Dice
What was the game of dice in the Middle Ages like ?
Today, thanks to new technologies, we can create an infinity of games so before it was necessary to have materials or "pieces" in addition to one or more opponents.
With video games or portals such as casino websites, currently the choice of games such as online slot machines or cards is almost endless.
But let's focus on the game of dice , the one in which the players bet on the possible combinations that are generated by throwing two dice.
What is its history?
You know that in the M edioevo was he much loved?
The origins of the dice game
The origin of the game of dice is somewhat uncertain, although there are those who believe it was the ancient Egyptians to invent them.
However, the oldest die ever found was found in Persia and is about 5,000 years old.
They are known to have been used in China or in India around 2000 BC; Even the Greeks, the Romans and the Arabs they were very fond of them.
They would have been the Knights of the Crusades to have imported the game of dice to Europe.
They were generally made with animal bones or ivory , although they have also been found made in different types of materials (stone, wood, glass, bronze…).
The game of dice in the Middle Ages and the birth of gambling halls
Board games in the Middle Ages
The nuts they were also very popular in the Middle Ages.
The game was attended by men, women, children from all walks of life.
It must be said that it was still a game that was not approved by the morals of the society of the time.
Fernando “El Católico” he loved them very much and it is said that he spent long periods playing dice in his tent during the siege of Granada .
We played in any place:in the streets, squares, taverns, houses, buildings ...
Yes bet so, so soon the typical proto figure of the "player or cheater emerged in the collective imagination ", A very skilled character in the game who could get to bind his clothes or objects in his possession in order to continue playing.
But dice games could arouse rage in losers and cause a lot of controversy, quarrels, fights, and even deaths.
For this, and also for the great boom of the game in the late Middle Ages, the municipalities, by royal delegation , they began to exert control over their practice.
By doing so they obtained an important tax benefit and forced them to play, for better control and surveillance, only in certain places created for this purpose.
Thus, what we now consider gambling halls were born .
Attempts to ban this game
The game of dice in the Middle Ages was loved and widespread
Throughout the Middle Ages, the control of the game and its prohibition alternated on several occasions.
However, passion prevailed and people circumvented the laws to continue playing secretly in homes, in the tavern, in the countryside.
The game of dice in the Middle Ages, legal or not, was always present in the society of the time and, faced with this reality, the monarchs sometimes found it more practical to control it and obtain profits for the benefit of the common citizen.
Thus the control of the game and its prohibitions alternated throughout the Middle Ages ( Photo gives: ravennaedintorni.it, accademiafabioscolari.it and tomshw.it).