ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about a volume published by the physician Hippolytus Guarinonius on the physical and spiritual dangers of his period. The massive volume, dedicated to Emperor Rudolf II, is divided into seven books, each partitioned into two parts, covering firstly the positive and secondly the dangerous aspects. Two chapters in his book On Exercise are treating ball games. Sports are not usually considered to have been an essential part of European history. The term 'sportification' is meant to cover the process of transforming both military exercise as well as popular games into the form of a sportive contest. There are good arguments for claiming that there was a distinct early modern period of sports, different from all earlier periods in European history, different from other civilizations, and different from the later modern period. Early modern ball games were not just at the beginning of modern sports, but served as a starting point to political revolution.
