Those Ornate Face Cards, Kings, Queens And Jacks, Are Based On Real Monarchs

Playing Card Collection Day celebrates the collection of one of the oldest forms of portable art (circa 900s). Playing cards are literal galleries of art and inspiration, showing and communicating the intentions of an artist to the public while also archiving the cultural values of their time. Collecting these art pieces allow us to be curators of our own galleries to display representing different check points in time. These collections can be seen as extensions of the collector and this day is a time to celebrate and share their collections to the public.

• Scholars have argued that the “game of leaves,” played in China in the 9th century, was the earliest card game.
• Those ornate kings and queens peering out from your winning hand might look like random illustrations, but they’re actually based on very real monarchs.

  King of Spades – David
  King of Hearts – Charles (possibly Charlemagne, or Charles VII, where Rachel would then be the pseudonym of his mistress, Agnès Sorel)
  King of Diamonds – Julius Caesar
  King of Clubs – Alexander the Great

  Queen of Spades – Pallas
  Queen of Hearts – Judith
  Queen of Diamonds – Rachel (either biblical, historical (see Charles above), or ythical as a corruption of the Celtic Ragnel, relating to Lancelot below)
  Queen of Clubs – Argine (possibly an anagram of regina, which is Latin for queen, or perhaps Argea, wife of Polybus and mother of Argus)

  Knave (Jack) of Spades – Ogier the Dane/Holger Danske (a knight of Charlemagne)
  Knave (Jack) of Hearts – La Hire (comrade-in-arms to Joan of Arc, and member of Charles VII’s court)
  Knave (Jack) of Diamonds – Hector
  Knave (Jack) of Clubs – Judas Maccabeus, or Lancelot

• As the popularity of playing cards skyrocketed in the 18th century, British rulers levied taxes on the sale of playing card decks to fund wars (as well as their own lavish lifestyles). When a card deck owner had paid his tax, the ace of spades was stamped with a design indicating the deck was legal. Forging this stamp or an ace of spades card was a crime punishable by death.
• The King of Hearts is the only king without a mustache and is the only king with a sword through his head, otherwise known as the “Suicide King”.
• 52 cards represents the 52 weeks in a year; 4 suits represents the 4 seasons; 13 cards in each suit represents the 13 weeks in each season; 12 Royals represent the 12 months; 2 red and 2 black suits represent the 4 different solstices
• An interesting fact about playing cards is that specially-constructed decks were sent to American soldiers who were being held in German camps during World War II. The United States Playing Card Company collaborated with the government in the production of these cards. What made these cards so unique was, once they became wet, they peeled apart. Inside, the prisoners found parts of maps that would lead them to freedom.

Sources:

Days of the Year

Simplemost

The Playing Card Factory