The New Murrey and Blue blog

Every wonder what medieval people might have done on a cold, wet, stormy winter’s night (like the two we have just had in the UK, courtesy of Storm Bert)? No TV, no internet in their time…sigh. Well, the more determined might play a game of chess, but from the 1300’s playing cards were a great favourite for a light, fun game.

Playing cards arrived in Europe from Asia in the 1370’s and quickly became popular…which brought on a ban in Switzerland, where the authorities called them the ‘devil’s pictures’ since they encouraged people to sinfully gamble and neglect their daily duties.

A very beautiful surviving deck of cards is the Netherlandish set, dated between 1470-1480. It clearly belonged to someone very wealthy and retains its beautiful colours even today. I could easily see Edward IV and Richard of Gloucester playing with a similar set to pass the time in Louis Gruuthuse’s palace in Bruges, during the long dark days of their exile in the winter of 1470.