Instead of leaves, they had piques for pikes or spades. In one legend, the French suits represent the four classes. Spades represent nobility, hearts stand for the clergy, diamonds represent the vassals or merchants, and clubs are peasants
"The Latin suits were cups, coins, clubs, and swords. The word for sword is spade in Italian and spades in Spanish, and that was retained in English. The ranking of suits probably ultimately stems from the Chinese tradition, which was more directly linked to a value. or The Playing Cards are characters in the novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. They are playing cards with a human head, arms and legs. They are loyal servants as well as guards for The Queen of Hearts. It is explained in the book that the spades are gardeners, clubs are soldiers, diamonds are courtiers, and hearts are members of the royal family. " from: https://aliceinwonderland.fandom.com/wiki/The_Playing_Cards
