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The Tarot de Besançon,^[1] also called the Besançon Tarot or Swiss Tarot, describes a type of Tarot pack that was derived from the older forms of the Marseille type, but which portrays characteristic differences.

Cards of this type were manufactured predominantly in Switzerland in the middle of the 18th century. The packs take their name from the eastern French town of Besançon, to which the cardmakers moved their production in the early 19th century. The cards were not just made in Switzerland or Besançon, but from about 1750 across a wide area including southern France, Switzerland and even south Germany.

Typical of card packs of the Besançon type is that the cards traditionally depicting the Papess and the Pope were redesigned to portray the Roman gods, Juno and Jupiter. It is assumed that this renaming took place in order to avoid upsetting religious sensitivities in an area of distribution marked by confessional contrasts.

Other features of the Besançon type compared with the Marseille Tarot are:

Cupid is aiming at the eyes of the lovers.
The face of the Moon appears head on and not in profile.
The world is not depicted dancing, but standing in contrapost.

Known manufacturers of card packs of this type are:

Jean-Baptiste Benois
Suzanne Bernardin
J. Blanche, Besançon^[1]
J. H. Blanck et Tschann
Louis Carey, Strasbourg^[1]
Andreas Benedict Göbl
Arnoult Grimaud
François Héri
Jean Jerger, Besançon^[1]
A. Kirchner, Besançon^[1]
Joseph Krebs, Freiburg^[1]
L. de Laboisse, Strasbourg^[1]
Pierre Lachapele
Nicolas François Laudier, Strasbourg^[1]
Jean Pierre Laurent
Arnoult Lequart
Guillaume Mann, Colmar^[1]
Johann Pelagius Mayer, Constance^[1]
Renault, Besançon^[1]
Bernhard Schaer, Mumlisweil^[1]
Jean Tissot
Wolfgang Weber
Johannes Muller, Schaffhousen
Josef Rauch Miller, Salzburg ^[2]

The Besançon Tarot includes the Tarot 1JJ, which forms its own sub-type (see details at that article), and the Tarot d’Épinal, which also has specific variations in design. It was manufactured around 1830 or 1850 by the cardmaker, Pellerin, in Épinal, the wood engraving comes from François Georgin (1801–1863). Among the features are an additional card with the title, Consultant, which was clearly used as a Significator, which is why it may be assumed that the cards were also used for divinatory purposes and not, like other packs of this type at that time, used exclusively for playing cards.

The pictures below, showing the 22 trump cards, come from a pack with coloured wood carvings produced by Renault from Besançon around 1820–1830. The pack is based on a c. 1800 design by Jean Jerger, also from Besançon.

The Fool
The Magician
Juno
The Lady
The Lord
Jupiter
The Lovers
The Wagon
Justice
The Hermit
The Wheel of Fortune
Power
The Hanged Man
Death
Moderation
The Devil
The Tower
The Star
The Moon
The Sun
Judgement
The World

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Pattern Sheet 6 - The Tarot de Besançon at the IPCS website. Retrieved 9 Jun 2019.
^ Giordano Berti, "Tarot of Besançon of Josef Rauch Miller", in Tarot in German countries from the 16th to the 18th century, OM Edizioni, Quarto Inferiore 2018, pp. 23-25

Literature

Eckhard Graf: Lexikon des Tarot sowie der Orakel- und Selbsterfahrungsspiele. Nagelschmid, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-927913-03-0.
Belinda Rodik: Tarot-Lexikon. Grundbegriffe und Schlüsselworte zu Symbolik und Deutung. Schirmer, Darmstadt 2008, ISBN 978-3-89767-612-1, pp 323–346.

[IPCS-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Pattern Sheet 6 - The Tarot de Besançon at the IPCS website. Retrieved 9 Jun 2019.

[2] Giordano Berti, "Tarot of Besançon of Josef Rauch Miller", in Tarot in German countries from the 16th to the 18th century, OM Edizioni, Quarto Inferiore 2018, pp. 23-25

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 * Jean Tissot
 * Wolfgang Weber
+* Johannes Muller, Schaffhousen
+* Josef Rauch Miller, Salzburg <ref>[[Giordano Berti]], "Tarot of Besançon of Josef Rauch Miller", in ''Tarot in German countries from the 16th to the 18th century'', OM Edizioni, Quarto Inferiore 2018, pp. 23-25</ref>
 The Besançon Tarot includes the [[Tarot 1JJ]], which forms its own sub-type (see details at that article), and the ''Tarot d’Épinal'', which also has specific variations in design. It was manufactured around 1830 or 1850 by the cardmaker, Pellerin, in [[Épinal]], the wood engraving comes from François Georgin (1801–1863). Among the features are an additional card with the title, ''Consultant'', which was clearly used as a Significator, which is why it may be assumed that the cards were also used for divinatory purposes and not, like other packs of this type at that time, used exclusively for playing cards.