Hofamterspiel
Encyclopedia
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...
and Bohemia and Duke of Austria from 1453 to 1457. It was found among the great collection of art treasures of Archduke Ferdinand of Tirol
German Tyrol
German Tyrol is a historical region in the Alps now divided between Austria and Italy. It includes largely ethnic German areas of historical County of Tyrol: the Austrian state of Tyrol and the province of South Tyrol but not the largely Italian-speaking province of Trentino .-History:German...
in castle Ambras, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, together with another called Ambras deck.
Illustrations
The 48 cards of the deck, measuring c. 97 mm x 140 mm (3¾ in x 5½ in), are decorated with bright-colored tempera paint and bear details in silver and gold leaf. The four suits of this set depicting court functions are represented by means of four heraldic colours. Each suit sign carries the coats of arms of four kingdoms: FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, so that, accordingly, each card carries the title of the function depicted and the respective Roman number in relation to the suit sign it represents.
The illustrations, with their names written in archaic German, depict the precedence of different court functions during the late Middle Ages, together with the values of the cards, numbered 1 - 10 in Roman numerals, except for the king and queen which have no number and are also the only two subjects that do not state the character's occupation.
In all four suits the I features a fool, Narr, or its female equivalent Narryn, and the two highest cards next to the king and queen are the master of the household, Hofmeister X, who was in charge of the court during the ruler's absence, and the marshal, Marschalk IX, in charge of any duty that involved the use of horses or carriages. With the exception of two subjects, the Jungfrawe, card VI in all suits, and the Trometer, card IIII in Germany and Hungary, all other personages are individual and don’t appear in any other suit.
The social rank of each of each one of the personages may be easily understood, according to the higher or lower value of the relevant card. For instance, the Doctor, Artzt, in Bohemia suit, would have shared more or less the same social rank as a Chaplain, Capplan, in Germany suit, or of a Chancellor, Kanzler, in Hungary suit, or of a Household Mistress of a queen or a princess, Hofmeistryn, in France suit, so all these subjects are featured on the eighth, VIII, card of different suits.
Meaning
The Hofämterspiel takes its name from the positions held by most of the characters which the cards depict, positions which appear to have been standard feature of a princely court during the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. The standard names by which the court positions are known to us today tell us simply what their bearers' duties originally were on a country estate. The word "marshal", for instance, is derived from the original designation for the servant in charge of horses, whose duties involved him in any activities where horses played the major role - in the course of journeys and campaigns, whenever quarters had to be found for the king and his entourage. With the growing importance of cavalry in times of war, the marshal's military duties were extended and in the field he became the fieldmarshal.
But despite that, unlike other known decks of the same age belonging to German culture, such as the Hofjagdspiel ("court hunting deck") and the Stuttgarter Spiel ("Stuttgart deck"), the important is that the Hofämterspiel reflects the political relationships in Central Europe in the mid-15th century and was basically inspired by the standard social structure of royal courts during the late Middle Ages. Therefore, what makes these cards so interesting is the fact that not only their intrinsic value for the early history of playing cards are shown, but also the evidence they provide for the understanding of the social hierarchy and everyday's life in late medieval courts.
Personages in the Hofämsterspiel
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- Note: Names that are not found in all four suits are highlighted in brown
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| CORRESPONDING NUMBER OF THE CARD | THE SUIT OF BOHEMIA | THE SUIT OF FRANCE | THE SUIT OF GERMANY | THE SUIT OF HUNGARY |
| ... | König | König | König | König |
| ... | Königin | Königin | Königin | Königin |
| X | Hofmeister | Hofmeister | Hofmeister | Hofmeister |
| IX | Marschalk | Marschalk | Marschalk | Marschalk |
| VIII | Artzt | Hofmeistryn | Capplan | Kantzler |
| VII | Kammermeister | Schenk | Truchses | Kuchenmeister |
| VI | Jungfrawe | Jungfrawe | Jungfrawe | Jungfrawe |
| V | Valkner | Koch | Kellner | Schütze |
| IIII | Trometer | Marstaler | Barbier | Trometer |
| III | Herold | Hofschneider | Renner | Fischer |
| II | Hefneryn | Jeger | Bote | Pfister |
| I | Narr | Nerryn | Narr | Nerryn |
Hunting game
Which game or games the Hofämterspiel was devised for is virtually impossible to tell, as no other source mentions the deck or its use, except the catalogue entry that describes Ferdinand of Tirol's belongings. The very fine quality of the cards, as well as the particular ranking scheme, suggest that the Hofämterspiel was likely used for playing a trick-taking gameTrick-taking game
A trick-taking game is a card game or tile-based game in which play centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called tricks. The object of such games then may be closely tied to the number of tricks taken, as in plain-trick games such as Whist, Contract Bridge, Napoleon, Rowboat, and...
, in which the Narr and Narryn might have acted as jokers.
Esoteric symbols
In some respects the Hofämterspiel reminds us of the so-called Mantegna TarocchiMantegna Tarocchi
The Mantegna Tarocchi, also known as the Tarocchi Cards, Tarocchi in the style of Mantegna, Baldini Cards, are two different sets each of fifty 15th century Italian old master prints in engraving, by two different unknown artists...
, a set of 50 copper engraved cards from Italy, c.1465, which also represents a world order, or hierarchy, but in the Hofämsterspiel, considered one of the oldest Taroky
Tarot, tarock and tarocchi games
Tarot, tarock, tarocchi, etc., are a group of card games played with the tarot deck. The first basic rules appear in the manuscript of Martiano da Tortona written before 1425...
packs, contains a card called Kuchenmeister, which might be the prototype of Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
's Oberkôchin, or Head Cook in America. Though a Kuchenmeister is a master chef and not a head cook, their possible connection should not be disregarded.