The Racquet of the Majesty
 

Manuf.:    Royal Racquet Manufactory

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Model:      "Le Roi"

Spec.:         Solid wood, historically restored

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Year:          1583

(documented or estimated)

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Background facts:

The Racquet of the Majesty belongs to the Golden age of Real Tennis, also called Royal Tennis, the sport of European kings. The game had evolved from the French Jeu de Paume and became a symbol of royal prestige. Courts were built in palaces such as Hampton Court under King Henry VIII, where the game was played indoors with refined skill and ceremony. Across France, by the end of the sixteenth century, hundreds of such courts stood in use, serving nobles and courtiers alike. In Normandy, craftsmen were already recorded as makers of racquet frames, producing tools of remarkable precision.

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The late sixteenth-century racquet reflects the formative period when Real Tennis defined the sporting culture of European aristocracy.