Suit You Sir! Trivia Quiz

Answer: China

Playing cards are said to have been around as early as the 9th century in China. It is thought that the Chinese first developed and used these cards as a secondary currency - the cards being similar in appearance to the paper money of the time. People would often play with them and the victor would take the cards as a prize.

In comparison to today's European decks, the Chinese playing cards were very different in appearance. Nevertheless, there were some obvious similarities. One such similarity was the use of suits - the Chinese first used three suits (coins, strings of coins, and myriads of strings of coins) in their Kwan Pa'i playing cards. A fourth suit, in the form of tens of myriads of strings of coins, was later added when the Lut Chi playing cards were developed. These suits show that there was a clear hierarchical order of suit importance - an aspect still seen in the card games of today (e.g. bridge).

Answer: 14th

Most sources state the exact date to be 1377.

There are many contending theories as to how playing cards reached Europe. Some claim that they were introduced by wandering gypsies, others by returning crusaders. However, the crusades had come to an end several decades before the first documented evidence of playing cards, and gypsies arrived several decades after.

It has also been speculated that the game arrived directly from the countries of their early origin (e.g. China and India). However, the traditional games played in these countries (e.g. Ganjifa - India, and As Nas - A Persian game with Chinese roots) showed no sign of prominence in Europe until centuries after 1377.

The most likely story tells us that playing cards were introduced into Europe in the late 1300s by the Mamelukes of Egypt. Unlike those decks found in China and India, the Mameluke deck was not dissimilar to the decks we see today, containing 52 cards and four recognisable suits (polo sticks, coins, swords, and cups).

Answer: The queen

Whereas those cards originally brought to Europe by the Mamelukes did contain court cards, they showed names of military officers, not royal figures. Most traditional European decks contain kings and knaves/jacks.

Italian decks usually include three face cards:
- "fante" (knave or jack) - in some parts of South Italy this card is occasionally called "la donna" (the woman), although the knaves do not usually resemble women
- "cavallo" (horse) - these 4 cards portray riders
- "re" (king)
In traditional Italian games, such as scopa, scopone, and briscola, a deck of 40 cards is used. These are composed of four suits, each suit including number 2 to 7, the number 1/ace, and three face cards (as listed above).


German decks usually consist three face cards:
- "Bube" (young man or knave or jack)
- "Dame" (lady) - it should be noted that there are no crowns on the heads of the four ladies
- "König" (king)
Some traditional German games, such as Skat or Mau-Mau, are played with 32 cards with four suits, each suit including number 7 to 10, a 1/ace, and three face cards (as listed above).

It should be noted that there are many different German and Italian decks due to variance between different regions. Also, games such as poker are usually played in these countries with the Anglo-American 52 card deck.

Answer: Predicting the future

As packs grew and the designs became more extravagant, this invited many to interpret the card's meaning in different ways. Eventually, this evolved into a way of predicting one's future by using a combination of cards. This became very powerful in 15th century Europe, and many began to look upon these tarot cards as a religion. Tarot cards now typically contain 78 cards.

The records show that, in 1392, Charles VI bought three decks of cards, each consisting of 4 suits - cups, swords, coins, and batons. Some of these suits show close relation to early decks (e.g. coins in early Chinese decks), but also to modern day British/French suits (e.g. batons to clubs).

Answer: Pips

One man, who pioneered the technique of printmaking, became famous for his styles of card design. In his deck of cards, from which he achieved his fame, were 5 suits - deer, flowers, birds, beasts of prey, and wild men, and on each card he carved these figures (pips). His identity is not known, but he is commonly known as "Master of the Playing Cards." From 1430-50, this engraver worked in Dresden to produce 106 engravings.

One of the main reasons for his fame (along with the skill in which the cards were engraved) is the rarity of engraved decks at the time. Whereas card games were becoming popular with the masses, they were still enjoyed by royalty, and it was engravers like this who could sell their work to such wealthy buyers. These decks were commonly given as wedding presents at the time, or to avid collectors.

Simultaneously, the increase in demand for playing cards meant mass production bloomed, and these less refined copies were distributed to the general public. This was usually done by using stencils as well as using the more readily available paper (in place of parchment).

Answer: A knight

The traditional German suits are hearts, bells, leaves, and acorns. The main reason for the increase in popularity of modern French/Anglo-American suits was the widespread distribution of German-made decks in the late 15th century.

The French story goes that Vignoles, under the pseudonym "Lahire," after inventing the game of Piquet, designed the cards to accompany the game. Vignoles created these suits so as to represent the chivalry on which the game of Piquet was based. The hearts were said to represent the church, diamonds - arrowheads, clubs - husbandmen, and spades - spear tips. This story is generally accepted as untrue.

Answer: Diamonds

The Anglo-American club is comparable to acorns used in Germanic decks and clubs used in Italo-Spanish decks. It is often associated with wisdom (and sometimes war) in cartomancy.

The heart is depicted by the equivalent heart suit in Germanic decks and cup suit in Italo-Spanish decks. It is strongly associated with love in cartomancy.

The spade is usually associated with the sword - deriving from the Italian "spada" (meaning sword). It is therefore depicted as swords in Italo-Spanish decks. It is comparable also to the "leaf" suit of the Germanic decks and the shields suit in the Swiss-German decks. It often represents challenges in cartomancy.

Answer: Achilles

Julius Caesar is often associated with the King of Diamonds, Alexander with the King of Clubs, and Hector with the Knave/Jack of Diamonds. Other notable figures include David (2nd King of Israel) as the King of Spades, Pallas the Queen of Spades, and Etienne Vignoles (who many believe to have created the 4 Anglo-American suits) as the Knave/Jack of Hearts.

As stated, the Parisian design is standard in France. Playing cards used in the UK originate from Rouen in the 16th century.

Answer: Euchre

The game of euchre was brought to America in the 17th century by German (or possibly Dutch) settlers. The English "euchre" is a translation of the German "juker," which means jack (due the special value of jacks in the game of euchre).

Although the joker was officially first used in 19th century America, it can be seen as having evolved from the fool card often found in tarot decks. This fool card, rather than being represented as a jester (as is the case in the joker card), it often represented a madman or lunatic.

Joker cards began to get more and more common in decks of cards nearing the end of the 19th century. It was not until the first half of the 20th century that two jokers began to be used - usually one coloured and one black and white.

The history behind the joker/fool card can perhaps go towards explaining the odd role the card plays in modern day games. The clear insignificance of the rank of a jester (in comparison to kings or queens) can justify its elimination from several games (e.g. most games of poker, hearts, and spades). However, many saw the fool as a powerful card, as the lunatics on which they were based were often given freedom of speech (which, at the time, was denied to many). The joker card is therefore seen as one of the most important cards in many games (e.g. euchre, canasta, and mighty).

Answer: "The death card"

The Ace of Spades is often seen as the most powerful card in a deck, despite still being one of the lowest value cards in many European games. In some games (e.g. blackjack) the ace can be used as either 1 or 11. Many believe the ambiguity of the card is due to the number it represents - 1. Number 1, whilst being the lowest number in the deck, is the number most associated with victory.

The word "ace" was originally used to describe the side of a die which possessed one mark.

"The death card" comes from the time where playing cards were used to predict one's future. Often used in place of proper tarot cards, each playing card would represent something different, the Ace of Spades being used as the death card. The symbolic use of the Ace of Spades during times of war (in particular the Vietnam war) has led to this negative image of the card to be enhanced.