Mariage (card game)
() or Mariagenspiel is a German 6-card trick-and-draw game for two players in which players score bonus points for the "marriage" of King and Queen of the same suit. The game, first documented in 1715 in Leipzig, spawned numerous offshoots throughout continental Europe and gives its name to the Marriage group of card games, the widest known of which is probably Sixty-Six. Many of these are still the national card games of their respective countries. History Parlett notes that "despite claims for its invention at Paderborn, Westphalia, in 1652, it is not attested earlier than 1715," although Kozietulski stated in 1888 that it had been popular in Poland for two centuries which dates its appearance there to the late 17th century and he doubts it is of Polish origin on account of its French name and the marriage feature which appears in old French games. The 1715 record, which gives an incomplete sketch of the rules of Mariage-Spiel, is listed in a ladies' encyclopaedia printed in Leipzig that year. The game's entry said that the game was popular among ladies, and the entry for playing card listed as first among nine card games played with the German pack. Despite its name, at that stage the bonus-earning combination of mariage was for a King and an Ober of the same suit. Shortly thereafter, in 1720, Mariage-Spiel is included as an illustration in a sermon text alongside Labet and Piquet, which reinforces that it must have already been well known at that time. The 1715 rules do not specify whether tens rank high (between Ace and King) or low (between Unter and Nine) and, as late as the 1820 re-edition of the Berlin Spielalmanach, one finds the comment that Mariagenspiel is the only game in which Tens rank high (the previous edition had not included the game.) Contemporary readers of the 1715 rules would probably have assumed, incorrectly, that Tens were low. On the other hand, around the same time the related French game Brusquembille was already described with Tens ranking high. The fuller description given in later 18th century publications makes clear that Tens are high and also includes the bonus for l'Amour, Duseur or Douceur, the Deuce-Ten pair of the trump suit. By the 19th century, the game is being played with French-suited cards and the feature of closing the stock has been added. The game of Sixty-Six first appears in 1860 as a variant alongside Mariage but, by the early 20th century, has superseded it; the last effective mention of Mariage being in 1905 when it was still described as being played with 32 cards and with bonuses for amour and whitewashing, all of which were dropped in Sixty-Six. Earliest known rules (1715) Rules The 1715 rules were as follows: Mariagen-Spiel is played by two players, each of whom receives a hand of 6 cards. Another card is turned face-up for trump and can be robbed with the seven of trumps. While the stock lasts, after each trick players