{{Short description|Pattern of Tarot playing cards}} thumb|upright=0.75|''Le Fou'' (The Fool) from the Belgian Tarot The '''Belgian Tarot''' is a name given to standard pattern of Tarot playing cards that were initially produced in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège,<ref>Thierry Depaulis, “Cartiers liégeois” (Liège cardmakers), ''The Playing-Card'', Vol. 52, No. 5, July-Sept. 2024, pp. 11-31.</ref> then Rouen, and later in the Austrian Netherlands from the late 17th to late 18th century. They are also called the “Rouen/Brussels pattern”.<ref>Depaulis (1984), p. 57.</ref> Starting from the mid-18th century, the wrapping paper bore the inscription "Cartes de Suisses".<ref>[https://www.wopc.co.uk/belgium/vandenborre-tarot ''Vandenborre Tarot''] at wopc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2023.</ref> However, there is no evidence that this type of Tarot cards was ever manufactured, sold, or used in Switzerland.

== History == === Background === {{main|Trionfi (cards)|}} Tarot playing cards emerged in the early 15th century in northern Italy, the first documented packs being associated with Milan, Ferrara, Florence and Bologna when an additional set of trumps known as trionfi were added to a standard, Italian-suited pack with the four suits: Swords, Batons, Cups and Coins.<ref>Pratesi (2012), p. 100</ref><ref>Pratesi, Franco. [http://trionfi.com/giusto-giusti Studies on Giusto Giusti] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224132027/http://trionfi.com/giusto-giusti |date=2021-02-24 }} at trionfi.com. Retrieved 4 February 2018.</ref> The earliest surviving examples are the Visconti-Sforza Tarot packs painted in the mid-15th century for the Dukes of Milan.<ref name=D3>Depaulis, Decker & Dummett (1996), p. 25.</ref>

Because the earliest tarot cards were hand-painted, they were probably only produced in small numbers. However, the advent of the printing press enabled the mass production of cards and their spread elsewhere. The expansion of tarot outside of Italy, first to France and Switzerland, occurred during the Italian Wars. The most prominent tarot deck version used in these two countries was the Tarot of Marseilles, of Milanese origin.<ref name="DummettGame">Dummett (1980).</ref>

=== Emergence and spread of the Belgian Tarot === thumb|500px|Viéville's tarot, circa 1650. Although it is said that “In the late 16th century a heavy French tax on playing card manufacture drove many cardmakers to emigrate to Switzerland where they created a new design of tarot pack that became known as ''Cartes de Suisses''.<ref name=Kaplan>Kaplan (1978), p. 192.</ref>”, there is absolutely no evidence for such an emigration. In Switzerland, the manufacture of playing cards was dying and ceased completely in the early 17th century, and the Swiss had to import their playing cards from Épinal (then in the Duchy of Lorraine) and Lyon.<ref>''Schweizer Spielkarten'', Zurich, 1978 (exhibition catalogue).</ref> The design of the so-called ''Cartes de Suisses'' cannot have been set up in Switzerland. On the contrary, these cards appear to have a strong Italian underlying design with a clear layer of French details added. They bear a strong connection to a pack produced by Jacques Viéville of Paris around 1650. The earliest cardmaker for this pattern was Gérard Bodet of Liège in 1693. Around 1723, Adam C. de Houtot of Rouen produced the earliest version that labelled the previously unnumbered Fool as XXII.<ref name="History">Dummett & McLeod (2004). pp. 403–413.</ref>

This pattern was adopted by cardmakers in the Austrian Netherlands perhaps as a result of the spread of a Swiss tarot card game, such as Troggu, to that part of the world during the 18th century. There were many Swiss mercenaries in the Dutch service garrisoned in the Austrian Netherlands. At that time this design became a standard pattern there in the 18th century, the name ''Cartes de Suisses'' being retained.<ref name="History"></ref>

In 1849, for example, a pack of "Swiss Tarots, Cartes de Suisses" is advertised for sale in a catalogue. The description notes that it was made in Brussels by F. J. Vandenborre, cardmaker, and comprises 78 cards, "the Coat Cards are exceedingly curious, representing Bacchus, Love, Death, the Devil, Lightning, Sun, Moon, Stars, Day of Judgement, Fool, &c."<ref>Smith (1849), p.57.</ref>

The name ''Flemish Tarot'' was given because the cards were thought to be made in the Flemish-speaking part of the Austrian Netherlands.<ref name=Kaplan/> However, this an error: the places were they were made – Brussels, Bouvignes, Liège, Dinant – were all out of Flanders.

== Cards == The Belgian Tarot pattern is different from the Tarot de Marseilles, its key distinguishing features being:<ref name=Kaplan/> * Tarot II: The Popess is replaced by "L'Espagnol. Capitano Eracasse", a swaggering Spanish captain.{{efn|Trumps II–IV are reminiscent of a jack, queen and king, respectively.}} * Tarot V: The Pope is replaced by Bacus,{{efn|Also found in the medieval da Tortona and Sola Busca decks. The aces of the William Tell pack employ similar imagery. Jupiter occupies the same position in Swiss Tarot and Tarot de Besançon.}} the god of wine.{{efn|The equivalent of Dionysus, whose namesake, Dionysius I of Syracuse, is featured as the king of whips in the medieval Boiardo–Viti pack.}} * Tarot XII: The inscription for the Hanged Man (''Le Pendue'') is spelt ''Lepen-du''. * Tarot XVI: The House of God (''Maison Dieu'') is replaced by "Lightning" (''La Foudre''). * Tarot XXII: The Fool is, unusually, numbered, perhaps because it had recently been promoted to the top card (see Troggu).

The designs on many of the tarots are also different. For example, The Star depicts a seated astronomer instead of a kneeling woman.<ref name=Kaplan/> They clearly come from another Italian tradition.

The pictures below portray the 22 trump cards of the Belgian Tarot: <gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="180" style="font-size:75%"> File:Tarot Belgijski - A1 - Mag.jpg|''Le Bateleux'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A2 - Kapitan Eracasse.jpg|''LE'spagno - Capitano Eracasse'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A3 - Cesarzowa.jpg|''L'Imperatris'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A4 - Cesarz.jpg|''L'Empereur'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A5 - Bachus.jpg|''Bacus'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A6 - Kochankowie.jpg|''L'Amour'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A7 - Rydwan.jpg|''Le Chariot'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A8 - Sprawiedliwość.jpg|''La Justice'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A9 - Pustelnik.jpg|''L'Ermite'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A10 - Koło Fortuny.jpg|''Roue de Fortune'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A11 - Siła.jpg|''La Force'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A12 - Wisielec.jpg|''Lepen-Du'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A13 - Śmierć.jpg|''La Mort'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A14 - Umiarkowanie.jpg|''La Temperance'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A15 - Diabeł.jpg|''Le Diable'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A16 - Gniew Boży.jpg|''La Foudre'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A17 - Gwiazda.jpg|''LE'toille'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A18 - Księżyc.jpg|''La Lune'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A19 - Słońce.jpg|''Le Soleil'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A20 - Sąd Boży.jpg|''Le Jugement'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A21 - Świat.jpg|''Le Monde'' File:Tarot Belgijski - A22 - Głupiec.jpg|''Le Fou'' </gallery>

== Notes == {{notelist}}

== References == {{Reflist}}

== Bibliography == * Depaulis, Thierry (1984). [https://archive.org/details/ThierryDepaulis-TarotJeuEtMagie-1984/page/n89/mode/2up?q=%22cartes+de+suisses%22 ''Tarot: Jeu et Magie''.] Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale. * Decker, Ronald, Depaulis, Thierry and Sir Michael Dummett (1996). ''A Wicked Pack Of Cards''. {{isbn|9780312162948}} * Dummett, Sir Michael (1980). [https://books.google.com/books?id=qqm1AAAAIAAJ ''The Game of Tarot: From Ferrara to Salt Lake City''] {{isbn|9780715610145}} * Dummett, Sir Michael and John McLeod (2004). ''A History of Games Played with the Tarot Pack''. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press. * Kaplan, Stuart R. (1978). ''Encyclopedia of Tarot'', Vol. 2. Stamford, CT: US Games Systems. {{ISBN|0-913866-36-9}} * {{cite journal|last1=Pratesi|first1=Franco|author-link=Franco Pratesi|title=In Search of Tarot Sources|journal=The Playing-Card|date=2012|volume=41|issue=2|page=100}}

{{Tarot and Tarock card games}} Category:Tarot playing card decks Category:Culture of Switzerland Category:Culture of Flanders