Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The History Of The Kings In A Deck Of Cards


The four suits in a standard deck of playing cards originated from France in the fifteenth century (around 1480). French playing card manufacturers assigned names to the faces of the four kings.



The King of Spades was King David, the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Bible. The King of Clubs was Alexander the Great, the ancient Greek King that conquered most of the world. The King of Hearts was King Charlemagne who was the leader of the Franks, whilst Diamonds was Julius Caesar.

This practice had largely disappeared by the 19th century however

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