Poggio a Caiano I's tennis court (1543) intact but no longer in use. The "palatoia" (as the court was referred to in Tuscany - elsewhere known as "pallacorda") was built for Cosimo I at the same time as his court at Palazzo Pitti. The "tennis" of the Italian Renaissance was hugely popular at court and in the streets as in France where the sport is known as "jeu de paume". "Real tennis" (as it is called today), which requires a customised court with elaborate interior playing surfaces, is the model for modern tennis although the sport played in the Renaissance continues to be
Paris in the 17th century events. All they lacked were color; all the fireworks were white or pale gold, until the introduction from China of colored fireworks in the 18th century. The most popular sport for French nobles in the first part of the 17th century was the "jeu de paume", a form of handball or tennis, which reached its peak of popularity under Henry IV, when there were more than 250 courts throughout the city. Louis XIV, however, preferred billiards, and the number of courts for "jeu de paume" dropped to 114. The owners of the courts found an original and effective strategy to