Few ancient decks still exist today, yet many must have existed in Marseilles before 1700. If one refers to ancient books, card games are mentioned in the 1337 charters of St Victor’s Abbey in Marseilles. Master cardmakers were present in Marseilles long before the king endorsed them in 1631. Very ancient Tarots of Marseilles disappeared as a result of people recycling used cards into business cards.
   The fact that no Tarots of Marseilles prior to 1700 can be found absolutely does not mean that the Tarot first appeared in Italy just because one deck dating back to 1471 was found there. The two schools have nothing to do with each other. The Marseilles school incorporates just about every occult science in the West and some in the East, whereas the Italian school bears a more simplified message. Nor does it prove that much more complex Tarots besides the ones that we know of today did not exist earlier in Italy. The only thing we can acknowledge is that the two schools are very different in their content. Therefore, there must have existed a tradition other than the two schools it inspired. Remarkably, one can find at the St Cernin Basilica near Toulouse a stone sculpture from the 11^th century, that looks exactly like Arcanum XXI. (see C)
   In my opinion, an ancient school of Tarot has always existed in the South of France, especially in the Marseilles area, France’s gate to the Orient. The City of Marseilles was founded 2600 years ago and over the centuries the city has been influenced by all mediterranean cultures because of its privileged geographical situation.

  Philippe CAMOIN