A few years later, about the time of the battle of Pavia and of the king’s captivity, the influence of Spanish and Italian fashions begins to affect the legends on packs of cards. It is remarked that the “knave of spades,” which presents nothing in the way of a legend but the name of the cardmaker, is made to resemble Charles-Quint (Fig. 211). The three other knaves bear the singular denominations of _Prien Roman_, _Capita Fili_, and _Capitane Vallant_. The kings are: “hearts,” _Julius Cæsar_; “diamonds,” _Charles_; “clubs,” _Hector_; “spades,” _David_. The queens are: “hearts,” _Héleine_; “diamonds,” _Lucresse_; “clubs,” _Pentaxlée_ (Penthesilea); “spades,” _Beciabée_ (Bathsheba). In the reign of Henry II., the names given to the personages come much nearer to the arrangement observed in our present cards. _Cæsar_ is the “king of diamonds;” _David_, the “king of spades;” _Alexander_, the “king of clubs.” _Rachel_ is the “queen of diamonds;” _Argine_, of “clubs;” _Pallas_, of “spades.” _Hogier_, _Hector of Troy_, and _La Hire_, are the “knaves” of “spades,” “diamonds,” and “hearts,” respectively. At the time of Henry III., who devoted himself much more to regulating the fashions than to governing his kingdom, and was the first to grant statutes to the association of cardmakers, the pack of cards became the mirror of the extravagant fashions of this effeminate reign. The “kings” have the pointed beard, the starched collar, the plumed hat, the breeches puffing out round the loins, the slashed doublet, and the tight-fitting hose. The “queens” have their hair drawn back and crisped, the dress close round the body, and made _à vertugarde_ (in the form of a hoop-petticoat). We see a _Dido_, an _Elizabeth_, and a _Clotilde_, make their appearance in the respective characters of “queens” of “diamonds,” “hearts,” and “spades.” Among the kings figure _Constantine_, _Clovis_, _Augustus_, and _Solomon_. The valiant Béarnais[26] mounts the throne, and the cards still reflect the aspect of his court. But soon _Astrea_ and a whole _cortége_ of tender and gallant heroes begin to assume an influence over refined minds, and we then find _Cyrus_ and _Semiramis_ as “king and queen” of diamonds; _Roxana_ is the “queen of hearts” (Fig. 214), _Ninus_ the “king of spades,” &c. In the regency of Marie de Medicis, in the reign of Louis XIII., or rather of Richelieu, in the time of Anne of Austria and Louis XIV., playing-cards continued to assume the character of the period, following the whim of the court, or the fancy of the cardmaker. At a certain time they began to take an Italian character. The “king of diamonds” was called _Carel_; his queen, _Lucresi_; the “queen of spades,” _Barbera_; the “queen of clubs,” _Penthamée_; the “knave of diamonds,” _capit. Melu_.