Jeu de Cartes des Croisades

This deck is an intentional anachronism, trying to be a period-deck for an era centuries before cards had been introduced to Europe. However, it's a forgivably good job. The deck depicts several major players of the Crusades, with an artistic style appropriate to the time and subject matter. More or less. Some fair liberties have been taken, in a nod to modern visions of the Crusades and its legendry.

The faces chosen are some of the more remarkable personalities of the wars, some real, some perhaps only stories themselves. The artwork itself is of modern origin, but designed to capture as much of the aesthetics of the period as it could. Thr artwork is as crude as one would expect of common playing cards, and yet evocative of what it depicts. The deck also comes with a title card, written entirely in French, which I include untranslated below.

Le Jeu de Cartes des Croisades

En 1095, au concile de Clermont, le pape Urbain II appelle les chrétiens à "libérer" les Lieux Saints. Ce n'est que plus tard que l'on donna le nom de "Croisades" aux pèlerinages armés qui établirent et défendirent le royaume chrétien de Jérusalem pendant prés de deux siécles.

Comme figures pour ce jeu au graphisme original at médiéval, nous avons choise quelques un des personnages les plus marquants de cette aventure. Tous appartiennent autant à la légende qu'à l'Hiostoire, ils évoquent à merveille ces heures dramatiques et épiques.

Un jeu de cartes conçu par
Sans Peur at Sans Reproche
36, Rue de la Clef - Lille

All images © 1996, France Cartes, displayed here for commentary, analysis and appreciation only.