Cards used for games or divination Selection of trumps from the Tarot de Marseilles, a typical 18th-century pack Deck of the 22 Significant Arcana cards inspired by the Tarot of Marseilles, but with the author's graphic design The tarot (, first known as and later as tarocchi or tarock) is a pack of playing cards, utilized from at least the mid-15th century in different parts of Europe to play video games such as Italian tarocchini, French tarot and Austrian Knigrufen, a number of which are still played today.
Like the typical playing cards, tarot has 4 matches which vary by region: French matches in Northern Europe, Latin matches in Southern Europe, and German matches in Central Europe. Each fit has 14 cards: ten pip cards numbering from one (or Ace) to 10, and 4 face cards (King, Queen, Knight, and Jack/Knave/Page).
Depending upon the game, the Fool may act as the top trump or may be played to avoid doing the same. These tarot cards are still used throughout much of Europe to play traditional card video games without occult associations. Among English-speaking countries where these video games are not played frequently, tarot cards are used mainly for novelty and divinatory purposes, generally using specifically developed packs.
History [modify] Milanese tarocchi, c. 1500. Playing cards first went into Europe in the late 14th century, but the origin is unidentified. The very first records date to 1367 in Berne and they appear to have actually spread very quickly across the whole of Europe, as might be seen from the records, mainly of card video games being banned. [] Little is known about the look and number of these cards; the only considerable information being offered by a text by John of Rheinfelden in 1377 from Freiburg im Breisgau, who, in addition to other versions describes the standard pack as including the still-current 4 suits of 13 cards, the courts generally being the King, Ober and Unter ("marshals"), although Dames and Queens were currently understood by then.
These fits are still used in standard Italian, Spanish and Portuguese playing card decks, but have likewise been adapted in packs used specifically for tarot divination cards that first appeared in the late 18th century. Try This recorded tarot packs were tape-recorded in between 1440 and 1450 in Milan, Ferrara, Florence and Bologna when extra trump cards with allegorical illustrations were contributed to the common four-suit pack.