Because this is what happens when you're trying to avoid work.
So, angevin2 made this post using her Shakespeare Tarot deck some time ago, and a discussion in comments led to a proposal for a Wars of the Roses tarot deck that was not based on Shakespeare. So, she and I came up with a provisional major arcana last night.
NB: First of all, both of us work on historiographical representation and its relationship to literary texts, so the assigning of figures or events to particular cards actually has very little to do with how we as people feel about them (read: We don't actually think Richard III is Satan. Seriously.) We pooled what we knew about tarot symbolism and combined it with historical symbolism. This is not about what these people were actually like; it is based on what they stood for and how they came to be represented -- if one wants to be technical about it, this is all about emplotment. Also, since The Wheel and The World are both deeply rooted in medieval iconography to begin with, we've left them alone.
Anyway. Without further ado.
(0) The Fool - Henry VII
(1) The Magician - Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick
(2) The High Priestess - Margaret Beaufort
(3) The Empress - Philippa of Hainault
(4) The Emperor - Edward III
(5) The Hierophant - John of Gaunt
(6) The Lovers - Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville
(7) The Chariot - Henry V
(8) Strength - Marguerite of Anjou
(9) The Hermit - Henry VI
(10) Wheel of Fortune - Same
(11) Justice - Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
(12) The Hanged Man - Richard II
(13) Death - Henry IV
(14) Temperance - Elizabeth of York
(15) The Devil - Richard III
(16) The Tower - Deposition of Richard II
(17) The Star - Katherine de Valois
(18) The Moon - Joan of Arc
(19) The Sun - The Battle of Agincourt
(20) Judgement - The Battle of Bosworth Field
(21) The World - Same
We don't actually have the energy to come up with an entire Minor Arcana, but Richard of York suggested himself as King of Swords.
angevin2 has also offered to do mockups once she can find her illustrations from Jean Creton.
NB: First of all, both of us work on historiographical representation and its relationship to literary texts, so the assigning of figures or events to particular cards actually has very little to do with how we as people feel about them (read: We don't actually think Richard III is Satan. Seriously.) We pooled what we knew about tarot symbolism and combined it with historical symbolism. This is not about what these people were actually like; it is based on what they stood for and how they came to be represented -- if one wants to be technical about it, this is all about emplotment. Also, since The Wheel and The World are both deeply rooted in medieval iconography to begin with, we've left them alone.
Anyway. Without further ado.
(0) The Fool - Henry VII
(1) The Magician - Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick
(2) The High Priestess - Margaret Beaufort
(3) The Empress - Philippa of Hainault
(4) The Emperor - Edward III
(5) The Hierophant - John of Gaunt
(6) The Lovers - Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville
(7) The Chariot - Henry V
(8) Strength - Marguerite of Anjou
(9) The Hermit - Henry VI
(10) Wheel of Fortune - Same
(11) Justice - Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
(12) The Hanged Man - Richard II
(13) Death - Henry IV
(14) Temperance - Elizabeth of York
(15) The Devil - Richard III
(16) The Tower - Deposition of Richard II
(17) The Star - Katherine de Valois
(18) The Moon - Joan of Arc
(19) The Sun - The Battle of Agincourt
(20) Judgement - The Battle of Bosworth Field
(21) The World - Same
We don't actually have the energy to come up with an entire Minor Arcana, but Richard of York suggested himself as King of Swords.
angevin2 has also offered to do mockups once she can find her illustrations from Jean Creton.