The Court Cards and Their Origins
The History Behind the High Court
The playing cards arrived in Europe by way of the Middle East. The Mameluke men imported playing cards to Europe during the Moorish conquest of Spain. The military Mameluke brought their version of playing cards, which they called ‘The Game of Deputies.’
Due to the Muslim religion of the military men, their playing card design did not have any illustration of the human body. The Muslim packs merely had symbols representing the kings, deputy kings and second deputies of their playing cards.
The European designers were the first to create actual representations of people on the playing cards deck. The earliest playing card court images appeared in Spain and Italy and were all male illustrations; some were on horses, others were sitting or standing. The activity of that person showed the ranking level of the court card.
In France, the queen replaced one of the male court cards. Playing cards were still designed by hand during this time so card masters had twelve court cards to design and the majority of the images were crudely drawn. Elaborately illustrated court cards were rare and only the very wealthy nobility could afford these early decks with the court cards.
The Mystery of the Monarchs
All playing card enthusiasts have heard the theory that the twelve court cards were all depicted from actual people from the past. These court card are claimed to be inspired by the legendary leaders throughout history.That the King of Hearts was Alexander the Great, The King of Diamonds – Julius Ceasar, The King of Clubs was Charlemagne and that the King of Spades was the biblical King David.
Did the famous leaders inspire the court cards or was it an urban legend that has lasted for centuries? The answer is the latter. The court cards were never based upon actual people. One of the queenly inspirations claims Elizabeth I as its model, but the monarch was born decades after the formation of the playing cards court.
Real-life royalty may not have inspired the playing cards court, but the rumor of their origins has certainly been a royal fabrication that lasted throughout the centuries.
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