Jeu de Paume Racquet of the Majesty 1583

The Racquet of the Majesty, dated to 1583, belongs to the mature phase of Real Tennis during its peak as a courtly sport in early modern Europe. By the late sixteenth century, the game had fully emerged from its medieval origins in the French Jeu de Paume and had become a codified indoor sport associated with royal courts and aristocratic education.

Real Tennis was practiced by European rulers and high nobility, who regarded the game as both physical exercise and a marker of social distinction. Purpose-built courts were integrated into royal residences across Europe. One of the most prominent examples is Hampton Court Palace, where King Henry VIII commissioned an indoor tennis court in the 1530s, still in use today. Similar courts existed in France, Spain, and the Italian city states, reflecting the sport’s international prestige.