PHYSICAL EDUCATION DURING THE DARK AGES

Referred to as the “Dark Ages” in history was the period following the fall of the Roman empire in A.D. 476.

The strong Teutonic barbarians overrued the lands that experience glory and granduer. The invasions brought about the lowest ebb in literature and in learning.

Teutonic barbarians who lived a life characterized by much physical activity way strong and healthy and conquered the Romans who wee physically and morally deteriorated due to their way of life.

Two major movements grow out which swept all over Europe:

Asceticism Scholasticism

> Christianity grew and thrived in this period with the ascetic belief that one can attain high spiritual level through solitude, mortification of the flesh, and devotional contemplation.> Scholasticism had the belief that the most essential items in one’s education are facts: that the key to a successful life is the development of the mental or intellectual power. > An effect of this de-emphasis on physical activity was the institutions associated with early Christianity would not allow physical education to be one of the important subjects in their curriculum.