In AD 1 most people in Europe could read at least some Latin or Greek, but by AD 1000 almost nobody could read. A few monks in Ireland kept learning alive.
Literacy was well established in early 18th century England, when books geared towards children became far more common. Near the end of the century, as many as 50 were printed every year in major cities around England.
Yea, thats why I think its neat my ancestors were reading/writing as early as 1580. Something the royal family and churches did not want people doing. Because of "fake news" and all that.
Wouldn't you assume that the newly established Church would want its devotees to immerse themselves in the sanctioned New Testament, especially since the Church went to great lengths to eliminate competing Gospels? And wouldn't the best way of spreading the "good news" be to ensure that every Christian had direct access to the Bible?
That's not what happened. The Church actually discouraged the populace from reading the Bible on their own -- a policy that intensified through the Middle Ages and later, with the addition of a prohibition forbidding translation of the Bible into native languages.
In AD 1 most people in Europe could read at least some Latin or Greek, but by AD 1000 almost nobody could read. A few monks in Ireland kept learning alive.
Yea, thats why I think its neat my ancestors were reading/writing as early as 1580. Something the royal family and churches did not want people doing. Because of "fake news" and all that.
https://archive.is/20230821175306/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-christians-were-denied-access-to-their-bible-for-1000-years_b_3303545