Origins of Billiards

The billiard cue began as a different tool called a mace.

While game historians cannot trace the modern game of billiards to one inventor, the game has its most direct origins in an outdoor game first played in France in the 14th century, according to the Online Guide to Traditional Games. Even the name “billiards” may have French origins, according to Play89, because the earliest version of the game used a device called a mace, or “billliart” in the French language.

Outdoor Predecessor

Billiards’s ancestry remains somewhat mysterious because of the many outdoor games preceding it that bear at least some relationship to the earliest indoor version. Among these, “ground billiards” claims the clearest relationship to the indoor game. Ground billiards bore some resemblance to the game of croquet in that players struck a ball with a club, or mace, into a hoop. This prototype for indoor billiards first appeared in the 1340s.

Indoor Billiards

During the 15th century, people began playing a scaled-down indoor version of ground billiards, using a table instead of playing at ground level, even while ground billiards maintained its own following as an outdoor pastime. According to the Online Guide to Traditional Games, this type of outdoor-to-indoor transplantation occurred with other games as well so enthusiasts could play at night and in varying weather. The uneven nature of the table surfaces and balls used simply added more challenge to the game.

Rules

The earliest known table billiards setup followed rules more reminiscent of croquet than of modern billiards. According to the Online Guide to Traditional Games, early billiard tables had a croquet-like “port,” or hoop, at one end of the table and an upright stick called a “king” at the other end. Players used a smaller version of a mace to send the ball across the table, through the port, then back to make contact with the king without tipping over either object. The first player who achieved this scored five points.

Equipment

The first billiards sets included wooden balls, according to the Online Guide to Traditional Games. Makers did not replace wood with ivory as the principal ball material until the late 1600s. The original billiard tables also consisted of wood, with no cloth covering. The mace, a hammer-like object with a long handle and a flattened head at the end, began serving as a “cue” long before it actually evolved into that more familiar object. Players discovered that using the “wrong” end of the mace to strike the ball increased their control over the shot.

Advocates

Nobles and commoners alike enthusiastically adopted billiards. The court of France’s King Louis XI included a billiard table and balls in an inventory list as early as 1470, the first such written reference to the new indoor version of the game. By 1588, billiards had achieved popularity with the English court, including the Earl of Leicester and Duke of Norfolk. Mary, Queen of Scots even requested a billiard table for her prison cell.

References

• The Online Guide to Traditional Games: The Billiards Family
• Play89: Unknown Facts about Billiards