Jeu de paume Jeu de paume Jeu de paume (; ) is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, though these were eventually introduced. It is a former Olympic sport, and has the oldest ongoing annual world championship in sport, first established over 250 years ago. Originally spelled jeu de paulme, now it is called "real tennis" , court tennis (US) or courte paume (France). In the earliest versions of the game, the players hit the ball with their hands, as in palla, volleyball, or certain varieties of pelota. "Jeu de paume", or
Jeu de mail According to Brantôme, King Henry II of France (ruled 1547–1559) was an excellent player of ' and ' (a form of that eventually developed into tennis and other raquet sports). Louis XIV (ruled 1661–1715), who hated ', was on the other hand enthusiastic about ', and the playing court in the gardens of Tuileries Palace was enlarged during his reign. The game was still played in France, in the areas of Montpellier and Aix-en-Provence, into the early 20th century, before the First World War. An educational institution in Montpellier, College Jeu de Mail, still bears the name of this game.