How literate would the majority of

knights have been in the High Middle

Ages?
Stephen Tempest, qualified amateur historian

Answered Oct 6, 2014 · Upvoted by Tim O'Neill, I have a M.A. in Medieval Literature and
have studied most aspects of the period for many years. and Yau Chiam, Masters History,
La Trobe University (1997) · Author has 2k answers and 16.3m answer views
Here's a test. Can you read the following passage out loud?

Miserere mei, Deus: secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.

Et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum, dele iniquitatem meam.
Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea: et a peccato meo munda me.

If so, congratulations! If you've been accused of a crime, then under mediaeval

English law, simply by proving your ability to read those words you now cannot
legally be executed for any crime short of high treason. In all likelihood, you'll
be set free. 

You don't have to understand what the words mean (it's actually Psalm 50 from
the Bible, and the opening line translates as "O God, have mercy upon me").
Just be able to read them.

This rule, known as Benefit of Clergy, was established in 1172, formalised by

statute as a literacy test in 1351, and not fully abolished until 1706. The idea
behind it was quite simple: only clergymen were literate, and so if you could
read that text, it was legal proof that you were a priest or monk. Members of the
clergy were outside the jurisdiction of royal courts and thus exempt from the
most serious punishments.

As such, it seems that the answer to your question is that back in the High
Middle Ages it was taken for granted that knights couldn't read. If they could
read they'd be priests.

The truth, however, seems to be more nuanced. There are numerous references
in contemporary chronicles to knights, noblemen or kings knowing how to read
and write - although this is usually presented as being unusual and worthy of
comment. King Henry I of England astonished his court be being able to read a
diplomatic letter from the king of France himself, instead of having to give it to
a clerk to read aloud. Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, owned a copy of the Roman
military handbook De re militari by Vegetius, took it on campaigns with him,
and consulted it before battles. 

1
The mediaeval author Jean Froissart presents a copy of his latest book to King
Richard II of England.

One estimate I've seen is that in England around the year 1300 something like
6% of the population was literate. In the towns and cities it was as high as 20%,
one person in five, because of all the merchants and accountants and lawyers
and judges to be found in such places. Out in the rural villages - where the vast
majority of people lived - the number was much lower.  

This answer relates primarily to England, but conditions elsewhere in Western

Europe were similar. In the Mediterranean world, especially Italy with its
thriving mercantile cities, literacy levels seem to have been somewhat higher. In
1304 the city of Genoa had 15 independent schools (independent of the Church,
that is) teaching the children of the merchant class how to read and write.

It should also be remembered that 'literacy' is a broad term. Someone who can
stumble through a few Bible passages or make sense of an inventory list might
still lack the proficiency to enjoy curling up with a book of poetry or reading a
technical treatise on the measurement of time. It also seems to have been quite
common for people in the Middle Ages to be able to read - at least after a
fashion - but not be able to write.

For members of the aristocracy, which included knights, literacy seems to have
been regarded as a pious virtue rather than a practical skill. It enabled you to
read the Bible, the lives of saints, or edifying works of philosophy and natural
science. (Although it also let you read the mediaeval equivalent of romance
novels, which were very popular in certain circles - Queen Isabella, daughter of
Philippe IV of France, owned ten of them.) For mundane tasks of
administration like record-keeping and accounting, most nobles would rather
hire a clerk than do the work themselves. 

Contracts would normally be made verbally, often accompanied by sacred

oaths, and a literate priest or notary would then be paid to write up the details
on paper and give a copy to each party. Sometimes the written contract was cut
in half and one part given to each party instead, so in case of dispute they could
match together the two halves - note the assumption that neither party would
wish to actually read what was written on the paper.

Reading was often a communal activity. If you have 10 people and only one of
them is literate, that person can still read a book out loud so the other nine can
listen.

2
In the 14th and 15th centuries, literacy started to spread; by 1500 the rate in
England was perhaps twice what it had been two centuries earlier. We hear of
noblemen owning dozens of books - an impressive statistic when you consider
that every book had to be copied out by hand. Courts started to keep written
records - even humble village tribunals were writing down their proceedings by
the end of this era, in a garbled mixture of English and Norman French. Gentry
families such as the Pastons of Norfolk wrote countless letters to each other.
Even a thug of a knight like Sir Thomas Malory - an armed robber, rapist,
kidnapper and horse thief - found the time to write a book while he was in
prison. It's still in print today.

111k Views · View Upvoters · Answer requested by Liu Hongtao（刘鸿韬）

Susanna Viljanen, works at Aalto University

Answered Apr 24, 2017 · Author has 1.7k answers and 8.8m answer views

It would depend on the century.

Let’s put it this way: Literacy is a function of available writing media

and directly related to social class. The so-called “dark ages” were dark
because there was no cheap, durable and decent writing media available. The
invention of paper meant also widespread introduction of literacy.

Note that learning the alphabet and learning to connect the letters to various
phonems is not difficult, and literacy can be learned in a matter of days. I
learned spontaneously to read and write when I was three years old. My luck
was that I had been born in a society where paper and other writing media was
ubiquitous. In a society where writing media is scarse, literacy is also rare.

A 10th century knight would most likely be illiterate. A 14th century knight
would most likely be literate.

Paper was either introduced or invented separately in Europe during the 12th
century, and in the 14th century paper mills were ubiquitous. That also meant
widespread literacy: parchment and vellum are atrociously expensive while
papyrus disintegrates in European climate rapidly. Paper is durable and lasts
for centuries. Once there was cheap paper available, literacy spred quite quickly
amongst the upper classes of the society. That also enabled the military leaders
to do research on military classics, manuals and regulations of the antiquity.

Jews have always been almost 100% literate since times immemorable, and the
Reformists noted that quickly, and both Luther and Calvin promoted literacy.
The first Christian nation to achieve 100% literacy was Sweden in the 17th
century.

3
749 Views · View Upvoters · Answer requested by Giannis