[Cronos]

The problem wasn't just illiteracy. The problem was that the Church punished with death anyone who translated scripture into the common tongue, and at various points also punished with death any laymen who owned a copy of scripture in any tongue.

Where did you get THAT??????? Don't forget that the Scriptures in Latin Vulgate were readily available to all who could read. And Latin was known by all literates in the Western world until well into the late Middle Ages.