Real tennis Real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (originally called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United States, formerly royal tennis in England and Australia, and courte-paume in France (a reference to the older, racquetless game of "jeu de paume", the ancestor of modern handball and racquet games; many French real tennis courts are at "jeu de paume" clubs). The term "real" was first used by journalists in the early 20th century as
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.