi, a beautiful and complete deck of cards for the Minchiate game from the first half of the eighteenth century is preserved and is on display today. It is the only known example of Minchiate from the eighteenth century, which, thanks to the presence on triumph XXIIII (the Scales) of the name Santi Giovannelli, contractor of the Revenue of playing cards in Lucca in the years 1720-1751, can be attributed with certainty to the city of Lucca.
A whole series of decks of cards are also attributed to the city of Lucca, characterized by the absence of all the particular trumps of the Minchiate (from XVI to XXXV) and those from no. I to no. VIII, and by preserving instead the trumps from VIIII to XV and the 5 highest trumps, together with all 56 suit cards. These decks have, in addition to a different design of the figure of the Fool, different designs on the figures, in particular the 4 horses do not depict centaurs or other monsters as in the Minchiate, but knights on horseback as in the Tarot.
These characteristics as a whole have led to the belief that these decks can be traced back to a special type of tarot with only 69 cards instead of the usual 78. They have been attributed to Lucca, so much so that they have been defined as “Tarocchi Lucchesi”, as in all of them the Page of Swords holds a shield with the white and red colours of the city’s coat of arms. On the backs of these decks three designs prevail: one depicts Orpheus and the writing “Orpheus”, a second bears the writing “d’Lucca”, a third shows a halberdier with the writing “Alla Fama”. The latter is identical to the back of the Minchiate deck of Palazzo Mansi and is a further element that contributes to attributing these decks to Lucca. Examples of “Tarocchi Lucchesi” are preserved, in varying degrees of completeness, in various private and public collections. Two examples of 69 cards are also known, one at the Schaffhausen Museum and one in a private Tuscan collection. The enigma of not being able to find in any document a reference to the 69-card Tarot game or relating to their actual production in Lucca remains.

Text by Nicola Antonio De Giorgio
https://i-p-c-s.org/journal/authorindex.php
... the author writes for the IPCS

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Franco Pratesi wrote in 1995 the article "Playing cards in Lucca"
https://www.naibi.net/A/59-LUCCA-Z.pdf

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from ... https://www.vivat.de/magazin/jahreskrei ... bedeutung/ ..... Drei Könige, three Kings

Die Heiligen Drei Könige sind Patrone der Stadt Köln, der Reisenden, Pilger, Kürschner, Kaufleute, Gastwirte, Spielkartenhersteller. Sie sind außerdem Helfer gegen Unwetter und gegen Epilepsie. Ihre Attribute sind Stern, Krone und Geschenke (Gold, Weihrauch und Myrrhe).

automatic translation

The Three Wise Men are the patron saints of the city of Cologne, travelers, pilgrims, furriers, merchants, innkeepers, and playing card makers. They also protect against storms and epilepsy. Their attributes are the star, crown, and gifts (gold, frankincense, and myrrh).

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from ... https://heilige.de/de/heilige/saints.1048.html .... Caspar

Kaspar aus dem Morgenland
gilt als Name einer der heiligen drei Könige. Sie werden seit dem Aufkommen der Legende im 6. Jh. die Sterndeuter aus dem Morgenland genannt, die nach dem Bericht des Evangelisten Matthäus (2,1-12) von einem Stern zur Krippe in Bethlehem geführt wurden, den Jesusknaben anbeteten und ihm als Geschenke Gold, Weihrauch und Myrrhe darbrachten. Seit dem 9. Jh. werden diese drei Namen volkstümlich. Die Reliquien der Hl. Drei Könige wurden wohl im 6. Jh. von Konstantinopel nach Mailand überführt. Hier ruhten sie in der Kirche S. Eustorgio, die im 9. Jh. »Basilika der Könige« genannt wird. Nach der Zerstörung Mailands schenkte Kaiser Friedrich Barbarossa die Reliquien seinem Kanzler Erzbischof Rainald von Dassel, der sie 1164 feierlich in seine Kathedrale, den Dom zu Köln, übertrug. Sie ruhen im Dreikönigsschrein, der als kostbarstes Werk der Rhein-Maas-Kunst zwischen 1181 und 1210 unter maßgeblicher Mitwirkung des Nikolaus von Verdun entstanden ist. Bis ins 18. Jh. waren die Reliquien der Hl. Drei Könige Ziel einer der bedeutendsten Wallfahrten des Abendlandes.

Stadtpatron von Kölnn; Patron der Pilger, Reisenden (Gasthäuser: Drei Könige; Krone, Drei Kronen, Stern), Kürschner, Spielkartenhersteller; für einen guten Tod (letzte Reise); gegen Zauberei, Epilepsie, Gewitter, Hagel.

dargestellt als König mit Geschenken, wie sie dem Jesuskind in der Krippe huldigen; meistens einer der Könige von dunkler Hautfarbe.

Automatic translation

Caspar of the East
is considered the name of one of the Three Wise Men. Since the legend emerged in the 6th century, they have been called the Magi from the East. According to the account of the Evangelist Matthew (2:1-12), they were led by a star to the manger in Bethlehem, worshipped the infant Jesus, and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These three names have been popular since the 9th century. The relics of the Three Wise Men were probably transferred from Constantinople to Milan in the 6th century. There they rested in the Church of Sant'Eustorgio, which was called the "Basilica of the Kings" in the 9th century. After the destruction of Milan, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa donated the relics to his chancellor, Archbishop Rainald von Dassel, who ceremoniously transferred them to his cathedral, Cologne Cathedral, in 1164. They rest in the Shrine of the Three Kings, the most precious work of Rhine-Meuse art, created between 1181 and 1210 with the significant collaboration of Nicholas of Verdun. Until the 18th century, the relics of the Three Kings were the destination of one of the most important pilgrimages in the West.

Patron saint of Cologne; patron saint of pilgrims, travelers (inns: Three Kings; Crown, Three Crowns, Star), furriers, playing card makers; for a good death (final journey); against witchcraft, epilepsy, thunderstorms, and hail.

Depicted as a king with gifts, paying homage to the Christ Child in the manger; usually one of the kings with dark skin.

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https://www.thericatholic.com/stories/s ... ng%20cards. ... St Balthasar

St. Balthasar’s connection to playing cards is based on the Middle Ages’ belief that the Magi, or three kings who visited the child Jesus, came from Persia, Africa and Egypt. According to tradition, the name of the Egyptian king was Balthasar. It was believed that gypsies came from Egypt and were notorious for their card tricks. St. Balthasar. who lived in the first century, became the patron saint of card manufacturers, and by extension, card players, blackjack dealers and anyone who has a run of bad luck playing cards. While the word magic comes from the word “magi,” the three kings were not magicians or sorcerers because their religious laws prevented them from dabbling in the supernatural.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melchior_(magus) .... Melchior

According to a medieval saints calendar, following his return to Persia, Melchior met up with the other Magi again in 54 AD in the Kingdom of Armenia to celebrate Christmas before dying aged 116 on 1 January 55 AD.
....
Patronage: Epilepsy, thunder, motorists, pilgrims, playing card manufacturers, sawmen, sawyers, travellers, travelling merchants, Cologne, Germany, Saxony

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It would be a good idea to find the origin of this "Spielkartenhersteller" connection to the "3 Holy Kings"

Huck wrote: 01 May 2025, 21:17
Patron saint of Cologne; patron saint of pilgrims, travelers (inns: Three Kings; Crown, Three Crowns, Star), furriers, playing card makers; for a good death (final journey); against witchcraft, epilepsy, thunderstorms, and hail.

Pilgrims, playing card makers, thunderstorms....

Brings to mind La Maison Dieu as Pilgrims Rest, & its synonym Hotel-Dieu, the tax beneficiaries of cardmakers in France.

Huck wrote,

I found an Italian article about early playing cards in Lucca ...
https://www.luccamuseinazionali.it/site ... 0Lucca.pdf

Thanks for the translation. Unfortunately, there is no date on this article, so we don't know how current the information is. However, it seems to be an excerpt from De Giorgio's article in The playing-card, Vol. 48, No. 1 (April-June 2019), pp. 14-30, "Le Carte da Gioco a Lucca," which of course has a lot more information. Also very important are two articles by Giambatista Monzali, "The Orfeo Conundrum," in the same journal, vol. 46, no. 2 (Oct.-Dec. 2017), pp. 65-77, and part of his "Minchiate Toscane - Part 2," in vol. 50, no. 2 (Oct-Dec. 2021), pp. 50-66, the part starting p. 62. You need to have access to "Ask Alexander" to read these articles -which in my opinion, no one attempting to do research in this area should be without - but if you search "Monzali" in this Forum you will find some discussion of at least his articles here.

I wrote

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melchior_(magus) .... Melchior

According to a medieval saints calendar, following his return to Persia, Melchior met up with the other Magi again in 54 AD in the Kingdom of Armenia to celebrate Christmas before dying aged 116 on 1 January 55 AD.

Here is more information to this point
https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/Stadler/Caspar.html

Der Verfasser des unter den Schriften des hl. Joh. Chrysostomus sich findenden unvollständigen Commentars über den hl. Matthäus sagt, sie seien vom hl. Apostel Thomas in Persien getauft worden und in ihren Gegenden für die Aufnahme des christlichen Glaubens thätig gewesen, woher es auch kommen mag, daß man annimmt, sie seien zu Priestern oder zu Bischöfen erhoben worden. Endlich lesen wir in einem Heiligenkalender von Köln, sie seien, nachdem sie gar viele Mühen und Strapatzen für das Evangelium erduldet hatten, alle Drei im Jahre 54 unsers Herrn in einer Stadt, Sewe mit Namen, zusammengekommen und hätten hier gemeinschaftlich das hl. Weihnachtsfest gefeiert, worauf sie, jeder nach Darbringung des hl. Opfers, gestorben seien, und zwar der hl. Melchior, 116 Jahre alt, am 1. Januar; dann Balthasar, 112 Jahre alt, am 6. Januar, und endlich Caspar, 109 Jahre alt, am 11. Januar. Als man sie nacheinander in ein gemeinschaftliches Grab gelegt habe, sollen sich ihre Leichname einander wunderbarer Weise Platz gemacht haben, so daß der Erste auf die Seite gewichen und dem Zweiten die Stelle an seiner Rechten gelassen habe, und, als der Dritte zu ihnen in's Grab gelegt werden sollte, Beide ihm den Platz in der Mitte eingeräumt haben. 4 Demgemäß nähme der hl. Caspar, als der zuletzt Verstorbene, die mittlere Stelle ein zwischen Balthasar zur Rechten und Melchior zur Linken. Ihre heil. Leiber wurden nach einer alten Ueberlieferung von der hl. Helena aus Persien nach Constantinopel gebracht, kamen unter Kaiser Emmanuel (1143 bis 1180) nach Mailand, und nach der Eroberung dieser Stadt durch Kaiser Friedrich Barbarossa im Jahre 1164 nach Köln am Rhein, wo sie in der Domkirche beigesetzt wurden und bis auf den heutigen Tag sich befinden sollen.

automatic translation ....

The author of the incomplete commentary on St. Matthew, found among the writings of St. John Chrysostom, says that they were baptized by St. Thomas the Apostle in Persia and were active in their regions for the adoption of the Christian faith, which may be why it is assumed that they were ordained priests or bishops. Finally, we read in a calendar of saints from Cologne that, after enduring much toil and hardship for the Gospel, all three of them met in the year 54 of our Lord in a city called Seve and there celebrated Holy Christmas together, after which they each died after offering the Holy Sacrifice: St. Melchior, 116 years old, on January 1st; then Balthasar, 112 years old, on January 6th, and finally Caspar, 109 years old, on January 11th. When they were laid one after the other in a common grave, their bodies are said to have miraculously made room for one another, so that the first moved to one side and left the second the place on his right, and when the third was to be laid in the grave with them, both gave him the place in the middle. 4 Accordingly, St. Caspar, as the last to die, took the middle place between Balthasar on the right and Melchior on the left. According to an old tradition, their holy bodies were buried by St. Helena from Persia to Constantinople, they came to Milan under Emperor Emmanuel (1143 to 1180), and after the conquest of this city by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1164 to Cologne on the Rhine, where they were buried in the cathedral and are said to have remained to this day.

If this would be a correct description, Jesus (died with 33) finished his 21 years after his death in year Christmas 54 and started his 22nd year after death in 55 and the 3 Holy Kings died in sequence: 1st of January (normal year start) , 6th of January (Western 3 Holy Kings) and 11th January (Eastern 3 Holy Kings).

21st year and 22nd year after the death is a little bit strange considering the patronat of the 3 Holy Kings for playing card producers.

If this would be a correct description, Jesus (died with 33) finished his 21 years after his death in year Christmas 54 and started his 22nd year after death in 55 and the 3 Holy Kings died in sequence: 1st of January (normal year start) , 6th of January (Western 3 Holy Kings) and 11th January (Eastern 3 Holy Kings).

21st year and 22nd year after the death is a little bit strange considering the patronat of the 3 Holy Kings for playing card producers.

"33 years" is naturally a medieval construction, modern Jesus researchers believe, that 6-4 years before point 0 between BC and AD is a correct estimation of the real birth.
Age counting systems depend on the surrounding culture and can be in the case of Jesus 32 years + 100 days or 33 years + 100 days. Jesus was crucified at 3rd of April according one dominant source, although I remember also a 6th of April in other sources.

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopa ... the%20time.
This speaks of the year 33, which at the 3rd of April in year 33 had the age "32 years and 93 days".
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco ... e%20Zahlen. .... possibly a Petrarca error

25th of December till 3rd of April has 100 days.
The mix of 32 full years for Jesus and additional 22 years for the 3 Holy Kings looks like a child of SEPHER YETZIRAH with its teachings about 32 WAYS OF WISDOM and 22 HEBREW LETTERS.

Finally, we read in a calendar of saints from Cologne that, after enduring much toil and hardship for the Gospel, all three of them met in the year 54 of our Lord in a city called Seve and there celebrated Holy Christmas together, after which they each died after offering the Holy Sacrifice: St. Melchior, 116 years old, on January 1st; then Balthasar, 112 years old, on January 6th, and finally Caspar, 109 years old, on January 11th

Well, would be fine to read this calendar of saints. The 3 Holy Kings developed there to a threefold Santa Claus with some elements of a threefold Father Time.