Medieval Theme Cards

packman

Does anyone know of any European or American issued cards that have a Medieval theme? I received a degree in Medieval Archeology in college. I thought it would be interesting to collect cards with a medieval theme. Currently, I collect baseball cards and unopened packs, Beatles cards and TV/Movie cards from the 1970s. Thanks.

Stone193

Packman
Not up on my history - can you be more specific? Year - country of origin etc. Here's a link to cards of women from the 1400's on. Is the Mona Lisa medieval? This period predates the renaissance?

your friend
Mike

MorrellMan

Packman - These are from a mid-30s issue of German tobacco cards, tracing Teutonic history from before the dark ages to the 20th century. Not a lot of medieval, but some:

This one is Johann Gutenberg:


No idea what this one is; I can't read German:


Here's the back, in case you can:

invader

Hi Packman,

If I remember correctly medieval covers from approx 1000ad - 1500 ad?

2 sets that come to mind that might interest you are by Cope Bros. & Co. of England. In 1939 they did a set of Castles and a set of Cathedrals, both with 25 cards in each. I assume most of those would be from the English Medieval period.

Several companies put out sets of King & Queens, that would have some medieval figures in and there are also several heraldic and chivalry sets.

Hope that helps.

Matt

packman

Thanks for the replies. The medieval period is from approximately 500ad - 1500ad. It started with the fall of the Roman Empire and ended with the Renaissance period. The first 600 years of the Medieval period were uneventful. It was considered semi-primative. The Europeans were basically fending for their lives from the Huns and Vikings because they lost their security blanket (Romans). The period from 1100ad - 1500ad is the period that most people associate with the Medieval period. This is when the knights and castles started to come in play.

In the US, there are some tobacco issues that depict some Medieval themes. For example, Arms of Nations has some nice cards of warriors and weapons from this period. I also thought there was an issue around 1888 from Mead (?) that had various pictures of knights. I would imagine that most of the cards would be from England and Germany.

Mike, the Mona Lisa was painted during the transition between the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Most people would say that it was painted during the early-Renaissance period.

Mark, do you know the brand of those cards. I have not seen those before. The German cards tend to be related to the crusades.

Matt, thanks for the names of the sets. Do you know where I can find out more about the cards produced in England? I would imagine that most of the Medieval cards would come from England due to England's prominent position in the Medieval period.

Thanks, David.

MorrellMan

David - All I know about those German cards is what you see - they were issued in the thirties and cover german history from around 700 AD to the thirties. Try this link for a different set that appears to have some medieval subjects.

BTW - dig the scroll on the lower grey bar of the auction site (where it shows loading progress; I don't know what it's called) - I've never seen that before!

jvineyard

You might also take a look at the T99 Sights and Scenes of the World set - from about 1911. The set consists of 50 cards that depict mostly buildings and monuments from around the world such as the White House, Eiffel Tower, Coliseum, etc. Without looking at my set (sorry, it's at home) I can't recall specifics, but I am sure there are many that depict the era you are looking for - Notre Dame, Windsor Caslte, Buckingham Palace, etc.