The earliest mention of cards occurs in 1377, and their history during the next century is obscure. Card playing seems to have become a popular vice very soon, since it is said to have been prohibited by the Synod of Langres in 1404. In 1423 cards equally with dice were the object of a celebrated sermon by St. Bernardin of Sienna at Bologna. The saint attributes the invention of games of chance to the devil, and gives a list of games of chance, most of which were played with dice and a backgammon board.