A Brief History of Tarot

When we look at the history of tarot cards, tarot cards were initially used for playing trick-taking games such as Italian tarrochini, French tarot, and Austrian Königrufen. In the mid-15th century, these tarot decks were mainly used for playing card games, and in the late 18th century, some tarot decks were used for cartomancy, in other words, fortune telling. There are three major tarot decks. One of the earliest tarot decks was called the Visconti-Sforza deck and it was a handmade deck presented to the noble family, more specifically to Filippo Maria Visconti, the Duke of Milan who commissioned this particular deck. 

The most popular tarot deck was the Marseilles Pack. Unlike the Visconti-Sforza deck which was handmade, the Marseilles deck was printed yet became a standard pack for the early 16th century and even today. It was first printed in Paris by Jean Noblet. In 1760 however, Nicolas Conver took the license and started publishing in Marseilles, so the name Marseilles comes from here. 

The two tarot decks that were mentioned before weren't designed for the fortune-telling nature of the tarot, they were designed for ordinary card games. Another very important tarot deck that was called the Rider-Waite Pack was created after tarot became esoteric, in other words, after gaining its cartomancy nature. The tarot deck was shaped by Arthur Edward Waite and it was illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith.