Parlett notes that "despite claims for its invention at Paderborn, Westphalia, in 1652, it is not attested earlier than 1715,"[2][a] although Kozietulski stated in 1888 that it had been popular in Poland for two centuries which dates its appearance there to the late 17th century and he doubts it is of Polish origin on account of its French name and the marriage feature which appears in old French games.
[3] The 1715 record, which gives an incomplete sketch of the rules of Mariage-Spiel, is listed in a ladies' encyclopaedia printed in Leipzig that year.
Shortly thereafter, in 1720, Mariage-Spiel is included as an illustration in a sermon text alongside Labet and Piquet, which reinforces that it must have already been well known at that time.
[4] The 1715 rules do not specify whether tens rank high (between ace and king) or low (between Unter and nine) and, as late as the 1820 re-edition of the Berlin Spielalmanach, one finds the comment that Mariagenspiel is the only game in which Tens rank high (the previous edition had not included the game.)
On the other hand, around the same time the related French game Brusquembille was already described with tens ranking high.
The fuller description given in later 18th century publications makes clear that Tens are high and also includes the bonus for l'amour, duseur or douceur, the deuce–ten pair of the trump suit.
[5] By the 19th century, the game is being played with French-suited cards and the feature of closing the stock has been added.
The game of sixty-six first appears in 1860 as a variant alongside mariage but, by the early 20th century, has superseded it; the last effective mention of mariage being in 1905 when it was still described as being played with 32 cards and with bonuses for amour and whitewashing, all of which were dropped in sixty-six.
[6] The 1715 rules were as follows:[7] Mariagen-Spiel is played by two players, each of whom receives a hand of 6 cards.
In some modern variants, players can announce a mariage from their hands at any time, or only after winning a trick.
[8] In addition to the mariage of a King and Ober of the same suit, the player with the trump Ace and Ten may announce an amour or duseur (other sources: douceur) Both must be announced before the stock is used up, although in the case of a mariage this can be done after picking up the last card.
[8] Bonuses may count towards a player's point total or earn side payments in hard score.
The feat was known as a whitewash (Wäsche, literally laundry) and scored another 40 points or earned 2 groschen/6 pfennigs.
Although not stated, it is likely that card values followed the familiar Ace-Ten schedule and that there were 10 points for winning the last trick.
They included mention of a three-hand game – where players took turns to be the 'king', shuffling and dealing, but then not participating in the game except to receive the same winnings – and a multi-player variant which appeared to consist merely of players playing two-at-a-time around the table.
[11] A new rule is that a player may 'close the book' (das Buch zumachen) which means that no more cards may be drawn from the stock.
Von Abenstein records another three-hand game played "in many regions" using 36 cards, then goes on, paradoxically, to say that it is "very rare" and will probably not catch on.
[11] He also describes a four-hand game called Kreuz-Mariage ("Cross Mariage"), also spelt Kreuzmariage, where each player is dealt 8 cards, the last one, which belongs to the dealer, determining trumps.
Melds are made at the beginning, in turn starting with forehand, and the bonus is paid by each of the three other players.
To abbreviate the game and increase the odds of making match (keeping the opponent below 33 points), the player can close the stock.
It is implicit in the 19th century rules that it is not sufficient that the player who closes the stock win more points.