Innocentio Ringhieri’s One Hundred Memory Games

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

In 1551, Innocenzio Ringhieri described 100 Memory Games in a book entitled Cento Giuochi Libeali, et d’ingegno. Ringhieri’s book is divided into 10 chapters of ten games each; increasing in difficulty with each successive chapter. The following Memory Games are a few of the favorites.

Council of the Gods:  each player is assigned the name of a god together with an animal and an instrument; for example, Saturn, ostrich, sickle. When a name is called, such as Saturn, the person to whom this was assigned must say “ostrich sickle.” If ostrich is called the person must say “Saturn, sickle”.

Cities: the names of cities are assigned to players in pairs with the distance between them. Then the Game Master begins the game by calling out: “From Bologna to Ferrara” and the person named Ferrara replies: “From Ferrara to Bologna is thirty-two miles,” or if the Game Master said “From Ferrara to Bologna,” then Bologna must answer and call another city names.

Trees and Birds: the names of trees and birds frequenting them are assigned to players, to one a tree, to another a bird. The players are seated so that a tree is between two birds, and a bird between two trees. Then a bird is called and leaves its seat and moves to the tree to which it belongs, saying, for example: “In thee I nest, gentle pine.” The bird which was previously there must depart and seek another tree which may refused it.  If after three trials it does not find one, it must return to the place left vacant by the first bird. The tree next in order then calls a bird, and so on.

Chase, Taken, and Wounded:  In this game the players represent hunters and huntresses. When the Game Master asks: “Hunter, how have you wounded the deer?” the hunter must answer: “With dart, bow, and spear.” A huntress will answer in the same way. If one is asked: “How did you take the deer?” the answer is: “With noose.net, and hound.” Or if: “How did you chase the deer?” the answer is: “With horn, noise, and cry.” When the Game Master says simply: “Hunter!” the hunter must begin and say: “Deer chased, deer taken, deer wounded,” and the huntress in inverse order: “Deer wounded, taken, chased.”

Thief: a name and a sentence are assigned to each player, such as : Person robbed, My purse has been stolen. Purse, with ten gold florins. The Person robbed begins by saying: “My purse has been stolen.” Then the Purse replies: “With ten gold florins.”And so on. The names are so arranged that taken together they constitute a little drama, ending with the sentence: “Was hanged for a thief.” After the players have played the game through in regular order it may be varied by skipping one of the characters, for example, every second one, and then every third one, etc.

Merchant: names are assigned answering to the question how is the trade of merchant carried on? By cash, by exchange, etc. The players are divided into three bands, and the first of the first band begins: “With cash,” and is followed by the second player of the second band, and the third of the third. Then the second of the first band follows the third of the second, the fourth of the third, etc. There are variations, as by considering the third band the first and beginning there.

Use the following link to view Ringhieri’s book of 100 games:  Ringhieri PDF

The “Weighty” Games of the Bargagli Brothers

Scipione Bargagli ca 1594

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

During the 1570’s, both Girolamo and Scipione Bargagli wrote books describing Parlour Games in Renaissance Italy. Girolamo’s Dialogo offers theories of play interlaced with brief descriptions of over 130 games, and Scipione’s Trattenimenti offers full simulations of how these games might be played. The brothers divided these Parlour Games into two types; “Gravi” and “Piacevole”.  “Piacevole” games were frivolous and often obscene, while “Gravi” games tested the player’s wit and were considered “Weighty”.

In period, these games would have been played between men and women, with each having specific gender roles. However this being the modern middle ages, I have removed all gender references except for those games specifically designed as competitions between men and women. Please note that much like modern role-playing games, these particular Parlour games require a Game Master. This Game Master (refer to as the “Master of the Game” in period) participates as the judge, and not as a player. Game Masters often wore something such as a wreath or held a pestle to designate their role in the game.

Game of Ship: Each player in turn selects two other players. They must then choose which one they will throw overboard during a storm at sea, and which one they will keep. They must present their reasons for both decisions to the Game Master. If their reasoning is found to be sound, then the player they threw overboard remains in the water. If not, they trade places with the person in the water. Last person remaining on the ship wins the game.

Game of Enchanter: Each player in turn selects two other players and magically transforms them into specific animals. The two transformed players must then describe what hardships they must endure as the specified beast. The Game Master decides which has endured the worst hardship, and transforms them back into a human. Last player to remain human is the winner.

Game of the Amazons: This game is intended to be a battle of the sexes, where a group of male warriors confronts a band of women warriors.  Each group takes turn being the attackers and defenders. As the attacker, a player must declare what weapon they will use to conquer their foe; the defender then declares what they use to protect themselves. The weapons and defenses in this game are intended to be clever metaphors. For example a male attacker might declare that he will conquer his lady with the “Club of Hercules”, while his opponent answers that she will protect herself with the “Pillars of Hercules”. The club represents heroic strength, but the pillars also represent heroic strength, so this combat would most likely end in a draw. However, it is up to the Game Master to decides who has won the combat.

Game of Questions: Two players are selected by the Game Master to discuss a philosophical topic; for example, whether one finds love through choice or destiny. The Game Master decides who has offered the best insights on the topic.

Game of Devices: This game was very popular throughout the Renaissance, and somewhat resembles the modern game of Pictionary.  Each Player creates a Heraldic Device with a clever hidden meaning to be painted unto a shield which they will use in a mock joust. Then players are privately paired off to joust against each other. The player who can guess the meaning of the device on their opponent’s shield first, wins the joust. If neither can guess, the joust is a draw. The only rules for the Devices are that they may not contain Human Figures, but must contain a Motto.

Copy of Girolamo’s Dialogo ca 1575

Charles Cotton’s Compleat Gamester

Charles Cotton (1638-1687) by Phillip Audinet

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

The 1674 first edition of The Compleat Gamester is attributed to Cotton by publishers of later editions, to which additional, post-Cotton material was added in 1709 and 1725, along with some updates to the rules Cotton had described earlier. The book was considered the “standard” English Language reference work on the playing of games – especially gambling games, and including billards, card games, dice, horse racing and cock fighting, among others – until the publication of Edmond Hoyle‘s Mr. Hoyle’s Games Complete in 1750, which outsold Cotton’s then-obsolete work.

A complete PDF of Cotton’s book can be found here The Compleat Gamester (PDF)

Francis Willughby’s Book of Games

Francis Willughby, the Middleton Portrait in the Hall of Woolaton in Rambles

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Francis Willughby’s Book of Games is a remarkable work and an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in early modern social history. Dating from the 1660s, it was left unfinished when the writer died in 1672 at the age of 36. Nevertheless, Willughby’s manuscript, even in its unpolished form is a goldmine of detail providing a snapshot of mid seventeenth century life, language and culture. The manuscript itself lists a wide variety of sports, games and pastimes, including football, hurling, card games, tennis and children’s games. As well as providing rules and a description of the various games (often with accompanying sketches to explain particular points) there are numerous fascinating snippets of related information (such as the care of fighting cocks), that bring the subject to life, whilst the section on children’s games is particularly poignant. Besides the intrinsic interest of the subject matter, the fact that Willughby embarked on the project from a scientific perspective adds to the value of the book. Willughby had been admitted to the Royal Society in 1661 and for a number of years prior to that had been collaborating with the naturalist John Ray. It is clear that Willughby’s Book of Games was highly influenced by his scientific pursuits and was an extension of his natural history work, utilising the same skills of systematic observation, description and classification. Providing not only a word-for word transcription of the Book of Games, this volume also contains a host of interpretative material to complement the original data. As well as a biography of Willughby and a detailed description of his manuscript, a substantial glossary of games and obsolete terms is provided, together with a bibliography of Willughby’s literary remains and more general reference works. Taken together, this publication provides an unparalleled resource for scholars of early modern England.

The “Saucy Godson” and Elizabethan Poems about Games

Sir John Harrington, potrait by Hieronimo Custodis, ca 1593

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Sir John Harrington (baptized 4 August 1560 – died 20 November 1612), of Kelston, but baptized in London, was an English courtier, author, and translator; popularly known as the inventor of the flush toilet. Harrington became a prominent member of Queen Elizabeth I’s court, and was known as her “Saucy Godson”. Due to his poetry and other writings, Harrington fell in and out of favor with the Queen.

In a book published a few years after his death “Epigrams, Both Pleasant and Serious, Written by that All-Worthy Knight, Sir John Harrington: and never before Printed”,  four poems about games appear. I reproduce them here for your amusement.

Of the games that have beene in request at the Court. (#11 in volume 1; #12 in volume 2)

I Heard one make a pretty Observation,
How games have in the Court turn’d with the fashion
The first game was the best, when free from crime,
The Courtly gamesters all were in their Prime;
The second game was Post, untill with posting
They paid so fast, ’twas time to leave their bosting.
Then thirdly follow’d heaving of the Maw,
A game without Civility or Law,
An odious play, and yet in Court oft seene,
A saucy knave to trump both King and Queene.
Then follow’d Lodam, hand to hand or quarter,
At which some maids so ill did keepe the quarter,
That unexpected, in a short abode
They could not cleanly beare away their lode.
Now Nody follwd next, as well it might,
Although it should have gone before of right.
At which I saw, I name not any body,
One never had the knave, yet laid for Nody.
The last game now in use is Bankerout,
Which will be plaid at still, I stand in doubt,
Untill Lavolta turne the wheele of time,
And make it come about againe to Prime.

A rule for Play. (#33 in volume 1)

Lay downe your stake at play, lay down your passion:
A greedy gamester stil hath some mishap.
To chafe at play, proceeds of foolish fashion.
No man throws still the dice in fortunes lap.

Of Leda that plaid at Tables with her Husband. (#79 in volume 2)

If tales are told of Leda be not Fables,
Thou with thy Husband dost play false at Tables.
First, thou so cunningly a Die canst slurre,
To strike an Ace so dead, it cannot sturre.
Then play thou for a pound, or for a pin,
High men are low men, still are foysted in.
Thirdly through, for free entrance is no fearing,
Yet thou dost overreach him still at bearing:
If poore Almes-ace, or Sincts, have beene the cast,
Thou bear’st too many men, thou bear it too fast.
Well, Leda, heare my counsell, use it not,
Else your faire game may have so foule a blot,
That he to lose, or leave, will first adventure,
Then in so shamefull open points to enter.

The Story of Marcus life at Primero. (#99 in volume 2)

Fond Marcus ever at Primero playes,
Long winter nights, and as long Summer dayes:
And I heard once, to idle talke attending;
The Story of his times, and coines mis-spending.
[Hi]s first, he thought himselfe halfe way to heaven,
[??] in his hand he had but got a sev’n.
[H]is Fathers death set him so high on [flote?],
[A]ll rests went up upon a sev’n, and coate.
[B]ut while he drawes for these gray coats & gownes,
[T]he gamesters from his purse drew all his crownes.
[A]nd he ne’re ceast to venter all in prime,
[A]ll of his age, quite was consum’d the prime.
[?]hen he more warily, his rest regards,
And sets with certainties upon the Cards,
On sixe and thirtie, or on sev’n and nine,
If any set his rest, and saith, and mine:
But seeld with this, he either gaines, or saves,
For either Faustus prime is with three knaves,
Or Marcus never can encounter right,
Yet drew two Ases, and for further spight,
Had colour for it with a hopefull draught,
But not encountered, it avail’d him naught.
With, sith encountring, he so faire doth misse,
He sets not till he nine and fortie is.
And thinking now his rest would sure be doubled,
He lost it by the hand, with which sore troubled,
He joynes now all his stocke, unto his stake,
That of his fortune, he full proofe may make.
At last both eldest hand and five and fifty,
He thinketh now or never (thrive unthrifty.)
Now for the greatest rest he hath the push:
But Crassus stopt a Club, and so was flush:
And thus what with the stop, and with the packe,
Poore Marcus, and his rest goes still to wracke.
Now must he seeke new spoile to set his rest,
For here his seeds turne weeds, his rest, unrest.
His land, his plate he pawnes, he sels his leases,
To patch, to borrow, and shift, he never ceases.
Till at the last, two Catch-poles him encounter,
And by arrest, they beare him to the Counter.
Now Marcus may set up, all rests securely:
For now he’s sure to be encountered surely.

Gambling Games

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Many Medieval Games incorporate the losing and winning of money, but some rely completely on luck. These games of luck are classified as Gambling Games; the following are a few examples.

Gluckhaus (House of Fortune) is a German gambling game played with two dice.

Gluckhaus Game Board ca 1580 – image courtesy of Bayerishes National Museum, Munchen

Gluckhaus is played on a board numbered from 2 to 12 (without the number 4), and two 6-sided dice. It is a game for 2 or more players, German in origin. First mentioned (and condemned) in sermons during the 13th or 14th century.

Gluckhaus boards are often highly decorated, with different scenes appearing in the different squares of the board. Most of these illustrations vary from one board to the next. The only set squares are 2 (a pig), 7 (a wedding), and 12 (a king).
Play begins with each player anteing a coin to the wedding. After all, one must always bring a gift to a wedding. Players then begin to roll dice, passing the dice around the table.
On any roll of 7, the player leaves a coin on the wedding. Play then passes to the next player.

On a roll of 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, or 11 one of two things happens.

If there is no coin on the space rolled, the player places a coin on that space. Play then passes to the next player.

If there is a coin on the space rolled, the player takes it. Play then passes to the next player.

On a roll of 2, the player takes every coin on the board except for the wedding. Play then passes to the next player.

On a roll of 12, the player takes every coin on the board,

including the wedding. Any players interested in starting a new game would now ante a coin onto the wedding.

If the board has a spot for the number 4, it plays the same as the 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, or 11.

Many boards do not have a spot for the number 4. On these boards, the 4 can be a free turn (no gain or loss). In gambling houses and bars, it was sometimes customary that 4 was the house number, meaning the player would pay a coin to the owner of the board.

Card Roulette, or Lucky Circle; A spin-board (shown below) shows cards instead of the typical modern day roulette numbers. The 4 suits are typical of the German cards from the time period; hearts, leaves, bells, and acorns. The card images in the 48 fields are arranged so that each suit is in each of the 12 circle segments occurs exactly once.

Card Roulette Spin-Board ca 1580 – image courtesy of Bayerisches National Museum, Munchen

German Spin-Board Card Roulette Rules – Reconstruction by THL Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

No written rules from the 16th century have survived. However a similar spin-board found in the German National Museum, Nurnberg dated 1626 contains rules written directly on the Spin-Board. It is most likely that the rules for the 1580 spin-board are the same or similar.

This game works best with 3 to 4 players, though more than 4 may play.

To start the game each player must chose a suit and place a coin on one of the four suit circles at the corner of the board. If there are more than 4 players then all the players must choose the same suit. When played in rural German areas, gingerbread was often used instead of coins when playing spin-board games.

Next, each player takes a turn spinning the pointer until it lands on one of the twelve circle segments. The value of the card image that matches their chosen suit determines the winner after all the players have spun. In general the higher value card image is the winner. However before spinning begins, the players may decide if the High, Low, Odd or Even card image wins. Note: Aces may be either low or high at the player’s discretion. If the value of the card images are the same, then there is a Spin-off between the tied players. (To speed play, I suggest rotating who spins first and let that player determine if the High, Low, Odd or Even card image wins.)

The winning player collects all the coins from the board. (For a longer game, I suggest that all players begin the game with the same number of coins, perhaps 10 to 20 each. Players who have lost all their coins are out of the game.)

For images and information on other Spin-Board games, I recommend downloading “Drahndl, Gluckszirkel, Tourniquet, Zeiger-Roulette: Glucksspiele mit Drehnadel” by Jonas Richter, 2020.  A German-Language PDF can be found at the following weblink https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:30719/

Card Roulette Spin-Board ca 1626 – courtesy of the German National Museum, Nurnberg

Hoop Games

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Hoops have been used for various forms of play since the days of the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

Images courtesy of Staatliche Antikensammlungen, and the Great Palace Mosaic Museum, Istanbul

Hoop rolling, also called hoop trundling, is a game in which a large wooden or metal hoop is rolled along the ground, generally by means of a stick or baton wielded by the player. In the Middle Ages, large wooden or metal hoops were easily obtained from Coopers (barrel makers). The aim of the game is to keep the hoop upright for long periods of time, or to do various tricks. Hoop rolling can be played alone, or with several other players. In the Obstacle variation, the object is to successfully maneuver the hoop through a series of objects placed on the ground, such as rocks, or barrels. In the Racing variations, several players roll their hoops along a course in an attempt to be the first one to reach a fixed destination. In Combat variations, two teams of players roll their hoops towards the hoops of the opposing team in an attempt to knock them down.

Hoop Rolling, Holland ca 1560 – image in Public Domain

Quoits (koits, kwoits, kwaits) is a medieval game which involves the throwing of metal, or rope rings over a set distance, usually to land over or near a spike (sometimes called a hob, mott, or pin). The first quoits were made from horseshoes, which were closed rings in the middle ages, and not the more familiar u-shape of today.  By the 15th century there is evidence that Quoits had become a well-organized sport, not least because of the numerous attempts to eradicate it from the pubs and taverns of England owing to its apparently seedy character.

Quoits – image courtesy of East Anglican Museum, UK

There are several rule variations depending on where Quoits is played. In the United Kingdom, the three oldest variations are as follows

The Long Game

Sometimes called the old game, this version is played in Wales and Scotland. In this variation, the top of the spike is flush with the clay, so encircling the pin is not a significant part of the game. The long game has similarities to the game of bowls, in that a player scores a point for each quoit nearer to the pin than his opponent. The hobs are 18 yards apart, while the quoits are typically around nine inches in diameter and weigh up to 11 pounds, almost double that of the northern game.

East Anglian Quoits

An English version of the long game, played using quoits of reduced size and weight. As with the long game, the hobs are 18 yards apart, but their tops are raised above the level of the clay. Quoits that land cleanly over the hob score two points, regardless of the opponent’s efforts, and are removed immediately, prior to the next throw. Quoits which land on their backs, or inclined in a backwards direction, are also removed immediately.

“Dobbers” or “Evesham Quoits” is the indoor version of quoits. Elizabethan minor court conviction records list quoits as a known indoor game. The target is a six-inch peg at the center of a one-foot circle within a two-foot circle. A ringer is 5 points, inner circle is 2 points, and the outer circle is 1 point. Each player throws four rings on his turn. The first player to make exactly 61 points, wins. If the first player scores 61 points and the second player is within 20 points of the first player, he is allowed a last try to tie the game.

Evesham Quoits – Image courtesy of the Nottingham Drinker, UK

Shove Ha’Penny

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Shove Ha’Penny (or shove half penny), also known in ancestral form as shoffe-grote [‘shove-groat‘ in Modern English], slype groat [‘slip groat’], and slide-thrift, is a medieval pub game in the shuffleboard family.

Two players or teams compete against one another using coins or discs on a tabletop board. The game is believed to have started by pub patrons who carved lines into a table with a dagger, and then used any coins they had on hand to play the game; half pennies being the most common coins of the day.

Rules for playing Shove Ha’Penny

A player shoves three coins (five coins in modern competition) up the board in each turn. To prepare each coin to be pushed, the player positions the coin at the front of the board. In modern competitions, the rear of the coin must just stick over the edge of the board. Any part of the hand can then be used to strike the coin, shoving it up the board. If a coin does not actually reach the first line on the board, that coin does not count as having been played and can be shoved again.

At the end of the turn each coin that is completely within a ‘bed’ (between two horizontal lines and within the bordering vertical lines) scores a point for that player in that bed. The points are scored with chalk marks in the squares at either end of the bed on the edge of the board, one player or team owning the right side, the other, the left. The aim is to score once in each of the nine beds (three times in modern competitions). However, once a score has been made in a bed, any further scores in that bed will be given to the opponent instead provided they shout “mine”, unless the opponent already has a score in the bed. The one exception to this is the winning point which must be scored properly by the winning player, is not given away.

Players may attempt to cause a coin to knock into one or more previously pushed ha’pennies in an effort to improve their position as well as trying to make a score with the ha’penny being played.

Images courtesy of Bar Activity and Masters Traditional Games, UK

Drinking Games

Image by Montreal Artist James Kerr

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

Puzzle Jugs, Fuddling Cups, and Pot Crowns were very popular drinking games during the Middle Ages. All required the imbiber to figure out how to drink from a vessel that appeared to be impossible to do so.

In the case of Puzzle Jugs, the sides and neck of the jug were perforated, and the lip had several spouts. The earliest example is known as the Exeter Puzzle Jug which dates to 1300 AD, and was originally made in Saintonge, Western France. To drink from a Puzzle Jug, it is neccesary to close all the spouts but one with your fingers. The puzzle is to figure out which ones.

Images courtesy of Royal Albert Museum, UK

Fuddling Cups are a three dimesntional puzzles consisting of several cups joined together by interlacing handles. The trick here is to drink the contents of all the cups without fuddling (spilling). To do this successfully, the cups must be drunk from in a specific order.

Images courtesy of Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, UK

A Pot Crown consisted of a hollow ring shaped base from which rose four cups and four tubes. The tubes normally met in the middle to form a crown with a central spout, though some had spouts at the sides. After the cups were filled, the Pot Crown is placed on top of an unmarried person. Then any admirers of the crowned person attempt to empty all the cups. The first person to do so wins the hand of the person wearing the crown, or at least the opportunity to court them. Of course, the wearer of the crown can at anytime stand perfectly still and allow someone to drink from the center spout which is the easiest way to drain all the cups.

Images: Sources Unknown

Alfonso Book of Games

Alfonso Book of Games (PDF)

Image courtesy of the San Lorenzo del Escorial Monastery Library, Madrid Spain

Article by Baron Aurddeilen-ap-Robet

The Libro de los Juegos, (“Book of games”), or Libro de axedrez, dados e tablas, (“Book of chess, dice and tables”, in Old Spanish) was commissioned by Alfonso X of Castile, Galicia and Leon and completed in his scriptorium in Toledo in 1283, is an exemplary piece of Alfonso’s medieval literary legacy.

The book consists of ninety-seven leaves of parchment, many with color illustrations,^[and contains 150 miniatures. The text is a treatise that addresses the playing of three games: a game of skill, or chess; a game of chance, or dice; and a third game, backgammon, which combines elements of both skill and chance. The book contains the earliest known description of these games. These games are discussed in the final section of the book at both an astronomical and astrological level. Examining further, the text can also be read as an allegorical initiation tale and as a metaphysical guide for leading a balanced, prudent, and virtuous life. In addition to the didactic, although not overly moralistic, aspect of the text, the manuscript’s illustrations reveal a rich cultural, social, and religious complexity.

It is one of the most important documents for researching the history of board games. The only known original is held in the library of the monastery of El Escorial near Madrid in Spain. The book is bound in sheepskin and is 40 cm high and 28 cm wide (16 in × 11 in). A 1334 copy is held in the library of the Spanish Royal Academy of History in Madrid.