Jeu de Paume- The Mother of Tennis

The city of Paris and its mother country take understandable pride in their long and rich tradition of the sport of tennis.  Though the version being played on the clay courts at this year’s French Open is less than 150 years old, the ancestry of today’s competitive and popular sport dates back to 11^th century France and the sport-of-antiquity known as Jeu de Paume.

Nearly a thousand years ago, a community of French monks devised an entertaining game of handball to fill their quiet afternoons and perhaps to keep their figures from filling out the full expanse of their robes.  Played within the rectangular borders of the monastic cloisters, Jeu de Paume (“game of the palm”) consisted of the bare-handed back-and-forth volley of cloth bags filled with hair or cork.  The covered walkways surrounding the open quadrangle of the cloister made for the perfect spectator gallery as the game was played out on the courtyard below.  The excitement of these early competitions was undoubtedly a welcome distraction from the disciplined daily routine of the monastery.

The game of Jeu de Paume also provided a popular source of entertainment for the many young nobles who received their education within the walls of these monasteries.  This exposure of the sport to the ranks of the noblesse was likely responsible for the eventual spread of its popularity.

Throughout the 12^th century, the craze of Jeu de Paume continued to grow, expanding from its humble provincial origins to the more sophisticated urban centers of France.  Universities and royalty alike constructed their own private Jeu de Paume facilities to house the burgeoning sport while commoners took to the streets of the cities to engage in their own competitions.  The game became so popular, in fact, that the Chief Magistrate of Paris felt compelled to issue a mandate in 1397 prohibiting the play of Jeu de Paume on any day other than Sunday.   The Parisian government was reportedly concerned that her citizens were neglecting their work and their families, “a state of affairs highly injurious to the good order of the public.”

Over time, the sport evolved from its bare-handed beginnings to the use of gloves and eventually racquets.  Cloth bags were replaced with hand-stitched felt and cork balls, and cords (the precursor to today’s net) were loosely strung across the center of the courts to more clearly denote the two halves.  Court dimensions and features, including the angled walls and netted windows of the spectator galleries, became more standardized and by 1592, formal rules for the game were established in the publication of the “Ordonnance du Royal et Honorable Jeu de Paume”.

These developments further enhanced the popularity of the sport throughout the 16^th and 17^th centuries, provoking a snide observation from one well-known British writer that for every church in France one could easily count two Jeu de Paume courts.  Eventually, the status of this exhilarating sport spread across the English Channel to Great Britain.  Here, Jeu de Paume caught the attention of such royal notables as King Henry VIIII, who had courts built at four of his palaces, allowing him ample opportunity to practice the sport he so dearly loved.

A highly skilled player, Henry VIII enjoyed not only the exercise and competition it provided, but also the excitement of the gambling which had long been associated with the sport.  It seems his wife, Anne Boleyn, also took great pleasure in wagering on royal Jeu de Paume matches, as she was reportedly betting on a game when her husband had her arrested in 1536.

Gambling was such an integral part of the sport, in fact, that it is speculated the 15-point scoring system used in today’s tennis games was derived from the early wagering of gros-denier coins (worth 15 deniers) on competitive matches.  To further heighten the risk and excitement of this adjunct sport of

gambling, Jeu de Paume aficionados also introduced a complex handicapping system  to “even the playing field” of the competitors.  This means of providing advantages for lesser-skilled competitors is still a part of Jeu de Paume today, though it is not a feature which was passed along to its successor-today’s game of tennis.

Despite the exciting impact that gambling had on the game, it may very likely have been the element that led to its eventual decline.  Scandals, including the fixing of matches, began to tarnish its reputation in the more idealistic political and social climate of the late 18^th century.  Once enjoyed by people of all social castes, the sport came to be unfavorably associated with the monarchy and its exploitation of the working class; subsequently, its stature suffered a dramatic wane in popularity.

Once-active Jeu de Paume courts in Paris were ultimately abandoned and converted into storage buildings, theatres, gyms and even livestock pens.  The sport was reduced to a royal pastime and as the fires of political unrest were stoked, anything associated with the king had to be eradicated.  How befitting it was, then, that the people of France chose the Royal Jeu de Paume Court of the Palace of Versailles to announce their revolutionary intentions, flaunting their dissatisfaction with the monarchy through their hostile conquest of the king’s beloved palace courts.  Their emotional 1789 proclamation, known as Le Serment du Jeu de Paume (The Tennis Court Oath) heralded the beginning of the French Revolution.

It was over the following century, as the embers of the French uprising cooled, that a simplified version of the once-popular sport was born. . . known today as tennis, or “Lawn Tennis” in England.  This adaptation of the original game has retained the same scoring system used in Jeu de Paume, as well as some of the same court features and terminology.  The word tennis, in fact, is derived from “tenez” (meaning “play”), an exclamation shouted by Jeu de Paume competitors just before hitting their serves.

Though it has never regained the prominence enjoyed during its High Renaissance heyday, and is certainly no match for its popular descendant, the ancient sport of Jeu de Paume quietly lives on.  Three Jeu de Paume courts still remain in France, others are scattered throughout the world (including in the United States) and at least 20 courts remain active in England.  Often referred to as “Real Tennis” in Great Britain, this precursor to the sport of tennis (as we know it today) varies little from the game played during its zenith.   The tightly strung wooden racquets sport an angled head uniquely designed to play floor and corner shots.  The Jeu de Paume ball, made of cork, felt and string, is heavier and offers less bounce than a standard tennis ball.  Sloped penthouses line three walls of the court, the net is deliberately sagged in the middle and spectators watch the matches from behind the netted windows of the rear and side galleries.  The complex handicapping system remains, as well, “penalizing” better players with negative points, fewer serves and limitations as to where they can hit their ball.

Today, Jeu de Paume remains a game of finesse rather than power, and placement rather than speed; hence, the advanced age and lasting endurance of many of its greatest champions. The staying power of its players is remarkably akin to the sport itself.  Hosting its first World Championship in 1740, this elegant forefather of tennis, born of humble beginnings, beloved by the masses and courted by kings and queens, embraces a proud reputation as the oldest continuous championship event in sports.  Not bad for a simple game of handball created by a group of 11^th century monks with a little time on their hands!

- Alyce Vilines, GEM Tennis