France

Playing cards have been a fixture of French life since at least 1377, when local ordinances in Paris first prohibited their use in gambling contexts (Dummett, Game, p. 10). By the fifteenth century, France had established itself as a premier source of playing-card manufacturing in Europe. It was during this period that the French suit system—comprising Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs—emerged, eventually becoming the dominant standard across large swathes of the continent (Hargrave, History, pp. 41–42).

While the standard deck flourished, the use of Tarot cards migrated from Italy to France at the close of the fifteenth century. France subsequently became the incubator for the most iconic Tarot pattern in history: the Tarot de Marseille, which solidified during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Depaulis, ‘Tarot de Marseille … Part I’). Regional variations, such as the Tarot de Besançon, branched off from this central tradition (Dummett, Game, pp. 413–414).

France was also the birthplace of the occult Tarot. In the 1770s and 1780s, authors like Court de Gébelin and Jean-Baptiste Alliette (Etteilla) reinterpreted the cards as repositories of ancient wisdom. Etteilla’s creation of the Original Grand Etteilla deck in Paris sparked a revolution in cartomancy that reverberated through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Decker, Depaulis and Dummett, Wicked Pack).

Introduction

France’s contribution to playing-card history is foundational. Beyond establishing the internationally recognized French suit system, the country served as the primary bridge for Tarot’s expansion from Italy to the rest of Northern Europe. From the “Golden Age” of manufacturing in Lyon and Rouen to the occult revival in Enlightenment Paris, French innovations have shaped how the world plays and divines with cards.

History

The earliest documentary evidence of playing cards in France appears in a 1377 ordinance banning their use in Paris. Shortly thereafter, references appear across the country: production is noted in Perpignan in 1380, objections to gambling are recorded in Marseille in 1381, and a ban was enacted in Lille in 1382 (Dummett, Game, p. 10).

A particularly famous entry in the royal accounts of 1392 records a payment to Jacquemin Gringonneur for painting three sets of cards in gold and diverse colours for King Charles VI (Parlett, Guide, p. 37). Historical scholarship once erroneously identified the so-called “Charles VI Tarot” with this entry, fueling the myth that Gringonneur created the first Tarot deck. However, modern analysis has proven that the surviving “Charles VI” cards are of Italian origin and date to nearly a century later; Gringonneur’s work was almost certainly a standard playing deck, not Tarot (Hargrave, History, p. 31; Dummett, Game, p. 69; Kaplan, Encyclopedia, i, pp. 112–116).

The French Suit System and Regional Patterns

During the fifteenth century, the French suit system began to evolve, simplifying the complex German and Italian suits into the streamlined symbols of Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs (or Batons). This simplification facilitated easier stencil colouring and mass production.

Distinct regional patterns emerged, with the Paris and Rouen patterns becoming the most significant. While the Paris pattern became the standard within France itself, the Rouen pattern is historically crucial for its export influence (Hargrave, History, pp. 41–42; Mann, Collecting, p. 59, 62–64).

By the mid-sixteenth century, the Rouen pattern was being exported across the English Channel. It was adopted by English manufacturers and subsequently spread to North America and the wider British Empire, forming the basis of the modern “Anglo-American” pattern used globally today (Mann, Collecting, pp. 61–62, 64–69; Hargrave, History, pp. 41–42).

French court cards are also notable for their traditional nomenclature. Speculation has long surrounded the identities of the court figures; for example, the Jack of Hearts is widely accepted to represent Étienne de Vignolles (known as La Hire), a companion of Joan of Arc and a celebrated knight of the Hundred Years’ War (Parlett, Guide, p. 45).

The Development of Tarot in France

Although Tarot was invented in Italy in the 1440s, it likely arrived in France via soldiers returning from the Italian Wars (1494–1559) (Dummett, Game, p. 407). By the mid-sixteenth century, the game was widely played in major hubs like Marseille, Avignon, Paris, and Lyon (Depaulis, ‘Tarot de Marseille … Part I’, p. 29).

The seventeenth century saw the crystallization of the Tarot de Marseille. While prototype versions existed earlier, the pattern was fully standardized by the 1690s. The “Type II” variant, which emerged in the early eighteenth century, became the dominant form. Despite its name, the pattern was not necessarily created in Marseille; rather, the city became its primary production centre during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, cementing the association (Depaulis, ‘Tarot de Marseille … Part I’, pp. 31–38; ‘Part II’, passim).

The pervasive Tarot de Marseille influenced the creation of derivative patterns in neighbouring regions. In eastern France, western Germany, and Switzerland, religious sensitivities regarding the depiction of the Pope and Popess led to the creation of the Tarot de Besançon. In this pattern, the controversial ecclesiastical figures were replaced by the Roman deities Jupiter and Juno (Dummett, Game, pp. 217–218). Similarly, the Piedmontese Tarot evolved in the border region between France and Italy, distinguishing itself with unique iconographic details, such as a butterfly on the Fool card (Dummett, Game, pp. 398–404; Kaplan, Encyclopedia, ii, pp. 320, 322).

Industry and Economics

France experienced an early “Golden Age” of playing-card manufacturing between 1450 and 1583 (Benham, History, p. 132). Cities such as Paris, Rouen, Lyon, Toulouse, and Avignon developed into key regional centres, exporting cards to England, the Low Countries, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland (Benham, History, pp. 12–13).

The industry proved remarkably resilient. Despite the imposition of heavy taxes by King Henri III in 1583—and further levies in the seventeenth century—production continued to thrive. The Parisian De La Rue family (distinct from the later London firm) was instrumental in lobbying the government of Louis XIV, successfully arguing that excessive taxation damaged the industry. Their efforts contributed to a market revival in the latter half of the seventeenth century (Benham, History, p. 136).

Games and Anomalies

The popularity of specific games dictated the format of the decks produced. Piquet, which became France’s most popular game towards the end of the sixteenth century, was originally played with 36 cards and later reduced to 32. Consequently, the production of 32-card decks (also used for Belote) became widespread alongside the standard 52-card packs (O’Donoghue (ed.), Catalogue, pp. 47–54).

A unique anomaly in French card history is the survival of Aluette in Brittany. This trick-taking game, developed in the northwest during the fifteenth century, utilizes a 48-card deck with Spanish suits (Cups, Coins, Swords, Clubs) rather than French ones. The deck is further distinguished by its archaic imagery, including female cavaliers on the court cards—an innovation likely dating to the eighteenth century (Mann, Collecting, pp. 59–61, 76–78).

The Revolution and Iconoclasm

The French Revolution brought political upheaval to the card table. With royalty out of favour, manufacturers began printing decks where Kings, Queens, and Valets were replaced by secular figures representing Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, or philosophers and soldiers (Benham, History, pp. 139–150).

Culturally, this period was destructive for card historians; many citizens burned or destroyed their pre-revolutionary decks to purge royalist symbols, resulting in a scarcity of surviving decks from the Ancien Régime (Mann, Collecting, p. 58).

The Occult Revival and Modern Era

The late eighteenth century marked a pivotal shift: the birth of the occult Tarot. In the 1770s and 1780s, Court de Gébelin and Jean-Baptiste Alliette (writing as Etteilla) proposed that Tarot cards were not merely for play but contained lost Egyptian wisdom (Decker, Depaulis and Dummett, Wicked Pack, chp. 3).

Etteilla moved from theory to practice, releasing the Original Grand Etteilla (Etteilla I) deck in the late 1780s. This was the first deck designed specifically for divination (Kaplan, Encyclopedia, ii, pp. 398–410). His influence persisted through the nineteenth century, with publishers like Simon-François Blocquel (under the pseudonym Z. Lismon) producing variants such as the Grand Livre de Thot (Etteilla II) (Collins, ‘Blocquel’; Farley, Cultural History, p. 111).

Parallel to the rise of occult Tarot was the explosion of cartomancy using standard playing cards, popularized by celebrity diviners like Mademoiselle Lenormand in Napoleonic Paris (Pooley, ‘Paper Tools’). This French occult tradition laid the groundwork for the British revival; the works of French authors like Éliphas Lévi and Paul Christian heavily influenced the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1887. Through the Golden Dawn, French esoteric thought shaped the Waite-Smith and Thoth decks, the two most influential Tarot patterns in the English-speaking world (Decker and Dummett, History, chps. 3–9).

In the industrial era, major manufacturers like Baptiste-Paul Grimaud and Éditions Lequart rose to prominence, alongside regional stalwarts like A. Camoin & Cie. in Marseille (successors to the Conver workshop). While many historic French houses, including Grimaud, are now owned by the Belgian group Cartamundi, the French legacy remains omnipresent. The French suit system is the international standard, used in the national packs of the United States, United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and beyond (Parlett, Guide, p. 29).

Sources (References)

• Benham, W. Gurney. Playing Cards: History of the Pack and Explanation of its Many Secrets. London: Spring Books, 1931.
• Collins, Roger D. J. ‘Simon Blocquel: Imagier et Éditeur lillois’. Journal de la Société des Océanistes, Vol. 41, No. 81 (1985), pp. 235–240.
• Crouch, Daniel, et al. (ed.). The Art of the Deal. London: Daniel Crouch Rare Books, 2023.
• Decker, Ronald, Thierry Depaulis and Michael Dummett. A Wicked Pack of Cards: The Origins of the Occult Tarot. London: Duckworth Overlook, 1996.
• Decker, Ronald and Michael Dummett. A History of the Occult Tarot, 1870–1970. London: Duckworth Overlook, 2002.
• Depaulis, Thierry. ‘The Tarot de Marseille – Facts and Fallacies: Part I’. The Playing Card: Journal of the International Playing-Card Society, Vol. 42, No. 1 (July – September, 2013), pp. 21–41.
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• Dummett, Michael. The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd, 1980.
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• Hargrave, Catherine Perry. A History of Playing Cards and a Bibliography of Cards and Gaming. New York: Dover Publications, 1966.
• Kaplan, Stuart R. The Encyclopedia of Tarot. 4 volumes. Stamford, Connecticut: U.S. Games Systems, Inc., 1978–2005.
• Keller, William B. (ed.). A Catalogue of the Cary Collection of Playing Cards in the Yale University Library. 2 volumes. New Haven: The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, 1981.
• Lynn, Michael R. ‘Jean-Baptiste Alliette and the Ecole de Magie in late-eighteenth century Paris’. In Michael R. Lynn (ed.), Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Enlightenment. London: Routledge, 2022, pp. 100–122.
• Mann, Sylvia. Collecting Playing Cards. New York: Bell Publishing Company, 1966.
• O’Donoghue, Freeman M. (ed.). Catalogue of the Collection of Playing Cards Bequeathed to the Trustees of the British Museum by the Late Lady Charlotte Schreiber. London: Longmans & Co., 1901.
• Parlett, David Sidney. The Oxford Guide to Card Games. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.
• Pooley, William G. ‘Paper Tools for Broken Hearts: Fortune-Telling with Cards in France, c. 1803–1937’. French History, Vol. 37, No. 4 (December, 2023), pp. 379–400.