Huck
Meister Ingold wrote 1432 the Guldin Spil, a longer text mainly about chess, but also about other games, between them card playing. Although it is a longer, it doesn't contain too much about the game. Very crucial (and "enlightened", although it's ambiguous) is the following passage:
"Nun sind auf dem kartenspil fier küng mit iren wauppen, und hat ieglicher under im XIII karten, das macht an ainer sum LII, und hat ieglichü das zaychen irs küngs. Etlich kartenspil hat dar zu fier küngin und fier junkfrawen, etlich haben den ackerman, den edelman, den wuchrer, den pfaffen, die toypel, den riffian, den wirt; und gewint ie ains dem andern ab: dem edelman der wuchrer, dem wuchrer der pfaff, dem pfaffen das täppelweib, dem täppelweib der riffian, dem riffian der wirt, dem wirt der weinman, dem weinman wider umb der pauman der den wein pauwen sol, der nimpt das gelt wider von dem wirt."
Michael Hurst thinks it needs a direct translation, we concluded to leave it better in its original form to keep the ambiguous form alive.
Our ideas to it are given at:
http://trionfi.com/0/mi/00/
, Michael Hurst gave his translation in private communication with excusing words :
"That was my point. As best I can tell, based on the fragments which you
did translate, Ingold was saying something like this:
(Ingold's text): 'Now there are card-games of four Kings with their emblems, which have
various [court cards] under them on 13 cards, which [with the 40 pip
cards] makes a total of 52, and they have the suit-signs of their
Kings.
Several card-games have four Queens and four Maidens [as the lower
court
cards], several [card-games] have the Farmer, the Nobleman, the Usurer,
the Priest, the Hooker, the Pimp, the Barkeep, and [each] one wins over
the other: the Nobleman [loses money to] the Usurer, the Usurer [pays]
the Priest, the Priest [pays] the Prostitute, the Prostitute [pays] the
Pimp, the Pimp [pays] the Barkeep, the Barkeep [pays] the Wine-seller,
the Wine-seller [pays] the Farmer who grows the wine, who gets the
money passed on from the Barkeep.'
I'm sure that's not a very good translation, and I'm sure that you
could do a much better job much more quickly. "
Well, there are ambiguous parts and this makes it difficult, anyway Michael has the honour to give the sense "somehow" usuable for an English reader ... although the text loses its complications and ambiguous form with it.
One point seems to be indicated (although it is not directly said and although it's an attackable statement): The 8 mentioned special figures seem to have trump-function and they seem to fill the places at the common Ober and Unter position, and that all in a 4x13 deck with 3 court and 10 number cards.
This information (although still insecure) meets with the follwing conditions.
1. In 1377 Johannes of Rheinfelden (and with him the Mamluks deck) knows decks with 4x13 structure, in which Ober and Unter are seen as marshalls, that is persons in "militarical function". In his 60 cards deck description Johannes relates the number cards to normal professions of not militarical character. One might conclude, that "militarical function" might have been identified as the ability to trump in the game by early players.
2. In 1423 in Ferrara "VIII Imperatori cards"" are imported from Florence. The number VIII puzzled playing card researchers - when the Ingold deck recognizes them as trump, the riddle would be solved.
3. The Karnöffel game, later called also "Keyser-Spiel", which means "game of the Imperatori" was mentioned first time in 1426 in Nördlingen, Germany. Later rules speak of 7 trumps, which are the Karnöffel, Pope, Devil and 4 Farbenstecher. Keyser Spiel is nearly "Imperatori" and 7 is nearly 8 ... it is a general suspicion, that there was a relation between the Italian Imperatori game and the German Karnöffel. Also the suspicion exists, that Ingold's description refers to an early form of Karnöffel.
4. Ingold's deck structure is very near to that of the Michelino deck, which is called by us the oldest Tarot deck ( http://trionfi.com/0/b ), likely produced 1424/25, contemporary to the Ferrara note and the Ingold text and the first note to Karnöffel.
In Martiano's description Franco Pratesi, who redetected and examined the source, was puzzled, that Martiano mentioned 4 kings, Birds as 4 suits and 16 trumps, no other court cards are mentioned. Now Ingold seems to offer in his deck 4 Kings + 4 number suits + 8 trumps (which are recognizable representatives of the court cards).
The only difference between the Michelino deck and the deck described by Ingold would be the number of the trumps. But already Johannes of Rheinfelden knew 1377 decks with 4x13 strcture (which means: two court cards beside the king in each suit eventually equal to "8 trumps") and a deck with 60 cards (which means 4 court cards beside the king in each suit and eventually equal to "16 trumps").
So in a very certain and simple way the 52 card deck of Johannes is the mother of the Ingold deck and Johannes 60 cards deck is the mother of the Michelino deck ... no real great changes in all these 50 years between 1377 and ca. 1425 - 1432; a change in the motifs, true, but not really "new games".
A slow motion activity, which - as it seems - runs from the trumping idea as basis to the later Trionfi forms with 5x14-deck, possibly also 5x16 deck and finally to 4x14 + 22 - structure.
The origin of Tarot. The difference between "normal Card deck" and Tarot is no big jump.
"Nun sind auf dem kartenspil fier küng mit iren wauppen, und hat ieglicher under im XIII karten, das macht an ainer sum LII, und hat ieglichü das zaychen irs küngs. Etlich kartenspil hat dar zu fier küngin und fier junkfrawen, etlich haben den ackerman, den edelman, den wuchrer, den pfaffen, die toypel, den riffian, den wirt; und gewint ie ains dem andern ab: dem edelman der wuchrer, dem wuchrer der pfaff, dem pfaffen das täppelweib, dem täppelweib der riffian, dem riffian der wirt, dem wirt der weinman, dem weinman wider umb der pauman der den wein pauwen sol, der nimpt das gelt wider von dem wirt."
Michael Hurst thinks it needs a direct translation, we concluded to leave it better in its original form to keep the ambiguous form alive.
Our ideas to it are given at:
http://trionfi.com/0/mi/00/
, Michael Hurst gave his translation in private communication with excusing words :
"That was my point. As best I can tell, based on the fragments which you
did translate, Ingold was saying something like this:
(Ingold's text): 'Now there are card-games of four Kings with their emblems, which have
various [court cards] under them on 13 cards, which [with the 40 pip
cards] makes a total of 52, and they have the suit-signs of their
Kings.
Several card-games have four Queens and four Maidens [as the lower
court
cards], several [card-games] have the Farmer, the Nobleman, the Usurer,
the Priest, the Hooker, the Pimp, the Barkeep, and [each] one wins over
the other: the Nobleman [loses money to] the Usurer, the Usurer [pays]
the Priest, the Priest [pays] the Prostitute, the Prostitute [pays] the
Pimp, the Pimp [pays] the Barkeep, the Barkeep [pays] the Wine-seller,
the Wine-seller [pays] the Farmer who grows the wine, who gets the
money passed on from the Barkeep.'
I'm sure that's not a very good translation, and I'm sure that you
could do a much better job much more quickly. "
Well, there are ambiguous parts and this makes it difficult, anyway Michael has the honour to give the sense "somehow" usuable for an English reader ... although the text loses its complications and ambiguous form with it.
One point seems to be indicated (although it is not directly said and although it's an attackable statement): The 8 mentioned special figures seem to have trump-function and they seem to fill the places at the common Ober and Unter position, and that all in a 4x13 deck with 3 court and 10 number cards.
This information (although still insecure) meets with the follwing conditions.
1. In 1377 Johannes of Rheinfelden (and with him the Mamluks deck) knows decks with 4x13 structure, in which Ober and Unter are seen as marshalls, that is persons in "militarical function". In his 60 cards deck description Johannes relates the number cards to normal professions of not militarical character. One might conclude, that "militarical function" might have been identified as the ability to trump in the game by early players.
2. In 1423 in Ferrara "VIII Imperatori cards"" are imported from Florence. The number VIII puzzled playing card researchers - when the Ingold deck recognizes them as trump, the riddle would be solved.
3. The Karnöffel game, later called also "Keyser-Spiel", which means "game of the Imperatori" was mentioned first time in 1426 in Nördlingen, Germany. Later rules speak of 7 trumps, which are the Karnöffel, Pope, Devil and 4 Farbenstecher. Keyser Spiel is nearly "Imperatori" and 7 is nearly 8 ... it is a general suspicion, that there was a relation between the Italian Imperatori game and the German Karnöffel. Also the suspicion exists, that Ingold's description refers to an early form of Karnöffel.
4. Ingold's deck structure is very near to that of the Michelino deck, which is called by us the oldest Tarot deck ( http://trionfi.com/0/b ), likely produced 1424/25, contemporary to the Ferrara note and the Ingold text and the first note to Karnöffel.
In Martiano's description Franco Pratesi, who redetected and examined the source, was puzzled, that Martiano mentioned 4 kings, Birds as 4 suits and 16 trumps, no other court cards are mentioned. Now Ingold seems to offer in his deck 4 Kings + 4 number suits + 8 trumps (which are recognizable representatives of the court cards).
The only difference between the Michelino deck and the deck described by Ingold would be the number of the trumps. But already Johannes of Rheinfelden knew 1377 decks with 4x13 strcture (which means: two court cards beside the king in each suit eventually equal to "8 trumps") and a deck with 60 cards (which means 4 court cards beside the king in each suit and eventually equal to "16 trumps").
So in a very certain and simple way the 52 card deck of Johannes is the mother of the Ingold deck and Johannes 60 cards deck is the mother of the Michelino deck ... no real great changes in all these 50 years between 1377 and ca. 1425 - 1432; a change in the motifs, true, but not really "new games".
A slow motion activity, which - as it seems - runs from the trumping idea as basis to the later Trionfi forms with 5x14-deck, possibly also 5x16 deck and finally to 4x14 + 22 - structure.
The origin of Tarot. The difference between "normal Card deck" and Tarot is no big jump.
K