I asked this question on history exchange here:
And they suggested I give it a go on this site.
I've only done a small amount of reading on the middle ages, and on the history of Western philosophy, but from what I can glean education and religion were tightly coupled during the period, so most thought coming from that time came from religious thinkers.
It seems to me that secular thought started to come to the fore-front again during the late early-modern period, toward the enlightenment, but, if it ever existed during the middle ages it was mostly hidden away, or thinly veiled.
So, were there prominent secularists during the middle ages in which is now modern day Europe? Who were they?