View source for Knight (playing card)

{{Short description|Playing card}}
{{For|tarot cards|Knight of Coins|Knight of Wands|Knight of Cups|Knight of Swords}}
[[File:Jeu d'Aluette - Grimaud - 1860 - Knight of Swords.jpg|thumb|Knight of Swords from an [[Aluette]] deck]]
A '''knight''' or '''cavalier''' is a [[playing card]] with a picture of a man riding a horse on it. It is a standard [[face card|face or court card]] in [[Italian-suited playing cards|Italian]] and [[Spanish-suited playing cards|Spanish packs]] where it is usually referred to as the 'knight' in English, the ''caballo'' in Spanish or the ''cavallo'' in Italian. It ranks between the [[jack (playing card)|knave]] and the [[King (playing card)|king]] within its [[suit (cards)|suit]]; therefore, it replaces the [[queen (playing card)|queen]], nonexistent in these packs.
The card also features in [[tarot|tarot and tarock packs]]. In [[French-suited playing cards|French-suited tarot packs]] it is usually called the 'cavalier' in English, the ''chevalier'' in French or the ''Cavall'' or ''Reiter'' in German.{{sfn|Parlett|2008|}} and ranks between the jack and the [[queen (playing card)|queen]].
Knights do not appear in [[German playing cards|German]] or [[Swiss playing cards]]; their place being occupied by an upper knave card called the [[Ober (playing card)|Ober]]. One exception is the [[Württemberg pattern]] where the Obers are seen riding on horses. This depiction was inspired by [[Cego]] tarot decks during the 19th century.
==History==
In the original [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Egyptian]] deck, there were three court cards called the ''malik'' (king), the ''nā'ib malik'' (viceroy or deputy king), and the ''thānī nā'ib'' (second or under-deputy). The latter two were transformed into the knight and the knave when playing cards entered southern Europe. The knave is often depicted as a foot soldier or squire to the knight. Many early tarot decks had added female ranks into the face cards including the [[Visconti-Sforza tarot deck|Cary-Yale]] deck which added queens, mounted ladies, and maids as counterparts to the males.<ref name="tripod">{{cite web|url=http://l-pollett.tripod.com/cards34.htm |title=Andy's Playing Cards - page VI - The Visconti Tarots - part 4 |publisher=l-pollett.tripod.com|access-date=2014-12-27}}</ref> While mounted ladies and maids faded away or survive in minor regional patterns like the [[Tarocco Siciliano]], knights were dropped in favour of queens in non-tarot French decks. In the Spanish suited [[Aluette]] pattern found in [[Brittany]] and the [[Vendée]], knights have an androgynous appearance.<ref name="freewebpages">{{cite web|url=http://playingcards.freewebpages.org/cards80.htm |title=Andy's Playing Cards - French and Belgian-Genoese Cards |access-date=2014-12-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209080812/http://playingcards.freewebpages.org/cards80.htm |archive-date=December 9, 2006 }}</ref>
==Example cards==
{{Multiple image|perrow = 4|align=left
|header=Latin-suited knights
|total_width={{#expr: (400 * 700 / 750) round 0}}
|image1=Bergamo Deck - Swords - Knight.jpg
|image2=Bergamo Deck - Cups - Knight.jpg
|image3=Bergamo Deck - Coins - Knight.jpg
|image4=Bergamo Deck - Wands - Knight.jpg
|image5=Aluette card deck - Grimaud - 1858-1890 - Knight of Swords.jpg
|image6=Aluette card deck - Grimaud - 1858-1890 - Knight of Cups.jpg
|image7=Aluette card deck - Grimaud - 1858-1890 - Knight of Coins.jpg
|image8=Aluette card deck - Grimaud - 1858-1890 - Knight of Clubs.jpg
|footer=[[Italian playing cards#Trentine.2C Bresciane.2C and Bergamasche|Bergamo pattern]] (top) and [[Aluette]] (bottom)}}
{{Multiple image|perrow = 4
|header=German-suited obers
|total_width={{#expr: (400 * 700 / 750) round 0}}
|image1=Wyżnik winny z wzoru wuntemburskiego.png
|image2=Wyżnik czerwienny z wzoru wuntemburskiego.png
|image3=Wyżnik dzwonkowy z wzoru wuntemburskiego.png
|image4=Wyżnik żołędny z wzoru wuntemburskiego.png
|image5=Württemberg pattern new type Ober of Leaves.jpg
|image6=Württemberg pattern new type Ober of Hearts.jpg
|image7=Württemberg pattern new type Ober of Bells.jpg
|image8=Württemberg pattern new type Ober of Acorns.jpg
|footer=[[German playing cards#Württemberg|Württemberg pattern]] old (top) and new (bottom) types}}
{{Multiple image|perrow = 4|align=center
|header=French-suited cavaliers
|total_width={{#expr: (400 * 700 / 750) round 0}}
|image1=Kártya - Hamburger és Birkholz R.T. Budapest (13).jpg
|image2=Kártya - Hamburger és Birkholz R.T. Budapest (7).jpg
|image3=Kártya - Hamburger és Birkholz R.T. Budapest (12).jpg
|image4=Kártya - Hamburger és Birkholz R.T. Budapest (4).jpg
|image5=Tarot nouveau - Grimaud - 1898 - Spades - Knight.jpg
|image6=Tarot nouveau - Grimaud - 1898 - Hearts - Knight.jpg
|image7=Tarot nouveau - Grimaud - 1898 - Diamonds - Knight.jpg
|image8=Tarot nouveau - Grimaud - 1898 - Clubs - Knight.jpg
|footer=[[Industrie und Glück]] (top) and [[Tarot Nouveau]] (bottom)}}
{{clear}}
==In Unicode==
The knights are included in the [[Playing Cards (Unicode block)|Playing Cards]]:<ref name="Unicode">{{cite web |title=Playing Cards - The Unicode Standard, Version 13.0 |url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1F0A0.pdf |publisher=Unicode |access-date=6 April 2021 |language=en |date=2020}}</ref>
*{{Unichar|1F0AC|size=4em}}
*{{Unichar|1F0BC|size=4em}}
*{{Unichar|1F0CC|size=4em}}
*{{Unichar|1F0DC|size=4em}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
===Sources===
* {{cite book |last1=Parlett |first1=David |author-link=David Parlett |title=The Penguin book of card games |date=2008 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=978-0-141-03787-5}}
*{{Commonscat-inline|Knights (playing cards)}}
{{Playing cards}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight (Playing Card)}}
[[Category:Playing cards]]
[[Category:Minor Arcana]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of knights]]