The topic of the game of dice is vividly present in ancient culture. Based on numerous references in literary works and iconography, researchers are trying to reconstruct the rules of the game. However, the aim of this article is to examine the form and content of Neo-Latin texts on the games with animal bones. In the 16th and 17th centuries, authors of philosophical and moral treatises, as well as mathematicians wrote on this topic All these writers reached for ancient literature, although they used it in different ways, according to the purpose they had in mind. The outstanding humanists Niccolò Leonico Tomeo and Erasmus of Rotterdam used the same literary form, namely dialogue, but they implemented it in slightly different ways. For Leonico Tomeo, the philosophical interpretation is the most important, while for Erasmus, the philological and moral layer is principal. The great scholar from Rotterdam also included in his dialogue a detailed instruction on playing at knucklebones as gambling. However, this was a special case, because the Latin treatises in which dice were present had primarily a didactic purpose. The most extensive work devoted to the subject of games Palamedes, sive, de tabula lusoria, alea, et variis ludis by Daniel Souterius, who was the opponent of gambling, has a moral message. Remarkably, in the annex, the author included the laws of the Polish king Casimir the Great, prohibiting games of knucklebones. On the other hand, Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski discusses Venus in one of the chapters of the treatise Dii gentium. The starting point for his long considerations was the naming of the luckiest throw in a game of knucklebones after Venus (iactus Veneris). In his allegorical interpretation, Sarbiewski argues that playing using a board, pawns and dice is like the action of Divine Wisdom, and iactus Veneris for everybody is the heavenly homeland. Reading early modern Latin texts allows for a better understanding of the genesis of the astragals and the history of games. The game of dice should therefore be treated not only as entertainment and gambling, but also as a tool of cultural communication rich in symbolism.

The study investigates a rare and valuable discovery: nearly 100 fragments of 16th-century playing cards found in the book binding from the Cathedral Library in Gniezno, part of the Archdiocese Archive. Printed playing cards, though widespread in the early modern period, were not made to last. Often reused or discarded once damaged, cards were frequently repurposed in bookbinding as structural reinforcement. Thus, many of the surviving historical cards have been found in this way, usually as individual examples. The find from Gniezno significantly expands the known corpus of 16th-century cards in Poland and provides a unique opportunity to situate these objects within a broader historical and artistic context.
Through detailed material and iconographic analysis, this study shows the cards’ production techniques and stylistic connections. The analysis identifies three distinct decks in the Gniezno collections. Two are showing strong links to the card-making workshops of Nuremberg, Germany, particularly those of Bernhard Merkle. Furthermore, heraldic evidence links the third deck to the Kraków workshop of Walenty Szarfenberger the Younger. The book binding that housed the cards (BS 678) is also identified as of Kraków origin, and a virtual reconstruction of the cards’ original placement within the binding is provided.
The study also draws attention to other playing cards found in Polish collections and written, as well as iconographic sources that confirm the significant influence of German and Silesian models on Polish printmaking and card-making. A deck discovered by Tadeusz Ujazdowski, once thought to be Polish, is now identified as Viennese in origin. The study highlights the complex interplay of local production of card-makers and printers, guild regulations, and international trade in early modern Central Europe. Ultimately, the cards found in Gniezno serve as a crucial case study, demonstrating how such fragile objects, preserved by the practice of reusing waste paper in bookbinding, provide invaluable insights into material culture and artistic transfer.

The article discusses printed games produced in 17th century Paris. It demonstrates contemporary popularity of entertainment that engaged the intellect and appealed to the recipient’s erudition. Such games were closely linked to the development of symbolic thinking in the modern era, as well as to the use of images as vehicles for hidden meanings. The article examines emblematic literature and its influence on the popularity of riddles, charades, and puns. The author analyses two graphic series: Enigmes joyeuses pour les bons esprits and La femme d’honneur. These were conceived as riddles with double meanings. Combining images and text, they offer a variety of interpretative possibilities, sometimes opposing. The main concept of both works is based on interaction with the viewer-reader, balancing innocence and promiscuity in interpretation. The author discusses both graphic series in the broader context of double images with hidden erotic content, showing as well that the prints provide a wealth of information on various courtly entertainments.

The aim of this article is to outline the characteristics of the troubadouresque model of masculinity based on cases from 12th- and 13th-century poetry.
The troubadouresque model of masculinity was situated against the background of two significant models: ‘knightly’ masculinity, referring to the military character of knighthood, and ‘courtly’ masculinity, emphasising the social attitude of this group. Games and plays were an important element of expressing and embodying masculinity for both of these models. However, in the case of the troubadours, the role of games seems to be much more important. The article analyses three aspects of ludicity in the troubadours’ model of masculinity: the rooting of joie/joc in literary language, the ludic metaphor and the role of the figure of the joglar.