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Valencian pilota ( (:piˈlɔta valensiˈana) "Valencian ball") is a traditional handball sport played in the Valencian Community. Its origins are not known, but seem to be related to the French Jeu de paume. Rules variations within the generic ''Pilota Valenciana'' category are frequent from area to area but the common trait is that the ball is struck with a bare, or almost bare, hand (only minimal protection is applied in some versions of the sport). The general rule involves two teams made from two up to five players each (the numbers depend on the particular version played). Exceptionally, individual matches are also played (mostly in Escala i corda and Raspall) between the most renowned players. The second characteristic is that it is not played against a wall. Instead, similar to modern tennis, two individuals or teams are placed face to face separated either by a line on the ground or a net in all of modern modalities except for the frontó. A distinctive trait of Valencian pilota is that the spectators are often seated or standing very close to the court which means that they may be hit by the ball and thus become an (unwilling) part of the game. == History == The origins of Valencian pilota are not known with certainty, but it is commonly supposed to have been derived from the medieval Jeu de paume along with several other European handball sports (for example the Basque ''laxoa'', French Longue paume, Frisian handball and Italian Pallone) similar to the actual Valencian llargues variant. ''Jeu de paume'' is documented at Paris in 1292 since there were 13 ball workshops and many ''tripots'' (courtfields); it was first played with the hands, and the scoring system was very similar to the current Valencian one. There were so many resemblances with the ''Valencian pilota'' sport that, in the 16th century, the humanist Joan Lluís Vives compared both games in his ''Dialogues'' and claimed them to be exactly the same despite some minor differences. Being played by low-class people and high-class nobles, ''Valencian pilota'' was very popular: On June 14, 1391 the Valencia City ''Council'' fruitlessly forbade it to be played on the streets, but this caused the expansion of trinquets (courtfields); there were as many as 13 in that city alone in the 16th century. Later on, nobles abandoned the handball game in favour of '"'cleaner''" sports and so ''pilota'' became the property of the middle and lower classes, which led to the appearance of the first professional players and the rise of gambling and challenge matches.〔 The break between indoor and outdoor forms caused many variants to diverge from the original Llargues version. Thus ''Perxa'' evolved into Galotxa, and which in turn gave rise to Escala i corda, while Raspall was still played in both courtfields. It should be noted that ''llargues'' is the only variant that uses the original "''ratlles''" rule, the others using a net to separate two sides on the playing area (as ''galotxa'', and ''escala i corda''), or with no court division at all (''raspall''). Another case is the Frontó variety, which was first documented in the late 19th century, influenced by the popularity of the main Basque pelota variant, which involves players throwing the ball against a wall. Nowadays, ''Valencian pilota'' is played in the whole Valencian Community, but every area has its preferred variety. Professional players of Escala i corda and Raspall are hired to play at the trinquets or in streets during the towns' festivals. The popularity of this sport is rising again with the building of new cortifields at schools, weekly broadcasts on Valencian public TV, the management of a professional company (ValNet) and the Handball International Championships with countries where these sports with a common origin are played. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「valencian pilota」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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