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| tarot (card game) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Tarot (card game) |
| Caption | Tarot trumps and suits |
| Type | Trick-taking card game |
| Players | 3–6 |
| Deck | Tarot deck (78 cards typical) |
| Play | Clockwise or counterclockwise |
tarot (card game)
Tarot (card game) is a family of trick-taking card games played with a specialized tarot deck of trumps and suit cards, originating in Northern Italy and spreading to France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Austria. It evolved alongside developments in trick-taking game design such as bridge (card game), tarocchini, ombre (card game), and influenced later games like jeu de tarot and French Tarot. The game shares historical roots with Italian cultural history and European art movements tied to Renaissance courts and Milanese nobility.
The early history of tarot card games traces to 15th-century Milan and Ferrara, where bespoke painted decks were commissioned by houses such as the Visconti and influenced by patrons like Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Francesco Sforza, and court artists associated with Ludovico Sforza. By the 16th century tarot games spread to France and Switzerland through merchants, diplomats, and soldiers involved in campaigns like the Italian Wars and exchanges with the Habsburg and Valois courts. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century revivals occurred in cultural milieus tied to figures such as Antoine Court de Gébelin, Jean-Baptiste Alliette, and collectors in institutions like the Bibliothèque nationale de France and museums in Vienna and Prague. Scholarly debate among historians at institutions including École des Chartes, British Museum, and universities in Padua and Paris has clarified lineage between earlier trick-taking games like tarocchi and later organized competitions exemplified in Provence and Alsace.
Tarot game decks typically contain a set of 56 suit cards and 22 trump cards, a configuration formalized in French and Swiss variants and seen in historic decks like the Visconti-Sforza and Marseilles patterns. The 22 trumps include numbered allegorical images often linked to iconography from patrons such as Medici commissions and copied in deck types used in Bologna, Tarot of Mantegna collections, and museum archives across Florence and London. Suit cards follow the Latin-suited tradition present in regions under Spanish and Italian influence, while French-suited adaptations arose in Paris and spread to Belgium and Normandy. Special cards like the Fool or Excuse have parallels in artifacts associated with court jesters and appear in inventories from estates linked to families such as the Este and Sforza.
Core gameplay uses trick-taking mechanics familiar from whist and bridge (card game), with trump management, card hierarchy, and partnership or solo bidding systems that echo concepts developed in Schafkopf, Skat, and préférence. Typical phases include bidding, declarations, card exchange with a talon or kitty similar to processes documented in Provence gaming manuals, and trick play where the highest trump or suit card wins the trick, echoing rule treatments found in early rulebooks compiled by clubs in Paris and Lyon. Scoring systems assign fractional or point values to card ranks and trumps, paralleling valuation schemes used in scoring traditions of Skatverband and tournament codes from federations in Switzerland and Italy.
Regional variants include French Tarot codified in France with 78-card decks, Piedmontese and Bolognese tarocchi families in Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna, Swiss Jass-influenced tarock forms in Switzerland, Austrian Grosstarock and Königrufen in Austria, and Minchiate-related forms in Tuscany. Each regional form interacts with local gaming cultures such as café societies in Marseille, clubs in Vienna, and village gatherings in Lombardy, producing distinct conventions reflected in rulebooks from federations in France and tournament circuits in Austria.
Competitive play is organized by national bodies and clubs, with tournament structures resembling those of bridge (card game) and Skat championships, often governed by federations in France and event hosts in Vienna and Zurich. Scoring systems use matchpoint, IMP-style conversions, or point-trick aggregations comparable to methods used in contract bridge tournaments hosted by organizations such as national federations and cultural societies in Belgium and Italy. Prizes, titles, and ranking lists are maintained by associations analogous to federations that oversee competitive play for chess and regional mind-sport contests in European cultural centers.
Winning strategies emphasize trump management, counting, partnership signaling, and endplay techniques akin to advanced play in bridge (card game), Skat, and Schafkopf. Tactical considerations include timing of the Fool/Excuse use, defense against long-suit leads, and declarer plans mirroring squeeze and endplay motifs studied in analytical treatises and coaching sessions in clubs across Paris, Lyon, Vienna, and Turin. Top players often study historical masters recorded in tournament annals and contribute to theory in publications circulated among clubs and federations.
The playing-card tradition influenced visual motifs later associated with occult and divinatory practices advanced by writers like Eliphas Lévi and Antoine Court de Gébelin in salons of Paris and London, where the same card images used in games appeared in esoteric writings and museum exhibits. Collections at institutions such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France, British Museum, and regional archives in Milan and Florence preserve historic decks that informed both gaming culture and the emergence of tarot divination practices among occultists connected to circles around Paris and Prague. Contemporary scholarship in departments at Université Paris-Sorbonne and universities in Vienna and Padua distinguishes the gaming tradition from divinatory reinterpretations, while cultural festivals and museums in Italy and France celebrate both aspects.
Category:Card games Category:Trick-taking games Category:French games