History Main / MedievalUniversalLiteracy

* In ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'', set in a StandardFantasySetting, all characters are capable of memorizing spells from spellbooks, studying manuals, and reading scrolls. Inability to read can be ''induced'' by certain in-game situations, but everyone starts out literate.

* In early editions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', if the optional nonweapon proficiency system is used, few player characters will bother picking the proficiency to read and write. Later editions generally play this straight, but [[BarbarianHero barbarians]] are still almost universally illiterate until omitted from 5th Edition. Literacy within the world itself tends to depend on the setting.

** In Europe, literacy was not defined by how well you could read your own language but rather the official language of the educated, which was Latin. This is because while languages like English could be written down, they lacked standardized spelling and grammar and were thus difficult to use for anything important. Latin, meanwhile, had been the language of the Roman empire, had well-established rules for usage and was the language used for the Bible. Thus, a peasant was actually fairly likely to be literate in their own language, especially if they lived in an urban area. After all, with no standardized spelling and grammar, all you need to know is how a letter is pronounced if you want to 'read.' If literacy is instead defined at this level and for these languages, literacy rates were actually surprisingly high.
*** Also, in some places, it was illegal to be literate in anything other than Latin. Knowledge of other languages could lead to church services being given in local languages rather than Latin, which would lead to the erosion of the power of the Catholic Church.

** In Europe, literacy was not defined by how well you could read your own language but rather the official language of the educated, which was Latin. This is because while languages like English could be written down, they lacked standardized spelling and grammar and were thus difficult to use for anything important. Latin, meanwhile, had been the language of the Roman empire, had well-established rules for usage and was the language used for the bible. Thus, a peasant was actually fairly likely to be literate in their own language, especially if they lived in an urban area. After all, with no standardized spelling and grammar, all you need to know is how a letter is pronounced if you want to 'read.' If literacy is instead defined at this level and for these languages, literacy rates were actually surprisingly high.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': The early books are something of an example; the Thieves' Guild pass written messages, the Watch take notes and write reports (even if some of them do so with more finesse than others), and farmer's son Mort spends more time reading than his father likes. Granny Weatherwax disapproves of reading, but is capable of doing so, and other witches are notably literate. (Later books aren't as much of an example because the Disc quickly moves to a Renaissance-Georgian-Victorian period where universal literacy is less of a stretch.) Vimes is specifically mentioned as going to a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dame_school dame school]] that charged a penny a day.

* Downplayed in ''Literature/TheArtsOfDarkAndLight'', with literacy in the world of Selenoth fairly widespread, although still more limited than in the real-life present day. Books are also still somewhat rare and expensive, at least as far as the lower classes are concerned; FarmBoy Speer's peasant family is noted as unusual for owning seven volumes.
* Averted in ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm''. The story has a realistic level of literacy and Myne is reincarnated as one of the large majority of poor and illiterate people in the population. Add in that books are created one at a time by trained craftsmen, plus both paper and ink being expensive, makes books rare and expensive. One book costs roughly what Myne's father would earn in 40 to 50 years. Myne does however retain her memories of reading and writing in Japanese.

* The early ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' books are something of an example; the Thieves' Guild pass written messages, the Watch take notes and write reports (even if some of them do so with more finesse than others), and farmer's son Mort spends more time reading than his father likes. Granny Weatherwax disapproves of reading, but is capable of doing so, and other witches are notably literate. (Later books aren't as much of an example because the Disc quickly moves to a Renaissance-Georgian-Victorian period where universal literacy is less of a stretch.) Vimes is specifically mentioned as going to a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dame_school dame school]] that charged a penny a day.
* Justified in ''Literature/TheElenium'' by the Church pushing for universal literacy (and actually providing the education) so people can read the Church's message. This doesn't actually take that long to do, so there's a demand for other things to read; paper and the labor costs of scriveners are cheap, so books that even the urban poor can afford are available (mystery novels are said to be very popular with the girls in the brothels).
* Downplayed in ''Literature/EndoAndKobayashiLive The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte''. Fiene, the only commoner in the WizardingSchool, is shown to have basic literacy. However, she is shown to struggle with the knowledge that the rest of the student body--[[SupernaturalElite all nobles]]--have no problem with, up to and including the kingdom's CreationMyth. [[spoiler:This is eventually {{Subverted|Trope}}, as Fiene is later found to be the illegitimate child of two ''very'' {{blue blood}}ed nobles, but the illegitimacy itself forced her mother to hide her identity, take her out to live among the commoners, and teaching her in subtle ways. The story gives no clue as to whether ''actual'' commoners can read.]]
* In the ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series, Valdemar has had near universal literacy since Vanyel's time, the result of a government-sponsored education program that was started in the hopes that if the average man on the street ''can'' read government issued notices about what's going on, they might actually ''believe'' said notices instead of whatever was recently churned out by the rumor mill. That said, that only guarantees a grade school level education, and many subcultures in the country don't see the point in being able to read more than street signs and the labels on containers, or in doing math more complex than making sure that a peddler isn't trying to cheat you.
* Zigzagged in ''Literature/TheInheritanceCycle''. Eragon is initially illiterate because, although Uncle Garrow ''was'' literate, as a farmer in a small village in the middle of nowhere he never really had any use for the skill and so didn't bother to teach it to his son and nephew. Eragon spends part of one chapter about halfway through the first book learning to read. Another chapter in the second book notes that Roran can read numbers but not letters.
* Many poor characters in ''Literature/JudgeDee'' are stated to be literate in terms of how many characters of the Chinese alphabet they can recognize and write down.
* Debatable in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', even Orcs appear to be literate, if only in some indecipherable Mordorian glyphs. Most Dwarves, Elves and Dunedain, and Hobbits, seem to be literate, though there is a remark when Sam cooks for the camp saying Hobbits learn to cook very early, earlier than "their letters, which some never learn".
* Averted in ''Literature/ThePillarsOfTheEarth''; fully literate people are fairly few and far between outside of the clergy, but skilled tradesmen like Tom Builder and his son Alfred can read a few words like their own names and can also read numbers.
* Zig-zagged in ''Literature/TheSharingKnife''. Lakewalkers seem universally literate, but Farmers are hit and miss. In the first book, Fawn sees a sign using both words and pictograms for the illiterate. Later she's seen to know how to read and write but lacks practice in both since she doesn't have access to many books and doesn't have anyone to write letters to.
* Averted in the ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' novels as well, where reading and writing is beyond most except for the nobility and Maesters, and books are still a highly-treasured commodity that's costly to produce. Nonetheless, the only illiterate point of view character is the humbly-born Davos Seaworth, who quickly learns how once it becomes necessary. Even Daenerys, whose only education comes from her brother (who himself had no formal education past the age of seven), is able to read and write in multiple languages.
* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'', the civilized countries appear to be literate. In the fifth book, Richard visits a country where an oppressed majority isn't allowed to learn to read and tries to explain to them the advantages of literacy, which presumably they'll have after siding with him.
* Averted in ''Literature/{{Uprooted}}'', set in a fantasy counterpart of medieval Poland. The unusually high literacy rate in the protagonist's rural home region is justified by the local BenevolentMageRuler: his patronage alone draws in plenty of traveling book merchants, and they sell to the nearby towns while they're there. Other regions aren't so lucky.
* Averted in ''Literature/WelcomeToJapanMsElf''. Despite the other world being an RPGMechanicsVerse where everyone has their own status screens, only mages and nobles tend to be able to read. This means that the other 70% of the population has to rely on someone who is literate to read their stats and skills for them.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', literacy is very high, because (per WordOfGod) the printing press managed to survive the cataclysm that bumped the world down into MedievalStasis, so practically everyone is well-read. However, literacy is still low enough that shopkeepers take care to put a picture of what they sell on their signs (as was common practice in the real Medieval centuries).
* Averted in ''Franchise/TheWitcher''. A line in ''Literature/TheTimeOfContempt'' states that most commoners can't read. In one of the short stories, the wise woman of a village keeps a book that describes witchers and recites passages from the book when negotiating monster slaying. Geralt is surprised that a common woman can read, and even more confused when the old woman cheerfully informs him that no, she had not mastered the art of reading. It turns out she learnt it by rote memorization from the previous wise woman, who was able to recite the book in its entirety. As she's already passing the contents to a young girl (who presumably can't read, either), it's implied that generations of wise women have all been unable to read, and all learnt the book from their respective mentors, for who knows how long.

* In the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' games, even though far more people know how to read than you'd expect given the setting, there are some exceptions.

* Averted in the Adventure Mode side of ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'', with literacy being a skill to put points in, to be able to read. Zig-zagged in Fortress Mode, where literacy rates and the availability of books is largely down to the player's choices.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/KingdomComeDeliverance'':

* In ''Webcomic/OutOfPlacers'' House Ivenmoth has a "public education initiative" for their guardsmen, where they learn to read using [[http://www.valsalia.com/comic/out-of-placers/oops-114/ arrest reports]].

* Discussed in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-abyQLl8mPI this video]] by ''WebVideo/{{Shadiversity}}'' where literacy in the Middle Ages is arbitrary depending on occupation and social status, meaning that one can be illiterate but can be knowledgeable in their craft and that one can be literate but also uneducated. He then dives deeper [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kISM2od3BJ0 in another video]] that some peasants are literate in the case of vernacular language.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'': Suprisingly played straight as despite being a pastiche of TheDungAges and positions such as scribes and Royal proclaimers existing, Dreamland's commoners are commonly depicted as being able to read and write, even if they are uneducated.