I feel stupid for asking something so incredibly basic, but the reality is I don't really know very much about the internal process of the medieval church. How did a child acquire the education necessary to embark on a clerical life? I'm aware that the church operated schools in various places. Were these limited to the children of wealthy men? Were clerics mostly from aristocratic backgrounds?
Hi there u/Rittermeister, great question. You may be interested in this older answer from u/Miles_Sine_Castrum: