Describe the ball game soule that was popular during the Middle Ages.

Question

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Answer 1

Soule was popular among the peasantry, and it often contributed to property losses and personal injury. The game resembled the modern game of soccer and was played with an indeterminate number of men on each side. Possession of a stuffed leather ball was the goal, and two teams played the game between two goals. During the heat of competition, the achievement of this goal sometimes left the "playing field" (and often someone's private property) in ruins. Most accounts of the game describe it as a violent affair, and one scholar noted that the players engaged in "a veritable combat for the possession of the ball for which they fought like dogs battling for a bone." King James noted that the game was "meeter for the maiming than making able the (players) thereof." Soule was quite violent, and this contributed to the church's reluctance about its association with the game. Local customs governed the rules of play, and there were many versions of the game throughout Europe.