Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court The Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court Palace is a court for playing the sport of real tennis. It was built for Cardinal Wolsey between 1526 and 1529. Henry VIII of England played there from 1528. This court is still home to an active tennis club. In 2015 it was closed to visitors for major restoration works. During the 17th century various improvements were made to the court. One of the first acts of Charles II after his restoration in 1660 was to order the extensive refitting of the Tudor tennis court. This included the laying
Valencian pilota it is commonly supposed to have been derived from the medieval Jeu de paume along with several other European handball sports (for example the Basque "laxoa", French Longue paume, Frisian handball and Italian Pallone) similar to the actual Valencian llargues variant. "Jeu de paume" is documented at Paris in 1292 since there were 13 ball workshops and many "tripots" (courtfields); it was first played with the hands, and the scoring system was very similar to the current Valencian one. There were so many resemblances with the "Valencian pilota" sport that, in the 16th century, the humanist Joan Lluís Vives compared