Tarot, tarock and tarocchi games
Encyclopedia
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
deck. The first basic rules appear in the manuscript of Martiano da Tortona written before 1425. The game of Tarot is known in many variations, mostly cultural.
Tarot card games
The pack with which English-speakers call by the French name Tarot is called Tarocco in Italian, Tarock in German and various similar words in other languages. Tarot games spread to most parts of Europe, notable exceptions being the British Isles, the Iberian peninsula, and the Balkans. Contrary to popular belief, Tarot cards did not precede ordinary playing cards, and they were invented not for occult but for purely gaming purposes. Only later were they used for cartomancy and divinationDivination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
, and also as a field for artists to display specific iconographies, often connected to some ideological system. Concrete forms appear at least since the article of Court de Gebelin in the year 1781.
Tarocchi
Tarocchi (Italian, plural form of Tarocco), and similar names in other languages, is a specific form of playing cardPlaying card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...
deck used for different trick-taking game
Trick-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...
s. This earlier name of the game is first documented in February 1442, Ferrara.
The first basic rules for the game of Tarocco appear in the manuscript of Martiano da Tortona, the next are known from the year 1637. In Italy the game has become less popular, although one version named Ottocento, Tarocco Bolognese, has still survived. There are still other tarot games like Scarto played in Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
, especially Pinerolo and Turin, but the number of tarot games played outside Italy is much higher.
There seems to be a connection between the words Tarot (French) and Tarock (Germanic-Slavic) for the final name Tarocchi developed from French influence. Italian speakers of today claim that French words with an ending "-ot" had been commonly transformed in endings with "-occo" and "-occhi". The poet Francesco Berni
Francesco Berni
Francesco Berni was an Italian poet. He is credited for beginning what is now known as "Bernesque poetry", a serio-comedic type of poetry with elements of satire.-Life:...
still mocked on this word in his Capitolo del Gioco della Primiera written in 1526.
Tarocchini
Tarocchini
Tarocchini, the diminutive form of Tarocco, referring to the reduction of the Bolognese pack from 78 to 62 cards, which probably occurred in the early 16th century, also known as Partita, is a point trick-taking Tarot card game from the 17th century....
(or Partita) can also be played with a Tarot deck with the numbers 2-5 removed.
Tarot
The French game of Tarot, also Jeu de Tarot, is one which uses a traditional 78-card Tarot deck instead of the 54-card deck used to play the Austro-Hungarian game of Tarock. A typical type of Tarot playing card deck is that of the standard French design, the so-called "Tarot NouveauTarot Nouveau
The Tarot Nouveau, French Tarot Nouveau or Bourgeois Tarot deck is a general style of tarot playing card deck. The Tarot Nouveau differs from other styles of tarot deck, such as the Tarot of Marseilles and Rider-Waite decks, in that the Tarot Nouveau is designed solely for playing the various tarot...
", which is French-suited and has face and number layouts similar to the common 52-card deck. The "Tarot Nouveau" deck has trumps which depict scenes of traditional French social activities, in increasing levels of wealth; this differs from the character and ideological cards of the standard Italian-suited Tarot decks such as the Tarocco Piedmontese, the Tarocco Bolognese, the Rider-Waite or even the Tarot de Marseille well-known in cartomancy
Cartomancy
Cartomancy is fortune-telling or divination using a deck of cards. Forms of cartomancy appeared soon after playing cards were first introduced into Europe in the 14th century...
.
A Tarot deck corresponds in every particular with those called Tarocchi by writers of the 16th century. It consists of 56 numeral cards of four suits and 22 emblematic cards called atouts (trumps). Each suit consists of fourteen cards, ten of which are low cards, and the other four court cards, namely the King, Queen, Chevalier, and Valet. Of the atouts, 21 are numbered from 1 to 21, and a non-numbered card called "Fou" (also called "Mat" in the play) has no positive value in the game, but augments the value of any of the other atouts to which it may be joined.
According to the current state of research, the game of Tarot became known in the year 1505 parallel in Taraux (France) and Ferrara (Italy) as Tarocchi. An earlier form of the game had the name Trionfi
Trionfi (cards)
Trionfi, Italian name for playing cards with allegorical content, were probably used for a game of trumps in the 15th century. One typus of the Trionfi decks developed to the Tarot cards.-Name:...
or triumphs, developed later as a general term for trick-taking games (Trumpfen in German and Trump in English), although it has almost completely disappeared in its original function as deck name.
Tarock
Tarock, recorded as one of the oldest types of card games known, is extensively played in Austria and makes a good introduction to the general principles of Tarot play, serving as a springboard to more advanced 54-card, French-suited card games such as Point Tarock and KönigsrufenKönigrufen
Königrufen or Königsrufen is a trick-taking card game four-player variant played in Austria and nearby areas in Central Europe, especially in Slovenia...
. The game is widely played in 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...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, and especially in the countries on the area of the former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, for which even the name Tarockanien has been coined: the 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...
n variation of the game is thus still widely popular among all classes and generations in Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, while in 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...
different rules are applied.
The tarock decks, popular in 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...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, use either the Latin suits of cups, coins, batons and swords, or the German suits of hearts, bells, acorns and leaves. The character representations of the trump cards in non-gaming divinatory tarot is based on representations similar to those found in the Italian tarot decks; Germanic Tarot playing card decks are less likely to feature these characterizations.
Deck of cards
As certain regions have adopted Tarot games that use only a subset of the 78-card deck, the decks themselves have become specialized. A complete Tarot deck such as one for the Jeu de Tarot, contains all 78 cards and can be used to play any game in the family. Austrian-Hungarian Tarock and Italian Tarocco decks, however, are a smaller subset suitable only for games of a particular region.
- 14 cards each in four suitSuit (cards)In playing cards, a suit is one of several categories into which the cards of a deck are divided. Most often, each card bears one of several symbols showing to which suit it belongs; the suit may alternatively or in addition be indicated by the color printed on the card...
s (Anglo-French, German or Latin depending on the region): "pip" cards numbered one (sometimes AceAceAn ace is a playing card. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the case of the Ace of Spades...
) through ten; plus four court cards, a Jack (or Knave), a Knight (or Cavalier), a Queen, and a King. - The 21 tarots, (known in non-gaming divinatory tarot as the Major ArcanaMajor ArcanaThe Major Arcana or trumps are a suit of twenty-two cards in the tarot deck. They serve as a permanent trump suit in games played with the tarot deck, and are distinguished from the four standard suits collectively known as the Minor Arcana...
), function in the game as a permanent suit of trumps. - The Fool, also known as the Excuse, is an unnumbered card that excuses the player from following suit or playing a trump in some variations, and that acts as the strongest trump in others.
Basic rules of play
- Play is typically counter-clockwise; the player to the right of the dealer plays to the first trick. The players must follow suit if they have the card of the suit led, otherwise either trumps or a card from another suit is played. The winner of each trick then leads to the next.
- After the hand has been played, a score is taken based on the point values of the cards in the tricks each player has managed to capture.
Common value of cards
- Oudlers (Trull) - Trumps 1, 21 and the Fool: 5 points
- Kings: 5 points
- Queens: 4 points
- Cavaliers (Knights): 3 points
- Knaves (Jacks): 2 points
- Pip cards: fraction of a point
The cards are usually counted in groups of two or three depending on the game. After the hand has been played, a score is taken based on the point values of the cards in the tricks each player has managed to capture.
For the purpose of the rules, the numbering of the trumps are the only thing that matters. The symbolic tarot images customary in non-gaming divinatory tarots have no effect in the game itself. The design traditions of these decks subsequently evolved independently and they often bear only numbers and whimsical scenes arbitrarily chosen by the engraver. However there are still traditional sequences of images in which the common lineage is visible; e.g. a moon is visible at the bottom left corner of the XXI stems from confusion of German Mond, meaning Moon, with Italian mondo and French monde, meaning "world", the usual symbol associated with the card 21 on Italian suited tarots and in non-gaming divinatory tarot.
In tarot decks made for playing the game, as opposed to those made for divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
or other esoteric uses, the four Latin suits are replaced in many regions with the French suits
Suit (cards)
In playing cards, a suit is one of several categories into which the cards of a deck are divided. Most often, each card bears one of several symbols showing to which suit it belongs; the suit may alternatively or in addition be indicated by the color printed on the card...
of hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. Some variations of the game are played with a 54-card deck (5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of hearts and diamonds and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of spades and clubs are discarded).
External links
- Tarocchi History at Trionfi.com
- Card Games: Tarot Games at Pagat.comPagat.comPagat.com is a website containing rules to hundreds of card games from all over the world. Maintained by John McLeod, it contains information for traditional, commercial, and newly invented card games from all over the world....
- What is Tarot? It's not what you think! at Bloggernews.net
- Tarocchino.com – Non-commercial website by a British Tarot game enthusiast. Includes several introductory videos and a 225-page book for download with rules for about 40 tarot games.