It is pleasant to turn from the superstitions of the
Middle Ages to the games, sports, and festivals which helped to make life
agreeable alike for rich and poor, for nobles and peasants. Some indoor games
are of eastern origin. Thus chess, with which European peoples seem to have
become acquainted as early as the tenth century arose in India as a war
game. On each side a king and his general, with chariots, cavalry, elephants,
and infantry, met in battle array. These survive in the rooks, knights,
bishops, and pawns of the modern game. Checkers is a sort of simplified chess,
in which the pieces are all pawns, till they get across the board and become
kings. Playing cards are another Oriental invention. They were introduced into
Europe in the fourteenth century, either by the Arabs or the gypsies. Their
first use seems to have been for telling fortunes.
OUTDOOR GAMES
Many outdoor games are derived from those played in
medieval times. How one kind of game may become the parent of many others is
seen in the case of the ball-play. The ancients tossed and caught balls as
children do now. They also had a game in which each side tried to secure the
ball and throw it over the adversary's goal line. This game lasted on into the
Middle Ages, and from it football has descended. The ancients seem never to
have used a stick or bat in their ball-play. The Persians, however, began to
play ball on horseback, using a long mallet for the purpose, and introduced
their new sport throughout Asia. Under the Tibetan name of pulu
("ball") it found its way into Europe. When once the mallet had been
invented for use on horseback, it could be easily used on foot, and so polo
gave rise to the various games in which balls are hit with bats, including
tennis, hockey, golf, cricket, and croquet.
