WHO ARE THE FOUR KINGS OF THE CARDS?

When it comes to the design of the cards is a major conflict: the four kings represent great historical rulers and who are they?

It is a common belief that the four royal cards represent David king of Swords; Alexander the Great king of Shamrocks; King Charlemagne king of hearts and Caesar Augustus, king of diamonds. This belief seems to be at odds with the history.

Around the sixteenth century the player card games Frenchman made some changes on the cards, making them look very close to what we use today. They adopted the four symbols that also use today, swords, hearts, diamonds and shamrocks, each representing a class: the nobility, clergy, merchants and peasants.

At that time the card manufacturers began to assign identities of actual letters and printed on the cards. The actual identity cards in different, depending on the manufacturer's personal choice.

After the French Revolution took place in the 18th century, manufacturers of cards left to write the names of the kings in the cards, because the monarchy was no longer welcome in France. The French model of card games was the most successful and was adopted worldwide by fans of card games. However, the actual letters used today in card games do not represent any particular figure king.