A man of the secular *clergy, i.e. not a monk or *canon of a religious order. In 12c England perhaps five per cent of the male population were clerks. Such men were not permitted to marry. Clerks were supposed to be educated, and were given a Latin text to read as proof. However, this could easily be memorised - at a time when many were illiterate, and much depended on the memory of local custom, memory was of signal importance. [< Lat. clericus = a clerk] -
Cf. Clerk
Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Christopher Coredon with Ann Williams.