(Neo-)Latin names for the trumps

Niclas

I have been wondering about what would be the most appropriate Latin (or Neolatin, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Latin, maybe even for use in Contemporary Latin, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_Latin) names for the trumps, starting with names from historical sources, but fit for modern use. By "fit for modern use" I mean that a name like "La sagitta" might not be the best for the standard iconography of the tower-card, and that "El gobbo" does not necessarily fit the hermit.

Knowing only some very rudimentary Latin myself, I did some online research, referring to several sources (among them the Steele Sermon, of course, and also the Vulgate).

Even though this question is not exclusively a matter of historical research, but may also lead to the formation of neologisms, I post it here since it obviously has to do with the historical Latin names of the trumps and also because I hope that members knowledgeable in Latin might be found here. If the moderators think this question is inappropriate here, I do apologize and humbly wait for the thread to be moved elsewhere.

My list so far, please feel free to comment, point out errors, suggest alternatives etc:

- Magus (which of course gives a RWS rather than a traditional meaning) or Joculator (implying a more traditional meaning)
- Papessa
- Imperatrix
- Imperator
- Papa
- Amor
- Carrus
- Justitia
- Eremita (Looks like a female noun to me, can it be used to describe a male figure?)
- Rota
- Fortitudo
- Pendulus (This is an adjective ("hanging") according to the online dictionaries, could it also be used as a noun ("the hanging one")?)
- Mors
- Temperantia
- Diabolus
- Turris (I know this is rather non-traditional...)
- Stella
- Luna
- Sol
- Angelus is traditional, could it also be Sententia? Or Judicium? Please help.
- Mundus
- Stultus

What do you think?
 

kwaw

Alciato's Latin names for the cards - 1543:

Mundus habet primas, croceis dein Angelus alis:
Tum Phoebus, luna, & stella, cum fulmine daemon:
Fama necem, Crux antesenem, fortuna quadrigas:
Cedit amor forti & justo, regemque sacerdos:
Flaminicam regina praeit queis caupo propinat
Omnibus, extremò stultus discernitur actu.

Which gives us:

Mundus - World (universe, heavens; mankind; toilet/dress (woman), ornament, decoration)
Angelus - Angel (messenger)
Phoebus - Phoebus
Luna - Moon
Stella - Star (planet, heavenly body; point of light in jewel; constellation; star shape)
Fulmen - Lightning (lightning, flash; thunderbolt; crushing blow)
Daemon - Devil (spirit, supernatural being, intermediary between man and god; evil demon)
Fama - Fame (rumor; reputation; tradition; fame, public opinion, ill repute; report, news)*
Nex, necis - Death (death, murder)
Crux - Cross (hanging tree; impaling stake; crucifixion; torture/torment/trouble/miser)
Senex - Old Man
Fortuna - Fortune (chance, luck, fate; prosperity; condition, wealth, property)
Quadriga - Four Horse Chariot
Amor - Love (love; affection; the beloved; Cupid; affair; sexual/illicit/homosexual passion)
Fortis - Strong (powerful, mighty, vigorous, firm, steadfast, courageous, brave, bold)
Justus - Just (just, fair, equitable; right, lawful, justified; regular, proper)
Sacerdos - Priest
Rex, regis - King
Regina - Queen
Flaminica - Priestess (wife of a flamen/priest)
Caupo - Innkeeper (shopkeeper, salesman, huckster; keeper of a tavern)
Stultus - Fool

... caupo propinat
Omnibus, extremò stultus discernitur actu.

... the innkeeper toasts** everyone, outside of these, separate to the sequence, is the fool.***

(Re: the Bagat is also an innkeeper in the Piscina Discourse 1563.)

* The 14th card as Fama : note too that in the Belgium pattern and in the Vieville, temperance has a banner that reads Fama Sol.)

** propinat - to pass the cup, give a toast, drink to anyone (his health), pledge; give to drink; hand over, yield up; make)

*** actu = (ablative of) actus = act, performance (of play), delivery; action, deed; series/sequence; progress;

quote:
The World has first place, then the Angel with golden wings:
Next Phoebus, the Moon, and the Star, with lightning, the demon:
Fame (before) death, the Cross before the old man, fortune (before) the chariot:
Love cedes to the strong and the just, the king to the priest;
The Queen precedes the Flaminica, and the inn-keeper yields up
To All; on the outside actually, the Fool is separated.
Trans. Ross G Caldwell

(I think there is another latin list somewhere - but I cannot find it at the moment.)
 

DoctorArcanus

An interesting idea, Niclas.

I think you and Kwaw have already identified the best sources: the Steele sermon and Alciato.

You might also have a look at the wonderful, but alas very fragmentary, Leber Tarot (1500 ca)
http://pre-gebelin.blogspot.com/2009/04/leber-rouen-tarot.html

Here you can find the Latin Mottos that John Opsopaus associated to the trumps:
http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/PT/

Here I find this footnote:

Volaterranus ait, quod in illis (chartis) scriptae sint monetae, scyphi, gladii, caducei, X, IX, VIII, VII, VI, V, IV, III, II, I, rex, regina, eques, viator pedestris, mundus, justitia, angelus, sol, luna, stella, ignis, diabolus, mors, patibulum, senex, rota fortunae, propugnaculum, amor, currus, temperantia, summus pontifex, papissa, imperator, imperatrix, minimus et denique stoltus. (Andr. Senftlebii "de Alea veterum lib." Lipsiae, 1667, in-8, pp. 137-38.)

mundus,
justitia,
angelus,
sol,
luna,
stella,
ignis,
diabolus,
mors,
patibulum, (gallows i.e. the hanged man)
senex,
rota fortunae,
propugnaculum, (rampart, fortress i.e. Strength)
amor,
currus,
temperantia,
summus pontifex,
papissa,
imperator,
imperatrix,
minimus, (a good translation for the Bagat)
stultus

The source of this list apparently is "Raffaele Maffei, "il Volterrano," (1451–1522), author of the "Commentaria urbana" (1506).

Please note the spelling for "currus" and "papissa".
AFAIK, "eremita" is Italian, not Latin.
 

Niclas

Thank you so much, kwaw! This is a very enlightening source indeed, with a lot of food for thoughts.
Angelus - Angel (messenger)
Angelus certainly seems the standard name in Latin. Are there alternatives? Trumpet/Trombone was used, too, but as far as I remember in Italian, maybe early french, I am not aware of a Latin usage.
Phoebus - Phoebus
Phoebeus (Phoibus Helios) as the designation for Sol - it seems this is a rather learned and scholarly list, then...
Fulmen - Lightning (lightning, flash; thunderbolt; crushing blow)
A nice find, especially because it covers the depictions of a tower as well as others for this card.
Daemon - Devil (spirit, supernatural being, intermediary between man and god; evil demon)
Interesting, not the devil, but a devil.
Nex, necis - Death (death, murder)
Not any old death, but violent death, then. Hmmmmm...
Senex - Old Man
Nicely ambiguous, allows for a hermit as well as for Father Time.
Quadriga - Four Horse Chariot
OK. What is the best Neo-Latin word for a Two Horse Chariot? ;-)
Fortis - Strong (powerful, mighty, vigorous, firm, steadfast, courageous, brave, bold)
Justus - Just (just, fair, equitable; right, lawful, justified; regular, proper)
Interesting usage of adjectives as names for the card.
Sacerdos - Priest
Rex, regis - King
Regina - Queen
Flaminica - Priestess (wife of a flamen/priest)
A step or several down from pope, imperator, empress and papesse.
Caupo - Innkeeper (shopkeeper, salesman, huckster; keeper of a tavern)
This is fascinating indeed - the juggler as a shopkeeper!

Again, thank you very much for making me aware of this text.
 

Niclas

Thank you, DoctorArcanus!

You might also have a look at the wonderful, but alas very fragmentary, Leber Tarot (1500 ca)
I was not aware of the Leber Tarot, many thanks for that. "Imperator assiriorum" on a camel, how delightful!

Here you can find the Latin Mottos that John Opsopaus associated to the trumps:
http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/PT/
I will have a closer look at that during the week.
mundus,
justitia,
angelus,
sol,
luna,
stella,
ignis,
diabolus,
mors,
patibulum, (gallows i.e. the hanged man)
senex,
rota fortunae,
propugnaculum, (rampart, fortress i.e. Strength)
amor,
currus,
temperantia,
summus pontifex,
papissa,
imperator,
imperatrix,
minimus, (a good translation for the Bagat)
stultus

The source of this list apparently is "Raffaele Maffei, "il Volterrano," (1451–1522), author of the "Commentaria urbana" (1506).
The Bagat, with all the mystery concerning his various names and their etymology, is certainly problematic to find a generalized neolatin name for. I was not aware of minimus yet.
Please note the spelling for "currus" and "papissa".
AFAIK, "eremita" is Italian, not Latin.
I corrected the spelling in my personal notes, thank you. "Eremita" was given as Neolatin in one of the dictionaries I consulted, but perhaps it would be more correct to consider it "already italian".
 

Ross G Caldwell

Here's a post from a few years ago on another list with all the Latin titles I know.

The last one has Italian titles, but Latin phrases are associated with them.

----------------------------------

One of the "tarocchi appropriati" of the list I posted (number 14) contains Latin phrases for the men (Canons of San Pietro in Bologna) assigned trump cards.

I thought it might be interesting to post the various Latin lists of titles that survive - at least four. Some people (like me) have liked to spend idle time translating the names into Latin and other languages, like Provençal or Occitan. In Latin, at least, here is some historical precedent.

1. Rouen tarot (early 16th century; ref. e.g. Kaplan II, 185, 187))

Velim fundam dari mihi (Fool) - That someone would give me a net!
Pontifex Pontificum (Pope) - High Priest of the High Priests
Victoriae premium (Chariot) - The reward of Victory
Omnium dominatrix (Fortune) - Mistress of All
Rerum Edax (Time/Hermit/Old Man) - Devourer of things
Perditorum Raptor (Devil) - Ravisher of the Lost
Inclitum sydus (Star) - Glorious Star

2. Andrea Alciato, "[Parergon] Juris libri VII posteriores" (Lyon, Sebastian Gryphus, 1544), bk. VIII ch. xvi (p. 90)

C order.

Mundus - World
Angelus - Angel
Phoebus - Apollo
Luna - Moon
Stella - Star
Fulmen - Thunderbolt
Daemon - Demon, Devil
Fama - Fame
Nex - Murder, Death
Crux - Cross
Senex - Old Man
Fortuna - Fortune
Quadriga - Four-horse chariot
Fortis - Strength (or The Strong)
Justus - The Just
Amor - Love
Sacerdos - Priest
Rex - King
Regina - Queen
Flaminica - Priestess (wife of Sacerdos)
Caupo - Taverner, Inkeeper
Stultus - Fool, Idiot

3. Andreas Senftleben, Das Werk behandelt Etymologie, Erfindung, Arten und Formen der Spiele (Würfel, Brett, Schach, Karten; Knabenspiele)... ca. 1630

Evidently translated from Garzoni's Italian list of titles in "Piazza universale" (1585)

B order.

Chapter XVIII "Chartæ lusoriæ. Micatio", §9 (p. 237) "De nova etiam chartarum inventione Volateranus ait, quod in illis scriptae sint Monetae, Scyphi, Gladii, Caducii, X. IX. VIII. VII. VI. V. IIII. III. II. I. Rex, Regina, Eques, Viator pedestris, Mundus, Justicia, Angelus, Sol, Luna, Stella, Ignis, Diabolus, Mors, Patibulum, Senex, Rota Fortunae, Propugnaculum, Amor, Carrus, Temperantia, Summus Pontifex, Papissa, Imperator, Imperatrix, Minimus, Stultus"

Thus:

21 mundus
20 justicia
19 angelus
18 sol
17 luna
16 stella
15 ignis - Fire
14 diabolus
13 mors - Death
12 patibulum - Gibbet
11 senex
10 rota fortunae
9 propugnaculum - Bulwark, Defense
8 amor
7 carrus
6 temperantia
5 summus pontifex - Supreme High Priest (title of Pope)
4 papissa - Popess
3 imperator
2 imperatrix
1 minimus - The Least
0 stultus

4. Thrionfi de Tarocchi e motivi latini appropriati a ciascuno dei Canonici di San Pietro (ca. 1740)

A order.

Angelo - Donduzzi - Non est dolus
Mondo - Riccardi - Microcosmus
Sole - Cecchini - Vix sufficit
Luna - Belvisi - Nunquam satis
Stella - Cappi - Undique fulget
Saetta - Mignani - Montes conterit
Diavolo - Prov. Vernizzi - Circuit querens quem devoret
Morte - Locatelli - Hanc adspicite
Traditore - Cappelli - Ave Rabbi
Vecchio - Sacchi - Utinam tantum
Rota - Conti - Dives et pauper
Forza - Zambeccari - Potens in sermone et opere
Giusta - Cussini - Lingua eius gladius acutus
Tempra - Francia - Fratres sobrii estote
Carro - Mini - Nihil significat
Amore - Moneta - Pax vobis
Bagatino - Zanotti - Laudate pueri Dominum
Matto - Arnoaldi - Stultus propter Christum
Peggi - Africana fides
Quattro / Longhi - In curribus et Equis
Mori / Vernizzi - Solus ignoblilis
Curti

(edition of Vitali and Zanetti 2005, p. 166 (no. 3))

-. Not a fraud
-. Microcosm
-. Barely qualified
-. Never enough
16. Shining in every way
15. He smashes mountains
14. He goes about seeking whom he may devour
13. Behold this!
12. Hail, Rabbi!
11. If only (it were) so much
10. Rich and poor
9. Mighty in word and deed
8. His tongue is a sharp sword
7. Brethren, be sober.
6. It means nothing
5. Peace to you
(Moro). Faithful Africa
(two Mori). On chariots and horses
(Moro). Alone, of low birth
-. Youths, praise the Lord!
-. Fool for Christ
 

Niclas

Thank you, Ross.

Considering the diverse sources, this might be a (not yet complete) list of words useful for naming the trumps in Latin:

--(Bagat?)
Papissa
Imperatrix
Imperator
Pontifex
Amor
Currus
Justitia
Senex
Rota Fortunae
Fortitudo
--(Hanged Man?)
Mors
Temperantia
Diabolus
Fulmen
Stella
Luna
Sol
Angelus (see below)
Mundus
Stultus

Bagat and the Hanged Man seem still problematic to me.

Also, I would like to ask for opinions on alternatives for the Angelus in case one would want to follow the tradition of calling this card the trumpet/trombone. "Tuba" (tube) is what the Vulgate uses, probably for "generic brass instrument", but from the 15th century, the scientific musical terminology should have evolved to distinguish between several instruments, I suppose.
 

Ross G Caldwell

Bagat and the Hanged Man seem still problematic to me.

My first choice would be "traditor" for the Hanged Man. I have no doubt this was the original signification, and it is preserved as such in the Bolognese names.

Bagat is indeed problematic. The names the cardplayers gave to the cards vary between describing the image - like caupo and bateleur - or the value of the card - like minimus and bagatella. The "right" name is hard to find.

If you try to search for the meanings of all the oldest Italian titles for this card, sometimes you find references which suggest a bagatto or a bagatella/o could be both a kind of small coin or "trifle", perfect for the lowest trump, as well as a name for the prestidigitator. It's hard to know which came first.

The only certain thing is that he is the lowest. How he is depicted varies just enough, that his titles vary considerably.
 

DoctorArcanus

3. Andreas Senftleben, Das Werk behandelt Etymologie, Erfindung, Arten und Formen der Spiele (Würfel, Brett, Schach, Karten; Knabenspiele)... ca. 1630

Evidently translated from Garzoni's Italian list of titles in "Piazza universale" (1585)

Hello Ross, thank you for posting your list of sources. So Senftleben's list does not come from Volterranus but from Garzoni, sorry for misinterpreting that. I guess this is off topic, but does Volterranus say anything about tarot, or does he only mention card games in general?