How were the calendar and days of the week followed over 500+ years ago?

by FatherSpacetime

In the current age of technology, I normally forget the date and maybe even day of the week sometimes unless I look at my phone. Did small towns/villages 500+ years ago keep track of dates/days of the week? Did the lay farmer or non-nobleman know on a day to day basis where in the calendar they were at the time? Who kept track of all this a long time ago?

philly_fan_in_chi