I stumbled on this article this morning, and I found it pretty interesting. But I also found out something just as interesting in that same piece. First, read up:

Playing Card

Historical Personage
King of Hearts Charlemagne
Queen of Hearts Judith (of the Book of Judith,
an Apocryphal Book of the Bible)
Jack of Hearts “La Hire,” a famous French warrior
a.k.a. Etienne de Vignoles
King of Spades King David
Queen of Spades Pallas, a.k.a. Minerva
Jack of Spades Hogier the Dane,
one of Charlemagne’s paladins
King of Diamonds Julius Caesar
Queen of Diamonds Rachel (of the Bible)
Jack of Diamonds Hector of Troy
alternately, Roland of France
King of Clubs Alexander the Great
Queen of Clubs Argine
An anagram of Regina
Jack of Clubs Lancelot

Pretty neat, huh? Now for the kicker: this is the traditional menaing for the characters on the deck of cards. Historically, there is no hard confirmation that this is so, so scholars will just tell you that these are random paintings. It just goes to show, popular folklore is one thing, but cold, hard historical fact is another. And also, sometimes History just isn’t as cool as fiction, no matter how true it is. :-)

Thanks for peeking into my Mind…