Literacy Rate in England, AD1611

Dr. Bob · May 3, 2003

Anyone know what percentage of English speaking people could read/write at the time of the AV?

Know Shakespeare coined literally "hundreds" of new words in writing his plays (same time frame). And the elite were highly educated, for sure.

I know from my US History that only 1% were college educated just 100 years ago. And in the Civil War, many units had only a few literate.

What about the "plowboy" and common man? Was the average "John Doe" able to read the AV?

Thanks. Appreciate the "source" for any thoughts, too!

rlvaughn · May 4, 2003

many units had only a few literate
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I'm just wondering if the illiterate can read any Bible??

rsr · May 4, 2003

Male literacy in England slowly and steadily increased from ten percent in 1500 to forty-five percent in 1714 and to sixty percent in 1750. Female literacy in England increased from a mere one percent in 1500 to twenty-five percent in 1714 and to forty percent in 1750.
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From John Brewer, The Pleasures of the Imagination: English Culture in the Eighteenth Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997) 155.

I'm unable to say whether this definition of literacy corresponds to ours. We define it as the ability to read and write. Throughout history, reading has been more common than writing, partly because writing materials were so expensive.

Some estimates of literacy are based on who could sign their names on church registers. It's generally believed that the reading rate was substantially higher than what would be indicated by the number of people who could write.

rsr · May 5, 2003

I ran across this tidbit about Elizabethan literacy from the St. Ives Historical Society:

Wealthier peasants might while away an evening reading the Bible, Book of Common Prayer, or some other tome: by Elizabeth's day it was clear that social mobility and commerce both required literacy, and perhaps half of the population could read at least a little.
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ST. IVES HISTORICAL SOCIETY

A little different picture is presented by the Encyclopedia Brittanica:

A revolution in reading and writing was taking place, and by 1640 nearly 100 percent of the gentry and merchant elements were literate. Wealth and literacy were directly related. Possibly 50 percent of the yeomanry but only 10 percent of the husbandry and none of the peasantry were able to read or write. Although literacy among townspeople was higher, the proportions relative to wealth still held true. The years between 1560 and 1650 were an age of school-building and educational endowment; by then 142 new schools had been founded and 293,000 given to grammar (secondary) school education. Oxford and Cambridge also reflected the new literacy, increasing from 800 students in 1560 to 1,200 in 1630.
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Literacy Rate in England, AD1611

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Literacy Rate in England, AD1611

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