Again not a surprise, given the close connections between Spain and England in that century.
During the 16th century Spanish-suited cards, alongside French ones, were also used.
Since there were close connections between the Low Countries and East Anglia, in particular in respect of the wool trade and weaving, their appearance in this part of England may not be surprising. What these cards were like no-one really knows, though there is a representation of a six of diamonds on the wall of a small Suffolk church in Hessett, near Bury St Edmunds, which dates from the 15th century, so French-suited cards were known in East Anglia at least. 41/3) gives an earlier mention dated 1413. A very recent article by Thierry de Paulis in The Playing Card (Vol. Why ban something that isn't? Chaucer doesn't mention them, so some time between about 1400 and their ban must have seen their introduction into this country from nearby Europe. What was considered the first mention of playing cards in England is in 1463 when Edward IV banned their importation, so they must have been popular by then. More detailed information will appear on subsequent pages. I will now give a brief overview of what standard English cards have looked like over the centuries. Each page will have a theme and the list of pages is available at the beginning of the blog. The idea of this blog, as it's developed over a number of years, is to post information about playing cards and their history that interests me and, I hope, a lot of others, too.