The evidence regarding the early ordering of the tarot trumps is somewhat different than that pertaining to their titles. Many of the sources citing the titles do not give a complete listing of the trumps, or do not list them in order. On the positive side, however, there are some surviving decks of cards in which some or all of the trumps bear numbers, even though they do not bear titles. Finally, there are some games, such as Minchiate and Tarocco Bolognese, in which it is likely that an early ordering was preserved by an unbroken tradition of play.
Michael Dummett, in The Game of Tarot, gives carefull consideration to all the evidence pertaining to the early ordering of the cards. After excluding sources later than the 16th century, and decks too fragmentary to offer much help, there remain 12 pertinent sources. Only two of them are in exact agreement! In two cases, though, we are dealing with incomplete packs (or incomplete numberings), and the surviving fragments are consistent with one of the fully attested orderings. Still, there remain 9 different orderings. We owe much to Dummett for recognizing that these different orderings can be put into three basic categories, with the variations within each category being relatively minor. Dummett labeled his three categories A, B, and C. In keeping with the tarot taxonomy I use in The Classification of Tarot Designs, I will refer to these as the southern, eastern, and western orderings. For each category, I have chosen one example as a prototype. Following the listing, there is a comment on each of the 12 sources and any differences they show from the protoype order.
|
Category A: The Southern Tradition |
Category B: The Eastern Tradition |
Category C: The Western Tradition |
|
the Bagatto |
the Bagatto |
the Bagatto |
|
the Papess |
the Empress |
the Papess |
|
the Empress |
the Emperor |
the Empress |
|
the Emperor |
the Papess |
the Emperor |
|
the Pope |
the Pope |
the Pope |
|
Love |
Temperance |
Love |
|
the Chariot |
Love |
the Chariot |
|
Temperance |
the Chariot |
|
|
Justice |
Justice |
|
|
Fortitude |
Fortitude |
the Old Man |
|
the Wheel |
the Wheel |
the Wheel |
|
the Old Man |
the Old Man |
Fortitude |
|
the Traitor |
the Traitor |
the Traitor |
|
Death |
Death |
Death |
|
Temperance |
||
|
the Devil |
the Devil |
the Devil |
|
Fire |
Fire |
Fire |
|
the Star |
the Star |
the Star |
|
the Moon |
the Moon |
the Moon |
|
the Sun |
the Sun |
the Sun |
|
the World |
the Angel |
the Angel |
|
Justice |
||
|
the Angel |
the World |
The World |
Notes: I have left some blank lines in order to make the three orderings "line up" for better comparison. In the Tarocco Bolognese, the Papess, Empress, Emperor, and Pope are all of equal rank. I have used the ordering of these cards from the Rosenwald sheet in order to remove the ambiguity. For ease of comparison, I've used the most common card titles, even when the actual source uses a variant title.
1. The Steele Sermon, Sermones de Ludo cum Aliis, c. 1480, author and locale unknown. Ordering B (prototype)
2. Gringonneur cards, 15th century, ?Ferrara. Although the cards did not originally bear numbers, someone wrote numbers on them at a later date. Dummett believes that the numbers were added in the 15th century, so this provides evidence of the ordering used by one of the cards' early owners, although not necessarily the order the cardmaker intended. The Star, Devil, Wheel, Empress, and Papess are missing. Ordering A, but with the Chariot promoted immediately above Justice (and the Wheel presumably between the Chariot and the Old Man).
3. The Rosenwald Sheet, c.1500, ?Florence. The trumps are arranged in order on the sheet (or at least nearly in order), and the lower trumps are numbered. The artisan making the blocks obviously encountered some difficulty with the numbering. The first five cards are ordered as in the A prototype, and numbered I through V. Then comes Love, Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude, but with Justice and Fortitude both numbered VIII! These are followed by the Chariot (X), the Old Man (XII), the Traitor (unnumbered), and the Wheel (damaged, but probably unnumbered). From there, the sequence runs from Death to the Angel, as in the A prototype, with all cards unnumbered. What are we to make of this? I think it is likely that the artisan realized that if he continued numbering, Death would have to be XIV instead of its traditional XIII, so he broke off the numbering in order to avoid the problem. What was the intended ordering for the cards between Fortitude and Death? It is possible that they are in the intended order on the sheet: the Chariot, the Old Man, the Traitor, the Wheel. However, this would make it the only tarot sequence (other than the much later Sicilian tarot) in which Death is not immediately preceded by the Traitor. It is more likely, I think, that the Wheel is misplaced on the sheet. If it is put before the Chariot, then these cards are in exactly the same order as in the Minchiate, which is the closest relative to the pattern on the Rosenwald sheet.
4. The Metropolitan Museum sheets, c.1500, Venice or Ferrara. The cards are numbered, but some are damaged, so in a few cases the numbers cannot be known with certainty. Ordering B, with the Papess and Emperor interchanged, and Love and the Chariot interchanged.
5. Giulio Bertoni, c.1540, Ferrara. Ordering B, with Love and Chariot interchanged (identical to Garzoni).
6. Catelin Geoffroy tarot, 1557, Lyons. Although the pack uses nonstandard designs, including a nonstandard suit system, the trumps are easily recognized and they are numbered. In every case, the numbers match the Tarot of Marseilles numbering. The Angel is 20, and the Tower is 16, but all the other cards from the Star to the World are missing. Temperance is 14, a distinguishing feature of the western ordering. The other missing cards are Love, Justice, the Wheel, and Fortitude. The open places in the number for them are 6, 8, 10, and 11. The ordering would thus have to be quite eccentric to differ from the Tarot of Marseilles order.
7. Tarocchi Appropriati of Giambattista Susio, c.1570, Pavia (near Milan). Ordering C, but with some features of order B. See Thoughts on the Ordering of the Trumps.
8. Tomaso Garzoni, 1585, Venice. Ordering B, but with Love and Chariot interchanged (identical to Bertoni).
9. Rouen cards, 16th century. These show very classicized designs, with unusual titles on the trumps. Only seven cards survive, but they match the numbering on the Metropolitan Museum sheets.
The following are the orderings in traditional games, probably established in the 16th century or earlier:
10. Tarocco Bolognese, which I have used as prototype for the A ordering. (But note that the four "popes" are of equal rank.)
11. Tarot de Marseille, which I have used as prototype for the C ordering.
12. Minchiate of Florence, with the 19 additional trumps excluded. Ordering A, with Papess omitted, the Chariot placed between the Wheel and the Old Man, and Fortitude and Justice interchanged.
One might think that the literary orders, especially those deriving from tarocchi appropriati poems, should be taken with a grain of salt. Might not these writers have accidentally or purposely rearranged the orders a bit for literary purposes or just from lapse of memory? It turns out that each of the literary sources happens to have some independent corroboration. The Garzoni and Bertoni lists agree exactly with each other, and in any case differ from the Metropolitan Museum cards only the placement of the Papess. Susio's ordering, it happens, is reflected almost perfectly in the 17th-century Jacques Viéville tarot, again with a minor difference in the placement of the Papess (Viéville agrees with the Marseilles order in this respect).
One should not leap to the conclusion that the earlier sources represent something more like the original order of the trumps. All the sources date from 50 to 150 years after the invention of the game. It is likely that each reflects an ordering that had become established in some locale or circle of players by the mid-15th century. It is possible, nonetheless, to make some educated guesses about the relationships between these various orders. See Thoughts on the Ordering of the Trumps for further discussion.