The origins of Morra game in Teruel are unknown, it has been told orally generation after generation. Because of that, there is not much written information about the origin of the game.

It is believed that comes form Italy, where is played since long time ago. The Aragonese Crown had italian territories and the soldiers that stayed there, brought the Morra game to our province.

In some buildings of Mora de Rubielos and Linares de Mora (towns from the Teruel's province), exist reminiscences from the italian style and some terms like "El Perduto" ("The lost one" in english), refers to a typical aragonese building belonging to Torres de Albarracin, or some surnames have italian origin.



La morra. A Juan Lys picture (Real Gallery of Cassel)



Sardinian villagers playing morra

The romans called this game "micare digitis" (twinkling fingers). In Italy, this game is played with passion; is also played in South Sea's islands (China). It was played by egypcians in the past, as it is verified in Falkener's "Games ancient and oriental" (1.892). Played in Greece too, even though we don't know how it was called, we suppose it was similar to "lachmos", "kleros dia daktylon".

There is no reference of this game in greek literature before the Empire, but it appears in some art work, like a painted glass kept at Berlin Museum and at the Lambert collection in Paris. Is not explained yet the use of the long stick that appears in some of that art works. Some archaeologists suppose that it was used to keep the distance between both players, who avoided to use left hand in the game by subjecting the stick with that hand. Others think that it was used to count points, extending it who lose so the stick was in the winner's hands at the end of the game.



Detail from a roman painting



Egiptian funeral paintings from the Berlin Museum



Greek painting on glass from the Lambert collection, Paris

As it was a very practiced game, it was not difficult to take advantage from adversary's carelessness to increase or decrease fingers shown or to calculate probabilities, to guess adversary's intentions by previous points. In the Roman Empire in order to confer a distinction of a man, it was told: "you can play morra with him in the darkness". It demonstrates how old and popular was the Morra game for the romans. When some people have a lawsuit, it was solved out with a Morra game, like today's coin throw. It was very often too in sells and trades of goods, when no agreement succeeded. This practice was prohibited in fourth century.

We know that in italian town of Massa (close to Carrara), this game was imported by woodmans and coaldealers from the northern regions. It was played at home or at some inn with good wine. But it was prohibited once again because players use Morra to bet money and goods. Even though people continued playing Morra.

The Morra game in the culture
Rita - A Gaetano DONIZETTI comic opera. Libretto of Gustavo VAEZ

Rita is an innkeeper from Bergamo (Italy). She is widowed from Gasparo, who used to hit her. She believe that he died in a shipwreck. A fire destroys her home and the town where she lives.

Then she knows Beppe and get married. Her new husband is very different to Gasparo, but now is Rita who hits and attacks Beppe.

Suddendly appears Gasparo who didn't die, he survived from the shipwreck and lived in Canada. During this time, he managed some big fields and got rich. He has come back to Bergamo to get Rita's decease certificate, as he believes she died in the fire, because he needs it to get married with her canadian girlfriend.

Gasparo arrives at Rita's reconstructed inn to sleep that night and finds Beppe, understanding that he is a hit man. Gasparo teachs him how to treat women. When Beppe sees Gasparo's documents, realizes that Gasparo is Rita's "dead husband" and invites him to take Rita so then he will be free.

Gasparo doesn't accept and they agree that the morra game will decide who will stay with Rita. Both cheat in the game in order to lose because nobody wants Rita. Finally Gasparo wins and Beppe is happy because he obtained freedom with morra game.

Gasparo talks to Rita, telling that he has come back because he loves her,but what really wants is the marriage certificate to broke it and then marry his canadian girlfriend. Rita sees his intentions and doesn't agree. Beppe is ready to go when is intercepted by Rita. Gasparo obtains the certificate and comes to Canada, leaving Beppe and Rita together.

Rita or Le mari battu: performed the first time in 1841, and successly presented at the Opera-Comique in Paris in 7th May of 1860 with the name of "Deux hommes et une femme".

Music from Domenico Gaetano Maria DONIZETTI - Bergamo (Italy) 1797-1848. Libretto from Gustavo VAEZ.


The cinema and the Morra game
Novecento (1st part)

A 1900's summer morning, two children born in the rich agricultural zone of the Emilia province, Italy. Olmo DALCO, a bastard born in a crowded farmer family, and Alfredo BERLINGHIERI, last descendant of an important landowners. Both live closer, though, they are from different worlds. Along their childhood, adolescency, maturity and old age the twentieth century goes by.

In the hole raise of italian fascism, at the end of the film, the oldest in town appear playing the game of Morra in the Town Hall, when the "camisa neri" burn it and everybody die.



NOVECENTO (1976), a Bernardo BERTOLUCCI film.


The game theory and the game of Morra

In the 1940's, a group of economists from Princeton University planned to study the wellbeing economy through the application of new investigation techniques.

The initial purpose was understand how the political communities organized cleverly to achieve collective goods. The main objective was to discover how could it be possible to overcome the individual egoism and cooperate to obtain the collective wellbeing.

Von Neumann and Morgernstern, economist and mathematic, demonstrate that, through the study of little strategy games made in a laboratory, it could be deduced the rationality of values and guides existing in real life, and found the laws that rule them. Their claim was as simple as strong: " Demonstrate that social facts can be described through models caught from estrategic games. These games also, can be studied through mathematical analisis".

Analizing human behaviour from simple situations with mathematic rigour, allows to discover their general laws. The game theory admits as fundamental premise that the behaviour is always something that is decided by individual decisions.

Suggested exercice by the Mathematics Faculty of the UBA about the Game Theory:

Briganti and Obtusso have to play an important number of TWO-FINGERS MORRA games (MORRA MUDA). $1 is the prize for each correct finger, $0 if draw and - $1 if not correct. If Obtusso is threaten to death in case he shows more than one finger (known by Briganti), stablish the best strategy of either player and determine the value of the game.

The passion and the game of morra

Jacques LACAN plan that love is the meeting of unconscious knowledge (it is not like some couples say: "I know you well", know what the other is going to do is not a love proof, it can be a hate proof, watching the others' movements). If love is two unconscious knowledges' meeting, neither know what loves in the other, there is an unconscious knowledge.

Lacan illustrates this with the game of the morra, say a number less than ten and open the fingers. Both, simultaneously, show the fingers and say a number, successful or not, there is no way to order it. We see that love have limits, continues, like the game of morra.

Jacques LACAN - (1901-1981, Paris). Neurologist. A master of Psychoanalisis.


Bibliographic references

- Dubois Maisonneuve, "Introd. A I'étude des vases peins" (1817).

- Heidemann, "Das morraspiel, Arch. Zeitung" (1872).

- Jahn, "Giocatrici a morra" en los "Annali del L'Istit. Arch." (1866).

- Perdrizel, "The game of morra" en "Journ. Of hell. Stud. XVIII" (1898).

- André Bretón, "Antología" (1913-1966). Siglo XXI Editores SA. Mexico DF. 9ª Ed. 1994.

- Fernando Maestro, "Del Tajo a la replaceta; juegos y divertimentos del Aragón rural".

- C. Verdejo, "Juegos para todos" (1975).