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Four Of Spades
Spades form one of the four suits of playing cards in the standard French deck. It is the same shape as the leaf symbol in German-suited cards but looks like a black heart turned upside down with a stalk at its base. It symbolises the pike or halberd, two medieval weapons. In French the suit of Spades is known as the ''Pique'' and in German as the ''Pik''. It corresponds to the suit of Leaves (''Laub'', ''Grün'', ''Schippen'' or, in Bavaria, ''Gras'') in the German suited playing cards. In Switzerland, the suit is known as ''Schuufle'' (" shovel") and in many German regions, e.g. the Rhineland as ''Schüppe/Schippe'' ("shovel"). In Bridge, Spades rank as the highest suit. In Skat and similar games, it is the second-highest suit. Name The French name for this suit, ''pique'' ("pike"), meant, in the 14th century, a weapon formed by an iron spike placed at the end of a pike. For playing cards, the term may have been coined by analogy with the Latin symbol from whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands refers (physically speaking) to a loosely defined region embracing the land on the banks of the Rhine in Central Europe, which were settled by Ripuarian and Salian Franks and became part of Frankish Austrasia. In the High Middle Ages, numerous Imperial States along the river emerged from the former stem duchy of Lotharingia, without developing any common political or cultural identity. A "Rhineland" conceptualization can be traced to the period of the Holy Roman Empire from the sixteenth until the eighteenth centuries when the Empire's Imperial Estates (territories) were grouped into regional districts in charge of defence and judicial execution, known as Imperial Circles. Three of the ten circles through which the Rhine flowed referr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ace Of Spades
The Ace of Spades (also known as the Spadille and Death Card) is traditionally the highest and most valued card in the deck of playing cards in English-speaking countries. The actual value of the card varies from game to game. Design The ornate design of the ace of spades, common in packs today, stems from the 17th century, when James I and later Queen Anne imposed laws requiring the ace of spades to bear an insignia of the printing house. Stamp duty, an idea imported to England by Charles I, was extended to playing cards in 1711 by Queen Anne and lasted until 1960. Over the years, a number of methods were used to show that duty had been paid. From 1712 onwards, one of the cards in the pack, usually the ace of spades, was marked with a hand stamp. In 1765 hand stamping was replaced by the printing of the official ace of spades by the Stamp Office, incorporating the royal coat of arms. In 1828 the Duty Ace of Spades (known as "Old Frizzle") was printed to indicate a reduced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
