Triomphe, once known as French ruff, is a card game dating from the late 15th century. It most likely originated in France or Spain and later spread to the rest of Europe. When the game arrived in Italy, it shared a similar name with the pre-existing game and deck known as trionfi; probably resulting in the latter becoming renamed as Tarocchi (tarot). While trionfi has a fifth suit that acts as permanent trumps, triomphe randomly selects one of the existing four suits as trumps. Another common feature of this game is the robbing of the stock. Triomphe became so popular that during the 16th century the earlier game of trionfi was gradually renamed tarocchi, tarot, or tarock. This game is the origin of the English word "trump" and is the ancestor of many trick-taking games like Euchre and Whist. The earliest known description of Triomphe was of a point-trick game, perhaps one of the earliest of its type; later, the name was applied to a plain-trick game.
The suit of Spades from a French pack, ranking as in Triomphe
Trionfi are 15th-century Italian playing card trumps with allegorical content related to those used in tarocchi games. The general English expression "trump card" and the German "trumpfen" have developed from the Italian "Trionfi". Most cards feature the personification of a place or abstraction.
Cary sheet, Milan c. 1500.
Earliest known list of trumps (Venice, c.1480-1500)
Met sheet, Ferrara c. 1500.
The Emperor, the only surviving trump from the Rothschild-Bassano deck. He carries a florin while holding a sceptre surmounted by the fleur-de-lis, both symbols of Florence.