Early Playing Cards Research

<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="0"> <tr><td><a name="a"><b><font size="3" color="#0033ff" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">    A</font></b></a><a href="http://autorbis.net" target="_blank"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">UTORBIS.net </font></a> - <a href="http://trionfi.com" target="_blank"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">TRIONFI.com </font></a> </td> <td align="right"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">created 2003 - 2006       </td> </tr></table><hr size="1" width="90%"> <table width="100%"><tr><td rowspan="2" width="30%" align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#dddddd"> <h3>PLAYING CARDS</h3> <b><font size="+1">Very early references <br>     - 1370/80</font> <ul><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/90/">Introduction and list of Links</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/91/">Stuart Kaplan's list</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/92/">Huck Meyer's opinion</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/93/">Marseille 1337</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/95/">Playing Cards in Bohemia 1340 (?)</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/94/">Old German/Swiss notes</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/21/">Early Paper Mills in Europe</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/01/">Early Prohibitions (- ca. 1420)</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/02/">Other early Notes (- ca. 1420)</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/22/">L. A. Mayer: Mamluk Playing Cards</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/96/">References Muslim World</a> </ul> <font size="+1">Germany</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/10/">Johannes of Rheinfelden 1377</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/20/">Early German Card producers</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/25/">German Decks (15th cent.)</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/07/">Notes to Karnöffel, Keyserspiel </a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/05/">The Name Karnöffel </a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/06/">(Imperatori decks / Ferrara)</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/mi/00/" target="_blank">MEISTER INGOLD</a> </ul> <font size="+1">France</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/03/">France and Burgund (14th/15th century)</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/15/">The Gringonneur Case</a> <LI><A HREF="http://trionfi.com/0/p/26/">Valentina Visconti and the French Court 1392 - 1397</A> </ul> <font size="+1">England</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/45/">Earliest reference in England in 1413</a> </ul> <font size="+1">Milan</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/08/">Prohibitions Filippo Maria Visconti</a> <li><a href="http://geocities.com/research_of_tarot/doc08.html" target="_blank">Vita di Filippo Visconti</a><br><br> </ul> <font size="+1">Ferrara</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/04/">Notes about Printing (Ferrara)</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/06/">Notes about Imperatori decks</a> <br>    in Ferrara (1423 - 1452) </ul> <font size="+1">Florence</font><br><ul> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/05/">Prohibition around Florence</a><br>    (1377 - ca. 1500) <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/14/">Conclusions about Florence </a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/09/">Notes about Minchiate </a> </ul> <font size="+1">Further Articles to <A HREF="http://trionfi.com/0/l/50/" target="_blank">CITIES</A></font><br><br> <font size="+1"><A HREF="http://trionfi.com/0/e/" target="_blank">TRIONFI DOCUMENTATION</A></font><br><br> <font size="+1">Further Articles <br>     and Conclusions </font><br>related partly also to the theme "Trionfi"<br><br> <ul> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/27/">Early Printing dates (in development)</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/12/">Trionfi-Kids</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/13/">Trionfi and Church</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/18/">Count Parravicino 1903</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/25/">First appearance 5x14-theory 1974</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/23/">Early Notes to "Tarot" (provisional)</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/28/">Tarocchi appropriati</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/17/">Sermones de Ludo cum aliis<br> - Information</a><br><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/24/">Knights Orders</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/19/">Ronfa - Notes</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/16/">The Cardplaying Wheel</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/29/">Felix Fabri / Playing Card Notes</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/40/">Il Cortegiano / Castiglione</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/70/">Franco Pratesi: Bibliography</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/41/">Oldest Divination with Playing Cards</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/82/">Collection Playing habits</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/42/">5 Decks in Ambras Collection</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/89/">Unusual Tarocchi cards, described 1849</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/87/">Jehan Bresson, 4 Spanish Tarocchi 1570</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/43/">Vespasiano da Bisticci - gambling notes</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/44/">Connaisseur 1754 - Gambling Satire</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/p/71/">Links to Playing Tarot/Tarock</a> </ul></b> </ul></td><td height="50" align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#dddddd"> Playing Cards - Documents and Articles </td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <h1>Notes about Karnöffel, Imperatori, Ludus Caesaris and Keyserspiel</h1> <b> Summary of Entries<br> based partly on Michael's Hursts gathering and Jürgen Ludwigs article, also my own collection<br> <br> <br> </b> <b>1423 Florence/Ferrara, Italy, Imperatori deck</b> <br> <br> <b>1426 Nördlingen, Bavaria</b> <br> In the earliest known reference to Karnöffel, it was "listed in a municipal ordinance of Nördlingen in 1426 as among the games that could lawfully be played at the annual city fête." During the "Jahrmarkt" (yearly city festivity) a place master was installed, who had to observe the played games. It was allowed to the Ratsherrn (members of the city council) to "bassen, im Thurn, karnüfeln, mit hölzlin". However, in the same year 3 persons were arrested by Canzon the Büttel, from which one had "gekartet" and one other played "mit hölzlin". <br> In Nördlingen 1502 "bassen, im turm, karnüflen, ains und hundert (101)" were allowed for one heller on 3 bot, "schantzen" (playing with dice) was completely forbidden.<br> Surprizingly the list of "allowed games" in 1426 and 1502 are nearly identical. <br> <br> <b>1435 Alsace, France </b><br> Meister Ingold wrote Das Guldin Spiel, including a possible reference to Karnöffel.<br> <br> <b>1443 Würzburg, Germany</b> <br> "... a chronicle from Würzburg, Germany for 1443-1455 mentions 'a certain individual... playing at cards a game called the Emperor's Game (ludus Imperatoris)', a literal Latin rendering of Kaiserspiel." The same or a similar name is used around that time in Zürich (unspecified information).<br> <br> <b>1443 Ferrara, Italy, Imperatori deck</b><br> <B>Würzburg, between 1443 - 1455)</B><br> Petrus Wann in his "Tractatus de contractibus" reports about a card game, that was played in the time of Fürstbischof Gottfried IV. (1443 - 55) during the Fasching time an which showed blasphemous tendencies against God and the Holy Virgin: "Et notandum vidi in Herbipoli, cum ibi essem ... Ille tempori Vaschangali (Fasching) unus quidam ibi ludens ad cartas ludum vocatum imperatoris, cum blasmephemaretdeum et beatumvirginem, captus fuit". <br><br> <b>1446 Augsburg</b><br> Karnöffel forbidden; although Augsburg 1446 has relative tolerant playing rules in this time, Karnöffel is disallowed completely: "Item es sol nunfüro nyemand weder reych noch arm, jung noch alt, frowen noch man nicht mehr spilen, kuglen noch karten weder in wirtzhusern noch anderstwo in der statt noch davor in dem prett mag man wol spilen umb ainen den, zwen zu drey botten vund nicht höher. Dessgeleychen mag man kugeln und karten umb ainen de. zweyenouch ze dry botten, doch sol nyeman uf kain kreyden kugeln , spilen, noch karten in dehain weyse. Es sol nyemand karten des kartenspils, daz man nennt KARNÜßLINS in dehain wege und sullen ouch die vorgemelten unterschaiden spil des brettspils kartens und kugelns allain by dem tag beschehen und by dehainem liecht in dehain weys." <B>1448 Balgau (upper Alsace) 1448:</b> <br> Playing was more or less allowed against some obulos for the local church. "Die, so bocken oder lustlis spiln, und ob einer im Spil gewun, sol nach bilcheit darin leigen .... und ob geseln karnueffels oder quentzels oder der achten Korten oder beßschantz machen wolten, soll 1 d in biß geben." <b>1450 Ferrara, Italy, Imperatori deck</b><br><br> <b>1450 Germany</b><br> A poem by Meissner provides the earliest information about the ranking of cards in Karnöffel.<br> <br> <b>1452 Ferrara, Italy, Imperatori deck</b><br><br> <b>1454 Ferrara, Italy (?)</b><br> "... records state that Borso d'Este played at cards: 'of the Emperor' (dell'imperatore) in Ferrara around 1454."<br><br> <b>1455</b><br> Molitors <i>Würfellosbuch</i> mentions, dass mit "lützel Augen", small cards, im "wildem Carnöffelspyle" a win could be made<br><br> <b>1460, 1486</b><br> Noted in Fastnachtsspielen (unspecified);Women do also play Karnöffel<br><br> <b>1475</b><br> Noted in the <i>Theutonista</i> (lower Rhine language)(source: Grimm's Wörterbuch)<br><br> <b>1496 Kaiserberg, Germany</b><br> A sermon by Bishop Johann Geiler compared the order of cards in the game of Karnöffel or Kaiserspiel (using both names) to the social order, lamenting that "everything is turned upside down" in Karnöffel<br><br> <b>1515 Kaiserberg, Germany</b><br> A sermon by Bishop Geiler notes that in this inverted social order, "the Carnöffel beats them all"<br> <br> <b>1537 Germany</b><br> A Protestant satirical work uses the allegory of Karnöffel to berate the Pope.<br> <br> <b>1546 Germany</b><br> Another Protestant work, in the form of a dialogue between the Devil and the Pope, includes information about a number of rules of play.<br> <br> <b>1783 Thuringia, Germany</b><br> "The earliest detailed account of the manner of play comes from an article published in a German periodical of 1783, describing Karniffle as then played among the Thuringian peasantry." "The Thuringian and Frisian versions have the surprising feature of having two trump suits, while the Swiss forms have only one." <br><br> <b>Sources:</b> <br> <a href="http://geocities.com/cartedatrionfi/Frag1.html" target="_blank">Michael J. Hursts Fragments</a><br> <a href="http://www.landsknechtsrotte.de/portal/k-einleitung.html" target="_blank">Jürgen Ludwig's article</a><br> Grimm's Worterbuch (see <a href="http://trionfi.com/01/c/karn/name.html" target="_blank">article to Name Karnoeffel</a>)<br> Schreiber (1938) </td></tr></table> <hr><br><br> <center><b><font size="1">Trionfi.com </b>has its focus on Tarot History and especially the origin of Tarot in 15th century, also the representation of about 100 000 Tarot and other playing cards in the Tarot Museum. <br><b>The Chapter "Playing Cards - Documents and Articles"</b> presents specific material to the situation of playing card development in late 14th and 15th century. <br> Author: when not otherwise specified, autorbis. 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