Why Is Tennis Scored 15, 30, 40? A Prisoner Kept Score

Why is tennis scored 15, 30, 40? One of the oldest tennis scores ever written down comes from a French duke captured at the Battle of Agincourt (1415), in the Hundred Years' War, and kept prisoner in England for nearly 25 years. From jeu de paume and the Dauphin's tennis balls to the clock theory, "love," "deuce," the French Revolution's tennis court, Wimbledon 1877 and color TV: the small print of the strangest score in sport. Sources [1], [2]… below. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 A prisoner kept score 0:56 The game of the palm 1:47 The Dauphin's tennis balls 2:56 Twenty-five years in prison 3:44 Where did 15, 30, 40 come from? 4:57 Love and deuce 5:37 The tennis court revolution 6:11 Wimbledon brings back the old score 6:59 Why tennis balls turned yellow 7:39 So, why 15, 30, 40? 📚 SOURCES [1] Britannica, "Charles, duc d'Orléans" — https://www.britannica.com/biography/... [2] TIME, "Tennis Scoring Rules: Origins of a Strange System" (2017) — https://time.com/5040182/tennis-scori... [3] H. Gillmeister, Tennis: A Cultural History (2nd ed., Equinox, 2017) [4] Etymonline, "tennis" — https://www.etymonline.com/word/tennis [5] A. Liberman, "Tennis," OUPblog (2011) — https://blog.oup.com/2011/08/tennis-2/ [6] Tennis scoring system (Whitman 1932; Bonnefoy 1991) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_... [7] I. L. Harris, "Ancient Arithmetic: The Possible Origins of the Tennis Scoring System" (2020) — https://ianlouisharris.com/2020/07/04... [8] Kenilworth History & Archaeology Society, "Anyone for Tennis?" (Elmham, Strecche) [9] ITF, "History of tennis" — https://www.itftennis.com/en/news-and... [10] Britannica, "Tennis Court Oath" — https://www.britannica.com/event/Tenn... [11] International Tennis Hall of Fame, the Wingfield patent (1874) — https://www.tennisfame.com/celebratin... [12] G. Hillway, The Birth of Lawn Tennis [13] J. Barrett, Wimbledon: The Official History; 1877 Wimbledon Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1877_Wi... [14] PetaPixel, "How David Attenborough and Color Cameras Turned Tennis Balls Yellow" (2024) — https://petapixel.com/2024/06/26/how-... [15] Tennis ball: optic yellow (ITF, 1972), Wimbledon (1986) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_... 🎞️ CREDITS Films (public domain): Polygoon Hollands Nieuws / Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (1920s–1930s tennis newsreels, incl. Suzanne Lenglen). Photos, CC BY-SA 4.0: Pasarell (Wimbledon 1985, sides extended with AI) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... · DeFacto — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... · Oakenchips — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... · Carlos Delgado — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... CC BY-SA 3.0: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... · Old Bolingbroke Castle — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... · Vladsinger — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... CC BY-SA 2.0: M J Richardson — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... · Carine06 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... CC BY 4.0: Matthieu.lett.ube — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... CC BY 2.0: Yolanda — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... · dronepicr — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... · Thumbnail: Su--May (sides extended with AI) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Other paintings, manuscripts, prints and photos: public domain or CC0. The medieval tapestry illustrations were created with AI; some illustrations were given subtle motion with AI. AI narration. 🎵 MUSIC "Lightless Dawn", "Celtic Impulse", "Prelude and Action", "Long Road Ahead", "Investigations", "Crossing the Divide", "Mysterioso March", "Fireflies and Stardust" — Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Sound effects: BigSoundBank, Freesound (CC0). [f] Footnotery: the surprising stories behind the things everybody knows. History's small print. Instagram:   / footnotery.tv   Business: footnotery@gmail.com #Tennis #History #Wimbledon