Real Tennis
22nd January 2026 by | UncategorizedTudor Sports and Pastimes
Within stone-walled courts, kings chased balls of cork and cloth. “Real” tennis was the ancestor of the modern game: wooden rackets with angled heads, galleries for spectators, sloping roofs where shots might ricochet.
Henry VIII built courts at Hampton Court and Whitehall, often playing while politics seethed outside. The game was fast, tactical, exhausting — a duel in leather shoes. To play was to join the king’s inner circle in sweat and laughter.
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Gemma
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Author: The Reflection in the Mirror
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