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Regional patterns in Italy: green is Italian, blue is German, yellow is French, and orange is Spanish

Playing cards (carte da gioco) have been in Italy since the late 14th century. As Latin suited cards, they use swords (spade), cups (coppe), coins (denari), and clubs (bastoni). All Italian suited decks have three face cards per suit: the fante (Knave), cavallo (Knight), and re (King), unless it is a tarocchi deck in which case a donna or regina (Queen) is inserted between the cavallo and re. Italian suited cards normally only refer to cards originating from northeastern Italy around the former Republic of Venice as the rest of Italy uses Spanish suits, French suits or German suits. Until the late 19th century, Italy was composed of many smaller independent states or under foreign occupation which led to the development of various regional patterns. Italian suited cards are largely confined to northern Italy, parts of Switzerland, Dalmatia and southern Montenegro. Popular games include Scopa, Briscola, Tressette, Bestia, and Sette e mezzo.

History

Milanese tarocchi c. 1500

Playing cards arrived from Mamluk Egypt during the 1370s. Mamluk cards used suits of cups, coins, swords, and polo-sticks. As polo was an obscure sport, Italians changed them into batons.^[1] Italy was a collection of small states so each region developed its own variations. Southern Italy was under strong Spanish influence so their cards closely resemble the ones in Spain. Northern Italian suits used curved swords instead of straight ones and their clubs are ceremonial batons instead of cudgels. Swords and clubs also intersect unlike their Spanish counterparts.

Tarot cards were invented during the early 15th century in northern Italy as a permanent suit of trumps (trionfi). Italian-suited cards are rarely found outside of Northern Italy. In the past, however, tarot cards based on those from Milan, the Tarot of Marseilles, spread to France, Switzerland, and most of central and northern Europe before being replaced by French-suited tarots during the 18th and 19th centuries. In a few places in Switzerland, the Italian-suited Swiss 1JJ Tarot is still used for games.

The Venetian game of Trappola also spread northwards until dying out in the mid-20th century. The Greek word for playing card, "Τράπουλα", is a transliteration of Trappola.^[1] It may have entered into the Greek language from the Venetian-occupied Ionian Islands during the 16th century. In Corfu, Aspioti-ELKA produced Venetian pattern cards until the Greco-Italian War.

40-card stripped decks lacking the 8s, 9s, and 10s are the most common format found in Italy today. This is the result of popular 16th and 17th century games like Primero and Ombre.

Trentine, Bresciane, and Bergamasche

Trentine deck

These three patterns are closely related, having been formed in close proximity to one another. The Trentine pattern is believed to be the oldest surviving Italian pattern and the origin of the Bresciane and Bergamasche patterns. Trappola cards may also have originated from this pattern.^[2]

Trentine cards are sold in either packs of 40 or 52. The smaller deck is missing the 8s through 10s. The larger deck comes with a pair of Jokers. All the Kings sit on thrones and the cards are not reversible. The cards utilize only five colors: black, white, red, blue, and yellow which has led to face cards with blue, yellow, and red hair. Trentine pip cards also have numerals though not always in the corner. These cards are wider than the two below.

The Bresciane deck comes only in sets of 52 cards and are not reversible. The cards are slightly more colorful, adding green and brown. Only the 7 and 9 of Swords are numbered and they are found within the pips.

The Bergamasche pattern comes in decks of 40 cards only. They are reversible or double-headed, meaning they can be turned upside down. None of the pip cards are numbered and color is added to the faces of the characters.

Trevisane and Triestine

The Trevisane deck, also known as the Trevigiane, Venetian or Veneto deck, comes in sets of 40 or 52.^[3] The smaller set is missing ranks 8 through 10 while the larger often includes two Jokers to bump it up to 54 cards. The face cards are reversible and the pip cards have corner indices.

Closely related is the Triestine pack, which was created in the mid-19th century and was once available in 52 card sets but now only 40 card decks are sold.^[4] Though ranks 8 through 10 were removed, the face cards are still numbered 11 through 13. The face cards are reversible with each half separated by white box that labels the card, a feature usually found only in some tarot decks. This is the only deck in which both face cards and pip cards are numbered though not always in the corner.

These patterns can be found in some regions that used to be part of the Venetian Republic's Stato da Màr.

Primiera Bolognese and Tarocco Bolognese

Primiera Bolognese deck

Cards from Bologna are sold in two sets, the 40 card Primiera Bolognese set and the 62 card Tarocco Bolognese set. The Primiera set is used for standard games like Primero while the Tarocco set is used to play Tarocchini. The Primiera set goes from ranks Ace to 7, Knave, Knight, and King. The Tarocco set goes from ranks 6 to 10, Knave, Knight, Queen, King, and Ace.^[5] All ranks that they share in common appear very similar but are not identical.

The Tarocco set's trump cards are also different from other tarot decks.^[6] While it has 21 trump cards, only trumps 5 to 16 are numbered and four of the lower trumps are considered equal. The Magician is an unnumbered trump and ranks as the lowest. All the face cards and trumps are reversible. Tarocco sets by Dal Negro includes two Jokers that aren't used in any tarocchini games.^[7]

Tarocco Piemontese and Swiss 1JJ

The Tarocco Piemontese is a 78-card tarot deck from Piedmont and the most popular tarot playing deck in Italy. It is derived from the Tarot of Marseilles.^[8] Unlike the traditional Piemontesi deck which uses French suits, the tarot deck uses Italian suits. The Fool is numbered as 0 despite not being a trump card. Trumps and most pip cards have indices in modern Arabic numerals (for trumps, cups, and coins) or Roman numerals (for swords and batons). The face cards and trumps are reversible.^[9]Dal Negro's decks include two Jokers that aren't used for tarot games.^[10]

Swiss 1JJ is a 78-card tarot set descended from the Tarot of Besançon, an offshoot of the Marseilles tarot, and is still used in pockets of Switzerland.^[11] Despite having Italian suits, the trumps are labelled in French or German. They are not reversible and the trumps and pip cards use Roman numeral indexing. They are used by the Romansh to play Troccas and by German Swiss to play Troggu.

Non-Italian suits in Italy

• 
  Spanish suits — Napoletane, Sarde, Romagnole, Siciliane, and the Piacentine.


• 
  Portuguese suits — Tarocco Siciliano
  


• 
  French suits — Industrie und Glück (in Trieste and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol), Genovesi, Lombarde or Milanesi, Toscane, and (non-tarot) Piemontesi.


• 
  German suits — Salisburghesi used in South Tyrol
  

See also

• Trappola


• Tarot of Marseilles


• 
  Minchiate, extinct deck with mix Italian/Portuguese suits


• Ganjifa

References