The Museum of games of Alfonzo X and educational laboratory of medieval games is located in Ficarra Italy. Chessboards, court games and street games take the visitor back to the origins of medieval games, stimulating the imagination for a journey back in time. Located in seven rooms of the ancient prison fortress, it constitutes a unique cross-section of the time in memory of the noblewoman and leader Macalda Scaletta, Baroness of Ficarra.
Macalda di Scaletta (or Machalda) ( c. 1240 – 1308) was a Sicilian baroness and lady-in-waiting during the Angevin and Aragonese periods. The daughter of Giovanni di Scaletta and a Sicilian noblewoman, Macalda was noted for her unscrupulous political conduct, inclination to betray marriages, and for her promiscuous sexual habits; even having a been accused of incest, exhibitionism, and nymphomania”. She was the wife of the Grand Justicar of the Kingdom of Sicily, Alaimo da Lentini. Macalda is noted for her ability to play chess,unusual for a woman of her time and historical evidence suggests that she was probably the first person in Sicily who learned how to play it.
The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel is a pentalogy of novels written by the French Clergyman François Rabelais and sold at the Lyons Fair in the early 1530’s. These novels tell the adventures of two giants, Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. The work was written in an amusing, extravagant, and satirical vein, featuring much erudition, vulgarity, and wordplay. The work was stigmatized as obscene by the censors of the College de la Sorbonne, and within a social climate of increasing religious oppression in a lead up to the French Wars of Religion, it was treated with suspicion, and contemporaries avoided mentioning it. In chapter XXII of Gargantua, Rabelais lists 217 games played by the giant, many of which bear recognizable names. Unfortunately the rules for many of these games has been lost to time. The following is an excerpt:
Then blockishly mumbling with a set on countenance a piece of scurvy grace, he washed his hands in fresh wine, picked his teeth with the foot of a hog, and talked jovially with his attendants. Then the carpet being spread, they brought plenty of cards, many dice, with great store and abundance of chequers and chessboards.
There he played.
At flush. At love.
At primero. At the chess.
At the beast. At Reynard the fox.
At the rifle. At the squares.
At trump. At the cows.
At the prick and spare not. At the lottery.
At the hundred. At the chance or mumchance.
At the peeny. At three dice or maniest bleaks.
At the unfortunate woman. At the tables.
At the fib. At nivinivinack.
At the pass ten. At the lurch.
At one-and-thirty. At doublets or queen's game.
At post and pair, or even and At the faily.
sequence. At the French trictrac.
At three hundred. At the long tables or ferkeering.
At the unlucky man. At feldown.
At the last couple in hell. At tod's body.
At the hock. At needs must.
At the surly. At the dames or draughts.
At the lansquenet. At bob and mow.
At the cuckoo. At primus secundus.
At puff, or let him speak that At mark-knife.
hath it. At the keys.
At take nothing and throw out. At span-counter.
At the marriage. At even or odd.
At the frolic or jackdaw. At cross or pile.
At the opinion. At ball and huckle-bones.
At who doth the one, doth the At ivory balls.
other. At the billiards.
At the sequences. At bob and hit.
At the ivory bundles. At the owl.
At the tarots. At the charming of the hare.
At losing load him. At pull yet a little.
At he's gulled and esto. At trudgepig.
At the torture. At the magatapies.
At the handruff. At the horn.
At the click. At the flowered or Shrovetide ox.
At honours. At the madge-owlet.
At pinch without laughing. At tilt at weeky.
At prickle me tickle me. At ninepins.
At the unshoeing of the ass. At the cock quintin.
At the cocksess. At tip and hurl.
At hari hohi. At the flat bowls.
At I set me down. At the veer and turn.
At earl beardy. At rogue and ruffian.
At the old mode. At bumbatch touch.
At draw the spit. At the mysterious trough.
At put out. At the short bowls.
At gossip lend me your sack. At the dapple-grey.
At the ramcod ball. At cock and crank it.
At thrust out the harlot. At break-pot.
At Marseilles figs. At my desire.
At nicknamry. At twirly whirlytrill.
At stick and hole. At the rush bundles.
At boke or him, or flaying the fox. At the short staff.
At the branching it. At the whirling gig.
At trill madam, or grapple my lady. At hide and seek, or are you all
At the cat selling. hid?
At blow the coal. At the picket.
At the re-wedding. At the blank.
At the quick and dead judge. At the pilferers.
At unoven the iron. At the caveson.
At the false clown. At prison bars.
At the flints, or at the nine stones.At have at the nuts.
At to the crutch hulch back. At cherry-pit.
At the Sanct is found. At rub and rice.
At hinch, pinch and laugh not. At whiptop.
At the leek. At the casting top.
At bumdockdousse. At the hobgoblins.
At the loose gig. At the O wonderful.
At the hoop. At the soily smutchy.
At the sow. At fast and loose.
At belly to belly. At scutchbreech.
At the dales or straths. At the broom-besom.
At the twigs. At St. Cosme, I come to adore
At the quoits. thee.
At I'm for that. At the lusty brown boy.
At I take you napping. At greedy glutton.
At fair and softly passeth Lent. At the morris dance.
At the forked oak. At feeby.
At truss. At the whole frisk and gambol.
At the wolf's tail. At battabum, or riding of the
At bum to buss, or nose in breech. wild mare.
At Geordie, give me my lance. At Hind the ploughman.
At swaggy, waggy or shoggyshou. At the good mawkin.
At stook and rook, shear and At the dead beast.
threave. At climb the ladder, Billy.
At the birch. At the dying hog.
At the muss. At the salt doup.
At the dilly dilly darling. At the pretty pigeon.
At ox moudy. At barley break.
At purpose in purpose. At the bavine.
At nine less. At the bush leap.
At blind-man-buff. At crossing.
At the fallen bridges. At bo-peep.
At bridled nick. At the hardit arsepursy.
At the white at butts. At the harrower's nest.
At thwack swinge him. At forward hey.
At apple, pear, plum. At the fig.
At mumgi. At gunshot crack.
At the toad. At mustard peel.
At cricket. At the gome.
At the pounding stick. At the relapse.
At jack and the box. At jog breech, or prick him
At the queens. forward.
At the trades. At knockpate.
At heads and points. At the Cornish c(h)ough.
At the vine-tree hug. At the crane-dance.
At black be thy fall. At slash and cut.
At ho the distaff. At bobbing, or flirt on the
At Joan Thomson. nose.
At the bolting cloth. At the larks.
At the oat's seed. At fillipping.
After he had thus well played, revelled, past and spent his time, it was thought fit to drink a little, and that was eleven glassfuls the man, and, immediately after making good cheer again, he would stretch himself upon a fair bench, or a good large bed, and there sleep two or three hours together, without thinking or speaking any hurt. After he was awakened he would shake his ears a little. In the mean time they brought him fresh wine. There he drank better than ever. Ponocrates showed him that it was an ill diet to drink so after sleeping. It is, answered Gargantua, the very life of the patriarchs and holy fathers; for naturally I sleep salt, and my sleep hath been to me in stead of so many gammons of bacon. Then began he to study a little, and out came the paternosters or rosary of beads, which the better and more formally to dispatch, he got upon an old mule, which had served nine kings, and so mumbling with his mouth, nodding and doddling his head, would go see a coney ferreted or caught in a gin. At his return he went into the kitchen to know what roast meat was on the spit, and what otherwise was to be dressed for supper. And supped very well, upon my conscience, and commonly did invite some of his neighbors that were good drinkers, with whom carousing and drinking merrily, they told stories of all sorts from the old to the new. Amongst others he had for domestics the Lords of Fou, of Gourville, of Griniot, and of Marigny. After supper were brought in upon the place the fair wooden gospels and the books of the four kings, that is to say, many pairs of tables and cards–or the fair flush, one, two, three–or at all, to make short work; or else they went to see the wenches thereabouts, with little small banquets, intermixed with collations and rear-suppers. Then did he sleep, without unbridling, until eight o’clock in the next morning.
A medieval game of cards where Leafs and Hearts appear to be showing and chips or coins are in play. Master Ingold. Das Buch, das man mennt das Guldon Spil. Printed in Augsburg by Günther Zeiner, 1472. Von dem kartenspil. Woodcut and watercolor. Deutsches Spielkarten Museum, Landesmuseum Wurttemberg, Leinfelden-Echterdingen
BASSET
Basset is a banking game for 2-4 players based purely on chance with a significant advantage for the house and is considered the forerunner of roulette.
Known in Italian as Bassetta (Basset in England) also known as Barbacole. Recorded in “Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana” as being played in Italy in the first half of the 15th century, then made its way to France and England by the the 16th century. Considered one of the most polite pastimes intended for persons of the highest rank because of the great losses or gains that might be accrued by players. This game financially endangered some of the great French houses and was eventually banned.
BASSET GAME RULES
Set-Up (2 decks of cards)
One person is the banker (talliere) and holds one full deck of cards, well shuffled. Each player has the cards of a single suit laid out face up in front of them; Ace, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,J,Q,K. All players receive 4 marker tokens.
Betting Phase
The round begins with players placing bets on the cards before them, betting as much or as little as they like. The banker does not need to place any bets
Play Begins
Once all bets are placed, the banker will start to turn over the cards from his fully shuffled deck, placing them one at a time face up into two separate stacks. The left hand stack is a “win” for the players, and the right hand stack is a “loss” for the players.
The first card the banker turns up is from the bottom of their deck (called a fasse). If players have an active bet on that card value (suit is ignored) they receive half the value (rounded down) of their bet from the banker. The banker uses this card to start the left hand stack. The players receive their money and collect the money they placed on the card. The player’s card is now inactive as their is now no bet on it. The banker now starts drawing cards from the top of the deck, the first card is also placed on the left stack. If players have an active bet on that card value they may either “collect” or “parley”.
Collect and Parley
If a player chooses to “collect”, then they receive the same value of the bet from the banker and collect their initial bet placed on the a card. Again the player’s card becomes inactive.
If a player chooses to “parley” (paroli), then the they place a marker token on their winning card to indicate it remains active. If the marked card becomes a winning card for a second time, the player collects 7 times the amount bet. Players can parley the same winning card up to 3 times by placing an additional marker token on it. If the card wins a second time, the player collects 15 times the amount bet; a 3rd time gains the player 30 times the amount bet. However it must be noted that a player can also lose these same increased amounts should the card value match a card placed on the right hand stack.
The next card the banker draws is placed on the right hand stack. Any player with bets on a card value equal to the one drawn, gives the bank all the money bet on that card and it becomes inactive. The dealer continues to draw cards alternating back and forth between the left and right stacks.
Ending the Game
When all cards become inactive or the banker only has one card left in his hand, the game ends. This final card in the hands of the banker goes on top of the right stack and becomes a “Loss” for the players.
MALCONTENT
The earliest reference to Malcontent (Mecontent) is dated as 1490 France by the Academies des jeux (a literary society founded in 1323). Another reference appears in a list of games written by Francois Rabelais in 1553. Malcontent was later known as “Here” in 1690, “Coucou” in 1721 (a name it still goes by in France), “Qui Court” in the mid 19th century, and “Rander Go Round” in England in 1881
A fast betting game where players are dealt a single card and through exchanging and chance aim to have the highest value card by the end of the round to win. Suits do not matter in this game just the value of the card. Aces have a value of 1 and the King is the highest card.
15th Century French Playing Card (Wood Block Print), The King
MALCONTENT GAME RULES
Set-Up
With 2-7 players a 32 card deck is used with the 2,3,4,5 & 6 cards removed. Games with more than 7 player use the entire deck. You will also need 10 chips for each player.
Play Begins
Players place a coin into a pot and takes ten chips. The dealer deals 1 card to each player starting with the player to their right, then deals 3 cards to themselves. The dealer then chooses the highest card from their 3 cards and discards the other 2 under the deck. The dealer then places the deck (known as the talon) next to the player to their right who will become the next dealer. The player to the right of the dealer starts play by choosing to “Stand” or “Exchange”.
Stand
If a player believs they have the highest card they will announce “Stand”, in which case their turn is over and play passes on to the player to their right.
Exchange
A player may choose to exchange their card with the player to their right by announcing “Exchange”. The exchange of cards can not be refused unless the other player is holding a King in which case they announce “Malcontent” without revealing their card, and no exchange takes place. The player to the left of the dealer can NOT exchange with the dealer, but instead exchanges their card for the top card of the deck. If the drawn card turns out to be a King, no exchange takes place.
Once each player has had a turn, players revel their cards. The player with the lowest card value discards 1 chip. All players tied for the lowest card value discard 1 chip.
Ending the Game
When a player loses all their chips they are out of the game. The last surviving player claims the pot.
POCH
Poch is a German card game with its roots in the 14th century. It developed into Poque in the 18th century, and then into the present day game of Poker
Poch Board “Das Bockel-Spiel 1713” (achteckiges Brett für das Poch-Spiel, süddeutsch, 1713) Lindenholz, Temperafarben Bayerisches National Museum, München
POCH GAME RULES
Set-Up
3-4 players use a 32 card deck composed of Aces, 7,8,9,10, J, Q, K; 5-6 players use a full card deck. You will also need a Poch Board, or nine small bowls. Each bowl will be labeled as follows; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, Marriage, Sequence, Poch, and Pinke. You will also need between 60 to 120 chips depending on the number of players (approximately 20 chips per player)
Play Begins
First, Players draw cards, the lowest card is the banker and deals first. Second, Players place a coin into a pot and takes ten chips. The banker places one chip in each bowl except Pinke, which remains empty. The banker deals five cards to each player, then flips the top card of the remaining deck over to determine the trump suit for the round. A round of Poch consists of 3 phases: Melding, Betting (Pochen), and Shedding.
Melding Phase
During this phase, players begin to win chips from the Poch board. The player who is holding the trump suited Ace should announce it, reveal the card, and take the chips from that bowl. The same is done for the trump suited King, Queen, Jack, and Ten. If a player has both the King and the Queen, they also take chips from the Marriage bowl. The Player who has the highest run of three same suited cards wins chips from the Sequence bowl. Players will need to openly declare what they have and compare. Trump suited runs beat normal suited runs. In the event of a tie between two normal suited runs, the player closest to the left of the dealer wins the Sequence chips. If a bowl is not emptied due to the required cards being in the draw pile, the chips stay in that bowl and accrue for the next round. Players keep all of their cards during this phase.
Betting Phase (Pochen)
During the Betting Phase players bet on who has the best set of cards. A set must contain 2, 3, or 4 cards of the same rank. A four card set beats a three card set and so on. In the vent of a tie, the player who has the trump suited card in their set wins. If no one has a set, the player with the highest card wins. A tie between high cards is broken by the next highest card in each player’s hand.
Betting starts with the player to the left hand side of the dealer, and proceeds clockwise. On his turn, a player may either “Check”, “Raise”, or “Pass” All Bets are added to the Pinke cup.
Check
To remain in the round, players add chips to the Pinke cup matching the previous bid.
Raise
Players who have matched the previous bid may also raise the bid by adding additional chips.
Pass
Players who choose to pass are out of the round but keep their cards.
The Betting Phase continues until no one raises the bid. If there are two or more players remaining in the Betting Phase, they reveal their hands. The player with the highest ranked set wins the chips from both the Pinke and Poch bowls. If only one person remains, that player wins and does not have to reveal their hand.
Shedding Phase
In the Shedding Phase the players attempt to get rid of their cards. Beginning with the player to the left of the dealer, they choose one card from their hand and play it in the center of the table. Whoever has the next highest card in the same suit plays it. This continues until the ace of that suit is played or no one else can add to the pile. The player that placed the last card restarts the next round of shedding. The first player to empty their hand wins. The remaining players pay the winner one chip for each card remaining in their hand.
Ending the Game
After every player has been a dealer, the player with the most chips wins the pot. Players who run out of chips are out of the game.
THIRTY-ONE
Thirty-One is first mentioned in a French translation of a 1440 sermon by the Italian, Saint Bernadine. The game spread rapidly across Europe becoming popular in France, England, and Ireland, only to be banned in 1460. It is considered the precursor to the games of Twenty One, Pontoon, and Blackjack.
The aim of the game is to have a hand with a value as close as possible to 31 in the same suite. Players may only hold 3 cards in their hand at one time. Aces are worth 11. Court cards are worth 10. All other cards are worth their face value.
THIRTY-ONE GAME RULES
Set-Up
Players place a coin into a pot and takes 4 chips. A deck of 52 cards is shuffled and a dealer is chosen at random (This starting dealer is usually the person who is to the right of the eldest player). The dealer deals 3 cards to each player, and the remaining deck is placed face down in the center of the table. The dealer then turns over the top card of the deck to start a discard pile.
Play Begins
The player to the left of the dealer (known as the elder) starts, and play continues clockwise around the table. During their turn a player may choose to “Exchange”, “Blitz”, or “Knock”
Exchange
A player may choose to exchange one card in their hand by taking the top card of the face-down deck or the top card of the discard pile. In either case the player discards the card from their hand to the discard pile.
Blitz
A player may announce “Blitz” as soon as they obtain a total card value of 31 in the same suite. In doing so they instantly win the round and collect one chip from each player.
Knock
A player can Knock (tap the table) when it’s their turn if they believe they have the highest value of cards closest to 31. After a player knocks, all the other players going clockwise from the player who knocked, have one turn each to exchange a card or do nothing. Then all players reveal their hand. The player with the lowest total card value pays 1 chip to the player with the highest total card value. All other players receive or pay nothing. If there is a tie between the lowest scoring players, they both give the highest scoring player 1 chip. If there is a tie between a player and the knocker, the knocker pays 1 chip to the player that tied them.
Ending the Game
The game ends when center deck is exhausted, or there is only one player remaining. A Player who looses all his tokens is out of the game. If the deck is exhausted then all players immediately reveal their hand to determine the winner of that round. The player with the most chips at the end of the game wins the pot.
Anyone who studies historical games should own a copy of this book. Written by H. J. R. Murray and published in1952, A History of Board Games other than Chess contains detailed information on six different types of Ancient and Medieval Board games. Although his previous work, A History of Chess was recognized as the standard reference on the subject, its scholarly approach and great length (900 pages) made it inaccessible to most chess players. Murray began a shorter work on chess history written in a more popular style; it remained unfinished at his death and was completed by B. Goulding Brown and Harry Golombek and published in 1963 as A Short History of Chess.
Harold James Ruthven Murray
Harold James Ruthven Murray (24 June 1868 – 16 May 1955) was a British educationalist, inspector of schools, and prominent chess historian. His book, A History of Chess, is widely regarded as the most authoritative and comprehensive history of the game.
Murray, the eldest of eleven children, was born near Peckham Rye in Peckham, London. The son of Sir James Murray, the first editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, he attended school at Mill Hill and, in his spare time, helped his father produce the first edition of the OED. By the time Harold had finished school and was preparing to leave for university, he had produced over 27,000 quotations that later appeared in the OED.
He won a place at Balliol College, Oxford where in 1890 he graduated with a first class degree in Mathematics. He became an assistant master at Queen’s College, Taunton where he learned to play chess.
Kemari Ball game at outer Edo Castle (Private Collection)
The first evidence of Kemari is from 644 CE. The rules were standardized in the 13th century. The game was influenced by the Chinese sport of Cuju (the earliest form of football). The kanji characters for Kemari are the same as Cuju in Chinese. The sport was introduced to Japan about 600, during the Asuka period. Nowadays, it is played in Shinto Shrines for festivals.
Kemari is a non-competitive sport. The object of Kemari is to keep one ball in the air with all players cooperating to do so. Players may use any body part with the exception of arms and hands – their head, feet, knees, back, and depending on the rules, elbows to keep the ball aloft. The ball, known as a mari, is made of deerskin with the hair facing inside and the hide on the outside. The ball is stuffed with barley grains to give it shape. When the hide has set in this shape, the grains are removed from the ball, and it is then sewn together using the skin of a horse. The one who kicks the ball is called a mariashi. A good mariashi makes it easy for the receiver to control the mari, and serves it with a soft touch to make it easy to keep the mari in the air.
Kemari is played on a flat ground, about 6–7 meters square. Traditionally players wear clothes called Kariginu, a style popular in the Asuka period.
One of the more famous pastimes of the Japanese nobility was a class of pastimes called “awase,” meaning “matchings” or “joinings.” There were uta-awase (poetry competitions), e-awase (picture comparisons), etc. With many of these, it was an actual comparison, a judging of one like item against another, the selection of the better of the two (or three or four or…) being determined by any number of factors pointing to the artistic and aesthetic sensibilities of the person or persons making the judgment.
Sometimes, however, it wasn’t so much awase “matching” but literally awase “joining” that was being done. This is the case with the famous kai-awase, or shell-joining.
Kai-Awase originated in the mid Heian era (794-1185) and comes into full development by the 12th century. In the early years of the game, you would accumulate a set of shells and play them with one to four people, usually kneeling upon a mat, or next to a low table to play them. By the end of the 12th century the full game set consisted of 360 painted clam shells all are about the same size (some two and a half to three inches across)
Each pair of shells bears the same image. The sources for these images are poetic, seasonal, literary, etc., and depict everything from flowers to noblemen peeking into a room to items of dance costume. The inside of the shells are first cleaned of all matter, then it is gilded and painted. Only the outside of the shell retains its natural look.
Kai-Awase Shells for the Edo Period (1615 – 1868)
The shells are kept in a box called a kaioke, which is usually multi-tiered (or has separate trays suspended inside the single chest). Early kaioke were typically octagonal and elaborately decorated with makie or brocade-style painting, while later models were more tub-like and simply decorated and often bore the crest of the owner. Owing to the aristocratic nature of the game, by the Edo period such chests with the shells inside were commonly among the items in a wealthy or aristocratic woman’s trousseau.
At right are examples of the older style (which I classify as “kuge style”) and one of the later models (which, by their popularity among the warrior aristocracy, I call “buke style”).
Playing the game of kai-awase
If the game is one using poetic texts, each shell would bear half of the poem. If the game is one using only pictures, then each shell would bear similar images, or half of an image to be joined with another.
Kai-Awase Shells with matching picture, Edo Period, Image courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of NY
The left (male) shell is called the jigai (ground shell) and the right (female) shell is called the degai (out shell). One at a time, the degai is taken from the box, and its matching half is sought from amongst the jigai spread out on the floor. The winner is the person who collects most matching pairs. It sounds a bit over simplistic, however, as given enough time I can’t imagine anyone not finding the matching shell. Unless, of course, the shells are spread out image down, which most explanations of the rules fail to specify.
A variation which I cannot be certain that they played, but which to me makes great sense, is a variation on the old game “Concentration.” All the shells are laid out face down, and players take turns flipping pairs, until they find a matching pair, which they can then claim. Unmatched pairs are turned back over. As with the official rules, the winner is the person with the most matching shell pairs when the game is over.
Club Kayles as illustrated in a 14th Century Manuscript
The game of Club Kayles or Stick-Throwing began in 1100 and ended around 1541 when it was finally banned by royal decree. It consisted of 6 to 8 pins evenly placed in a line which were then attempted to be knock down by throwing a stick from a specified distance, usually 30′. At some point a King-Pin was introduced which was placed on the left side of the line for right handed throwers, and the right side of the line for left handed throwers. The significance of the King-Pin in Club Kayles is not known, but in some versions of Lawn Bowling the King Pin must be knocked down before all the other toppled pins can be scored. The Game takes it name from French quilles, the word from which ‘skittles’ itself is also derived. In Old French, Club Kayles is le jeu de quilles a baston.
The game of Club Kayles bears a striking resemblance to the modern Scandinavian game known as Kubb. It is often claimed that the Kubb dates back to the Viking Age and has survived since then on the Swedish island of Gotland, although there is no evidence of this. The Föreningen Gutnisk Idrott (Society (of) Gotland Games), formed in 1912, does not list Kubb as one of the traditional games from Gotland. In Gotland it is called “Kägelkrig” (Skittles war) and is described as a variation of Skittles and played with a ball. The game in its modern conception became popular in the late 1980s when commercial Kubb sets were first manufactured.
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
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.
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.
Medieval People at Play 
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