Jeux de hocs
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The jeux de hocs are a family of French card games in which the aim is to be first to shed all one's hand cards to sequences laid out in rows on the table. They all feature cards known as 'stops' or h
A game of Nain Jaune in the museum at Colmar
Cardinal Mazarin
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Jules Mazarin, from 1641 known as Cardinal Mazarin, was an Italian Catholic prelate, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis XIV from 1642
Jeux de hocs
…to feature hocs was Hoc itself. This came in two variants, a multi-stake, vying game sometimes called Hoc Mazarin or Hoc de Mazarin and named after Cardinal Mazarin who was known to greatly favour it when at the court of Versailles in the mid-1600s. Another variant was Hoc de Lyon, about which little is known. The…
Portrait by Pierre Mignard, 1658
Mazarin carrying the peace agreement to the armies at Casale, crying "Peace! Peace!" (18th century engraving)
Mazarin as a papal envoy in Paris (1632)
Portrait of Cardinal Jules Mazarin by Simon Vouet (before 1649, private collection)