Where does tarot come from? Tarot began in northern Italy in the mid-fifteenth century as a card game with trump cards, painted for noble families. Its use as a divinatory tarot only appears at the end of the eighteenth century. Here is the story from the Italian trionfi to today's decks.
The history below draws on the work of card historians, notably Michael Dummett, and it flags every point that is still a hypothesis. If you want to move on to practice, start with our plan to learn tarot on your own in French.
Italy, fifteenth century: the trionfi
The earliest mentions of carte da trionfi date from the middle of the fifteenth century in northern Italy, and the oldest known tarot cards were painted for the Visconti family of Lombardy. These were games: trump cards were added to the four suits, and the 78-card structure was fixed later. The Lombard tarocchi are seen as the prototypes of later tarots, and the Marseille tarots are clearly related. The so-called "Gringonneur tarot" is a misnomer for illuminated cards from the time of Charles VI.
France: the word tarot and the Marseille card makers
The French word tarot is attested from at least 1505, and Rabelais writes "tarau" in 1534. Historian Michael Dummett suggests that soldiers returning from Italy under Charles VIII (1494) and Louis XII (1499) brought the game, but this is a hypothesis. The oldest surviving French tarot was printed in Lyon in 1557 by Catelin Geoffroy and has 38 cards. In 1637 the Abbé de Marolles had a rule for the game printed in Nevers. A 78-card tarot by Philippe Vachier dates from 1639, and workshops such as Noblet, Viéville, Dodal, Payen and Conver followed. By the end of the eighteenth century the game survived mainly in Alsace, Franche-Comté and Provence. Our guide to the Tarot de Marseille explains this tradition.
From game to divination
Cards had been used to consult an oracle well before tarot: Marcolino's 1540 book uses them only to pick an answer, without card meanings. Manuscripts of 1735 and 1750 give rudimentary meanings, and Casanova mentions a card game used for divination in 1765. The occult use of tarot develops from the late eighteenth century. Court de Gébelin and then Etteilla (in the 1780s) claimed an Egyptian origin. The thesis did not last: in 1822 Champollion deciphered the hieroglyphs, Romain Merlin dismantled it in 1869, and no document supports it. French occultists popularised the words lames and arcanes, and Papus popularised the legend of a Gypsy tarot in 1889. The words are explained in our French tarot glossary.
1909 and the modern decks
The French tradition continued with the Camoin edition around 1880 and Paul Marteau's "Ancien Tarot de Marseille" in 1930. In 1909 an English-language deck illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith appeared, with a scene on every numbered minor card, which many beginners find easier to read. Aleister Crowley and Frieda Harris created the Thoth deck between 1938 and 1943; it was published in 1969.
Three legends are worth setting aside: the Egyptian tarot (refuted in 1869), the Gypsy tarot (popularised by Papus in 1889) and the "Gringonneur tarot" (a misnomer). What the sources do establish is an Italian birth, a French standardisation by card makers, and a later occult reinterpretation.
What this means for you
Tarot has no proven mysterious origin: it is an Italian card game that became, much later, a tool for reflection and divination. You need no special gift to learn it, only patience and a good aid.
If you want to learn in French with cards that follow the 1909 illustrations, this is the French-language learning deck. The meaning is printed on every card. A printed French booklet is in the box, and the full French course follows by personal link after purchase.
French-language learning tarot deck, 1909 art
Meanings printed on every card in French, a French guidebook in the box and the full course in French after purchase. Ships to the EU, UK, Switzerland and Iceland.
See the French deckFrequently asked questions
Who invented tarot?
No inventor is known. The oldest surviving tarot cards were painted in fifteenth-century Italy for the Visconti family, when tarot was a trick-taking game with trump cards.
Does tarot come from Egypt?
No. The idea began with Court de Gébelin and Etteilla in the late eighteenth century, but Romain Merlin refuted it in 1869 and there is no document to support it.
Since when has tarot been used for divination?
The divinatory use develops from the late eighteenth century. Earlier sources show cards used to pick an oracle (1540) and simple meanings in manuscripts of 1735 and 1750.
In regalo il corso completo di tarocchi in italiano
In regalo il corso completo di tarocchi in italiano
