Quill

The most controversial statement of the Saint Bartholeu are his final words before he got burnt at the stake for his heretical beliefs. He shouted something along the lines, while being engulfed by smoke and rising flames, that more people should believe in intelligence.
In certain parts of Avalonia, words are considered to be magic. Not everyone can read and write and those who do are usually held with great suspicion by most people. Who do you think you are that you have the need to not only tell people what to do but also scribble it down so other fancypants like you could do the same? Nonsense. Do you think yourself above *insert a belief here*? Only their word is what matters! Even the lords and ladies in government would not touch a quill with a ten foot pole and are more likely to have someone do this dirty work for them (which is pretty common for nobles of all kinds).
Intellect is suspicious. Words are suspicious and can be made and unmade and twisted and curled and anyone who desires to wield that power should be kept away from people. Lock yourself in a monastery or a druid circle with the likes of you, for everyone's safety.
All of this does very little to deter people who are fascinated by knowledge and books and history to actually abandon their pursuit. Quill has therefore not only became an instrument of those who can work with a written word, but also an important symbol of belief that no matter what happens and how many people with pitchforks and torches are currently after you, the pursuit of knowledge is worth it and it will pay back the humanity tenfold. In a good way of course, with progress and the advance of sciences and society as a whole.
But in these dire times, it will definitely be a long and difficult marathon.