The early Game of Billiards

The origins of billiards cannot be clearly established, in fact it’s not even known which country billiards was first played. England, France and Italy all seem to have good claims to having invented the game of billiards in one form or another.

It seems possible that the game was introduced into Europe by the Knights Templars, but when the power and wealth of  that order was overthrown, the game disappeared, and does not seem to have been revived until Louis XL of France.

The French writer Bouillet in the Academie des Jeux states it was an English invention, but then again according to Reilly’s English translation of the Abbe M’Geoghegan’s History of Ireland reference to Billiards in the will of Cathire More, a sub-King of Ireland who died in the early part of the 2nd century.

So confusion surrounds the true origins of the game of billiards, but it certainly existed and appears to have truly established itself from the mid 16th century onwards.

A very early description of Billiards can be found in the Complete Gamester {1674), it stated that the game of billiards was played with two ivory balls, and heavy curved sticks made of Brazil wood, one end being much broader than the other. These early cues were called ‘maces’ and held in the hand at about the middle of their lengths, and the broad end made to strike ball by a sort of jabbing action, whilst the thin end or staff passed over the players shoulder.

So as you can see the rules of the game of billiards has been established, these naturally changed over time into the modern game, including the change of equipment.
I will next write some more about the early evolvement of billiards.