Ross G. R. Caldwell wrote:
The only reason I'm hesitant to think that the numbers on Charles VI conform to Minchiate, rather than show a transitional phase in the configuration of the 78-card deck, is that the highest cards are numbered.
Well, if there was a phase, that Lucca had difficulties to produce their own decks, they took them from Florence or another location.
There should have been some technical progress, which made decks cheaper ... and if the Lucca cardmakers hadn't these technologies, then they bought the cheaper versions of Florence.
Dummett/Mcleod:
"The designs of the cards in these different Lucchese packs coincide; and most of them are exactly the same as those of the corresponding cards in the older pattern for the Minchiate pack. This does not hold good for the Fool or Matto, nor of the court cards or Aces of the suits: these all have designs quite different from their Minchiate counterparts. In particular, the Cavalli show genuine knights on horseback, not the half-human figures of their Minchiate equivalents, and the lowest court figure in each of the four suits is an incontestably male Fante. But the trump cards and the numeral cards from 2 to 10 in all the suits are exactly the same in design as those in the Minchiate pack. The most puzzling feature of the Lucchese packs is the composition of the trump sequence. This consists, in all surviving examples, of the trumps from VIIII (the Wheel) to XV (the House of the Devil or Tower), together with the five highest unnumbered trumps or arie, in ascending order the Star, the Moon, the Sun, the World and the Trombe (equivalent to the Angel), all with designs precisely the same as in the Minchiate pack.
Perhaps one should see, what this deck has not:
No 12 zodiac signs
No 4 elements
No 7 virtues
No Love
No 3 rulers
No Bagatto
... but ...
Destiny (Wheel) or Victory (triumphal chariot)
5 bad things (age traitor death devil broken house)
5 heavens
This looks like a threat, a warning, what would happen, if Florence attacks Lucca again. And in this inspiration Lucca had built a strong fortification during 16th century.
The Fante contain no girls, they have real Foot soldiers. They have no fantasy knights, but real knights.
"Fama Volat" has wandered and the Fama city doesn't look like Florence ...
Fama volat + city of Florence
no Fama volat + city ...?
Fama vola with Chariot
The Fama volat change seems to be a remarkable difference, considering how "Fama sol" at the Temperance card had caused considerable discussion earlier.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=747
I read a "Fama Vola" at the Lucca card.
The Fool is different ...
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I stumbled about this ...
About the destiny of a stronghold: Montecarlo (near Lucca)
Looted and set on fire Vivinaia (1331) by Florentine army in retreat after the unsuccessful siege of Lucca, the inhabitants of that town, grew up around the ancient villa (eleventh century) of the Marquis of Tuscany and Countess Matilda, sought refuge on the top of the hill montecarlese at the fortress of Cerruglio, where a few years earlier (1328) eight hundred lances rebels had barricaded the Emperor Louis of Bavaria.
Here, with the support and encouragement of Prince Charles of Bohemia (later Emperor CHARLES IV), the government of Lucca began the construction of the village, surrounded by walls and guarded by a fortified wall with a triangular base, acting as pivot and closed MASTIO two towers, probably belonging to the ancient Cerruglio.In honor of the Bohemian prince (son of John and grandson of King HENRY VII) the new VILLAGE - CASTLE MGR was called CAROLI, Mount CARLO. The fortifications of the village, supported entirely by LUCCHESI, were carried out between 1333 and 1339.With the conquest of Lucca by Pisani (1342), Monaco became an important center of the Vicariate of the border, directly managed by the city of Pisa. In 1374, the recapture of freedom of Lucca, after the period of domination of Pisa, Monte Carlo became the capital of vicarious Valleriana and resided there, a few exceptions, the Vicars of Lucca. In this period (1393 - 1400), by the Master LANFRANCO from Como, was largely rebuilt the two towers connected to MASTIO and traditionally known by the names of the apparition of TORRE (towards LUCCA) and Tower of Santa Barbara (to PESCIA ). Given its extraordinary strategic importance, since the foundation, Monaco was the scene of battles between Pisa, Florence and Lucca, for the domain of Valdinievole and Lucca. In 1437 Monaco was conquered by Francesco Sforza, the future Duke of Milan and then headed by Captain General of the LEAGUE against LUCCA and FIRENZE VISCONTI: since then the castle became more state Fiorentino, up to national unity. COSIMO I, second Duke of Florence, he proposed to do a Monte Carlo munitissimo outpost of the Florentine dominion: with its military engineers designed and built the fortress nearest part of the country, arranged more grandiose works of fortification, repeatedly visited the fortress guarding personally execution of the work undertaken.Then, the growing importance of artillery and consequently nullified any strategy based on passive defense, tamed now considered harmless Siena and Pisa and Lucca peaceful, absorbed in its trade and defense resources from its cargo, the sovereigns of Tuscany Florence and the State abandoned projects initial defense of the Florentine state, at least in this.Since then Carlo came to meet him at a slow but inexorable decline, until in 1775 the LORRAINE smilitarizzarono Fortress and abandoned to its fate.
http://www.montecarloditoscana.it/en/Ar ... orence.asp
This Montecarlo got the name cause of emperor Charles IV.
By the researcher Hübsch (1850) Charles IV is connected to "very early playing cards" since 1340 with the addition, that already before playing cards were in existence and played in Poland. This had been confirmed in a weak manner by other insecure playing card notes about Werner of Orseln (a prohibition), a leader of the German knights before 1330, and a 1303 note about a lightning, which killed 3 card players in 1303 in Brieg (nowadays part of Poland).
The case is insecure ... but, if the notes about Chales IV should be correct, then it's quite possible, that Charles IV left a few playing cards in Italy and possibly just in this small Montecarlo and the connected Lucca.
We have the interesting note, that Prince Fibbia brought the earliest Tarocchino deck to Bologna as "another not confirmed story". "Tarocchino", when not identified with the known 62-card deck would translate as a "reduced Tarot deck", an expression, which perhaps could have been used for a Lucca Tarocchi (just as an example).
Well, I agree, that the word Taroch didn't exist in tis early time, but a later 17th century mind might have just described with Tarocchino the earlier existence of a deck with "reduced" cards ("reduced" in the comparison with the full Tarochi deck, which possibly/likely in the historical reality didn't exist in the time of Prnce Fibbia).
We had recently the Ottocento rules on the table, and I've given arguments, that specific parts of the verzicole rules point to a stronger relationship to the deck described by John of Rheinfelden (60 cards).
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=975&p=14843&hilit=ottocento#p14843
The JoR deck (60 cards) is also under suspicion to have influenced the game structure of the Michelino (60 cards, 16 trumps), which is also very early and somehow much more concrete than the notes about Charles IV, and itseems, that it also had influenced the Hofämterspiel and possibly also the "six courts" in the Cary-Yale.
There are good reasons to assume, that the 60 card deck of JoR had been a court deck for Charles IV, possibly known to Bohemian insider circles already around 1330. Charles IV, then still not emperor, might have brought it to Lucca.
Prince Fibbia was "from Lucca" and (possibly) brought this game or a variant of it to Bologna, as the legend tells, with the result, that some experimental deck forms (without being named "Trionfi", but possibly called "Imperatori") were part of the playing card scene in 1420-1440.
In 1273 and again in 1277, Lucca was ruled by a Guelph capitano del popolo (captain of the people) named Luchetto Gattilusio. In 1314, internal discord allowed Uguccione della Faggiuola of Pisa to make himself lord of Lucca. The Lucchesi expelled him two years later, and handed over the city to another condottiere Castruccio Castracani, under whose rule it became a leading state in central Italy. Lucca rivalled Florence until Castracani's death in 1328. On 22 and 23 September 1325, in the battle of Altopascio, Castracani defeated Florence's Guelphs. For this he was nominated by Louis IV the Bavarian to become duke of Lucca.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucca
The event of 1325 had been connected to the terminus "Trionfi", when I read once a longer description of it.
When the Ghibelline Castruccio Castracani defeated the forces of the Guelph Florence in the 1325 Battle of Altopascio, the Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV made him Duke of Lucca, and the city gave him a Roman-style triumph. The procession was led by his Florentine captives, made to carry candles in honour of Lucca's patron saint. Castracani followed, standing in a decorative chariot. His booty included the Florentine's portable, wheeled altar, the carroccio.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_triumph
In the three-cities-fight Lucca-Pisa-Florence (14th century) the city Florence had taken Pisa(, lost it (1494) and got it again (1513). But perhaps the whole story is older ...
After Charlemagne had defeated the Lombards under the command of Desiderius in 774, Pisa went through a crisis but soon recovered. Politically it became part of the duchy of Lucca. In 930 Pisa became the county centre (status it maintained until the arrival of Otto I) within the mark of Tuscia. Lucca was the capital but Pisa was the most important city, as in the middle of 10th century Liutprand of Cremona, bishop of Cremona, called Pisa Tusciae provinciae caput ("capital of the province of Tuscia"), and one century later the marquis of Tuscia was commonly referred to as "marquis of Pisa". In 1003 Pisa was the protagonist of the first communal war in Italy, against Lucca. From the naval point of view, since the 9th century the emergence of the Saracen pirates urged the city to expand its fleet: in the following years this fleet gave the town an opportunity for more expansion. In 828 Pisan ships assaulted the coast of North Africa. In 871 they took part in the defence of Salerno from the Saracens. In 970 they gave also strong support to the Otto I's expedition, defeating a Byzantine fleet in front of Calabrese coasts.
11th century
The power of Pisa as a mighty maritime nation began to grow and reached its apex in the 11th century when it acquired traditional fame as one of the four main historical Maritime Republics of Italy (Repubbliche Marinare).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisa
Lucca once had been the Nr. 1, actually Pisa (distance Lucca-Pisa is 15 km) had the role of the harbor of Lucca, located at the river Arno with a close distance to the open water. When Florence took Pisa, it also took the opportunity of Lucca to use this harbor. And Pisa was of vital importance for the Florentine oversea trade.
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Montecarlo and Monaco
It's somehow strange to find Montecarlo and Monaco (nowadays mainly the name of a "gambling" location and state) in the above mentioned article.
The "gambling" mountain got his name late, and the gambling state has the Italian expression for the location, , which formerly had "Principatu de Múnegu" or similar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco