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25-696: The Ober , formerly Obermann , in Austrian also called the Manderl , is the court card in the German and Swiss styles of playing cards that corresponds in rank to the Queen in French packs . The name Ober (lit.: "over") is an abbreviation of the former name for these cards, Obermann , which meant something like 'superior' or 'lord'. Van der Linde argues that the King, Ober and Unter in

50-716: A palanquin , Amatya or Mantri (vizier) in a ratha , Senani (general) on horseback, Padathi or Sevaka (foot-soldier or servant) and Dhwaja (flag or banner). In 17th century Persia, there were accounts of 25-card As-Nas packs in use, with five colored suits, each suit having one court card and four numeral cards. The pack developed into having an ace and four court cards (Shah (شاه, King), Bibi (بی‌بی, Lady), Serbaz (سرباز, Soldier), and Lakat (لکات, Dancer)) per suit. In 1877, Robert Murdoch Smith wrote that these cards were 'gradually falling into disuse, being replaced by European.' Throughout most of their history, face cards were not reversible. Players may accidentally reveal that they hold

75-642: A concept of court cards, though two entire suits featured faces for a period of time when Water Margin cards were popular. When playing cards arrived in Iran, the Persians created the first face cards. The best preserved deck is located in the Topkapı Palace . To avoid idolatry , the cards did not depict human faces and instead featured abstract designs or calligraphy for the malik (king), nā'ib malik (viceroy or deputy king) and thānī nā'ib (second or under-deputy). It

100-452: A deck of four suits. The third court card may have had a special role to play since the Spanish, French, and Italians called the newly introduced cards naipe , nahipi , and naibi respectively as opposed to their Arabic name of Kanjifah. In a 1377 description of cards by John of Rheinfelden , the most common decks were structurally the same as the modern 52-card deck . Each suit contained

125-483: A face card if they flip them right-side up. During the 18th century, Trappola and Tarocco Bolognese decks became the first to be reversible. The trend towards double-headed cards continued throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Some patterns resisted the innovation, most notably Spanish-suited decks where full figured courts remain dominant. Current playing cards are structured as follows: While modern decks of playing cards may contain one or more Jokers depicting

150-675: A game in mind as it was an expensive wedding gift and was probably never played. Standing kings are a Spanish innovation which was copied by the French. In the 1540s, Portuguese traders brought their Spanish-influenced playing cards to Japan. In 1633, however, the Tokugawa shogunate banned these cards as part of their Sakoku policy. To get around the ban, Japanese manufacturers radically redesigned their " karuta " (cards) and renamed them to "fuda." The face cards became increasingly abstract and near indistinguishable since face cards have no value in games in

175-467: A pack of German cards represented the military ranks of general, officer ( Oberofficier ) and sergeant ( Unterofficier ), while the pip cards represented the common soldier. The figure depicted on an Ober is usually a nobleman or officer . It is distinguished from the lowest court card, the Unter (lit. "under", formerly Untermann or "vassal", "subject", "subordinate"), by the figure's suit sign located in

200-510: A person, such as a jester or clown , they are not normally considered face cards. The earliest Jokers, known as Best Bowers, did not depict people until the late 1860s. John of Rheinfelden John of Rheinfelden ( German : Johannes von Rheinfelden ), also Johannes Teuto and John of Basle (born c.  1340 ), was a Dominican friar and writer who published the oldest known description in Europe of playing cards . Brother John

225-560: A seated king and two marshals , one holding the suit symbol upwards while the other downwards. The marshals correspond to the Ober and Unter ranks in modern-day German and Swiss playing cards . As marshals were cavalry commanders, both ranks may have been mounted unlike their modern counterparts. Less popular decks included ones in which two kings were replaced with queens , all the kings replaced by queens, queens and maids added so as to make 15 cards per suit, and 5 or 6 suited decks with only

250-565: Is a Knight or Cavalier instead of a Queen. In French-suited Tarot card packs , the Cavalier is a fourth court card. By contrast, German-suited packs typically depict an officer or overlord, known as the Ober , and a sergeant or peasant known as the Unter . Until the early 20th century, the term coat card was also common. While playing cards were invented in China, Chinese playing cards do not have

275-468: Is possible that the Topkapı deck, a custom made luxury item used for display, does not represent the cards played by commoners. There are fragments of what may be Mamluk court cards from cheaper decks showing human figures which may explain why seated kings and mounted men appear in both Indo-Persian and European cards. Both Mamluk and modern European decks include three face cards per suit, or twelve face cards in

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300-400: Is the earliest Persian reference to Ganjifa playing cards which describes a 96-card, 8-suited pack, and features two court cards per suit: the king and the vizier . The cards became popular throughout India where most variants follow the two court cards system, with few exceptions like the obscure Mysore Chad Ganjifa having six court cards: Raja (king) on elephant or throne, Rajni (queen) in

325-478: The "kabu" family . Eventually, two face card ranks were dropped and only the Jacks were kept for the resulting kabufuda deck. Modern kabufuda is able to utilize a double-headed design influenced by western cards since the ban is no longer in effect. There are two Japanese playing card decks that did not face the same restrictions as kabufuda: Uta-garuta and Unsun karuta . Uta-garuta was found to be of literary merit as

350-417: The card game with reference to the different "courts" (suits) of the pack, thirdly similar instructions for the derive simple people by assigning professions to numerical cards. Johannes writes that the newly introduced cards seemed like a revelation to him and the knowledge that they could be used as a means of understanding and explaining the world had moved him. He uses his description of the card figures as

375-564: The cards all feature waka poems. Half the deck is called yomifuda ("reading cards") and often feature a portrait of the poet who wrote it. With 100 poems, this results in 100 face cards. Unsun karuta feature the face cards derived from Portuguese-suited playing cards : female knaves, knights, and kings. Portuguese cards featured dragons on their aces , which were separated into their own rank. Additionally, two more face cards were added: Un and Sun. This results in six face cards per suit. The 'Rubaiyat-e-Ganjifa' poem (circa 1535) by Ahli Shirazi

400-452: The first time in Europe by the Signoria of Florence on 23 March 1377. It is likely that they originally came from China and probably only reached Europe via India and Egypt a decade earlier. So Rheinfelden's treatise was very topical. Strasbourg, about 50 kilometres from Freiburg, became a centre of playing card production in the 15th century. In addition to other versions, the author mentions

425-585: The four Obers are the highest trump cards , in Doppelkopf the eight Obers are the highest trump cards after the two tens of hearts. In the Bavarian card game, Grasobern , tricks that contain the 'Grass Ober' (i.e. Ober of Leaves ) are to be avoided. Face card In the standard packs of non-English speaking regions, the face or court cards may be different. For example, in Italian- and Spanish-suited packs there

450-463: The kings and two marshal ranks. In Italy and Spain, the Unter and Ober were replaced by the standing Knave and the mounted Knight before 1390, perhaps to make them more visually distinguishable. The Spanish rank of Sota means "under". In 15th-century France, the knight was dropped in favour of the queen. The 15th-century Italian game of trionfi , which later became known as tarot , also added queens and various subjects that would triumph over

475-451: The other cards for the trick-taking games they were used for. These subjects would later become their own dedicated trump suit , and not considered as court cards though some of them do depict faces. The Cary-Yale deck had the most court cards with six ranks: king, queen, knight, mounted lady, knave, and damsel or maid for a total of 24. It is unlikely that the Cary-Yale deck was designed for

500-498: The seated King were two marshals (cavalry commanders), with one holding his suit sign up while the other held his hanging down. This corresponds with modern Obers and Unters with the exception that they are no longer mounted on horseback. Card packs that contain four Obers are used, for example, in Skat , Mau Mau , Bavarian Tarock and Schafkopf . By contrast, the packs used to play Gaigel and Doppelkopf have eight Obers. In Schafkopf,

525-607: The starting point for a broad presentation and interpretation of the corresponding functions at court. Thus, the tract also gives a general insight into the medieval way of thinking, how the social order is structured. He presents his enormous wealth of knowledge, for example by referring to the Bible , the Latin classics, Boëthius , church father Isidor and Doctor of the Church , Thomas Aquinas . Some of Rheinfelden's views seem natural to us and he

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550-464: The still common 4x13 sheet as the basic template, whereby the King , Ober and Unter ("marshals") are mentioned as court cards, but Maids and Queens are also known. He does not state what suit symbols were used. In the foreword, the author explains the purpose of his treatise: firstly to explain the pack of cards, its components and the rules of the game, secondly to derive moral instructions for nobles from

575-489: The treatise De moribus et disciplina humanae conversationis id est ludus cartularum (also referred to as Ludus cartularum moralisatus ), the oldest surviving detailed description of playing cards in Europe from the Middle Ages , which he wrote in 1377 as bans on playing cards began to proliferate. The tract is modelled on the "Chess Allegory" ( Schachallegorie ) of fellow friar James of Cessoles . Card games are attested for

600-560: The upper range of the card. In the Württemberg pattern the Ober appears on horseback, as they were inspired by Cego packs whose face cards included a Knight or Cavalier as well as the Jack , Queen and King . The earliest description of playing cards in Europe comes from John of Rheinfelden in 1377. He describes the recent introduction of cards in his region. For packs he regards as common, beneath

625-500: Was born around 1340 in Freiburg im Breisgau . Little is known of his life, it is only substantiated by his treatise ( Traktat ), published in Basel 1377, and the personal information it contains. He was probably a member of Basel's Dominican monastery, but lived in Freiburg im Breisgau . He is usually known as John of Rheinfelden , although Dummett says this is "probably wrong." He wrote

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