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Article: Games and Play
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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GAMES AND PLAY
GAMES AND PLAY.
The types of games and amusements played in early modern times ran the gamut from physical games of an athletic nature to sedentary games, like cards, which were enormously popular. Some amusements were pursued outdoors, in parks and gardens, while others were more properly confined to interior spaces. The standard edition of Fran
ç
ois Rabelais's
Gargantua
(1542) lists some 217 sports and parlor and table games, many of which were played at times of celebration and feasting. This popular aspect of play continued throughout the period, although the rise of domesticity and new concepts of the family constrained the universalizing tendencies of communal ...