18th century: Jeu de Crosse

Jeu de crosse (also: choule or chole) is a stick-with-ball game that is played in the border area between Belgium and France (Hainaut), in which one tries to hit an agreed target (the planchette) with a pre-estimated number of strokes with a baton (the crosse or choule) and egg-shaped balls (the choulettes), whereby the opponent is allowed to interfere according to agreed rules.

Depending on the field on which the game will be played, the player chooses a ball with which he wants to play his match.

In the playing area the game is known as jeu de crosse, in the Anglo-Saxon world and also in the Netherlands the game is mainly known as choule or chole.