Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
King of Spades = David (from the bible)
King of Clubs = Alexander the Great
King of Hearts = Charles (presumably after Charlemagne)
King of Diamonds = Caesar (presumably after Julius Caesar)
""In the standard English playing card deck, the king and the other face cards represent no one in particular (though the king of hearts is sometimes referred to as the "suicide king" due to the fact that he appears to be sticking his sword into his head). However, the court cards in a French deck do have names. Because the manufacture of playing cards was illegal in the UK during the Interregnum, when the English Restoration came and the court began playing card games, the suits in an English deck came from the French deck, but without all of the lore.
For a period, starting in the 15th century, French playing-card manufacturers assigned to each of the court cards names taken from history or mythology. This practice had largely disappeared by the 19th century.[1] The most common names for the kings were:[2]
- King of Spades: David (a biblical king)
- King of Hearts: Charles (presumably after Charlemagne)
- King of Diamonds: Caesar (presumably after Julius Caesar, dictator of the Roman Republic)
- King of Clubs: Alexander (king of Macedon) "" ( insert from wiki)
R Represents Kings in a french deck
4 comments:
Very interesting!
The suicide king??? That's hilarious! I never thought of that! Now I feel bad for saying it's hilarious! Woe is me...
Visiting your blog. That stuff about the playing cards is neat. I did know about the suicide king, believe it or not! In some card games, one-eyed jacks and suicide kings are "wild". I don't know which games those are, though! Have a nice evening.
I never knew that!
Cxx
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