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Thesis: the average 18 year old student in, say, York in AD 800 (the middle of the so-called "Dark Ages") had read more, knew more languages, was better trained in logic, could read more music, knew more mathematics and astronomy than the average student from a university today.
Sorry, I should have said 'WAY more ..."
Thoughts: 1. I am only comparing students at the end of the Carolingian trivium + quadrivium with students at uni today, NOT how widespread education was/is. 2. I concede their 'mathematics' was limited (arithmetic + geometry; probably projecting my own limited maths onto others
3. Re 'music'. They had limited notation (probably more than average student today, who doesn't have any). But their real musical prowess was theoretical, understanding the maths of harmonic proportions. 4. Some paupers and girls did go to school. This wasn't only elites.
