Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing CardsChatto, William Andrew
History
Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards
Chatto, William Andrew
Playing cards -- History
Mons. Eloi Johanneau's proof that cards were known in the eleventh
century, from the testimony of Papias, previously noticed, neither
requires, nor indeed admits of serious refutation. If it could be shown
that the word _Naipe_ or _Naibe_ was ever used in Spain or Italy to
signify a painted cloth or a picture, before it was used to signify a
Playing Card, its affinity with _Nappe_ and _Mappa_ might be admitted
to be clearly established. John of Salisbury, who was born in the
early part of the twelfth century, says not a word in his work 'De
Nugis Curialium'--on the Trifling of Courtiers--which might indicate a
knowledge of cards, although one of the chapters is especially devoted
to an examination of the use and abuse of gaming.[74] Had cards formed
one of the common pastimes of the courtiers of his age, it is highly
probable that he would have mentioned them, by some name or other, so
as to distinguish them from the other games which he enumerates.
The 38th canon of the Council of Worcester, held in 1240, contains
the following prohibition: "Prohibemus etiam clericis, ne intersint
ludis inhonestis, vel choreis, vel ludant ad aleas vel taxillos; nec
sustineant ludos fieri de Rege et Regina, nec arietes levari, nec
palæstras publicas fieri:" that is, "We also forbid clergymen to join
in disreputable games or dancings, or to play at dice; neither shall
they allow games of King and Queen to be acted [fieri], nor permit
ram-raisings, nor public wrestlings."[75] Ducange, who quotes the
passage in his Latin Glossary, under the word Ludi, is inclined to
think that the game _de Rege et Regina_--King and Queen--might have
been the game of cards. There are not, however, any just grounds
for entertaining such an opinion. The conjecture seems to have been
suggested merely from the circumstance of there being a King and Queen
in the cards with which the writer was most familiar; but had he
known that no Queen is to be found in the earliest European cards, he
probably would not have made so bad a guess. Besides, looking at the
context, there can scarcely be a doubt that the _games_--not _game_--of
King and Queen were a kind of mumming exhibitions which the clergy
enjoyed as spectators, not as performers. Payments to minstrels and
mummers for their exhibitions for the amusement of the monks, and eke
of the lord Abbot himself, are not of unfrequent occurrence in the
account books of old monasteries. In the same clause, the clergy are
enjoined not to allow of ram-raisings nor public wrestlings--sports
in which they were as unlikely to appear as actors as in the games of
the King and Queen. What may have been meant by ram-raising--_arietes
levari_--the curious reader is left to find, if he can, in the pages of
Strutt and Fosbroke.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account