Published in Games from Antiquity to Baroque

Keywords: Keywords: 17th century, Art History, Board game history, Emblematics, France, Jesuits, Missionaries in Canada, Missionaries in Turkey, Religious instruction.

During the 17th century, French Jesuits adapted the well-known jeu de l’oie (Game of the Goose) for the purposes of religious instruction in their foreign Missions. These games consisted of a series of religious emblems arranged to form a spiral track, the movement of tokens along this being determined by chance, subject to particular rules. The earliest of these games, the Jeu du Point au Point, is analysed in detail, giving historical background and explanation of the emblems and their significance. Two similar Jesuit games are surveyed and compared with other religious games of the period. It is evident that the visual image played a commanding role in Jesuit education.