Text B Humanism movement&sport culture
Many aspects of Roman life were forbidden during the Dark and Middle Ages.The stadiums，amphitheaters，and baths that had characterized Roman life were destroyed.The Council of Elvira ruled that the rite of baptism could not be extended to those connected with the stage，and in A.D.398 the Council of Carthage excommunicated those who attended the theater on holy days.The great spectacles and organized shows of imperial Rome were at an end.The Roman emphasis on leisure was replaced by a Christian emphasis on work.
2-15 The Council of Elvira
Historians generally view the first half of the Middle Ages in Europe（roughly from A.D.400 to 1000）as the Dark Ages1，and the next 400 to 500 years as le haut Moyen Age，or High Middle Age2.The Renaissance is said to have begun in Italy about A.D.1350，in France about1450，and in England about 1500.Itmarked a transition between the medieval world and the modern age.The term renaissance means rebirth and describes the revived interest in the scholarship，philosophy，and arts of ancient Greece and Rome that developed at this time.More broadly，it also represented a new freedom of thought and expression，a more rational and scientific view of life，and the expansion of commerce and travel in European life.
2-16 M onarchy
As the major European nations stabilized during this period under solidly established monarchies，power shifted from the church to the kings and their noblemen.In Italy and France，particularly，the nobility became patrons of great painters，sculptors，musicians，dancers，and dramatists.These artistswere no longer dominated by the ideals and values of the Catholic Church，but were free to serve secular goals.A greatwave ofmusic and literature swept through the courts of Europe，aided by the developmentof printing.Dance and theater becamemore complex and elaborate，and increasingly lavish entertainments and spectacleswere presented in the courts of Italy and France.