Jack cards of all four suits in the English pattern

A Jack or Knave, in some games referred to as a 🎅 Bower, in Tarot card games as a Valet, is a playing card which, in traditional French and English decks, pictures 🎅 a man in the traditional or historic aristocratic or courtier dress, generally associated with Europe of the 16th or 17th 🎅 century. The usual rank of a jack is between the ten and the queen.

History [ edit ]

Knave of coins from 🎅 the oldest known European deck ( c. 1390–1410 )

The earliest predecessor of the knave was the thānī nā'ib (second or 🎅 under-deputy) in the Mamluk card deck. This was the lowest of the three court cards and like all court cards 🎅 was depicted through abstract art or calligraphy. When brought over to Italy and Spain, the thānī nā'ib was made into 🎅 an infantry soldier or page ranking below the knight card. In France, where the card was called the valet, the 🎅 queen was inserted between the king and knight. The knight was subsequently dropped out of non-Tarot decks leaving the valet 🎅 directly under the queen. The king-queen-valet format then made its way into England.