“Jeu de la Paume”
Period French Tennis
By Maitre Philippe de Lyon
“Jeu de la Paume,” better known to us as Tennis, originated sometime in the 13th Century. There is through pictorial evidence showing monks playing a game similar to handball. The game became popular enough that the church issued banns on this game, because the monks were playing it instead of attending afternoon prayers1. As universities were created, the monks went to teach and took their ball game with them. Students studying at the universities would learn tennis and then take it home2. Although known as the “Game of Kings”, tennis was played by people from all walks of life. As most individuals did not have access to a courtyard, an outdoor version of the game became very popular and was played by all classes. The only thing needed was a roof. A low roof of a building overhanging into a street was ideal. In town, players could rent the rights to play tennis off of private buildings. There are several court cases where the owners of buildings sued players that did not have such permission. Roofs constructed specifically for playing tennis were also used. The outdoor version of Jeu de la Paume continued to be popular and also began to diverge from the indoor version of the game. In the mid sixteenth century, a line dividing the court into sides was introduced as were gut rackets to replace the wooden paddles already in use. Neither the line nor the gut rackets found their way into the outdoor version of the game. The only requirements truly needed to play are a ball and a roof to serve off of. As mentioned already, an acceptable roof is easy to find. The balls and wooden rackets are easy to make and transport. Because of this, Jeu de la Paume is a great game to take and play at your next event.
Exact dimensions for the roof are not necessary. It should be about a foot or more over the heads of the players and next to a flat piece of land. It does not matter how long the roof is3. As you face the roof, the left hand side will be for the defenders. The Dedans or the Goal line runs Perpendicular from the left edge of the roof. The attackers will be on the right side of the playing area. Anywhere in front of the roof is inbounds, and can be used in play.
A wonderful place to play is the wood pavilions found in most parks. They tend to be a large roof over a concrete slab, and tend to have a lot of flat space next to them. The roofs work very well for the game, and the pavilion offers seating for spectators. Rectangular pavilions with no ropes (such as the portable car ports) also work very well for play. The ball is light enough that it is not going to cause any damage to the tent.
At Kings Arrow Ranch in Lumberton, Mississippi, there is a wonderful Tudor style tavern called the Green Dragon. It has wood shingles on a sharply sloping roof. It also has a dormer that acts as a stop for the ball. This type of stop can be found on the dedans side of the roof on some woodcuts (but not on all, this should not be viewed as a requirement). With permission of the Proprietor, we played several games off of the roof of the Green Dragon. The wood shingles and steeply sloping roof of the Tudor style building did pose some unique issues during play. The ball picked up tremendous speed off of the roof, much more than playing on the gentle slope of the roof on wooden shelters at the local park. The wood shingles caused the ball to bounce erratically, sometimes coming straight back at the server. You will find that each location will be unique and offer its own challenges. In period, this was viewed as standard part of the game and showed the players’ true skill by being able to adapt to each court.
Once a roof as been located, you are all set to play. The next thing that you will need is a ball. The ball is between 1.5 – 2.25 inches in diameter. It is made out of white leather and stuffed firmly with wet wool. This produces a light, hard ball. Since each ball is hand made no two balls will be the same and none of them will be perfectly round. The balls will also warp in shape during play if rackets are used. Because of this construction the balls have very little bounce and tend to bounce erratically.
The Ball described by both Didier and Scion was made out of white leather, was 1.5 to 2.25 inches in diameter and weighed between one and two ounces. Both of the period resources say that you should go to a master ball maker and buy several that are nice and round. Didier prefers one that is on the heavy side. It seems that the balls would become misshaped during play and several balls would be needed.
Since I was unable to find a master ball maker to buy my tennis balls, I had to make one. Gillmeister described the process of making the early balls. They were made out of white leather and stuffed with wet wool. The balls were constructed by sewing together 6 – 8 elliptical pieces to make a casing. You would then stuff the case with wet wool and let it dry.
The first thing I needed was a pattern. For this I went to a Mathematician and told her what I needed. Melisande de Westemere (mundanely known as Dawn Blaloch) helped me design a pattern. With a two - inch in diameter ball we knew that the ball would have an outside circumference of approximately 6 inches (I am lazy and was not going to work out the decimals). This meant that the piece would need to be 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. We then used a compass to produce an arc of a circle that would connect the two end points with the middle point of the pattern. Once we found this we could draw both sides. We then cut out the pattern with a seam allowance. This pattern requires 6 pieces. When I sewed them together the casing looked extremely small. As I stuffed it with the wet wool, it filled out to a nice round shape and then began to stretch. After stuffing the casing the ball was 2.5 inches in diameter and fairly round. The ball will shrink some as it dries. Wet, the ball weighed right at two ounces; after drying, it weighed 1.5 ounces.
The original version of Jeu de la Paume was played with the bare hand. Later players began to wear leather gloves to protect their hands. By the middle of the Sixteenth Century rackets were being used by most players. There were two main types of rackets. One type was of wood with either a square or round piece of wood for the head. The heads were about 6 inches in diameter and would be two feet long overall. The second type of racket was made from bent wood. It was a frame with holes drilled in it and catgut strung across the frame. The frame would be about 10 inches wide and would be a total of 18 inches in length. The Gut Rackets were expensive but widely used. The wood rackets were cheaper and we see more of them in the woodcuts of the outdoor game. In Jeu de la Paume, it appears that the use of the hand, glove, or one of the rackets was purely a matter of personal preference.4
Scion talks about the wooden rackets. As we said above, the rackets are about 2 feet in length and the heads are 6 inches across. There were two types of heads on these rackets. The one with the round head was called a Palletta, and the one with the square head was a Mescola. Gillmister does not describe the wooden rackets but says that they were very popular for the outdoor version of the game.
I decided to make these rackets. I used oak for the handle and a generic white hard wood for the head. The racket was made in two pieces, with the handle glued into a socket in the head. These are very small compared to a modern racket and have a very small hitting surface. Be careful not to hit the ground with the head during a swing. I broke two rackets in this manner.
The object of the game is for the Attackers to score a point by hitting the ball past the goal line. There can be from one to three people on a team and the teams do not have to have the same number of players. Play begins by the Defenders hitting the ball up on to the roof so that it comes down on the end with the Attackers. The “Rally” or round begins when the Attackers return the serve to the Defenders. If the Attackers miss the serve, then the ball is served again by the Defenders. Once the Rally begins, the two sides will continue taking turns hitting the ball back and forth. The ball can be returned as long as it has only hit the ground once, and can be played off of any obstacles in the playing area. The Rally ends when the Attackers hit the ball past the goal line or if the ball hits the ground a second time. There is no line or net in this version of the game so the players may move anywhere they wish. Each team can only hit the ball once and then someone from the other team must hit the ball. As long as the ball is in front of the roof, play will continue; there is no out of play area except for behind the roof and past the goal.
In Jeu de la Paume score is kept by counting 15 points per goal. If you have 0 points it is referred to as “Love” (Winners play for money but losers play for Love of the game)5. Play continues until someone has scored 4 times, accumulating a total of 60 points. However in order to win the match you must beat the other team by two scores or 30 points6. Points are earned by scoring a goal, winning a Chase, or by the other teaming committing a foul.7
When the ball bounces on the ground for the second time, then a Chase is made. You should mark where the ball hit the ground for the second time with something (such as another ball).
To play for the Chase the teams will switch sides. Play continues as above until another Chase is made. If the ball hits in front of the marker, closer to the goal, then the Attackers (who were the Defenders before the chase) score 15 points. If the ball bounces the second time past the chase marker then the Defenders (who were the Attackers) get the 15 points. Play begins again and the new Attackers may score goals until another Chase is made.
The Chase adds a new dimension of tactics to the game. If the Attackers hit the ball and it appears the ball will land some distance for from the goal, the Defenders may intentionally not hit the ball in order to get an easy Chase.
Faults occur when someone has done something to the ball that prevents the other team from hitting it. If this happens the other team gets 15 points. Some faults include:
Hitting the ball over the roof (after the serve).
Hitting the ball into an obstacle, where the ball is stuck and does not come down. This only applies if the ball hit the obstacle out of reach of the players. For example, if the ball is stuck in a tree higher than a player could reach, then it is a fault. If the player could have hit the ball then it is a Chase.
One of the teams hit the ball twice in a row.
The ball hits a person who is not playing the game.
Once someone won a match then the game would start again. It would continue for a set number of matches. This would be determined before the game started. The winning team is the one that wins the most matches. The winning team would then receive the bet. There were two main ways to bet on the outcome of the game. The first method required the two teams to agree to a prize to be won by the team who wins the greatest number of matches. The number of matches to be played would be agreed upon up front. The prize played for could be as simple as the losers buying the drinks, or even an object or an agreed upon amount of money. This method of betting is referred to as a “Pure” game. The second method of betting is the “Invitation”. In this version of the game, both teams set out an agreed upon amount of money. After each goal, the scoring team can raise the bet by 1 coin, which the other team must match or forfeit the prize.8
Now that we have discussed how to play the game, let’s talk a little about strategy for the game. Teams can be of any size and they do not have to be even. If you have more than 1 player, you will want to play one close to the goal and then spread the rest out to cover the middle of the court and then farther back (if you have 3 or more people). Because there is no dividing line between the two teams, you may have a Defender standing next to an Attacker. Remember that each team takes turns hitting the ball, so you do not want all of your players on one side of the court. Scion suggests that you play with 3-4 players to a side. I have found that 2-3 people work best unless you have a large area to play in.
Whether you use a racket or play with the open hand seems to be a matter of personal preference. If you are facing a team with superior numbers, I would strongly recommend the racket. It gives you extra reach and power. When choosing a racket you want a light racket. 9 This gives you extra speed. There are 4 kinds of strokes: Stroke from the left, from the right, underhand and overhand. All of these can be made by the full arm or just the hand and elbow.10 The overhand with the full arm is the most powerful but the hardest to control. The underhand with the hand and elbow is the weakest of the strokes and the one most easy to control. The stroke from the left and right are made with the same surface on the racket. The modern backhand stroke was not used.11 When striking the ball, the preference is to hit in on the fly before it bounces on the floor. You want to do this for several reasons. As we talked about earlier, the balls were made by hand and they will not be perfectly round, and will have very little bounce. It is difficult at best to judge where the ball will go after the bounce. The other reason to hit it on the fly is that the trajectory of the ball is flatter and thus the ball will fly farther. Scion refers to this as “Striking in Tempo”. The second best time to hit the ball is immediately after it bounces off the ground. This will produce a shallow arc, and the ball will not go as far. There is also the possibility of breaking the racket if you hit the ground12. This is called “Contra Tempo”. The last time to hit the ball is “Colpo Contra Tempo”.13 This is where the ball is struck after the bounce, after it has hit the peak of the arc and is on its way back down. This will always cause the ball to arc upwards.
This is a wonderful game for all ages. In its simplest form it can be played just about anywhere and all you need is a ball. It is great exercise and provides cross training for fencing and other activities requiring hand eye coordination. It is a nice alternative activity at an event and provides a lot of ambiance.
Bibliography
“Scion on tennis: originally published in Italian in 1555 and now translated into English for the first time” by W.W. Kershaw, published by Strange Ways Press Ltd. W.C. 2, 1951.
“Henry de Saint Didier, “Tract containing the secrets of the first book on the single sword mother of all arms, which are sword dagger, short cloak, square shield, buckler, target, two handed sword and two swords, with these portraits showing the weapons in position for ones defense and offense at the same time as the hits which one desires to place, as much in attacking as in defending, very useful and profitable for the gentleman to learn, and for the followers of war: written for art, order, and practice.” Translated and published by Laura Angotti 1997.
“Tennis, a Cultural history,” by Heiner Gillmeister, published in the U.S. by New York University Press, 1997.
Special thanks to Warder Brighid MacCumhal for playing Tennis with me and posing for the pictures.
1 Scaino claims that this game was played by both Alexander the Great and Charlemagne, but there is no corroborating evidence to support this.
2 From Gillmister's first chapter on the history of “jeu de la paume”.
3 There are woodcuts depicting roofs from 2 – 15 feet in length.
4 In the Italian version of this game, the players would all play with either the open hand of with a fist (meaning using a racket).
5 Gillmeister…page
6 Scion…page
7 Scion does not mention the use of the goal for the outdoor game. That seems to be unique to the French version.
8 There is a 3rd version of betting that relies on the conditions of how you win the game. This is very complex and is not referred to in any of the other sources I could find on the French version of the game, so I decided to omit it here.
9 Didier says to choose a light racket and a heavy ball, just as you would choose a light sword and a heavy dagger in combat.
10 Scion page 240.
11 Didier explains that the gut racket was strung with the horizontal strings wraped aound the vertical ones. Thus the racket had a rough side and a smooth side. Didier states that you should always strike the ball with the smooth side of the racket.
12 This unfortunately is my own observation from trial and error and not something mentioned by either Scion or Didier.
13 The discussion of Tempo is from Scion’s work. I found it particularly interesting that Scion is using terms that will be used by Rapier Masters later in the century to describe timing and when to strike an opponent. I feel that this also lends credit to Didier’s claim that fencing and tennis are first cousins, and each is great training for the other.
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