Jeu de paume

''Jeu de paume'' (, ; originally spelled ; ) was a ball-and-court game that originated in France and was the precursor of real tennis (called court tennis in the US or ''courte paume'' in France) and ultimately of the modern game of tennis. ''Jeu de paume'' was played without racquets, and so was a "game of the hand", though these were eventually introduced. It is a former Olympic sport, and has the oldest ongoing annual world championship in sport, first established over 250 years ago. The term also refers to the court on which the game is played and its building, which in the 17th century was sometimes converted into a theatre. Provided by Wikipedia