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~ NOTE ~
The replica of the Hofämterspiel shown in this page is by Piatnik (Austria).
Notes in square brackets along the text refer to the booklet that accompanies the
edition, written by a team of scholars:
[1] Fritz Koreny
[2] Georg Kugler |
[3] Michael Dummett
[4] Detleff Hoffmann |
THE HOFÄMTERSPIEL
VII of Hungary (chief cook) |
The Hofämterspiel is a late medieval deck that consists of 48 cards, all of which are extant.
Together with other playing cards, such as the Hofjagdspiel, it belonged to the great collection of art treasures gathered in the 16th century by archduke Ferdinand of Tirol; it is
mentioned in the collection's catalogue [1], the
only known record of the deck.
These large cards measure 97 mm x 140 mm (3¾ in x 5½ in);
they feature woodblock prints, skilfully decorated with bright-coloured tempera paint, and a few additions in
finely embossed silver and gold leaf.
It is impossible to assess the precise age of the deck, though sometime around the mid 15th century
appears to be a quite reasonable dating. It is also very likely that the geographic area where
the cards were made was southern Germany, i.e. today's Austria [1]. The original deck is, in fact, held by the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna. |
THE SUBJECTS
Unlike other known decks of the same age belonging to German culture, such as the
Hofjagdspiel ("court hunting deck") and the Stuttgarter Spiel ("Stuttgart deck"), whose illustrations feature hunting scenes, and whose suits are herons, hounds, deers, etc., the Hofämterspiel was basically inspired by the standard social structure of royal courts during the late Middle Ages. The illustrations
depict many different members of a typical household [2],
with their names in archaic German, whence the name Hofämterspiel given to the
cards (literally meaning "householder's deck").
Therefore, what makes these cards particularly interesting is not only their intrinsic value
for the early history of playing cards, but also the evidence they provide for the
knowledge of social hierarchy and everyday's life in late medieval courts. |
IX of France (marshal) |
king of Germany |
On the basis of written sources that describe no longer existing decks, it has also been
suggested that playing cards whose ranks are inspired by different social conditions might have been devised already in the late 14th century: this entails that the "household" system might be earlier than the "hunting" system [1], thus representing the very first variety of playing cards in the German world. |
queen of Bohemia |
III of France (tailor) |
THE SUIT SYSTEM
Another important difference from the aforementioned hunting decks is the choice of the suits: in the
Hofämterspiel they are represented by four different shields. The coats of arms they bear are those of Germany (a black eagle on a yellow background),
France (gold fleur-de-lys on a blue background), Bohemia
(a white rampant lion on a red background) and Hungary (white and red
horizontal stripes): in the 15th century, these were the four main countries in central Europe.
Therefore, the author's intention was probably to celebrate with this
deck a local monarch or ruler, eventually Ladislas Postumus, king of Hungary and Bohemia from
1453 to 1457, according to a theory by Arpad Weixlgärtner [1].
The choice of the suit signs for the Hofämterspiel provides an evident and interesting analogy with the
Shields suit of Swiss playing cards, still in use today (see also the Swiss gallery).
|
THE 48 PERSONAGES AND THEIR RANKS
Each of the Hofämterspiel's cards features a different personage, almost as if the deck consisted of 48 courts, i.e. without pip cards. In each suit, the values rank from I (the lowest) to
X, and they end with a queen and a king (the highest card). The king and queen have no
number, and are also the only two subjects that do not state the character's occupation; therefore,
they may be considered as actual court cards of the deck.
In all four suits, the I features a fool (Narr, or its female
equivalent Narryn); instead, the two highest cards next to the
king and queen are the master of the household or major domo
(Hofmeister, X, who was in charge of the court during
the ruler's absence), and the marshal (Marschalk, IX,
in charge of any duty that involved the use of horses or carriages, such as the king's travels,
etc.).
X of Germany (household master) |
With the exception of two subjects (namely, the Jungfrawe,
lady-in-waiting, card VI in all suits, and the Trometer,
trumpeter, card IIII in Germany and Hungary), all other personages are individual,
i.e. they are not repeated in other suits.
The social rank of each of them may be easily understood, according to the higher or lower value of the relevant card. For instance, a doctor (Artzt, Bohemia suit) would have
shared more or less the same social rank as a chaplain (Capplan,
Germany suit), or of a chancellor (Kanzler, Hungary suit),
or of a household mistress of a queen or a princess (Hofmeistryn,
France suit), so all these subjects are featured on the eighth card (VIII) of different suits.
A full list of the personages and of their values is shown in the following table: for an easier reference,
the ones that are not found in all four suits are highlighted in pale green.
|
TABLE OF PERSONAGES IN THE HOFÄMSTERSPIEL
| value suit |
|
 BOHEMIA
|
 FRANCE
|
 GERMANY
|
 HUNGARY
|
...
...
X
IX
VIII
VII
VI
V
IIII
III
II
I
|
|
König
king
Königin
queen
Hofmeister
household master
Marschalk
marshal
Artzt
doctor
Kammer[mei]ster
chamberlain
Junckfrawe
lady-in-waiting
Valkner
falconer
Trometer
trumpeter
Herolt
herald
Hefneryn
potter (female)
Narr
fool
|
König
king
Königin
queen
Hofmeister
household master
Marschalk
marshal
Hofmeistryn
household mistress
Schenk
cup-bearer
Junckfrawe
lady-in-waiting
Koch
cook
Marstaler
master of the stables
Hofsneider
tailor
Jeger
huntsman
Nerryn
fool (female)
|
König
king
Königin
queen
Hofmeister
household master
Marschalk
marshal
Capplan
chaplain
Truchses
steward
Junckfraw
lady-in-waiting
Kellner
wine-cellar man
Parbirer
barber
Renner
jouster
Bott
messenger
Narr
fool
|
König
king
Königin
queen
Hofmeister
household master
Marschalk
marshal
Kantzler
chancellor
Kuchenmeist[er]
chief cook
Junckfrawe
lady-in-waiting
Schutz
archer
Trometer
trumpeter
Vischner
fish-monger
Pfister
baker
N[er]ryn
fool (female)
|
Ranking by social hierarchy reminds us of the first group of cards in Mantegna's Tarot.
I of Bohemia (male fool) |
|
Some of the lowest cards of the series seem to share their personage with other obsolete types of playing cards, though not as old as the Hofämterspiel itself.
For instance, the Bavarian-Austrian Hexenspiel, which belongs to the so-called group of Cuckoo decks (see Cards Without Traditional Suits, page 2), used to have a subject named Narr, which featured a fool (although a similar subject in German and Austrian Tarock decks is called Sküs, and looks like a joker). |
|
I of France (female fool)
|
In some respects, the four
Narr and
Narryn cards have something in common also with the knaves of the
Minchiate deck, which featured two male
and two female personages. And other German decks as old as the
Homämterspiel, such as the
Ulmer Spiel and the
Stuttgarter Spiel,
had two male knaves and two female ones
[4].
Which game or games the Hofämterspiel was devised for is virtually
impossible to tell, as no other source mentions the deck or its use, except the aforesaid catalogue entry that describes Ferdinand of Tirol's belongings. The very fine quality of the cards, as well as the particular ranking scheme, suggest that the Hofämterspiel was likely used for playing a trick-taking game, in which the Narr and Narryn might have acted as jokers [3].
However, it is interesting to discover how many female personages took part to the card game, at many different hierarchic levels, i.e. queen, mistress of the household (VIII), lady-in-waiting (VI), potter (II),
fool (I), as they probably did also in everyday's life at court.
IIII of Hungary (trumpeter) |
II of Bohemia (female potter) |
further reference to tarot decks can be found in Trionfi and in
The Hermitage
OTHER GALLERIES
or back to
INTRODUCTION
AND HISTORY
|
MULTI-LANGUAGE
GLOSSARY |
THE FOOL &
THE JOKER |
INDEX
TABLE |
REGIONAL
GAMES |
PLAYING CARD
LINKS |
