Ever Wondered Why Jacks are called Jacks?
March 15th, 2007
As you ponder your Blackjack or Poker hand have you ever wondered why the Jack called a Jack, rather than a Prince, Earl or another nobleman?
Apparently the first European cards had all-male court cards; a seated king, a cavalier astride his horse and a foot servant or soldier. So the rank of the individual represented on the card increased with the value of the card. 1 (the ace), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10, knave, cavalier, king. (Sometimes the ace ranks above the king.)
In the 15th century, those innovative French for reasons unknown, substituted a queen instead of the cavalier. French cards became popular in England and formed the basis of the standard English pack.
So at this time in England – and right up until the 3rd quarter of the 19th century, the court cards were called king, queen and knave, with knave being the now-defunct term for a male servant.
In the game of All Fours, jack is the name of the point awarded for winning a trick containing the knave of trumps. It was therefore also applied to the knave of trumps itself in this game. Later it also meant any of the knaves.
At the time the word Jack also had ‘a common man’ as one of its meanings.
In the middle of the 19th century, cards were labelled in 2 or 4 corners with a value, or the first initial of court cards giving K (for the king), Q (for the queen) and the first 2 initals of knave giving Kn. This was not popular and eventually was adapted to use the alternative term for a common man which was also associated with the knave card, Jack.
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