The king card is the oldest and most universal court card. It most likely originated in Persian
Ganjifeh where kings are depicted as seated on thrones and outranking the viceroy cards which are mounted on horses. Playing cards were transmitted to Italy and Spain via the
Mamluks and
Moors. The best preserved and most complete deck of Mamluk cards, the
Topkapı pack, did not display human figures but just listed their rank most likely due to religious prohibition. It is not entirely sure if the Topkapı pack was representative of all Mamluk decks as it was a custom-made luxury item used for display. A fragment of what may be a seated king card was recovered in Egypt which may explain why the poses of court cards in Europe resemble those in Persia and India. Seated kings were generally common throughout Europe. During the 15th century, the Spanish started producing standing kings. The French originally used Spanish cards before developing their regional deck patterns. Many Spanish court designs were simply reused when the French invented their own suit-system around 1480. The king of hearts is sometimes called the "suicide king" because he appears to be sticking his sword into his head. This is a result of centuries of bad copying by English card makers where the king's axe head has disappeared. Starting in the 15th century, French manufacturers assigned to each of the court cards names taken from history or mythology. This practice survives only in the Paris pattern which ousted all its rivals, including the Rouen pattern around 1780. The names for the kings in the Paris pattern (
portrait officiel) are: File:King of spades fr.svg|
David File:King of hearts fr.svg|
Charlemagne File:King of diamonds fr.svg|
Julius Caesar File:King of clubs fr.svg|
Alexander the Great Most French-suited continental European patterns are descended from the Paris pattern but they have dropped the names associated with each card. ==Example cards==