This module will cover two centuries (1050-1250) during which a cultural revolution took place: the written word, from being remote and confined to a small elite, became conspicuous and increasingly necessary to medieval people - even to those who could not read for themselves. The reasons for this radical change will be explored, as will the new knowledge, the new institutions and the new social groups that the growing role of writing created. The contents of books, as well as their availibility, changed deeply. New Schools (some eventually turning into the first universities) developed, and higher learning moved from monastic to urban settings, training much larger numbers of men. These men were more likely to turn to the secular world for employment after they left the schools, and kings and princes needed the new learned elite to be their courtiers and bureaucrats. The new importance of written words transformed the face of Europe in the realms of religion, culture and politics.