By: Kayler Yoxtheimer

 Many of the games and leisure activities that we use in our free time, were also enjoyed by many in the 16 th Century.  While used for fun, most of the sports played during this period were a major source of gambling  The violent nature of people during this period was also translated into the games they played

 Very different but yet similar to modern day sports  Unlike now, where the matches are friendly and not life threatening, the players in these games got a kick out of hurting and possibly killing each other  Most of the sports matches were to the death or very high stakes

 Not very popular until Queen Elizabeth’s tenure as Queen  Most violent of games due to the large number of participants  Include capture-the-flag like games where teams were to capture opposing members and defend their flag  Also included Shuttlecock (Badminton), Skittles (Bowling), Rounders (Baseball) as well as others

 More gambling involved due to higher probability of betting correctly  Include archery, billiards, fencing, hammer throwing, horseshoes, tennis, and wrestling

 Quarterstaff- long, hardwood staff with reinforced metal tip  Fighters used them to club or stab each other until one of them couldn’t fight any longer  Often played by the lower class because the weapons were extremely cheap and easy to make

 Very popular among all classes  HEAVY gambling  Included One and Thirty (Blackjack), Ruff and Honours (Rummy), and Maw (Euchre)

 Like card games, board games were equally popular among classes  Include chess, Tables (backgammon), and Shovelboard (shuffleboard)

 As most of the games previously mentioned have changed throughout the centuries, dice games have stayed relatively the same  Games like Dice and Craps have been the same for hundreds of years, with the only difference being the Elizabethan names of Knucklebones and Hazard respectively

 Children’s games, like dice games, have been the same for a long time  Games like Blind Man’s Bluff, Hopscotch, and Marbles have been around since the 1500s and are still played today