Archive:Greenwood's Grotto/2023-02/Literacy in Cormyr

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 * query     = Another history question, what was literacy like among nobles in Cormyr in the 4th c. DR? Mention is made that Azoun IV made sure the Purple Dragons were literate, but was that work mostly focused on the rank and file soldiers or were the knights and nobles who served themselves also beginning to be taught to read then?
 * questioner = A Bear of Very Little Brain#2986
 * answer    = All nobles can write and read, and most of their senior retainers (envoys, messengers, scribes, seneschals, chatelaines, stewards) can, too. All cooks in royal and noble households can read and write. Most knights can read and write, unless they happened to be illiterate and were knighted on the battlefield/for war service. Even farmers in Cormyr can struggle along with written proclamations, getting one word in six or so, and puzzling out the meaning; they go to local priests to make sure they've grasped the nuances (and yes, the priests can read and write. ;} )