Cards Reach Europe
Records of cards in Europe cluster in the 1370s, then spread across the continent within a decade. What is worth watching in this current is how the cards changed face from place to place. In Germany, the suits were bells, leaves, and hearts; in Italy and Spain, cups, swords, clubs, and coins; in France, today's diamonds, spades, clubs, and hearts. The same game, but the imagery differs by region — and the French system became the world standard because it was easy to print. The myth above tells the story of a mistaken naming attached to the cards of this current.
The myth, corrected
The beautiful hand-painted tarot that survives today was made in 1392 for King Charles VI of France
A payment record from 1392 does exist, stating that Jacquemin Gringonneur made three decks of gilded and painted cards for the king's amusement. A researcher in the mid-19th century connected this to the hand-painted tarot held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France and called it the Charles VI Tarot. But stylistic study later showed that deck to be from mid-15th-century northern Italy — unrelated to the 1392 record, and the cards made in 1392 were most likely ordinary playing cards, not a tarot at all. The mistaken connection was carried forward by respected scholars for a long time. Once something has a name, the object gets pulled toward it.