April 4, 2024: Playing cards in defense of church and academy

 Here are another couple of finds by Franco, still rummaging through the Biblioteca Moreniani. The first is an erudite mock defense of playing cards, "Carte da gioco difese in accademia e in chiesa," https://www.naibi.net/A/ELOGIO.pdf. The author would seem to be a high-ranking member of an "academy," more like a social club, in Florence, a "Very Reverend" ecclesiastic, no less. In fact, as I discovered trying to identify the sources of some of his Latin quotations, it is taken almost wholly from a book of such academy speeches authored by one Gian Francesco Loredano (or Loredan) published in Venice in 1638, the Bizzarie academiche di Gio. Francesco Loredano, https://books.google.com/books?id=Ey7IP ... &q&f=false. English Wikipedia has a long article on Loredan. Also, Andrea Vitali has quoted a few paragraphs from this very speech,  as found in Loredano's book He is not mentioned in the Florentine account, that Franco can find. It is entertaining nonetheless.

The second find is even less original than the first, in that it tells a story that can be found in numerous sources, some of which Franco mentions. The story is that of the poor soldier whose deck of cards serves as his Bible. Franco notes the few bits that might be original, as well as running down some of its history.

Comments in brackets are mine. Numbers in the left margin are the page numbers of Franco's pdf. The translations of the quotations are standard ones; but in a few cases Franco has corrected them, or we worked out a compromise or bridge between the literal meaning and what is given. The quotations were the hardest part of this translation, especially the Martial, figuring out how they (the authors of the translation I found on the Web) got that from that (the Latin words on the page). But it was also fun - Google is such a great tool for finding arcane stuff.

Playing cards defended in academy and church

Franco Pratesi


1. Introduction

This study examines two handwritten documents on playing cards preserved in Florence in the Moreniana Library. [note 1] In both cases these are attempts to show that something favorable can be discovered in playing cards, in contrast with all the opinions of wise men and legislators, not to mention clerics, who have always seen in these objects essentially a dangerous or diabolical instrument.

2. Setting of the academic Discourse

The first document is an academic Discourse. Before transcribing it in full, I think it is useful to provide some data on the context of the academy and the author of the speech.

The academy in question is that of the Immutables, established in Florence in January 1805. This date is evidently not recent, dating back more than two centuries, but at the same time it can be considered considerably late compared to the typical origins of Florentine academies. A register with the initial composition of the members is kept in the Moreniana Library. [note 2] To render an account of the literary production of this academy, two enormous manuscript collections present in the same Library are sufficient, containing poems and other literary compositions. [note 3] The Discourse in question is found at ff. 592-594 of Vol. I.

To get an idea of these 47 academy members, it may be useful to examine the list copied into the inventory from the 1805 manuscript cited; [note 4] among these, we note the presence of two categories of people who were much less present in older academies: women and clerics. I reproduce below, directly from the source, the initial part of the list.
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1. https://opac.comune.fi.it/openweb/rt10bp/; https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Moreniana
2. Biblioteca Moreniana, Palagi, No. 203.
3. Biblioteca Moreniana, Bigazzi, No. 2, Vol. I and Vol. II.
4. I manoscritti della biblioteca moreniana, Vol. 1, Fasc. 11. Florence, pp. 321-322. [https://www.google.it/books/edition/I_m ... frontcover]
 

Finding something like four ladies and twenty clerics out of forty-seven academy members corresponds to a truly unusual percentage. [In the first twelve, number 3 is a lady, and 4-8 are clerics. The complete list can be found in the Catalog of note 4.] It must also be remembered that in that period, clerics had begun to lose part of their prestige and heritage, so much so that, regardless of their intentions, to us an academy with that composition practically appears like a closed fortress in defense of the past, "immutable" precisely. Even the author of the Discourse in question, Giuseppe Falchini “Il Faceto” [the Witty], is a cleric, or rather perhaps one should say a prelate, given that he is indicated not only with Rev. but with Very Rev. Even his position among those at the beginning of the list [number 5], with the position of Deputy Censor, demonstrates his importance among the members.

Searching for information on this personage in the bibliographical repertoires, one finds with his name only the author of a book on bee breeding, printed in Florence in 1747: [note 5] The date seems too early, and above all the profession of beekeeper does not fit perfectly with a religious career, for which one would conclude that it is only a namesake.

However, here we meet a Very Reverend of the active ones, a poet, a man of letters, an orator, and who knows what else. As a poet, in the previously mentioned Vol. 1, can be read more than fifty of his sonnets and also other poems. As a speaker, you can get an idea from the titles of other speeches he delivered in the same academy: Dissertation in honor of study; Heraclitus cried, Democritus laughed; there is no greater unhappiness than being loved; whether it requires more strength to fall in love with a beautiful crying face, or a beautiful singing face.

Ultimately, it won't be too surprising if, in the Academy, he even defends playing cards, as we will see.

3. The text of the academic Discourse.
/f. 592r/

What morality can be drawn from playing cards.

The kindness and goodness of God is so full of inexhaustible mercies that in the most terrible evils invented, whether produced by the malignity of nature or by the malice of our Genius, he wants man to try remedies for his Health and Relief for his affliction, whereby he allows that at the same time they offend, they are beneficial, similar to the little worms of the fig, which have the poison in their belly and the antidote in their wings. Those plants which are very bitter in their leaves, have sweetness in their fruit.

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5. G. Falchini, Nuova e vaga istruzione per lo governo, ed accrescimento delle api da miele. Florence 1747.

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Scorpions and Vipers bring with them death and life. The Sun attracts vapors and dries them up. The Earth, which is the cradle, is also the tomb of monsters, and it produces them and buries them.
There is no evil more pernicious than the game of cards, in which anger, deceit, blasphemies, and all the vices are included and united, so blamed by the Scholars that Seneca pretends that Emperor Claudius, for being addicted to playing cards, was condemned by Aeacus as Judge of Hell to a punishment similar to that of Sisyphus: that as Sisyphus perpetually turns over a large stone /f. 592v/, so Claudius perpetually handled the cards. And Dante makes that Gambler from Navarre respond to Virgil in this way.

Io fui del regno di Navarra nato:
Poi fui famiglio del buon Re Tebaldo:
Quivi mi misi a far baratteria,
Di che i rendo ragione in questo caldo.

[I in the kingdom of Navarre was born . . .
Then I domestic was of good King Thibault;
I set me there to practice barratry {i.e. abuse of public office for personal gain}
For which I pay the reckoning in this heat. {Inferno 22:48, 52-54, trans. H. W. Longfellow.}]

It is so harmful that it is prohibited by civil laws, which in order to extinguish it completely do not allow any action against anyone who was deceived or beaten in the game. Cicero, wanting to put in his epilogue all the faults of Antony, called him Gambler.

O hominem nequam, qui non dubitaret alea ludere.
O worthless man, who does not hesitate to gamble. {Philippica 2, 56 (XXIII)}.]

Finally, Martial [Epigrammata XIV.18].

Alea parva nuces, et non damnosa videtur
Saepe tamen pueris abstulit illa nates.

[Gambling with nuts {often used as dice} is thought to be a harmless game,
But it has often damaged boys’ buttocks {and so produced welts similar to the outer shells of nuts}.]

Despite all this, so abhorred by the learned, so pernicious to customs, so abominated by the Laws, it nevertheless contains within itself so many allegorical meanings, so many moralities, which equal, if not exceed, the evils that are caused by it.
/f. 593r/ The cards themselves teach the players not to touch them, and whoever first gave them the name of cards, perhaps had this thought, almost as if they were cards full of warnings, which teach us to avoid the dangers of the self-same cards. What else do those coins mean, if not those which are thrown away, which are lost, which are dissipated in gambling? One who gambles often remaining poor and naked.

Nudaque per lusis pectora nostra patent.
[Through games our hearts are exposed naked. {Ovid, Artis Amatoriae III.372}]

What else do those Cups show us, other than that the Players lose their intellect and reason, like drunks? What else do the sticks and swords warn us about, if not the constant brawls, the disdain, and the implacable enmities, which often cause death to the Players? Listen to Horace [1 Epist. 19, 48-49].

Ludus enim genuit trepidum certamen, et iram; Ira trues inimicitias, et funebre bellum.
[A game may beget dreadful strife and wrath; wrath, savage enmities and murderous war.]

Lovers draw warnings from the game of cards. Whoever wants to win at cards should strive to have more points than others. The Lover, who craves possession of his beloved, will achieve victory if he has more points, i.e. more money than the others. Duro certandum [I continue steadfast: Plutarch, Moralia, “De Garrulitate” 8], said that good female [Laeana, who, loyal to her lover, did not reveal secrets under torture]. There is a game called who makes the most loses. The same is experienced in things of love. The grasses, once they sow the seed, dry up, said Seneca. Soldiers and War Captains learn from playing cards to win, and enjoy earning /f. 593v/ victory while still playing. There were those who said of Augustus:

Postquam, bis classe victus, naves perdidit Aliquando, ut vincat lusit assidue aleam.
[Having lost twice with {his} fleet, to win at last, he gambled assiduously.] [Seutonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars, LXX, 124.]

Clerics learn temperance, poverty, and patience from the game of cards, since it is not necessary for an excellent cleric to desire other wine, desire other money, use other weapons, or use other sticks than those which are pretended in the cards.
Playing cards teach politicians, because they show them what they must teach in peace and in war. Sought in war to repress the violence of the enemy, weapons and Soldiers are symbolized in Swords and Coins. In peace, they want Justice and abundance; and these are expressed in Cups full of wine, and the stick, symbol of Justice: for this purpose, the Romans brought their branches before Caesar, and the scepter of Kings is nothing other than a stick.
The game of cards teaches Princes not to be so proud of their greatness, because finally what happens to the court figures in the cards happens to them: when played they also mix with those of the most minimal

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points. Once the game is over, the cards are all placed back in the deck without any ranking. Death makes everyone equal, nor do the bones of a King have greater veneration than those of a simple private individual. The wind thus scatters the ashes of Irus, like that of Agamemnon. Listen to Horace: [Odes I, 4]. /f. 594r/

Pallida mors quo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas Regumque turres
[Pale Death whose foot kicks in the huts of paupers and the towers of Kings.]

With the game of cards all men are finally made to consider their miseries, that to be happy, they also need the favors of something as vile as cards. How truly sad is the condition of that Man, who has to sigh for the encounters of good fortune in a most vile card.
The cards of the game, depicted with coins, cups, swords, and sticks, symbolize that the acquisition of riches, goods, scepters, and armies are jokes and mockeries of fortune, of which, as things of little moment, we should not become proud.
It can be said that the four seasons of the year are understood in the game of cards. The swords indicate the spring, in which all princes take up arms. The coins represent the summer, in which the grains are harvested, and the income. Cups filled with wine signify autumn. The sticks are a symbol of winter because the trees in winter are naked like sticks; especially since in winter sticks are needed to keep warm. I could say that in the game of cards there are the four main virtues. In coins we mean justice, which suum unicuique tribuit [confers to each what he deserves]. Temperance in the cups. In the sticks prudence, which, however, was imagined by the Egyptians with one eye on a rod; and in the swords fortitude.
But let their kindness excuse me, if I have too boldly abused the excesses of their kindness, which with such grateful silence have pitied and honored my imperfections.

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3. Commentary on the discourse

The first comment that comes to mind concerns the title of the academic discourse: the problem lies in the adjective. Maybe I'm wrong, but to my ears the term “academic” sounds in two very different ways, perhaps linked to the eras. If I hear about an article or an academic monograph of today, I believe a priori that they deserve all my respect because the author's university level guarantees me a minimum of professional seriousness and rigor, as does not often happen with an amateur author. But there is a different meaning of academic, as opposed to practical, constructive, scientific: that is, something written, or uttered, to show one’s ability to discuss any topic, even a far-fetched one, in a purely rhetorical manner, without any practical use, without a real problem, without progress in knowledge. My impression is then that, in this case, the academic is precisely of the second type.

Examining the text, it is quite surprising to find recurring quotes in Latin on the subject. On the one hand, we could expect them from a Very Reverend, whose education had certainly had a good foundation in Latin language and literature. The problem, however, is that the Latin classics, even if they discussed some games, certainly could not talk about playing cards, which, for them, were still in the distant future. In short, our lecturer considers valid what he finds in the classics regarding games and transfers it to the cards.

However, it is not surprising that in this Discourse, already in the nineteenth century, there is no trace of the use of cards to predict the future, and in particular of the recent French "discoveries" about the tarot. The Immutables did not follow trends, by definition. Instead, our “Faceto” does not hesitate to take inspiration from similar old treatises on the game of chess, in which the association of the game pieces with corresponding categories of men is commonly found: precisely in these cases we read, for example, of kings and pawns who are placed in the same box after the game.

With all his efforts, the Very Reverend only fails to praise playing cards to the full extent that they can be useful to the Catholic religion; he limits himself only to the four virtues. The soldier in the following document will take care to broaden the picture.

4. The text of the soldier's defense

Still in the Moreniana Library, we find in a large manuscript (Palagi, No. 357, and Fasc. 28 inside it) a single sheet written on both sides with the following text.

Reply from a Regimental Soldier Over a Deck of Picchetto Cards

Being in church one Sunday with the rest of the Company to hear Mass, instead of taking a Book of Devotion, he took a Deck of Cards out of his bag, and frankly spread them out in front of the Sergeant, who was near him, as if he had had a Book of Prayers. Having viewed similar impropriety, said Sergeant ordered him to put the cards in his pocket, pointing out the scandal and indecency of such a thing. Receiving the Sergeant's advice, the Soldier listened without saying a word, and continued with the same seriousness to hold the cards in his hands.
Once the Mass was over, the Sergeant ordered him to be conducted before the Major and made an exact explanation of the impertinence committed by the Soldier, who was seriously reprimanded by the Major himself.
And he replied thus.

I am a poor Soldier who has only five Baiocchi a day, which, not being sufficient for the necessary sustenance, Your Illustrious Excellency must not be surprised that I don't have that with which to buy an Office, or another Book of piety.

And taking the Cards out of his pocket, thus he spoke.

When I see an ace it represents to me the one God of all Things.
When I see a two I am reminded of the two Thieves, who were crucified together with NSGC [Our Lord Jesus Christ] [note 6]
In the three I contemplate the Holy Trinity.
The four reminds me of the 4 Evangelists.

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6. Among the subjects associated with 2 in the different versions, thieves are rare (the two natures of Christ are more common). The 1778 text offers four different attributions for the 2 of the four suits; none of them coincide with this one.

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The Five reminds me of the five Wise Virgins whose Lamps were lit and deserved to enter the Hall where the groom was (Psalm of David).
I see the 6 and remember that God created the World in six days.
Seven teaches me that he rested, and that we too, in imitation, must rest to pray to him and adore him.
The eight shows me the eight righteous People, who were saved from the Flood, that is, Noah, his wife, and his three children with their wives.
The Nine reminds me of the nine ungrateful lepers who did not thank God for the grace they received.
The ten reminds me of God's Ten Commandments.
If I take the Lady [Queen] in my hand, I remember the Queen of Sheba, who came from the ends of the Earth to meet the Wisdom of Solomon.
The King reminds me that I must obey and be faithful to my Sovereign. [note 7]
And the Jack represents to me this B.F. [note 8] of a Sergeant who came to accuse me.
If I then count the points of the Cards I find that they are 365, which were the Number of days of the Year.
Likewise, I find 52 Cards that form the Number of 52 Weeks, so a deck of Cards serves as a Bible, an almanac, a book, a meditation, and a game, when I like.

Surprised by the spirit of the soldier, the Major gave him a Coin, saying that many people who have spent their lives with cards in their hands have never been able to find such a beautiful and witty explanation.

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7 Another unusual association, present in English versions of the mid-nineteenth century, but also as the fourth king in office, together with Clovis, Charlemagne, and Saint Louis, already in one of the attributions of 1778.
8. I'm surprised not to find a convincing choice of insults with these two initials.

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5. Comments on the soldier's defense

The document in question is a brief defense of a soldier awaiting punishment for having used a deck of playing cards during mass as if it were a prayer book. While I had never found information about the previous document, I am certain that I have read a printed version of this one: however, I am uncertain whether what I read on these two pages of a manuscript sheet corresponds exactly to what I read many years ago.

Two versions printed in French, in Brussels in 1778 and in Paris in 1815 (after a broadsheet of 1809 also cited for Paris), were recently presented, with the relevant references, in Tarot History Forum. [note 9] This is a large version, already with many details. It's not easy to trace the source of its history, which could even be from the previous century, as D'Allemagne would propose in his great work [note 10]; however, historians who have studied the question agree with 1778 as the date of origin.

In particular, a Parisian edition of 1811 compiled by Hadin was widely distributed, with an example also present in the library of Stuart R. Kaplan. [note 11] Among other things, it appears that this French variant of the story immediately enjoyed considerable popularity, with presentation and discussion also in the periodical press. [note 12]

The soldier protagonist is identified as Louis Bras-de-fer in Brussels, Grenadier Richard in Paris, Richard Middleton in England, and usually becomes a Prussian soldier in Italy. On the various editions that appeared in many European states, a very old article by Johannes Bolte is still fundamental, [note 13] which reviews around thirty variants in various languages, printed and handwritten; for Italy, he reports, with transcription, only a loose sheet from the Salani Printing House in Florence, published around 1866.

However, as regards the manuscript sheet in question here, it is unfortunately impossible to date it with precision. The other manuscripts preserved in the same archival unit are disparate and of such different ages that they cover at least three centuries. The most plausible hypothesis is that a version arrived in Italy, and Florence in particular, from France; one can naturally think of those years when in Tuscany the French government took place instead of the grand ducal government. The most direct route would seem to be through the newspapers that summarized and commented on the Paris edition of 1811, but the associations of the characters with the card numbers are not identical.

If this manuscript copy is different from those printed in Italian (and it certainly is, compared to the Florentine ones from the Salani Printing House in which the Prussian soldier appears), it would be a useful contribution. If it is just a copy of an Italian version already printed that I don't know, the importance would be less, but it would retain a minimum of importance as evidence of the diffusion of this defense of the soldier.

However, it is not clear whether the drafting, here schematic at best, corresponds to a very reduced copy or to a simpler and older drafting. However old one can imagine it, I do not believe, also due to the handwriting, that this document could be prior to 1778, and therefore I have transcribed the entire handwritten text, with the intention only of adding an element to the known series.

6. Conclusion

In the literature, it is easy to encounter discussions and sermons contrary to playing cards in a absolute manner. Even legislators in much of the world have been engaged for centuries in the difficult task of separating permitted games from prohibited games, sometimes resorting to the only easy way to resolve the alternative, which is to prohibit any use of playing cards. In this abundance of negative approaches, it is rare to meet someone who discovers useful elements in playing cards. In Florence
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9. viewtopic.php?t=2735&p=26491#p26491.
10. H.-R. d'Allemagne, Les cartes à jouer Tome I, Paris 1906, on pp. 486-488.
11. S. R. Kaplan, The Encyclopedia of Tarot. New York 1978, on p. 359.
12. For example, Journal de l'Empire, Vendredi 15 Mars 1811, in several pages.
13. J. Bolte, "Eine geistliche Auslegung des Kartenspiels." In: Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde. Vol. 11, 1901, pp. 376-406.

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there were those who praised the first naibi for their educational role towards children, [note 14] but even that positive opinion was short-lived.

Therefore it is worth pointing out cases such as the two presented here, in which cards are considered objects capable of also teaching us something. Nowadays, however, I think that we have reached the opposite extreme, given that many are even looking to playing cards for the solution to serious life problems, and in tarot cards in particular, starting with an overall easy reading of the future. It turns out that the most difficult thing, also with playing cards and their meaning, is, as always, finding the right balance.

Florence, 04.04.2024
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14. Istoria fiorentina di Ricordano Malespini coll’aggiunta di Giachetto Malespini e la Cronica di Giovanni Morelli. Florence 1718, on p. 270.

April 3, 2024: Florence in the 18th c.: Card games at the theater of the Pergola

 

Here is another note of Franco's documenting types of card games played, this time in 18th and early 19th century Florence, in the aristocratic assemblage known as the Academy of the Immobile. Again there is the threefold classification of trick-taking games, betting games, and banking games. The documents show the negotiations between the Academy and the authorities that led to the shifting fortunes of the various games involved. This is a translation of "Firenze nel Settecento - Giochi di carte al Teatro della Pergola," posted on April 3, 2025, at https://www.naibi.net/A/PERGOLA.pdf.

Franco uses italics to set off his quotes, but without indentation of long ones. Since the practice on this Forum is to indent long quotes, I do so, while also preserving his italics. As usual, comments in square brackets are by me, in consultation with Franco, to clarify some things for non-Italian readers.

The Forum software is not letting me post the whole thing, so it will be divided into two posts.

Florence in the eighteenth century - Card games at the Theatre of the Pergola

Franco Pratesi


1. Introduction

In the past, I studied card games in Florence for a long time and collected a lot of information about the grand ducal era in a book. [note 1] The main places where card-playing was allowed in the two centuries in question were the Casino of the Nobles [Casino dei Nobili] on the Lungarno and the Rooms attached to the Theatre of the Cocomero [Teatro del Cocomero], currently Niccolini, in Via Ricasoli. However, at the time, and even previously, there were several academies in which card playing was allowed, even if sometimes only a few rare traces of this activity remain in the city chronicles. For example, only recently was I able to track down receipts for purchases of playing cards at the Casino of Santa Trinita, because they had not been reported in the balance sheets of the official registers. [note 2]

The present study is dedicated to the gaming activity connected to the Academicians of the Immobile [Immobili] and their Theatre of the Pergola. To my knowledge, no studies have been published regarding this activity with specific documents reported. Recently, the Archive of the Academy of the Immobile [Accademia degli Immobili] (A.A.I.) has been reorganized with all the registers and documents on the theatrical activity, and related others, culminating with the publication of a complete inventory. [note 3]

I hesitated for a long time before asking for authorization to conduct research within the A.A.I., because examination of the book cited clearly indicated that documents that did not exclusively concern the construction and maintenance of the Theatre and connected buildings – and most of all, theatrical activity – were very rare. The clear impression was that all the documentation on card games (if it existed at the time, as seemed certain) had then been dispersed as material of little value, not worthy of being preserved in the A.A.I. In particular, the only document I had identified was a letter from Luigi Pitti on the game of Pharaoh, which I will present later together with other materials found. In addition to the numerous documents of the A.A.I., others are preserved in Florence in the State Archives - in particular in the Della Gherardesca collection - and in the Moreniana Library, but in these I have not identified any documentation relating to games.

Bearing in mind that dates before 1750 written according to the Florentine calendar in documents have the New Year set for March 25th, I transcribe them according to modern usage. As is known, at the time the accounting units were usually indicated with four figures separated by points: the scudo (or ducat, or zecchino) of seven lire, with one lira of twenty soldi and one soldo of twelve denari.

2. The fashionable card games in Florence

Before describing and discussing the documents examined, some information on the succession of card games preferred by Florentines over time appears useful. For a detailed description, with particular regard to the game in eighteenth-century Tuscany, one can rely on an important academic monograph on the topic. [note 4] For useful information on card games of the time one can usefully turn to the books by Giampaolo Dossena [note 5] and David Parlett [note 6] and, in general, to a dedicated website. [note 7]

In reality, alongside changing fashions, which have always existed, in this case there was an intrinsic need for changes in games. Especially in the gaming rooms attached to the theatres, the card games had to be played quickly, also because the rooms usually closed after the
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1. F. Pratesi, Giochi di carte nel Granducato di Toscana. Ariccia 2015.
2. https://www.naibi.net/A/TRINITA.pdf
3. L’Accademia degli Immobili (ed. Alberti, Bartoloni, Marcelli) Rome 2010.
4. A. Addobbati, La festa e il gioco nella Toscana del Settecento. Pisa 2002.
5. G. Dossena, Giochi di carte italiani. Milan 1984.
6. D. Parlett, The Oxford Guide to Card Games. Oxford 1990
7. https://www.pagat.com/

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end of the shows. Understandably, therefore, the players' preference was usually directed towards gambling games and not the traditional ones known as trick-taking or commerce [commercio: i.e., taking and giving, as in commercial exchanges], such as minchiate. But against gambling there was an increasingly incisive action by the government and, while the grand dukes of the house of Medici had granted various exemptions to the prohibitions, with the Lorraine dynasty there was an increasingly rigid restriction as the years passed.

However, the succession of documented card games can be schematized with the players' attempt to maintain the practice of their favorite games for as long as possible even when they were prohibited. Generally, when a game was banned, the players invented another one that was sufficiently different to have its own rules, and above all its own name not included among the prohibited ones. So from the forbidden bassetta they moved on to pharaoh, again a similar banking game. When banking games were prohibited, betting games were resorted to, and also in that case they moved from primiera to bambara, and then to buia. After the banking games, betting games also ended up being prohibited and for a few decades only trick-taking games remained permitted, first of all, the ever-present game of minchiate, but also other long-lasting ones such as picchetto, ombre, and tressette. Finally, with the more restrictive law of 1773, the majority of gaming environments, starting with coffee shops, moved from card games to billiards. [note 8]

As in other gaming environments, transformations of this kind were also followed in the Academy of the Immobile, but maintaining for longer some exemptions, granted by sovereign grace, which still allowed the practice of games within it that were now prohibited in almost all urban environments.

Unfortunately, today only traces of these transitions can be found, without that continuity in documentation (as can be found both for the Institute of the Nobles [Istituto dei Nobili] and the Theatre of the Cocomero [Teatro del Cocomero]) which would be useful. In short, for the Rooms of the Theatre of the Pergola we must resign ourselves to collecting scattered documents, faint traces that we can interpret and use for a broader reconstruction, above all thanks to what we know from other similar environments.

3. Beginnings of the Academy of the Immobile and gaming activity

To recall the initial activity of the Academy I use for brevity what the academics presented in 1763 to the Grand Duke so as to renew their sovereign protection.

A.A.I. 113 p. 5 - Minutes October 1763
Origin, Progress, and Present State of the Academy
Around the middle of the 17th century, a Conversation [i.e. gathering or club] of Florentine nobles, mostly employed in the service of the extinct Royal House of Medici, began under the auspices of the Most Serene Lorenzo, Prince of the same Royal Family, to train in one of his casinos located in the street called Parione, in Chivalric Exercises, and in the Performances of improvised Comedies.

Said Most Serene Prince Lorenzo passed away on November 14, 1648, and his Casino was sold to Marchese Bartolomeo Corsini to incorporate it into his Palace; said Conversation was moved to a house rented by it from the Ughi family in Via del Cocomero: and it is the same one where the Theatre of the Academy of the Infocati is today: and there under the protection of the Most Reverend Prince Giovan Carlo Cardinale de Medici, continuing to practice Gymnastics and Representations of Comedy, the aforementioned Conversation took the form of an Academy under the title of the Immobile, with the assumption as Device of a Windmill with the motto - In Its Movement it is still.

The possibility of such assistance from the sovereigns for the Academy was not limited to some additional income, but extended to exemption from taxes, prohibitions, and even from the courts, leaving it subject only and directly to the Grand Duke. It is therefore clear that the response a few years later, with the continuation of protection, was greeted with great relief. In the Minutes of 14 March 1766 (A.A.I 113) we read that: S.A.R (His Royal Highness) is happy to receive the supplicants under His
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8. https://www.naibi.net/A/LICENCES.pdf


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Special Protection in the way that his Royal Ancestors deigned to do, and he will always meet with pleasure all the occasions to contribute to the good and decorum of the Academy.

At the beginning there is no information on games connected to the Theatre, and even when the possibility was approved in a proposed statute in 1720, the related vote did not reach unanimity of consensus. Evidently, there were academics who would have preferred that the activity be limited to theatrical performances, with their already heavy organization.

A.A.I. 110 p. 59 - Minutes of 8 August 1720
A draft statute is submitted to the Academy for approval, voted on chapter by chapter. The sixteenth is about games.
Chapter Sixteen. Of playing games, and doing other recreations
All non-prohibited games are admitted to the theatre and its properties with the permission of the Magistrate; provided that a continuous practice of any game is not introduced.
Any authentic Academician with permission from the Magistrate may perform Dances there for honest recreation, Dinners, and similar entertainment as he pleases.
This sixteenth Chapter was sent to a vote and passed despite three blanks.

As stated, I have not been able to reconstruct with continuity the game activity associated with the Theatre nor to pinpoint its beginnings precisely. I therefore believe it is useful to divide the information according to the games involved. 

Insignia of the Academy of the Immobile. The black one is printed on many pages of the minutes
(Archive of the Accademia degli Immobili | Teatro della Pergola of Florence)
Reproduction prohibited

4. The Game of pharaoh

The game of pharaoh had extraordinary success throughout Europe, before finding the most fertile ground - under the name of faro - in the territories of the American Far West; only poker managed to replace it in the country where card games were most widespread, and particularly those in which large sums of money are at stake.

The game appears to be of French origin, and its diffusion from there to the whole of Europe took, understandably, only a few years; it has some resemblance to roulette, as you bet on the outcome of one or several combinations of cards after placing the bets on the table corresponding, in this case,
to the thirteen cards of a suit (usually spades) of a deck of fifty-two. There were platforms dedicated

4
to this game with the figures of the thirteen cards inlaid on the surface of the table in a 6+1+6 horseshoe pattern. In addition to bets on a single card, bets on two or more neighboring cards were allowed. The gaming environments were the most varied, from the exclusive ones reserved for the highest classes to gambling dens of the lowest order (the latter being typical of the American frontier).

The banker [dealer] statistically had some advantages, as in all banking games, but among these it was one of the fairest; however, these theoretical benefits were either increased or decreased for frequent intervention of various tricks and sleight of hand, always possible both on the part of the dealer and the players. To at least partially control the possibilities of illicit intervention by the banker, a mechanical device was usually used to extract the cards which made them come out automatically without direct manipulation by the banker. We only have traces of pharaoh in the Rooms of the Academy for a limited period of time.

A.A.I. 112 - Minutes of 3 February 1737
(On the occasion of the Second Opera) and on this evening all the Masks were introduced as well as the Game of Pharaoh, and the Game of Pharaoh admitted in all the other evenings of performances and dance parties until the end of Carnival, all with permission and License of S.A.R. [His Royal Highness, like English HRH] our Royal Sovereign and Protector.

A.A.I 5.26.4 Undated, but preserved among documents from 1737
Note of what the SS:ri [Signori] Impresarios have reclaimed from the Signori Academicians
For the quarters of No. 4 Women at 6 scudi per Month, and No. 1 Men at 3 scudi per Month in 3 1/2 Months scudi 94.3.10.-
For the Carriage, which was to be taken for service of the Virtuosi, 15 scudi
For the rent of the two rooms of the Game of Pharaoh at L 20 per evening scudi 65.5.-.-
Total Scudi 175.1.10.-

A.A.I. 5.26.10
Ill.mo [Most Illustrious] Signore,[Col.mo] Most Respected Signore Master
I am hereby to inconvenience Your Excellency and to inform you that by the Ill:mo [Most Illustrious] Signore Marchese Luca Casimiro degl'Albizi I am [?] precluded from taking advantage of the grace granted to me [he passes at once from I to he] by S.A.R. [His Royal Highness] of the Game of Pharaoh, with being closed for this purpose; therefore I beg [literally, he begs] V: S: Ill:ma [Your Most Illustrious Lordship] to be willing to grant it for this effect for the 21st next, subjecting himself however to all the burdens, which will be declared just by their Ill:ma [most illustrious] Academy, and with submission your most humble Servant I give myself the honor of signing below
Florence 20. June 1737
From VS: Ill:ma Devotis.mo e Obbl.mo Servitore [Most devoted and most obliged servant]
Luigi Pitti

A.A.I. 112 - Minutes of 5 December 1737
It was then suggested that in above-said Concession of 1732, the above S.me [Signore Marchese] Albizzi had obliged himself to cover all the costs of adjustments and changes that were necessary for the current works... at present there was no need and therefore in the future Carnival it would be better to pay to the Academy Fund instead of making another New Stage some sum of cash, as well as the fact that the building of many Rooms to house the musicians and also two Rooms for games having been completed, that for these he would also give the Academy another sum of cash, ... for the Game Rooms he said that as there was no certainty of obtaining the License to Play the Game of Pharaoh, he promised that he would pay the Academy some sum based on the evenings in which the above-said Game of Pharaoh will be played.

Afterwards, no more information is found about pharaoh, but something was recorded about games in general, as in the following case.

5

A.A.I. 112 p. 161 - Minutes of 7 September 1744
Restricted budget of our interests
In the budget there are five income items and the same number of expenses. The total is 451.5.11.8 scudi of which 282.4.16.4 remain in the cash box. Among the revenues the following item is notable.
From Pinacci for the Theatre Game Rooms and Dance Scenes for the summer and Carnival scudi 233.2.6.8.

5. The game of thirty-one

The name of this game derives from the maximum score that one had to reach with the cards received from the dealer (usually three, with the possible ability to change some of them), with the condition that one would lose either with a score lower than that of the banker [dealer] or, however, if the limit of thirty-one was exceeded with the face cards counting ten, the ace eleven, and the others their numerical value.

There were similar games, and identical names, in other countries, such as trente-et-un in France and thirty-one in England. Game historians are, however, sure that there were more or less significant differences in the details of the rules, both from country to country and from one era to another.

What appears certain is that it was one of the most popular games and, at the same time, one of the first bank games to be banned. It was also prohibited in Tuscany in 1730, but as usual with the exceptions granted by the grand dukes of the Medici family. So it was that the Academy of the Immobile defended itself in this regard so as not to "prejudice its rights of possession."

A.A.I. 112 pp. 173-174 - Minutes of 4 March 1745
On the morning of 22 February, while the Convened SS.ri [Signori] Academicians were awaiting the No. [number] necessary for deliberations to be made, our Honorable Prince of the Academy was informed that Doctor Casali, Secretary of the Signore Fiscal Auditor, had been at his home, and having found him gone from there, went in search for him at this Theatre, to represent him in the name of the Above-named Sig. Aud.[Auditor], that he came with a Note from Sig. Gaetano Antinori, wanting to know if in the three previous days allowed for entertainment, the game of thirty-one had been played in public places and theatres against the provision that was supervising it, and as it was understood that in our theatre there had also been a game of thirty-one on the evening of Tuesday [;] he wanted to know with what motives and reasons the academy had allowed playing the same, in order to be able to inform those ministers from whom he could believe had been asked to write that note, and whom he had to see that same morning, to which replied by our Prince, [who took the opinion of a few Academicians who had already attended] that he thanked the Auditor for the competent manner in which he made this known to the Academy and that in their name he should reply that our Academy as it was composed of 30 Knights under the protection of the Sovereign, had never been included in the general prohibitions, but always was distinguished by all the more particular Signs of Love, of protection, by His Sovereign who on all occasions had always shown to favor and benefit it, never from 1730 onwards, had anyone who enforced this prohibition prevented the Academy from profiting from a game which, being one of the best incomes of the same, enabled it to cover the serious daily expenses, where it would not have been able to cover the same if removed.
After a few days, another opportunity to meet taken, our Prince was informed by the Lord Auditor that said game was not appreciated by some Ministers, nor was it believed that this distinction should be admitted to the aforementioned Academy, but the Prince insisted on uninterrupted possession, and in not wanting to deny the continuation of the Same without an express and particular prohibition by the Council of Regency so as not to jeopardize the rights of possession that it enjoyed; the Auditor concluded by replying that the note by Signore Antinori was not in the name of the Council and that for now he had no other orders from any of the members to bring to mind the prohibition in force to the Academy, as he intended to have done; not wanting to be a guarantor, that one would not move on to further orders which finally have not come up to this day, for which reason they continued to allow playing 31 in all 4 the last evenings of Carnival.

There is no subsequent information on thirty-one, but some games in the Rooms continue.

 6. The games of bambara and buia

Bambara was in turn a later variant of primiera, a game that was long appreciated in all European environments from the courts to the taverns, as long as the possibility of playing it lasted. By the eighteenth century, bambara had taken over, at least in Florence, and the rules of this game can be usefully obtained from a note by Antonio Maria Biscioni, of the time and place of interest to us, as follows.

Bambara is usually played by three or four or five players. Otherwise, everyone discards as many cards as they want, to receive as many from the dealer of those that have not yet been taken from the deck: and tries to make either Flussi or Primiera in the second time, according to how the first cards have arranged the suits. After this, each player decides his game: and there being no one with either flussi or primiera, the one who has the most points wins, in two or three cards of the same suit. The value of the card points in the game of Bambara game is this. The face cards count ten each, the ace, that is, the one, sixteen, the two twelve, the three thirteen, the four fourteen, the five fifteen, the six eighteen, and the seven twenty-one: and whoever puts the three largest numbers together, that is, ace, six and seven of the same suit, equals fifty-five, which kills a primiera, that is, wins the stake, even if others have declared a primiera.[note 9]

A.A.I. 5.37.2
Sig:r March:e Giov: [Signore Marchese Giovanni] Corsi
Ill.mo Sig:re mio Sig:re [Most Illustrious Signore] my Lord and Most Respected Master
The Regency has instructed me to tell VS: Ill:ma [Your Most Illustrious Signoria] that Bambara being one of the games prohibited by the laws of His Imperial Majesty, may it be content to give the necessary orders, so that in the future it will also be considered prohibited in this Theatre in via della Pergola; with the usual distinct respect I below sign myself
From the Secretariat of State on 27 January 1748
From Your Most Illustrious Most Devoted Servant Gaetano Antinori

Answer inserted together: Copy

Signore Cavaliere Gaetano Antinori
Dear Sir, my Lord, Most Respected Master
In fulfillment of the most venerated order of the Imperial Regency sent to me by Your Illustriousness with your most revered paper dated yesterday, I have made prohibited the Game of

_________________
9. ll malmantile racquistato di Perlone Zipoli colle note di Puccio Lamoni e d'altri, Florence 1731, pp. 270-271.


7

Bambara, and I have taken the necessary measures to ensure that such a law is promptly executed and respected. And with obsequious submission I have the honor of declaring myself
Of Your Illustriousness – From the House, the 28th January 1748

Buia was a later variant of Bambara, and it has not been reconstructed with certainty what the differences were in detail. Its success, although not long-lasting, was due precisely and solely to the fact that, after bambara was banned, players could legitimately claim both that they were not playing that game and that the new one was not listed among the forbidden ones. It took some time (in general longer than would appear from this privileged environment) before, after bambara, buia was also prohibited.

A.A.I. 5.37.3
Signore Marchese Giovanni Corsi. Dear Sir, my Lord, and Master Col.mo
The Regency has declared that the game called Buia should be considered one of those prohibited by His Imperial Majesty, being worse than Bambara, and in the class of gambling games [literally, games of hazard], and therefore I bring the news to Your Most Illustrious Excellency, so that you are content with giving the necessary orders in this theatre in via della Pergola. And with the most distinguished respect I confirm myself
From the Secretariat of State on the 6th February 1748
From Your Most Devoted and Most Obliged Servant Gaetano Antinori

Together, a copy of the response from Sig. Marchese Corsi

Signore Cavaliere Gaetano Antinori
Just as the Academy of the Theatre of Via della Pergola has prided itself on always venerating the Laws of His Imperial Majesty, and interpreting its orders with the most scrupulous restriction, so it may please you, Your Excellency, to assure the Council of Regency, that the Game of Buja was never practiced after the prohibition of that of Bambara. Nonetheless, the necessary precautions will be taken by me to ensure that such a signal remains rigorously followed; While I have the
honor of constantly declaring myself Of Your Illustriousness.
Florence, February 8, 1748

A few years pass before we find any news about the Game Rooms, but what we read implies indirectly an increase in activity.

A.A.I. 113 - Minutes of 18 June 1763
To which Messrs. Academics it was proposed, and asked by Messrs. Deputies at the Factory, that the authority granted to them by the Vote of April 11th be increased by the Academy, that is, to make a Staircase, which from new corridor lead into the threshold of the Game Rooms, and if possible lead into the Diacciatina Room: and to make a new path in the threshold of said Game Rooms, and once this proposition was sent to the table, it remained counted with all votes in favor.

7. The new rooms and trick-taking games

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the situation is difficult to reconstruct, especially because we know that with increasingly restrictive laws the government's battle against gambling had been won some time ago. But at the end of the eighteenth century, instead of the Habsburg-Lorraine, the Tuscan government was ruled by the French, and for a while things changed. In this new situation, the Academy of the Immobile undertook the construction of new rooms for games. It seems likely that the academics were counting on some special concession to make that investment pay off; in the Petition, copied below, they point out the need for gaming to be permitted in the Rooms. The answer can be considered positive or negative, because it allows the game, and thus prevents the new Rooms from remaining inactive, but specifies that "non-prohibited games" can be played there, with which

8
the possibility of the greater revenues of other times, linked precisely to gambling, disappears. This license for trick-taking card games is already something that in recent decades almost no longer existed in coffee shops where only billiards and trucco were allowed.

A.A.I. 11.3.186
Cover: 1802 - 8 September
Petition presented through a Deputation to His Majesty to obtain permission for Games in the new Rooms of the Theatre
See - Academic Deliberation in Filza N. N - Registers in Protocol of Letter I to p. 149

No. 11. Draft.
Majesty
The Academicians of the Royal Theatre of the Immobile of Via della Pergola of the City of Florence Humble Servants and Subjects of Your Majesty, with the deepest respect represent them as having undertaken a vast Building to serve as an annex to their Theatre, and for the joint relief of Poor families, this is almost at its end.
Having to open the new Rooms, this will not be able to have a good effect or meet the Spirit of
Public, if it is not allowed to have the diversion of Games, that therefore
They earnestly implore the Innate Goodness and Clemency of Your Majesty to deign to allow Games in said Rooms as has been granted on other occasions to Their Academy, and in accordance with modern times has been pleased to grant to other Theatres and Academies for an Honest Treatment of the People who will participate, That of Grace etc.

A.A.I. 11.3.191b
Signore Head of the Academy of the Pergola
Most Illustrious Signore, Signore Most Respected Master,
His Majesty, who was informed of the prayers submitted by the Academy of the Royal Theatre of the Immobile, in view of the particular circumstances, has deigned to allow that in the new rooms recently built, which form an annex of this Royal Theatre, can be taken the honest entertainment of non-prohibited games, in accordance with what is practiced in the rooms of the other Theatre of the Cocomero.
In participating in this Sovereign Resolution by notice and Rule of the aforementioned Academy, I have the honor of confirming myself with the most distinguished respect
From the Royal Secretariat of State Li 28 October 1802
Of your Most Illustrious Lordship Most Devoted Most Obliged Servant G.B. Nuti

The possibility of opening the Rooms for gaming was taken into consideration by the Theatre impresario Gaetano Contini, who on 21 December submitted the offer to the Academy to take on the commitment of managing the activity for a year at a fee of forty zecchini. However, he concludes the offer as follows.

A.A.I. 11.3.197
He is willing to make the offering to Their Most Illustrious Lordships of Forty zecchini for a Year, that is for the next four Seasons of Carnival, Lent, Spring, and Autumn, reserving the right to produce before Their Most Illustrious Lordships in each Season the Accounts of Income and Expenses made, and hoping that in case of Loss they will not want to allow that he, in addition to lending himself with his Person, must also be subjected to Sacrifices, for which he is entrusted to the protection of Their Most Illustrious Lordships and to the magnanimous Heart of the entire Noble Academy, pass with distinct respect to pay them most devoted reverence.

A.A.I. 11.3.197
Cover: 24 December 1802

9

Gaetano Contini Impresario rents the new Game Rooms of the Academy for the time and terms of one year with the obligation to provide the Cards and other Games, and illuminate the same, as well as remaining at his responsibility the Expenses of the Ministers, and with having to correspond to the Academy at the end of the Year Zecchini Forty by way of Canon and with other agreements expressed in the annexed Writing. See Academic resolution in Filza NN 16.21. Register in the Protocol of Letter I at pp. 155-157.

In the attached Writing there are additional details, such as, for example, the closing of the Rooms at the end of the show and the need to provide bundles of firewood for the fireplaces, and that the Gentlemen who ask for them will have to pay two Crazie [unit of money] for each Bundle. (However, there is no mention of possible reimbursements in the event of a management deficit.)

A.A.I. 11.3.197
Notice
The Games permitted in the rooms of the R.[Royal] Academy of the Pergola in the form of the Note of the R. [Royal] Secretariat of State dated 28 October 1802 are the only ones not prohibited by the Government, that is, those so-called Trick-taking, Chess, Royal Tables [precursor to backgammon], Billiards, or Trucco.
Access to the aforementioned Rooms will be given to those who have access to the Door, provided they are decently dressed.
The Game will not begin before the Ministers and the Guard have arrived at the entrance door to the Theatre; and must end at the end of the Show, of which object the Players will be notified by the ministers half an hour before.

A.A.I. 11.3.198
Cover: 26 December 1802
Illustrious Signore Marchese Gio. Batt. Andrea Bourbon del Monte with a note headed to Ill. Signor Marchese Franc. Ant. Corsi Salviati, Secretary of the Academy, makes him aware of the injustice received by one of the Royal Guards of the Corps, to whom, like all the others, access had been denied to the new Rooms of the Theatre for the purpose of completing the necessary Works entrusted to the Care of said Signore Marchese del Monte. See Protocol of Letter I on p. 155.

With attached documentation. Today we can see the episode positively: if there are players ready to force the barriers to enter the new Rooms, even before the work is finished, we can expect a rosy future for the management. However it would appear differently from the next documentation.

A.A.I. 11.4.206
Cover: 4 April 1803
Determination to keep the game Rooms of the Theatre closed in part to avoid the expense of
Illumination, which becomes useless due to the lack of gathering for the same.
See Academic Deliberation in Filza N, N 27. Register in Protocol of Letters, I to 162.

It contains a Demonstration of Entry and Exit of the Game Rooms of the Royal Theatre of Via della Pergola for the 1803 Carnival Season, as shown in the Original Book kept by Mr. Franco Scutellari Cashier, and a similar one for the Lent Season. The accounting situation is not rosy: Carnival ends with a loss of 721 scudi and Lent also ends with a loss of 160 scudi. To know the details of gambling expenses, it is a big obstacle that one cannot find the original book cited, like the others of the genre, with perhaps even the receipts for minute expenses. There is only one note here, undated.

N 73. Note of evening expenses to the Ministers of the Games Rooms of the Theatre of Pergola
to Giuseppe Loi-------------------------l. 2.-.-
To “ Stagi--------------------------------2.-.-

10

Filippo Calvi, Help----------------------1.6.8
Two Masks of the two Entrances
at said Rooms at S.13.4 each----------1.6.8
------
---------------------------------------------6.13.4

8. Billiards

Billiards is destined to become an essential tool for games in the Rooms, but speaking of it began even before card games were strictly limited.

A.A.I. 6.14.17bis -12 September 1764
Ill:mi SS:ri
Santi Biagi Humble Servant of their Most Illustrious Lords represents them with every respect, as the orator has contracted the Galleries from Giuseppe Compostoffe, and the game of the Noble Signori, and since the game is so desolate, that the Petitioner would lose His own; Therefore he decided to include the game of Billiards to further decorate the game rooms as well as for his own interest; Who therefore appeals to the Clemency of their Illustrious Signorie to grant him the faculty of putting in said billiards; that of Grace etc. Quam Deus etc.
This Memorandum was read by our Prince at the meeting of 12 September 1764 from which what he asked for was not granted to the Petitioner, as was the case with the Current Book of Votes, at 358.

After the law of 1773 against card games, the transition from card games to billiards became a rule in Tuscany in coffee shops and the like. You can feel the atmosphere even in the exclusive environment of the Academy. If we were only interested in gambling games, we could put an end to the search here, at least as far as documentation still accessible is concerned.

However, with billiards you can completely eliminate playing cards from the rooms, but not gambling, if you want. There are no traces of it in the case of the Immobile, but in environments of this kind, even if obviously the active players in the Rooms had become few, the spectators could have been numerous and, however surprising, it seems that they were often very involved in the game and intent on betting vigorously on the outcome of the matches.

In the specific case of the Immobile, it seems that even billiards did not bring profits to the impresarios.

A.A.I. 113 p. 236 - Minutes of 23 December 1774
And finally having heard the request of the Impresario Andrea Campigli, with which he asked to be able to put Trucco and Billiards in the Game Rooms, and to be able to give a Dance Party in the future Carnival on the evening of the penultimate Sunday; it was proposed to the Party of Academic Members, and was overwhelmingly won, that they should also hold the Dance Party, and put Trucco and Billiards in the Game Rooms, provided that they validly oblige themselves to relieve the Academy from any damage that could arise to the Same both in relation to the Walls, the Boxes and the Bricks, to be called Guarantee through their Chancellor. And so the meeting was dissolved.

A.A.I. 14.2.492 1812
Memorandum
For the Honorable Superintendent and Academicians of the Imperial Theatre of the Immobile known as of via della Pergola.
Luigi Magherini Most Humble Servant of Their Most Illustrious Lordships with the most humble Respect represents you as from more and several years in which he has exercised [as] the Billiard Marker at the Rooms of the Above-said Theatre in via della Pergola, and always with very small remuneration; as for three years now, the tenant Signore Luigi Dreoni has given you a good sum of his own money every year, both due to the changed

circumstances and to the too burdensome fee of the Rent, for which reason he would now have come to the decision to divest himself of said Rent, and to cede everything to the Exponent under different conditions.
But for the same reasons mentioned above, the Exponent cannot be able to accept such a Transfer to his notable detriment, if he is not relieved of the Fee of said Rent so that therefore He begs the Supreme Kindness of Your Excellencies Lordships to deign to take this matter into consideration in the next Collation of the New Undertaking of said Theatre and to relieve the Exponent of the rent, so that he will be able to work hard to earn something for himself and his family, and will be able to keep the billiard rooms with greater decorum and cleanliness as he solemnly promises to their Illustrious Lordships, and hoping in Their Charity on the example of similar Grace granted a few years ago for similar reasons to the tenant of the Cafe of the same Theatre; that of Grace etc.
I Luigi Dreoni approve in my own Hand.

On the cover we read ... Rejected for the reasons of which in the Academic deliberation in Filza O No. 170 See Letter Protocol I at p. 366-367.

9. Conclusion

The Academy of the Immobile has a long tradition that has manifested itself above all with the prestigious activity of its Theatre of the Pergola. This activity is richly documented in its archive, recently reorganized and provided with a detailed inventory. An activity that in past centuries was often associated with theatres was that of the attached gaming rooms. In this specific case, it was evidently a secondary activity, but not as much as the few documents preserved in this regard would suggest. If one had not delved deeply into the documentation, one could have concluded that games were played inside the theatre premises on very rare occasions, and only for short durations.

In this study, however, several fragments have been identified and transcribed which allow us to reconstruct (with the help of what we know from similar environments, and completing it if necessary with a little imagination) a practically continuous gaming activity, even if with the Grand Duchy of Lorraine there occurred, also in this environment, a gradual transition towards games with an increasingly smaller gambling component.


Florence, 03.04.2024 

April 2, 2024: Florence 1736-1737. Accounts in the shop of the abbot

  As usual, Franco has reviewed the translation and made important suggestions. I have added in brackets some comments that may assist the Italian-deprived reader. The original, "Firenze 1736-1737. Conti della bottega dell’abate," is at https://www.naibi.net/A/BOTTEGA.pdf. Numbers in the left margin are page numbers of his original pdf. The footnotes, marked in red, are to be found at the bottom of each page.

Florence 1736-1737. Accounts of the shop of the abbot

Franco Pratesi

1. Introduction

Here we examine an unusual book of accounts, in which the income and expenses of a shop are recorded monthly for one year; it is a shop that presents itself as both a coffee shop and a "citrus-water-dealer," as sellers of orangeade and similar drinks were called in the eighteenth century. We do not know if the shop was located within the city of Florence, as seems probable, but it was certainly located in Florentine territory. What makes these accounts particularly interesting for us is the fact that cards and other games were played in the shop; we can therefore render an account of the contribution of gaming to management profits, which does not happen frequently.

2. The account book

The book in question is preserved in the collection Books of Commerce and Family of the State Archives of Florence (ASFi). In Inventory N/422 of this collection, the register is described as follows.

Number: 622
Name: Boncinelli / Balestrieri
Date: 1736-1737
Title attributed: Journal of income and outflow for gaming and administration of drinks kept by Filippo Balestrieri, cashier
Original title: “Income and outflow”
External appearance: Register cm. 30.5x21.2 97 pages, of which pp. 4-33, 41-97 are blank. Parchment portfolio binding [where the bottom overlaps the top and is usually closed by a knot in a ribbon]; guard sheets [end pages, of rougher material to protect what is inside]; soft leather laces

As you can see, it is an entire book dedicated to this administration, but most of the pages have remained blank: two distinct parts are found to have been written: at the beginning, five pages for revenue, and after the middle of the book, thirteen pages for expenses.

It was possible to transcribe the contents of the account book in full, thanks to a summary that made it possible to include the data in two tables, one for income and one for expenses. Notes have been added to indicate the few cases of records with additional content compared to the standard form adopted for individual entries.

3. Income register

For each entry, a typical formula is repeated, which is obviously lost in the table. For example, the July 31st gaming entry reads as follows. From Game surpluses and deficits, seventy lire which so much has been received this month from the cash box of Game takings. Or the entry of April 30th for drinks: From various drinks on our account, six hundred and fifty-nine lire, so much received from the shop's box for the daily takings in the present month.

 
2
 

3
4. Outflow register

The outflow register is richer and more complex. In order to summarize the contents of the book relating to the releases in a subsequent table, I deemed it necessary to adopt a system of abbreviations, listed in the following table. 

For each entry in the book, in addition to the goods indicated by the acronyms, the list ends with and others, making one think of small secondary purchases present, or in any case possible. [In what follows, the mmdd format– month-day - is Franco’s, to make clear the succession of months; the original has the day first, i.e., ddmm.]

 

4

5

6

5. The people involved

The management of the shop arouses some curiosity. Based on the monthly payments, the functionary Filippo Balestrieri stands out from the other employees, referred to as boys [here in the sense of assistants]. Balestrieri appears as the cashier, but also directly follows the purchases and participates in the management. The boy with the highest salary is fired early on, perhaps due to some shortcoming, perhaps only to replace him with one with a lower salary. Boncinelli has an unclearly defined role as manager: he does not receive a salary, and it is not clear to what extent he participates in the activity and the related profits. The uncertainty in this regard is very large; in short, at most, this Giuseppe Boncinelli could have been the main manager of the shop and the real manufacturer of the drinks, carrying out the appropriate and profitable mixing of the many raw materials purchased.

On the other hand, the role of Abbot Giuseppe Antonio Biliotti is quite clear, even if it is not, or should not be, the typical role of a Catholic abbot: it is he who provides the initial capital to start the business! Games included. It is not very important to know whether this investment will then be compensated by interest on the loan or by a fraction of the profits, or by both sources. Considering his title, the daily presence of the abbot in the management of the shop appears unlikely.

It is worth looking for information about this abbot in other sources. We do not find him among the authors in the bibliographical repertoires: he was evidently not committed to publishing religious or even literary works. However, by inserting his name into Google Books we can trace him back to an Edict in which we also find him interested in Redeemable Bonds; in 1727, the extraction of his name [in a lottery] allows him to withdraw the sum of a thousand scudi for his ten policies. [Note 16]

Even more interesting, however, is another piece of information, which can again be found in the ASFi. In the Magistracy of Minors of the Principality, an entire series of auction registers of various objects deriving from the inheritance of minors is preserved, in which the purchase at very reduced prices was typical, and on one occasion we find our abbot himself the protagonist. [Note 17]

In September 1719, twenty lots of inherited objects were put up for auction and sold for a total of L.5127.S18.d8. Three of these were won by our abbot himself and they are the most expensive: L. 840 for No. 1123, the first and most expensive on the list, and L. 308 for the two lots 1133 and 1134 taken together. I transcribe below the objects that made up the three lots. ___________________
16. Editto Degl’Illustrissimi SS. Protettori del Monte Redimibile della Città di Firenze. Del dì 5. Maggio 1727. . . Florence 1727.
17. ASFi, Magistrato dei Pupilli del Principato, N. 3409, pp. 103-105.


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1123. N: Five oval-shaped paintings, 1½ arms high, painted Portraits of the Most Serene House [i.e. the Grand Duke’s family], carved ornaments and gilded features in the Roman style.
1133. A bed of 4 arm lengths and 3 arm lengths - that is, 2 small benches, palliaces [thin straw mattresses used as pallets], two wool mattresses, and its curtainry, that is, six satin curtains, a bedside chest, sleeves, and a festoon made of Hungarian stitch, and its carved wood cornices, dyed Turquoise, and partly gilded.
1134. N: Six walnut chairs with armrests in the Imperial style, four of which are covered with stitching, and the other two covered with canvas, gilded brackets, and leather.

6. Conclusion

An entire account book was studied and transcribed in summary form, of a shop where coffee, chocolate, and a vast assortment of drinks manufactured on site were served, and what was more, there were the games of backgammon, trucco, minchiate, and other card games, unspecified. The profit obtained directly from the games, documented by what was found in the dedicated cash register, would be unflattering: the income deriving from the game was in fact only a small fraction of the total, but it is easy to suppose that without the playing of the games, the profit obtained from the drinks would have been considerably less, because few customers would have entered the shop if there had not been the possibility of gambling. That games were played, and quite a bit, is indicated by the variety of games which continually include minchiate and ordinary cards, but also games of different types such as trucco and backgammon. That the gaming activity was extensive is indirectly demonstrated by the consumption of candles, even in summer when it gets dark very late.

Of particular interest was the figure of Abbot Giuseppe Antonio Biliotti, financier of the start-up of the shop's activity - including gaming - whose accounts were reported; information was found for him from various sources, confirming his quality as a lively entrepreneur: there are only three pieces of information traced for him, but they all see him engaged in speculation. In short, his documented activity does not seem perfectly compatible with his religious mission, but there are other traces of wheeler-dealer abbots in the literature and the archives.

Florence, 02.04.2024

March 27, 2024: Florence ca. 1720. Minchiate and knights without cavalry

This note is translated from "Firenze circa 1720. Minchiate e cavalieri senza cavalleria," https://www.naibi.net/A/CAVAL.pdf, about a game of minchiate in which tempers and objects fly, among so-called nobles. As elsewhere here, numbers in the left margin are the page numbers of Franco's pdf, notes are at the bottom of each page, and comments in square brackets are mine, for purposes of clarification, after consulting with Franco.

Florence circa 1720. Minchiate and knights without cavalry

Franco Pratesi


1. Introduction

The present study is in direct connection with two previous ones. The more recent one has in common the Lords of the Casino di Santa Trinita, one of the three companies of Florentine nobles that existed before the formation of the local Institute of Nobles; in that study I managed, with some difficulty, to find traces of the game that the nobles used to play.[note 1] Here [in the present study], too, we can see another with such results. The second study,[note 2] however, has in common with this one the fact that even a traditionally "quiet" game like minchiate could become the subject of arguments between personages worthy of the utmost respect. That study was based on documents preserved in the Riccardiana Library and which had already been partly discussed in my first study of interesting information on the history of playing cards, which dates back almost forty years.[note 3]

After a long time, I find a similar document in the Moreniana Library,[note 4] which could be considered a section of the Riccardiana if it were not that the two libraries (which have a concierge, reception, and reading room in common) are managed by different administrations: Riccardiana is state, Moreniana is municipal.

The manuscript in question, Moreni 335, is a voluminous collection of various materials with the title Scritture cavalleresche, presented as follows in the catalog:

335 Cart. Sec. XVIII, mm. 335x225. Carte 512, più 4 innum. agg. in princ. Composto di 8 inserti legati in Volume e fra loro divisi da copertine bianche agg. modernamente.

[335 Paper, 18th cent. 335x225 mm. 512 Folios, plus 4 unnumbered at the beginning. Composed of 8 inserts bound in volume and divided among them by white covers added modernly.]

We are interested in file IVc on legal matters and in particular its final pages, which contain two documents on an event that happened around a minchiate table, which I will transcribe in full below.

IV. c Francesco Maria Strozzi, Reports and opinions (350a - 379b).
1. Writing in support of an opinion given by the Ab. Pier Andrea Andreini on the duel (350a - 354b).
2. Report on a chivalrous opinion given in the case of Vitali and Centurioni (356a - 359b).
3. Opinion in the case of Dazzi and Papi (360a - 361b).
4. Differences that occurred between a Lady of the Ciardi house and one from the Porcellini house. Exposition of the fact signed by Lorenzo Porcellini.
5. Opinion on a foreign case sent (to Strozzi) by the Sig. Fiscal Auditor (364a - 365b) with the date 15 March 1722.
6-7. Question between March. [Marquis] Venturi and Cav. [Knight, or Sir] Bartolini due to card playing (376a - 379b): explanation of the fact sent to Strozzi by March. Cosimo Venturi. [note 5]

The nearby folios contain legal opinions of Francesco Maria Strozzi, an expert on the subject, on various cases that had been brought to his attention in the years around 1720. From this, we derive the authority of the personage, whose competence was evidently appreciated in many different cases. The only information I found about him is that he was also a member of the Academy of Graphic Arts,[note 6] but I can admit that I did not consider it necessary to conduct in-depth research on the matter.

Unfortunately in our case we do not find the decision, the final and decisive opinion on the dispute, but at least we can read two different versions of the fact of interest to us, first in a letter sent to Strozzi by one of the protagonists, then in a summary of the fact compiled by the expert himself, based on personal investigations and interviews.
_____________
1. https://www.naibi.net/A/TRINITA.pdf [translated at viewtopic.php?p=26392#p26392]
2. Rassegna storica toscana, 39 No. 1 (1993), pp. 181-191; https://www.naibi.net/A/50-PASSATEM-Z.pdf
3. The Playing-Card, 15 No. 2 (1986) 29-34; https://www.naibi.net/A/01-WHISTMIN-Z.pdf
4. https://opac.comune.fi.it/openweb/rt10bp/; https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Moreniana
5. I manoscritti della biblioteca moreniana, Vol. 1, fasc. XIV Florence 1911, on p. 429.
6. https://www.aadfi.it/accademico/strozzi ... sco-maria/


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The two documents are written in fairly clear handwriting (a couple of uncertain readings are indicated in quotation marks) and contain not only the month and day but also the time of compilation – unfortunately, the year is missing. From the documents preserved together, however, the date can be limited to an interval between 1715 and 1725.

2. The letter from Cavalier Venturi

The letter sheet contains the following address on the reverse.

In hand
Of the illustrious Signore Count Strozzi
My Most Respected Signore Signore Patron

/c.376r/ Florence on February 20th at 3pm
At the time, Signor M.e [Marchese = Marquis] Bartolini, surprised by the disgust of seeing one card less, and in the need not to count the points, particularly in a game that was very advantageous to him, Signori Cav. Naldini, and Cav. Venturi counted their cards, and having adjusted their values, Cav. Venturi turned around. to Sig. M.e Bartolini to also count with him what was necessary: when Sig. Cav. del Rosso said to Signore M.e, count the Verzicola first, Sig. M.e replied in anger it counts 60. 70, and turns to Cav. Venturi, who was about to score, said out loud. Oh, he doesn't want to give me credit for what counts for me. Replied Cav. Venturi, Say how much it counts, to which the Signore added, You make fun [of me]. Replied Cav. Venturi, it's your turn to say how much it counts, say how much it counts, and instead of receiving an adequate response, he was heard to reply: Oh, it's a gambling den game, I didn't think I was playing in a gambling den: having heard it, Cav Venturi, offended, immediately replied If you are speaking to me you are lying, and seeing Sig. M.e throw the Cards, he replied with the Candlestick, and putting his hand to his sword he stood in sight of Sig. M.e, and they were separated.
I Cosimo Venturi affirm.

3. The recapitulation by Francesco Maria Strozzi

This document completes the previous one, adding useful details for the reconstruction of the event (although sometimes it is not yet clear, at least at first reading, who does what, and whether there are one or two swords drawn). The sheet is folded into two columns, and after the heading, two lines into the left column – everything else uses only the right column.

/c. 378r/ Bartolini and Venturi
Florence on February 20th at 7½ pm
Event
On the evening of Thursday 16th of the current month of February, Sig. Cav. Naldini, Sig. Cav. Marco del Rosso, Sig. Cav. Cosimo Venturi, and Cav. Bartolini; on the right of said Bartolini followed Sig. Cav. Marco del Rosso, Sig. Cav. Venturi, Sig. Cav. Naldini playing Minchiate in the Casino; it happened that the Fola was put up for auction as usual and was bought by said Bartolini from Sig. Cav. Marco del Rosso, who united said Fola to Bartolini’s own Cards, acknowledged his 75 of Verzicola, which was placed on the Table, seen by the Signori Players, and the Game began, at the end of which Bartolini found himself with one less Card [typically due to a mistake in exchanging cards with the Fola] and was subjected to that punishment entailed by the common use of said Game [i.e. nullifying all his points for that hand].
Due to this inattention, Bartolini could not help but be annoyed at the stupidity he had committed, as he took the rest of the cards that were being played and threw them under the table, saying that he no longer wanted to use them. While /c. 378v/ the two Sig. Cav. Naldini and Venturi were counting their cards, said Bartolini requested that they please hurry because he didn't know where his head was, that once the hand was over he didn't want to play anymore; Cav. Bartolini observed that Sig. Cav. Naldini had adjusted his account and put into account the Verzicola counted by him at the beginning, and Bartolini asked Cav del Rosso for [credit for] the last trick, believing he had made it, but by the Sig. Cav. mentioned here, he was told he hadn't gotten [credit for] the last, because he hadn't taken the last, and Cav. del Rosso asked Bartolini to take 3 Resti [the amount of 60 points fixed for a game] and to give them to Sig. Cav. Naldini, [and] as [soon as] he [Del Rosso] advised him [Bartolini], he [Bartolini] did so.
Observed by Bartolini that Sig. Cav. Cosimo Venturi who said nothing in the said accounts, Bartolini said, Sig. Cav. Cosimo maybe my first verzicola doesn't count? In answering him, you didn't ask me; I would have served it /c.379r/ it's not up to me to remember. Bartolini replied, I didn't think to play [i.e. that I would be playing] in gambling dens, because it seems to me that there is too much rigor.
The resentful Cav. Venturi asked Bartolini if he was speaking about him, that he was surprised, and continued with other resentful words; Bartolini replied in general that he did not intend to offend anyone, and only that it seemed to him that there was too much rigor.
Cav. Cosimo again with resentment pressing him for a greater declaration; but Bartolini calmed down at this with the hope that here the Heat that is usually brought to the game would end. Bartolini's silence was not enough for the said Sig. Cav. Venturi, who was amazed at him, which said Venturi reproached, I don't know if he's mocking me; You say, if you are speaking about me, why do you lie about it; Bartolini replied that Men of Honor did not lie, the Cav Venturi replied, that he lied as much as one could ever lie with one's mouth full; As soon as Bartolini understood this way of speaking /c.379v/ he took the cards and threw them at Mr. Cav. Venturi, and in the same Act Bartolini rebutted the lie, getting up from his seat, having thrown said Cards, he took out his Sword, and was held back by those around him, and moving away, he saw a Candlestick in the Air thrown by Cav. Venturi, who saw him with Sword in hand, towards whom Bartolini went and being prevented by the Knights he put back his Sword, and having passed into other rooms and being sequestered, he was accompanied to his own House.

4. Comment on the two documents

Ultimately the fact in question is not very extraordinary. We know that while playing a game you can get excited to the point of losing control, it can happen. Indeed, it happens precisely when one is no longer able to participate in a game. . . for fun; that is, it could be said that if any game becomes so "serious" that it leads to furious arguments, it can no longer be considered a game. (Something similar happens in some ways when assets are committed in the game rather than little or no money, but this is an even different case.)

However, in the case in question there are some aspects that make the fact worthy of note. Perhaps the main one is that those who come to blows are not country villagers, who were used to making their own arguments with their hands before or instead of with their tongues. Instead, they are Florentine nobles, knights who are playing in an environment reserved specifically and exclusively for them. The grand ducal laws themselves took this situation into account: while in taverns and private gatherings there were strict prohibitions to be respected and also police inspections and denunciations, it was considered offensive to subject nobles to similar controls. It was taken for granted that such personages could and would exercise the necessary self-control so as not to give rise to scandals, brawls, or riots. Instead, here they are all knights, but evidently some lacked chivalry.

But it's not just the personages that are interesting. The type of game is also of interest, the traditional minchiate game. If it had been the game of Pharaoh, it would have been better understood that arguments could arise between the players, but minchiate is basically a game of pure leisure for staid people, perhaps even older ones. In the eighteenth century, the games that were fashionable, especially among young people, were faster and had a notable gambling component: the grand dukes of the Habsburg-Lorraine house later had to work hard to place increasingly strict limits on the use of cards for gambling games.

Finally, our attention inevitably focuses on the weapons used in the clash around the gaming table. There even appears a drawn sword! It is indeed a real weapon, which we could also have imagined absent in that exclusive environment. Furthermore, improper weapons appear, and among these, we understand that a heavy candlestick thrown with force could have caused serious injuries if not dodged in time. But for us, who are interested in playing cards, it is ultimately the use of cards as projectiles that ends up representing the most curious detail.

It is not the first time we have encountered a "game" of this kind, even if it is never described in the manuals dedicated to all possible card games. There are children's games (at least when there were children who played with figurines) based on throwing figurines, with figures of footballers or other well-known characters: the game consisted of collecting those figurines and then winning some from your classmates by throwing them further away from the launch line, or closer to a predetermined target. If one had played with playing cards in this way, one would have had to find a correspondence between cards won and other prizes as substitutes, because an incomplete deck of playing cards remains incomplete even by increasing it by a few scattered cards.

In any case, associating a playing card with its being thrown is rather instinctive, precisely due to the suitability of the material for this use. In this case, the protagonist basically controls himself enough: first, he throws the cards under the table (almost as if it were a classic warning shot) and only later, as the dispute continues, does he throw other things directly at the opponent, as had happened in the case of the previous study cited [of n. 2], when "the four cards, fluttering slightly, flew over the head of Sig. Buoninsegni, who dodged every blow by bending," and also then, coincidentally, it was high-class people who were playing minchiate.

5. Conclusion

Two documents on a gaming accident that occurred in the Santa Trinita Casino were presented and discussed. What makes the fact of particular interest is that [1] it was played in an exclusive environment reserved for a small company of Florentine nobles, and [2] the game was that of minchiate, two conditions not easy to connect with cards and even a candlestick taking flight, or with a drawn sword.

Florence, 03.27.2024