Quadrille (card game)

Quadrille is a four-player trick-taking game of the Ombre family, played with a forty-card pack. Its lowest contract creates a concealed partnership between the declarer and the holder of a called King, while its higher contracts are played alone against the other three players. Every deal is played, six of the ten tricks are required for victory, and the game uses permanent trumps headed by Spadille, the Ace of spades. The form ordinarily called Quadrille in English corresponds to the later French game called Mediateur, while the older French Quadrille was its direct ancestor. The game developed in France at the end of the seventeenth century and became fashionable at the French court and among the British upper and middle classes, particularly women.