Aretino assigns the invention of cards, as well as of chess, to Palamedes, in the Grecian camp before the wall of Troy, thus claiming a very early date for their introduction to Europeans; but, while little credence has been placed on this record, it is more than probable that Tarots were part of the equipment of the camp if the soldiers wished to have their future foretold by the messenger of the gods, and gambling sticks, made of ivory and marked with men's heads, have been found in the tomb of King Qa, at Abydos, Egypt. History states that the Crusaders played at "tables" (as draughts or checkers were then called), and also that King Richard Coeur de Lion was fond of chess; but the English histories do not mention cards at that date. German authors infer that cards were introduced into Europe by the Crusaders, who, finding the Tarots common among their enemies (or prisoners), the Saracens, learned to play from them, and as the pictures on the cards were attractive, they used them to send home as missives to their families, and these authors support their theory by pointing out that cards are still called "briefe," or letters, in Germany, while we might say that these pictures were the ancestors of the postal cards of the present day. Writers harp on the lack of historical data concerning Playing Cards before the middle of the fourteenth century, oblivious of the fact that previous to that time it is probable that Tarots would not have been classed with games, and that educated people had not learned to use the pack for amusement, nor had the lower classes grasped the fact that they could be converted into a means for gambling, so they disregarded the ancient symbols, which they considered only useful for fortune-tellers, so cards at that date would not have been classed as gambling tools. As soon as a game was arranged for the cards, however, they were eagerly adopted by all classes of society as a welcome diversion. From that time on, numerous descriptions are to be found in the archives of European countries, appearing almost simultaneously. Gough (a writer mentioned by the Rev. Edward Taylor in his "History of Playing Cards," page 187) expressly states that "the Italian game called La Minchiate, which was played with the ancient Tarot pack, was invented at Sienna by Michael Angelo to teach children arithmetic." It would seem that the writer was slightly confused in his ideas, for the cards invented for teaching arithmetic were not true Tarots. He may be correct, however, in supposing that cards were arranged by the painter for educational purposes, and that they followed closely the number and arrangement of the older pack, for there are such cards still to be found in collections, although hardly of so early a date.