"An alternative theory has it developing in the streets of northern Italian towns at the same period. Medieval shop fronts often had a sloping roof to protect the goods laid out below and the style developed of hitting the ball up onto the roof, known as a 'pentys' (later, penthouse) to begin the point. Whatever its origins, tennis became something of a craze during the Renaissance, when the first professional players - women as well as men - appeared. In France, their incorporation into the Communaute' des Maitres Paumiers-Racuertiers elevated the status of tennis 'from a mere game to an art, like horsemanship or fencing', argues one of todays' real tennis players. The ancient game features regularly in the literature and art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Tennis seems to have been more frequently illustrated and written about than the other games, such as cricket and football, that were played in these early times, partly, perhaps, because of its special association with court life and the aristocracy."