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The Duchess, the Nox Knight, and the “Tria Peria”
The secret lore of a tarot spread not-so-lost
One cool summer night, while digging through medieval and renaissance online manuscripts linked to the National Archives, I came across the Tria Peria tarot spread. It appeared in a household inventory belonging to wealthy 15th-century merchants, the Nox Pandere, who were rumored to be secret associates of the Beauforts, members of England’s high court. In the inventory was a record of a painting that apparently showed the 15th-century noblewoman, Eleanor Cobham, learning a tarot spread known only to the Nox Pandere: the Tria Peria — meaning “three trials” in Latin. The painting itself was not illustrated in the inventory, only a detailed description of the painting was given:
Item, small painting, “Tria Peria,” in shown a Lady Eleanor kneeling in graveyard by night, mantled in dark cloak over a gown of richness, beneath the full moon and a heaven thick with stars. Before her are laid ix cards for divination, her head is bowed in silent watch.
Who Was Eleanor Cobham?
Eleanor Cobham was the Duchess of Gloucester, married to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who…
