[cariaso]

It didn't matter that they were literate, since printing a bible in english was still illegal. It was only in 1526 that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tyndale created the first bible in English, allowing the common folk to go around the 'Bible counselors'. As a result the church had him convicted of heresy and executed by strangulation, after which his body was burnt at the stake.