Tarocco Bolognese
An ancient and complex 62-card Tarot variant
Part of a series on Tarot variant games
“This Bolognese type of game is in several respects the most remarkable of all the many forms of Tarot. It is extremely complicated, but its complexity is of the sort that confers an extraordinary subtlety upon the play, it is certainly among the very best and most fascinating of all the games played with the Tarot pack. It can be shown to have remained very nearly unchanged since the beginning of the eighteenth century; in all probability, it has remained much the same since its invention.” Michael Dummett with Sylvia Mann, The Game of Tarot (1980) [Pg. 315]1
Tarocco Bolognese is the name of a special shortened pack used to play a variety of games in and around the city of Bologna. This pack, as well the games played with it, were formerly known as Tarocchino but that name has since fallen out of favor and the games played with it are known simply as tarocchi. The Bolognese game is the among the oldest of tarot variants and is the only one that is still being played today though primarily at events or select clubs. Despite the game’s long history going back nearly 5 centuries, it has survived as a local phenomena without ever catching on in other parts of Italy. While the oldest account of the game that Dummett cites is Il Giuoco Practico from 1753 and the oldest known decks are from a century prior, there are many reasons to believe that the game is of a much greater antiquity.
In his 1831 book the illustrious Count Leopold Cicognara put forth Prince Francesco Antelminelli Castracani Fibbia as the inventor of the game of tarocchi.2 He made this assertion based upon the inscription for the portrait above, which reads in English:
“Francesco Antelminelli Castracani Fibbia, Prince of Pisa, Montegiori and Pietra Santa, and lord of Fusecchio, son of Giovanni, a native of Castruccio, Duke of Lucca, Pistoia, Pisa, having fled to Bologna and presented himself to Bentivogli, was made Generalissimo of the Bolognese armies, and was the first of this family, which was called in Bologna "dalle Fibbie". He married Francesca, daughter of Giovanni Bentivogli. Inventor of the game of Tarocchino in Bologna, he had from the XIV Reformatories the privilege of placing the Fibbia arms on the Queen of Batons and those of his wife on the Queen of Coins. Born in the year 1360, he died in the year 1419.”3
Many researchers such as Robert Steele, Gertrude Moakley and Michael Dummett have since cast doubt on Cicognara’s claim as there are many good reasons to doubt it. For one, the inscription states that he died in 1419 and invented the tarocchino - not the tarot but a derivative thereof - that must have been created at a later date, presumably during the 16th century when shortened decks were fashionable. Dummett goes on to state that all this inscription really proves is that there was a tradition regarding Fibbia at the time that the painting was made around the later half of the seventeenth century.
However it has been argued that perhaps the seventeenth century engravers didn’t know any better and thought tarocchino to have been the original tarot.4 With the oldest tarot cards now known to be from at least 14285 someone like Fibbia could very well have invented tarot ~1400, 1410. Besides there’s no one else that has a legend stating they were the tarot inventor, Cicognara might someday be proven to have been right all along - especially given the remarkable conservatism of the Bolognese tradition.
The modern rules have changed very little from the set adopted at the beginning of the 18th century and in all likelihood have remained fairly static since the game’s invention. Many of the basic rules are the same as Tarot: following suit, the Fool as ‘excuse’, turns pass to the right. (See How to Play the Game of Triumphs)
Pip cards 2-5 have been removed to shorten the deck down to 62 cards.
“Long” Suits: Swords & Batons are valued in ascending order, Ace is low, 10 is high.
“Round” Suits: Coins & Cups are valued descending, 10 is low, Ace is high.
Dummett classified the Bolognese pack in the type-A southern style though it’s ordering is fairly unique. Historically, the cards were unnumbered. It wasn’t until much later—specifically with the introduction of double-headed cards in the late 18th century—that a Bolognese deck featured inscribed numbers, and even then, only trumps 5 through 16 were numbered.
The trump ordering is as follows, the cards with their numbers in parenthesis are left unnumbered:
( * ) Matto (The Fool, not a trump)
( 0 )Begeto or Bagatino (Magician)
(1-4 )The four Papi / Moretti (Valued the same, if played on the same trick the last one played is the winner)
5 - Amore (Love)
6 - Carro (Chariot)
7 - Temperanza (Temperance)
8 - Giustizia (Justice)
9 - Forza (Strength, Fortitude)
10 - Ruota (Wheel)
11 - Vecchio (Old Man, Hermit)
12 - Traditore (Traitor, Hanged Man)
13 - Morte (Death)
14 - Diavolo (Devil)
15 - Saetta (Thunderbolt, Tower)
16 - Stella (Star)
(17) Luna (Moon, the last 4 cards are known as the Grande and are not numbered)
(18) Sole (Sun)
(19) Mondo (World)
(20) Angelo (Angel, Judgment)
There are 3 different groupings among the unnumbered cards each with their own unique role or mechanic:
Magician and the Fool are known as the contatori (counters) as they can both be played as wild cards to complete sequences.
The Four Papi, also known as the Moretti (Moors), are all of equal rank, if more than 1 Papi is played to a trick, the last card played trumps the first.
The four highest trumps: The Angel, World, Sun and Moon are known collectively as Grande.
The Angel, World, Magician and Fool are each worth 5 points.
Kings = 5 points
Queens = 4 points
Knights = 3 points
Jacks = 2 points
All Remaining Cards (20 Trumps and 22 Pips) = 1 Point Each
The Angel, World, Magician and Fool together are called the tarocchi.
The tarocchi along with the 4 kings are called the carte de cinque (cards worth 5 points)
There is also 6 points awarded for winning the last trick.
The cards are counted in pairs, with 1 point being subtracted for each pair giving a total of 93 points. Alternatively you can deduct .5 from all point values above for easier math (e.g. Kings are 4.5, Pips are .5).
The real points in this game come from melds. There is an option to declare any melds made upon the opening hand for a bonus at the start of play. The decision to declare is purely strategic and may not always be a good idea. Any melds declared must be maintained until the end of the hand or the bonus is forfeit.
Associative combinations, known as cricche, award a bonus for three or four of a kind:
Tarocchi: 18 points for 3 of a kind, 36 for four
Kings: 17, 34
Queens: 14, 28
Knights: 13, 26
Jacks: 12, 24
There are also bonuses for sequences. Each sequence needs at least three cards for 10 points with each additional card awarding an extra 5 points. These bonuses can be enhanced with the use of the contatori which can allow for up to 6 Aces for instance.
Trumps - This sequence requires the Angel and at least two of the other three grande, contatori cannot replace the Angel but can be used to replace one of the other grande to complete the 3 card sequence for 10 points, additional cards past the sequence may be added for a bonus of 5 points per card. The sequence ends if two consecutive contatori are used.
Suits - Requires a King and at least 2 other court cards from the same suit, one of these can be a wild card. The ace and both wild cards can be used for a maximum sequence of 7.
Moors - Requires 3 Moretti, one of these can be a wild card.
Aces - Requires 3 Aces, one can be a wild card
There is a bonus multiplier that doubles the points whenever a player forms three or more cricche OR three or more sequences in a single hand.
This game is often played in 2 v 2 teams and allows for a system of signals to be used:
Busso - Knocking on the table is a request to your partner that play their strongest card and lead the next trick with the same suit.
Volo - Throwing the card up in the air signals that this is your last card in that suit.
Striscio - Scraping the card across the table indicates that you have more cards in the suit led.
Older games allowed for more singles such telling our partner to smninchiate which means ‘lead with your highest trump’. The phrase is now only known in connection with tarocchino yet appears in Francesco Berni’s 1526 satire Capitolo del gioco della Primiera during his discussion of tarocco, perhaps hinting at a wider use during that period.
The cards themselves attest to a well preserved tradition. As you can see above there are very few differences between these two sheets from the early 16th century and this deck from the 17th century - the 1725 deck preserves much of this pattern as well. While there is no reason to believe that the Rothschild/Beaux Arts sheets are from a Bolognese deck, the Devil card hows similarities to Giovanni da Modena’s gothic depiction of the Devil from the Basilica of San Petronia in Bologna (below), as well as the Agnolo Hebreo Devil card - also believed to be Bolognese.
There are also many similarities between the Bolognese pack and artifact cards believed to have been of Florentine origin, did the two share a pattern? This presents an anomaly as Dummett asserts that the devotion to the Bolognese game was a matter of a local pride it seems strange that they would have adopted another city’s pattern.
To add yet another curiosity the oldest known account detailing a fortune telling method using tarot cards uses a Bolognese pack. A manuscript discovered by Franco Pratesi in 1987 and dated to sometime before 1750 provides a list of interpretations for 35 of the cards as well as a basic spread:
Matto = Madness
Begeto = Married Man
Amore = Love
Carro = Journey
Forza = Violence
Tempra = Time
Il Vecchio = An Old Man
Traditore = Betrayal
Morte = Death
Diavolo = Anger
La Stella = Gift
Luna = Night
Sole = Day
Mondo = Long Journey
Angelo = Marriage and Reconciliation
RD = The Man (Roy of Deniers - King of Coins)
QD = Truth (Queen)
CD = The Man’s Thoughts (Cavalier)
FD = Young Lady ( The term for Jack used in the manuscript was Fante / Fantesca, in the ‘round’ suits such as coins it was Fantesca )
AD = Table (Ace)
10D = Money
RC = An Old Man
QC = Married Woman
CC = Reconciliation
FC = The Lady
AC = The House
10C = Roof Tiles
RB = A Bachelor
QB = Harlot
CB = Door Knocker
FB = The Woman’s Thoughts
AB = Nonsense / Lies (Annoyances)
RS = Gossip / Slander (Evil Tongue)
10S = Tears
AS = Letter
Pratesi wrote that the “Cards are laid down in five packs resulting of five cards each… the divination [probably] occurred by selecting one of the seven packs of five cards and interpreting the distribution.” 6 I suppose what he meant by this is that you take these 35 cards, put them into 5 rows of 7 and then pick one.
There you have it, the Bolognese tarot: a complicated game with a long proud history, similar to tarot yet very different with its highly strategic set collecting aspect.
What are your thoughts on this game or your theories about these cards?
Michael Dummett with Sylvia Mann, The Game of Tarot (1980)
Chapter 16 is referenced throughout
Dummett (1980) [Pg. 66]
The Oldest Tarot Cards & Where to Find Them,
citing: Emilia Maggio, New Insights into the So-called Alessandro Sforza Deck,
The Playing Card, Vol. 44, No. 4 (2016)