In one of the largest cities of western Christendom, the trading metropolis Venice, writing and reading had ceased to be the preserve of the clerical body as early as the 11th and 12th centuries. Several thousand Venetian documents from the period prior to 1200 reveal that large sectors of the population already had elementary writing skills. The study examines the use made of writing by merchants, the role of the written medium in everyday Venetian life, and schools and teachers in Venice. The study is the first to provide detailed insight into the progress of literacy in a major medieval European city.