The Venetians of yore had some reasonably well-known games which common people engaged in during the various feasts and celebrations in the city. They made human towers, had bull fights, and small battles on bridges using fists or sticks.
There were also some less renowned games, such as ducks on a greasy pole, squashing cats bareheaded, and tearing the heads off geese while jumping off a bridge.
These games, however, will be for another episode, if I can find some decent sources.
They were also mostly entertainments and games for the lower classes, associated with specific events in the yearly calendar.
More affluent Venetians, especially from the citizen and noble classes, also engaged in sports, that is, physical activities with the express purpose of keeping fit.
The games
Some of these activities were ball games, which were almost, but not quite entirely unlike some modern sports, even if not excessively.
At least three different ball games seem to have been popular in Venice, over very long periods of time.
The first — and according to some sources also the most ancient — was called giuoco al calcio — the came of Calcio.
The word calcio means a kick, so a kicking game. It is also the word used in modern Italian for European football, but the game was probably more like rugby-ish.
Another game, usually just called giuoco al pallone — playing at ball — involved a wooden arm guard, which was used to hit a football sized ball back and forth across a field, between two teams.
Finally, a less physical version of the above game developed, where a smaller ball was lopped back and forth over a rope, using some sorts of racket. This was the giuoco alla corda — the Game of Rope, a precursor of modern tennis.
The latter two will be the subject of the next episode of Venetian Stories
Sources
The essential source for renaissance ball games is a treatise by Antonio Scaino da Salò, who in 1555 published the Trattato del giuoco della palla di messer Antonio Scaino da Salò, diuiso in tre parti. Con due tauole, l’vna de’ capitoli, l’altra delle cose piu notabili, che in esso si contengono.
We don’t really do book titles the way our forefathers did, do we?
Translated, the title means: “Treatise on the game of ball by Mr. Antonio Scaino from Salò, divided in three parts, with two tables, one of the chapters, the other of the most notable things contained therein.”
It is sometimes referred to as the first book on tennis, but it is much more than that.
Antonio Scaino was born in Salò on the Lake Garda in 1524, to a noble and affluent family. Consequently, he went to study philosophy and theology at the University of Padua.
Following his studies, ordained priest, he found his way to the court of the Dukes of Ferrara, where he remained for much of the 1550s. Here, he became close to the younger brother of the duke, Alphonso d’Este, to whom the treatise on ball games is dedicated.
Alphonso d’Este — as was often the case with younger siblings of Italian dukes — became a cardinal, and went to Rome. Scaino followed him soon after, and had a quite brilliant career at the court of the Pope, where he wrote and published extensively on Aristotelian philosophy.
He died in 1612, shortly before his 88th birthday.
The Trattato del giuoco della palla, written in his younger years, was probably almost a joke for the erudite priest. Maybe he was called on to adjudicate conflicts, which arose during ball games his ducal friend played, as there are several such cases discussed in the treatise. Therefore, the writing of the book was likely to ingratiate himself with his high placed friend and benefactor, but it is by far his most cited work ever.
Ball games were games
The ball games, which Scaino describes and explains in his treatise, were exactly that, games.
They were not serious matters, and few later writings on the games exist, until organised competitive sports became a thing much later.
In the 1500s, and for centuries to come, ball games were fun physical and social activities for the affluent, that is, those who didn’t already engage in hard physical labour, and who had leisure time for play.
That, of course, doesn’t preclude endless discussions about whether that specific ball was a fault, or whether that victory the other Saturday was justified or not.
Most ball games didn’t have dedicated spaces for them. There was nothing like modern stadiums, or football pitches. They were mostly played in public squares, and some games became associated with certain campi in Venice, where the games were organised.
Much of what we have from Venetian written sources, are just small notes of activities that happened in certain places, or even notes in property records.
We do, however, have some engravings and paintings depicting ball games in various places in Venice, mostly from the 1700s.
Well-known artists from the period — like the printer and engraver Ludovico Lovisa, and the painters Gabriele Bella and Giovanni Grevembroch — have all left us works, where ball games feature, and sometimes prominently.
Many of these images are in the associated articles on ball games on the History Walks Venice website, linked from the show notes.
Giuoco al calcio
So much for the generalities, let’s get more specific.
The giuoco al calcio — literally a kicking game.
As the name in Italian is almost the same as modern-day association football, it is tempting to think of it as a kind of ancient football, but it probably resembled rugby more, as the players — at least in some versions of the game — could pick up the ball with their hands.
The requirements for a playing field were not very specific. Scaino wrote:
… a space so large that a stone thrown by a very strong arm, from one end cannot reach the opposite end, in width almost half that, and if there are walls on the sides, it’ll be very suitable …
There was a fence around the field, and two gates at the extremities:
… only at both the extreme ends, according to the length of the fence, a certain area is circumscribed, within which, those, who want to be victors of the battle, have to send the ball, by agreement, each on the side of the others.
So it is rather rudimentary. A playing field, surrounded by a fence, with two scoring areas or gates at either end.
There were no rules about team size. Each side could be made up of as many as the playing field could accommodate. Scaino continued:
… the best suited field is, I believe, found in the arena of Padua, where the students during Lent, with huge participation, are wont to exercise this battle, which you can do twenty, thirty or forty persons on each side, or ever larger numbers, according to the size of the place and the valour of the players.
I have a suspicion that his use of the word ‘battle’ here was not entirely unintentional, but more about that later.
Antonio Scaino studied in Padua, so even if he hadn’t played himself, he must have watched the fights.
The ball used was of leather, and inflated:
Thus, this game is played with a ball of wind, weighing ten ounces, with a diameter of seven inches, much softer and squashier than the fist ball …
We’ll talk about the ‘fist’ ball in the next episode, on the giuoco del pallone.
There were few rules about how the players could handle the ball.
Let’s give the word to Scaino again:
… each player can enter this game without any kind of armour of any sort whatsoever, as it is in his powers to hit the ball, with whichever part of the body he pleases, and with more body parts together, when it is in the air, after the first rebound, after the second, and all the others, and he can bash it with his feet, when it rolls on the ground, he can with one or more contacts dispatch, pick up, hold and carry it (which is a glorious fact) into the goal of the enemy, only it is forbidden to throw it with the hands, and when it happens, it becomes a skirmish …
Kick-off was exactly that, which is probably the reason for the name of the game. To start the game, the ball was placed on the ground at the centre of the field, and sent into play by a kick.
Divided the field in two equal parts, and the ball placed in the middle, the players divided in the opposing factions, with some uniform, through which in the fighting they can recognise each other, given a sign at the sound of a drum or trumpet, one of the players, who is to be first, by election or by lot, hits the ball with a kick, at which point the skirmishing immediately starts, so it is permitted for one side, as well as the other, to take the ball, hit it and send it towards the goal of the adversaries …
Again, I don’t think the use of words such as ‘skirmish’, ‘fighting’ and ‘battle’ are figurative.
The troops were assigned their role in the battle based on their different skills and abilities.
… each gang needs a captain, who governs the battle, and who assigns roles to the players, some of which are good runners, others physically strong to resist the onslaught of the opposition, others skilled in handling the ball, and other astute at starting skirmishes, and these will be in the front of the battle as the vanguard, behind whom the stronger players, and behind these the runners; the rearguard are the skilled and experienced ball handlers …
Goals were scored either by carrying the ball running, or by kicking the ball, into the goal of the opposing team.
In particular, in this game it is convenient that those players, who are placed in front of the others, if they don’t have a good opportunity to hit the ball, leave the ball to those, who are behind them, confronting in the meantime the adversaries to prevent them from gaining more field. For the runner, who is about to run down the field with the ball in hand, some of the stronger players, and those from the vanguard, should confront the adversaries, to give him expedited and free passage, and the runner, having space and occasion, run until the goal of the enemy, but if attacked by a too large squadron, slow down and without wasting time, hit the ball, and better if with the foot than in other ways, because that blow is safer, and the one which is harder to impede.
Calcio in Venice
The Venetians knew this game. If it was played by the students in Padua, it was played by Venetians too.
Venice never had a university of its own, so anybody who wanted to study, noble or citizen, went to Padua.
If in a hurry, the trip by boat to Fusina, and then on horseback, took a few hours at most, while the very convenient river boats up and down the naviglio took some seven-eight hours, eating, drinking, chatting, gambling while the countryside glided past outside.
So the Venetians played calcio.
In particular, the game of calcio was played in the Campo Sant’Alvise in Cannaregio. Here, there had been a bersaglio — a shooting ground for bows and arrows, then crossbows, and later, early artillery, the bombarde.
The 1700s Venetian painter Gabriele Bella made a painting which exactly matches the description by Scaino of the game of calcio.
I have put a photo of the painting is the show-notes.
In this painting, we see the entire playing field from the side, with an ongoing game.
The field is elongated, but not rectangular. It is oval, delineated by a simple fence, going in a curve from goal to goat.
The goals are actual gates, like you would find on a fine house. They’re arched, with decorations on top. They’re not level with the playing field, but raised two steps up on a small dais.
The two teams are numerous, one wearing red waistcoats and matching hats, the other in black or brown. Trousers and shirts are in varying colours.
A member of the red team is running with the ball in his hands towards the gate on the right, which is blocked by a player in black. Some players, of both teams, have fallen to the ground.
Four individuals on the playing fields are not participants.
Besides each gate stands a man, wearing a red jacket and holding a long post with the flag of St Mark. Such persons are not mentioned by Scaino, but they’re probably there to adjudicate scores. In fact, the guy on the right seems to be moving, as to observe the player approaching with the ball, while the other looks perfectly relaxed.
In the centre, a bit in the back, stand two military style drummers. Scaino mentioned drummers or trumpeters, so they’re probably there to give signals for the commencement and cessation of hostilities, a bit like the whistle of modern-day football referees.
The spectators standing along the fence, are all men, and they generally appear well clad and affluent. There might be a few casual lower-class onlookers in the corners, but this is definitely a business for ‘decent’ people.
A short note on the artist Gabriele Bella.
Gariele Bella was born in 1720, and died in 1799, He wasn’t a well-known artist at the time, and apparently he wasn’t formally educated at the Academy of Fine Arts. The style of Bella is rather naive, but his paintings, like the contemporary works of Giovanni Grevembroch and Gaetano Zompini, have great documentary value, as he was meticulous in getting the details right.
There’s a lot of Zompini, and quite a bit of Grevembroch, on the History Walks Venice website. They’re some of my favourite artists.
Almost all surviving works of Bella, including the painting discussed earlier, are in the collection of the Querini-Stampalia foundation, which is custodian of the heritage of that same Venetian noble family. The Querini-Stampalia became extinct in 1869. Bella was, in all likelihood, a kind of house artist to the family, just like Grevembroch was to the Gradenigo family around the same time.
Variations of the game
However, I’m digressing. Back to the game of calcio.
There appear to have been variations of the game — or they’re different games which shared a name — because other Venetian sources indicate other, different, rules of the game.
Giovanni Grevembroch, which I mentioned just a minute ago, in his work on the dresses of the Venetians from around 1754, has a watercolour of a player of calcio.
This image is in the show-notes too, and on the History Walks Venice website, with the text translated and commented.
The player is dressed in a waistcoat, has a hand on his hip, and a hat with a red feather. There is a ball lying at his feet.
Grevembroch wrote this in the note to the painting:
… the Patricians introduced during the Summer, to keep themselves agile and capable of hard work, a Game that they called Calcio. They divided themselves into two numerous factions on the shooting grounds, one called that of the Mountain and the other from the Plain; and they separated the Field with one or two large Portals of Stucco or wood. The Game began from one of the sides alternately on the given signal, to pass the same Portal, in order to recover a Ball thrown from there. The Opponents skilfully opposed them, while keeping their Arms tightly joined to their Sides (as it was forbidden to use their Hands) so that with the sole strength of their Shoulders, they made a vigorous defence and the Victory, acquired in the presence of countless Spectators surrounding the Fence, was highly valued. They were dressed in undergarments with Sleeveless vests, with Caps or Hats with a red or black Feather, each according to the Uniform of their own Company.
It is evident, that this is not the same game as Scaino described, and Gabriele Bella painted.
Grevembroch is not very precise, probably because his audience knew about the game already. It is clear, though, that the players were allowed to push and shove, using their shoulders and chests, but not their hands and arms, so they couldn’t pick up the ball and run with it.
A bit about Grevembroch too.
Venetian born in 1731, of Dutch descent, he worked for several decades as the house artist of Pietro Gradenico, for whom Grevembroch made several thousand drawings and watercolours. In 1754, about six hundred of these were collected into a four volume work on how the Venetian dressed, which is where the illustration of the player of calcio comes from.
Giuseppe Tassini, in his indispensable Curiosità Veneziane, noted on the entry for Bersaglio (which is at Sant’Alvise where the Venetian played calcio):
In the Shooting grounds of S. Alvise, during Lent, the game of Calcio was played by young patricians divided into two factions, the first positioned on this side, and the second positioned on the other side of an open door, or an arch of tables, beyond which a ball was thrown. One faction would then attempt to seize it, while the other tried to keep it, trying to push it away with their feet, and facing each other, pushing, and repelling each other with their backs and bodies only, since it was forbidden to use the arms, which had to be kept pressed against the hips. The ball being preserved or retrieved decided the victory. The wrestlers wore sleeveless, slim-fitting vests for this amusement, and covered their heads with caps or feathered hats.
This is in line with Grevembroch, but Tassini doesn’t indicate his source. He certainly knew about Grevembroch’s drawings because they are kept in the archives of the Museo Correr, where Tassini spent half of his life.
There’s a newsletter about Giuseppe Tassini on the Venetian Stories website.
Military training
The terms Scaino used to describe the game, was, as we have seen, war-like. He mentions battles, skirmishes, fights, armour, enemies, victories, and he discusses different types of combatants, and their organisation and formations.
It almost sounds like the game was a kind of preparation for real war.
The game of Calcio in Venice war clearly associated with the bersagli — shooting grounds — which existed in each sestiere in the Middle Ages and later.
Grevembroch, too, saw the game as one of preparing the men for war by keeping them fit and strong.
From his notes to the watercolour of the player of calcio:
In times past, Youth practised crossbow shooting because it was mandated by law that even the nobility should go to the Lido on holidays, so that through this means they could become robust and capable of the necessities of war. The same activity was carried out for the city districts, and for this purpose, in the 14th century, boat races were also invented, teaching men to row well at the same time. … After the use of Artillery was discovered, the Bow was set aside; …
The bow was set aside, and replaced with the game of calcio.
The games had few and basic rules, and combined with a large number of participants, they could probably deteriorate into mostly bloodless battles.
In Venice, some ball games were forbidden at times because people died during the matches.
They were rough games, and very physical, often violent, which was most likely all on purpose.
Games and sport were, unsurprisingly, preparations for war.
So, next episode will also be about ball games, but those where you toss balls back and forth between two teams or two players.
This rabbit hole was deeper than I thought. It’s going to get weirder, too.